Chamax is running a scam sitting on >$2.7m of customer’s cash.

Cardsforfunn · 04-13-2021, 09:41 AM

This is long, and could use some editorial love (also likely typos and other errors – my apologies in advance), but here’s the story and why I’m taking the time to write it: Chamax is sitting on >$2.7 million in cash from sales of product they do not even own.

How? Well here you go:

This has been bothering me a long time, but I’ve never cared enough to make something out of it until I calculated just how big of an issue it is. Put shortly – Chamax Cards’ business model has very ponzi-scheme like qualities and I honestly believe some agency should be looking into the business practices and ensure that the capital this company should be sitting on is actually available in a bank account should all customers ask for a refund (which I recommend you do immediately).

As we all know, a normal breaking business purchases the product then sells the teams directly on their website or through ebay. The key here is that they’ve already purchased the product. They need (and want) to make it move. Perfectly legit. But what if you don’t buy the product until all the teams are filled? And you badly (and perhaps purposefully) misprice the teams so they sit unbroken for years while the price of the product goes up over time? Well then you have Chamax Cards.

Here’s why it’s a problem – and likely unlawful.

1) Chamax cards list product that they do not yet own.
2) Chamax cards often has very attractive prices for the top teams when the product first comes out. However, the less desirable teams are priced way over market so they never sell
3) Chamax won’t break the case unless 4 or less are remaining
4) Chamax’s prices are not fixed so over time, as the price of the product goes up, the way that they have to compensate for this (because they don’t own the product yet) is to raise the less desirable teams prices even further to compensate for the losses of selling the poplar teams long even years) ago.

Example (and there are a TON of these if you poke around on their site):

2018 Select Football – 12 boc case #F085.

I was in this break way back in 2018 and bought one of the big teams for a really great rate. However, some of the teams were way over market value so they never moved. And when I say over market, like 50% to 100% over – they were not going to sell. At that time I saw what was going on and asked for a refund which was initially not given – instead asking for a credit for another break. After pushing back on that request I got my money back. Fast forward 3 years and the 2018 product and market overall is on fire. Those holding the Ravens, Bills, and Browns are in a good spot right? They bought for a great deal. Except for the case will never ever break unless they want to buy 12 of the remaining 16 teams which are now priced to levels so that if the case ever were to break, it’s Chamax who does not have to pay for the loss. Current listing have the following availability:

· Chicago: $648
· Bengals: $504
· Cowboys: $1261
· Lions: $792
· Packers: $792
· Jaguars: $1045

And I’ll stop there – just let that 2018 Jaguars price sink in. There are no players worth a $50 case break spot on that 2018 Jags class and the price is $1045. This case will NEVER break unless the owners pony up the money to buy at these outrageous rates. And the reason for these increase is that Chamax doesn’t even own the case; yet are collecting a TON of money for it!

So where is that money and how much has been collected? On to my next point…

Another issue is the quantity of product that’s currently for sale. A good ponzi scheme does operate in a normal manner for a % of the business, and Chamax does just that by breaking hockey and other products when these tight requirements are met. However, there’s about 90% of the business that is very shady and here’s why:

As of 4/10 across the 4 major sports there are 976 products for sale. Yes, 976. Conservatively, let’s say that they cost $7000 per case and maybe 40% of all of them are sold (yes, this is conservative). This means Chamax is sitting on >$2.7 million in cash from sales of product they do not even own!!!! Where is this money being held and how do we know it’s not been spent. Because what a scheme operator would do is precisely this…

1) Spend the money that’s coming in from the scheme (keep some in reserves)
2) When money is running low, add more product that you do not own and raise more capital
3) Continue until someone calls you out and you get caught

As for #3, I’d really like some legal or governmental agency to check these guys out. I know it’s a family owned business but their business model is absolutely not customer friendly and the amount of capital that is not theirs that they are sitting on is absolutely insane.

I really wonder if they have the $ in a bank available to refund every customer who has paid them in the past. And if they don’t – there’s fraud going on here.

My recommendation is to never do business with them and if you have something pending, ask for a refund ASAP. And Chamax, if this gets to you – you need to change your business model. Buy these products that you’re listing and don’t leverage your customers to put all the risk into the market and then, when the market moves, put them in a further bind by making the product that they bought completely unreachable. Your practice of raising rates after the fact is 100% unethical.

Oh, and one more fun note. There are 144 2021 football products listed on their site. Know how many 2021 cases they’ve broken tis year? 2. Yes just 2. If one was to spend the $ collected the best way to compensate would be to list more products and effectively balloon the problem. Evidence of that would look like more and more products being listed year after year.

So what does Chamax’s 4 major sport availability look like going back to 2018?

2018: 74

2019: 257

2020: 515

Things are getting out of control and someone needs to investigate this business.

chris buk · 12-13-2022, 03:34 AM

Fwiw I just emailed them about a revolution break I've been waiting on for 3 years, maybe longer.

"Good morning,

I bought my spot in this break, the grizzlies, 2 or 3 years ago...2019-30 revolution 8 box cases retail for under $2400 now...the 12 teams remaining alone are trying to be sold for $2900...you already sold 18 other teams as well...how has this not been re priced to sell faster for the people waiting? Did you forget? Do you care? We emailed about this a year ago"

victus sports · 12-15-2022, 12:29 PM

Wow. Why does this only have 1 comment in over a year and a half?! This seems like a major problem for a lot of people. I’ve seen this community crack more cases (no pun intended) of scamming and fraud than I ever thought possible. Just my 2 cents to keep this at the top of the page for a little.

irtazman · 12-16-2022, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by victus sports

Wow. Why does this only have 1 comment in over a year and a half?! This seems like a major problem for a lot of people. I’ve seen this community crack more cases (no pun intended) of scamming and fraud than I ever thought possible. Just my 2 cents to keep this at the top of the page for a little.

Because there is already a very long thread about it in this forum where it actually belongs. Can’t remember off hand (feedback maybe?)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

victus sports · 12-17-2022, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irtazman

Because there is already a very long thread about it in this forum where it actually belongs. Can’t remember off hand (feedback maybe?)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That makes more sense. Thanks for clarifying.

04-13-2021, 09:41 AM	#1
Cardsforfunn Member Join Date: Apr 2021 Posts: 2	Chamax is running a scam sitting on >$2.7m of customer’s cash. This is long, and could use some editorial love (also likely typos and other errors – my apologies in advance), but here’s the story and why I’m taking the time to write it: Chamax is sitting on >$2.7 million in cash from sales of product they do not even own. How? Well here you go: This has been bothering me a long time, but I’ve never cared enough to make something out of it until I calculated just how big of an issue it is. Put shortly – Chamax Cards’ business model has very ponzi-scheme like qualities and I honestly believe some agency should be looking into the business practices and ensure that the capital this company should be sitting on is actually available in a bank account should all customers ask for a refund (which I recommend you do immediately). As we all know, a normal breaking business purchases the product then sells the teams directly on their website or through ebay. The key here is that they’ve already purchased the product. They need (and want) to make it move. Perfectly legit. But what if you don’t buy the product until all the teams are filled? And you badly (and perhaps purposefully) misprice the teams so they sit unbroken for years while the price of the product goes up over time? Well then you have Chamax Cards. Here’s why it’s a problem – and likely unlawful. 1) Chamax cards list product that they do not yet own. 2) Chamax cards often has very attractive prices for the top teams when the product first comes out. However, the less desirable teams are priced way over market so they never sell 3) Chamax won’t break the case unless 4 or less are remaining 4) Chamax’s prices are not fixed so over time, as the price of the product goes up, the way that they have to compensate for this (because they don’t own the product yet) is to raise the less desirable teams prices even further to compensate for the losses of selling the poplar teams long even years) ago. Example (and there are a TON of these if you poke around on their site): 2018 Select Football – 12 boc case #F085. I was in this break way back in 2018 and bought one of the big teams for a really great rate. However, some of the teams were way over market value so they never moved. And when I say over market, like 50% to 100% over – they were not going to sell. At that time I saw what was going on and asked for a refund which was initially not given – instead asking for a credit for another break. After pushing back on that request I got my money back. Fast forward 3 years and the 2018 product and market overall is on fire. Those holding the Ravens, Bills, and Browns are in a good spot right? They bought for a great deal. Except for the case will never ever break unless they want to buy 12 of the remaining 16 teams which are now priced to levels so that if the case ever were to break, it’s Chamax who does not have to pay for the loss. Current listing have the following availability: · Chicago: $648 · Bengals: $504 · Cowboys: $1261 · Lions: $792 · Packers: $792 · Jaguars: $1045 And I’ll stop there – just let that 2018 Jaguars price sink in. There are no players worth a $50 case break spot on that 2018 Jags class and the price is $1045. This case will NEVER break unless the owners pony up the money to buy at these outrageous rates. And the reason for these increase is that Chamax doesn’t even own the case; yet are collecting a TON of money for it! So where is that money and how much has been collected? On to my next point… Another issue is the quantity of product that’s currently for sale. A good ponzi scheme does operate in a normal manner for a % of the business, and Chamax does just that by breaking hockey and other products when these tight requirements are met. However, there’s about 90% of the business that is very shady and here’s why: As of 4/10 across the 4 major sports there are 976 products for sale. Yes, 976. Conservatively, let’s say that they cost $7000 per case and maybe 40% of all of them are sold (yes, this is conservative). This means Chamax is sitting on >$2.7 million in cash from sales of product they do not even own!!!! Where is this money being held and how do we know it’s not been spent. Because what a scheme operator would do is precisely this… 1) Spend the money that’s coming in from the scheme (keep some in reserves) 2) When money is running low, add more product that you do not own and raise more capital 3) Continue until someone calls you out and you get caught As for #3, I’d really like some legal or governmental agency to check these guys out. I know it’s a family owned business but their business model is absolutely not customer friendly and the amount of capital that is not theirs that they are sitting on is absolutely insane. I really wonder if they have the $ in a bank available to refund every customer who has paid them in the past. And if they don’t – there’s fraud going on here. My recommendation is to never do business with them and if you have something pending, ask for a refund ASAP. And Chamax, if this gets to you – you need to change your business model. Buy these products that you’re listing and don’t leverage your customers to put all the risk into the market and then, when the market moves, put them in a further bind by making the product that they bought completely unreachable. Your practice of raising rates after the fact is 100% unethical. Oh, and one more fun note. There are 144 2021 football products listed on their site. Know how many 2021 cases they’ve broken tis year? 2. Yes just 2. If one was to spend the $ collected the best way to compensate would be to list more products and effectively balloon the problem. Evidence of that would look like more and more products being listed year after year. So what does Chamax’s 4 major sport availability look like going back to 2018? 2018: 74 2019: 257 2020: 515 Things are getting out of control and someone needs to investigate this business.

12-13-2022, 03:34 AM	#2
chris buk Member Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 89	Fwiw I just emailed them about a revolution break I've been waiting on for 3 years, maybe longer. "Good morning, I bought my spot in this break, the grizzlies, 2 or 3 years ago...2019-30 revolution 8 box cases retail for under $2400 now...the 12 teams remaining alone are trying to be sold for $2900...you already sold 18 other teams as well...how has this not been re priced to sell faster for the people waiting? Did you forget? Do you care? We emailed about this a year ago"

12-15-2022, 12:29 PM	#3
victus sports Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: King of Prussia Posts: 2,249 auto_collector_213	Wow. Why does this only have 1 comment in over a year and a half?! This seems like a major problem for a lot of people. I’ve seen this community crack more cases (no pun intended) of scamming and fraud than I ever thought possible. Just my 2 cents to keep this at the top of the page for a little.