$7000+ eBay Scam, could hit all mailbox/vault services (COMC/SMC/PSA Fanatics Vault)

[BigAl83]

So first and foremost i would like to ask you guys to please accept my apology, because this could be a long read. But to anyone using mailbox/vault services, this SCAM that i have been confronted with might also hit you!

I will try and remove any names and personal information for anything i will be showing. And i want express that i am very gratefull for all the help COMC staff is providing me with!
As for the eBay staff, i am not blaming them for anything, they are just following company guidelines is my guess.

I feel like what i am about to share opens up any user of mailbox/vault services like COMC, Ship my Cards, PSA-eBay vault (funny how they don't respond to my question regarding their own 3rd party service) and Fanatics vault service to a scam where a different/worthless card is shipped in a package with tracking where the necessary username for these vault/mailbox services will deliberately be excluded in order to get the package lost within that specific mailbox/vault company and therefor failing to meet a 3-day return window with eBay.


Here is the full story:

So a few weeks ago i bought this 2004 Exquisite Michael Jordan jersey card /25. It is a card which features the green all-star jersey swatch from 1996, a long coveted dream of me to own a card with a piece of that green jersey.
So i was really stoked to finally purchasing one myself for what i thought was a very decent price $7200 including all taxes and shipping.


The package arrived at COMC on july 18th, but after a few days without receiving a confirmation mail with picture (not uncommon for COMC to take a few days), i messaged them if they can provide the details as nothing was showing up.
They provided this info and picture the next day and it felt like i was punched in my stomach when i saw what was in the package. Not the $7200 MJ Exquisite, but a Wilt Chamberlain Select base card /49 ($50 value).

This is the picture COMC provided me through their email response: (Please note that the white bar that is showing was done by me to remove any seller personal information)




I immediately contacted the seller and tried to get a return proces started, but because i was outside of the 3-day return window, the seller just automatically denied and closed the case without even replying.
If you look closely at the picture provided you can see that there is no username visible on the package, which is why COMC abviously could not get it processed quickly because they had no way to know who it was for!

I have had several messages back and forth with eBay, providing all information/background and proof that i gathered myself or through COMC's help, but to no avail as they are unwilling to provide any assistance. To me it is clear as day what has happened here, and they are knowingly and willingly providing a platform for this specific scam to happen, and hide behind a rule of a 3-day return window.

I will provide the detailed answers by eBay to my requests in a message below.

But with this message i would like to warn all of you to be extra cautious when buying high-end cards through eBay when using these mailbox/vault services. Let my loss at least help others from preventing to go through the same thing.

[BigAl83]

My initial ebay support request:
Sent:2025-07-27 12:18:10.0
Subject:Appeal the outcome of a case as a buyer
Enter your question / concern
I bought a Michael Jordan exquisite jersey card with ebay auction number 9410808106244023006439.

The seller has send me the wrong item and i started a return request. He also didn t use the full and correct adress, which meant i had to enquire myself within COMC to get them to find my package. Because of that, the 3 day return window expired and the seller denied my request.

This really feels like a deliberate act to send a wrong item and fail to use the complete adress so the package would get lost and i would miss my return request window.

It is a $7200 Michael Jordan Exquisite card i bought and instead i received a $50 Wilt Chamberlain Select card.

I have a picture of proof from COMC with accompanying message from *** from COMC (employee who has no benefit of showing a wrong card and also has no previous information of what should be in the package, so completely unbiased). The picture shows the wrong card that was in the package and also the incomplete adress on the package. The seller didn t include my COMC username which meant they had no way of knowing to who this package and contents belonged.

I would like to get a solution from the seller as to how to fix this, either a return acceptance of this wrongfully send card and refund, or receiving the card i bought in the first place.

I kindly ask for your assistance..

Best regards,
Daniel
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Van: customerhelp@ebay.com <customerhelp@ebay.com>
Verzonden: woensdag 30 juli 2025 11:03
Aan: hotmail.com <hotmail.com>
Onderwerp: Re: Appeal the outcome of a case as a buyer SR# 1-496447752605

Hello Daniel,


*** here from the high value claims team at eBay. Thank you for your reply.

I’m disappointed to see this transaction did not go to plan. Situations like this are rare and we can see your seller has not accepted your return request as it has fallen outside of the return window.

At this point it is best to communicate with your seller to see if this can be resolved as we cannot take any further action due to the return timeframes. We do expect your seller to communicate with you about this. I have left a link below for more information on return windows for trading cards. We are hopeful your seller will get this resolved for you.

https://www..ebay.com/help/policies/...docId=HELP1238

Warm Regards,
removed name

eBay High Value Claims
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Van: Daniel Daniel <hotmail.com>
Verzonden: woensdag 30 juli 2025 16:02
Aan: customerhelp@ebay.com <customerhelp@ebay.com>
Onderwerp: Re: Appeal the outcome of a case as a buyer SR# 1-496447752605

Hello ***,

Thanks so much for your extensive reply!

Honestly, i was expecting there is a little bit more that eBay can do to help assist me in getting this resolved. I have messaged the seller within a few hours after he declined the return request, which was sunday afternoon. It has almost been 3 days since, and i haven't gotten a single reply, not even a message to say he received it and will look into it. I'm being completely ignored.

I have also followed up with my contact over at COMC, and she has done an extensive investigation and no Michael Jordan Exquisite card has arrived or been added/misplaced to another account. The Wilt Chamberlain card i received has been confirmed by COMC was the card that was shipped, and not the $7200 Jordan Exquisite card i bought.

I can understand that there is a time frame of 3 days within you have to request a return, but next to shipping a wrong item, the seller also failed to use the correct adress. I have added a picture (provided by COMC) of the package and its contents.

It clearly shows this was the adress the seller used:
COMC.com Mailboxes C/O
6727 185th Ave NE
Redmond, WA 98052-5037
United States

But this is the adress that is listed with eBay and should have been used by the seller:
COMC.com Mailboxes C/O Flight23NL
6727 185th Ave NE
Redmond, WA 98052-5037
United States

The bold part is the username that was failed to be included, which resulted in the package not being able to get processed correctly and thus missing the 3-day return timeframe.

Sending a $50 value card instead of the $7200 card i bought, combined with the removal of the username on the package adressing (knowing this will result in the package being unidentifiable by COMC), feels like a deliberate act in order to scam me out of an enormous amount of money.

There is no incentive for the seller to reach out to me, since he has reached his goal of getting my money and declining a return request. So i have very little hope i will get a response and solution for this.

I have also included a print screen of the mail with the follow up that ***(Senior Technical Customer Support Agent at COMC) has done for me.

I really hope that will all this additional information i provided and picture proof by COMC.com, there is a lot more that eBay can do to help assist me.
I can't imagine that eBay would accept seller practices like this, and wants to be a facilitating platform for scams like this.

With kind regards,

Daniel
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Van: customerhelp@ebay.com <customerhelp@ebay.com>
Verzonden: woensdag 30 juli 2025 16:22
Aan: @hotmail.com <@hotmail.com>
Onderwerp: Re: Appeal the outcome of a case as a buyer SR# 1-496447752605

Hello Daniel,

This is *** from the eBay High Value Claims Team. Thank you for your email in relation to the return 5297316859 that you had open for the 2004 Extra Exquisite Collection Michael Jordan 1996 All Star Jersey BGS 9 (286685377291). I understand it is frustrating when a transaction does not go as anticipated.

Thank you for explaining what happened. I understand the situation you're in. Buying online is not always straightforward and I am happy to review this with you.

I can see that your seller's tracking showed delivery to your checkout address on July 18th and the return was only opened on July 26th, when this was opened it was outside the eBay Money Back Guarantee timeframes for opening a case for a trading card and this is why your seller had the option to decline the return.

I understand that your seller failed to provide the username which caused a delay with the card reaching you. In these cases however, if items are shipped on from the original location to another address, those items aren't eligible for the eBay Money Back Guarantee. This means that in this case even if you seller had put the username on the package, if you had the card shipped to you by this third party, you wouldn't be covered under the money back guarantee. You can read about this policy here:
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/e...#not-described

In this case as your seller declined the return due to the timeframe and the card has been shipped on from the original checkout address, we are unable to re-open this claim or force your seller to take the card back.

We can of course have the seller's account reviewed and you can also report them yourself here:
https://www.ebay.com/help/action?topicid=4022

I know this is not the resolution to this issue you were hoping to achieve, but I really appreciate your understanding.

Thank you for contacting eBay today.

Kind Regards,
***
eBay High Value Claims
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Van: Daniel Daniel <@hotmail.com>
Verzonden: woensdag 30 juli 2025 18:34
Aan: customerhelp@ebay.com <customerhelp@ebay.com>
Onderwerp: Re: Appeal the outcome of a case as a buyer SR# 1-496447752605

Hello ***,

Thanks for your quick reply!

If i understand you correctly this actually means it should still fall under the eBay money back guarantee. Because the item is still at the original location where it was shipped to, it is waiting for me to get a return adress to ship the item back from that original location at comc. No item has been forwarded or shipped anywhere else.

Can you please advise how i can now get this return request reactivated?

Kind regards,
Daniel
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Van: customerhelp@ebay.com <customerhelp@ebay.com>
Verzonden: woensdag 30 juli 2025 20:14
Aan: @hotmail.com <@hotmail.com>
Onderwerp: Re: Appeal the outcome of a case as a buyer SR# 1-496447752605

Hello Daniel,

Thank you for your response. My name is ***, with eBay's High Value Claims Team.

I understand there was a possible delay in receiving the package. Upon review, we see that the item was shipped to the correct address listed at checkout and was received at the correct address on July 18th. With that said, the return would have to be opened within 3 days of receipt of the item.

Which is why the appeal has been denied. I recommend looking into options outside of eBay for coverage or working with the seller regarding this transaction, as it is outside our eBay Money Back Guarantee.

As mentioned previously using a freight forwarder disqualifies your coverage with eBay, therefore, you may want to consider shipping to yourself directly.

Thank you again for contacting eBay and allowing me to resolve your questions.

Best Regards,

***
eBay's High Value Claims Team
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Van: Daniel Daniel <@hotmail.com>
Verzonden: woensdag 30 juli 2025 21:20
Aan: customerhelp@ebay.com <customerhelp@ebay.com>
Onderwerp: Re: Appeal the outcome of a case as a buyer SR# 1-496447752605

Hello ***,

COMC.com is not a freight forwarder, it is one of the industry leading card mailbox/vault services that tens of thousands (if not more) of eBay buyers use.
It is not any different from let's say the PSA vault service, which also has me ship cards to a 3rd party service. So just to get it clear, when i would ship to the PSA vault service, these same rules would apply?

I'm just left wondering what tracking numbers and the eBay buyer protection program are now worth. Because in this instance the seller didnt use the correct adress listed, but left out crucial information and therefor used an incomplete adress. It shouldn't matter if that's by accident or on purpose, but it definitely should also not mean that i as a buyer have to bear the consequences of a mistake made by the seller.

Lets take a very similar example and say for instance i live in an appartment block at number 18A which is clearly listed as my registered adress and the seller ships it to 18 without including the letter A. The postal worker takes a guess and drops it of at 18b because the adress is missing info. The tracking will show it's delivered and it was delivered at number 18, just not with the crucial sub letter. It could take days before you get the package from your neighbour (holidays etc.), and as a result missing the 3-day return window in almost all instances.

I should be protected by the eBay buyer protection if a seller makes such a big mistake especially when the seller also sends the wrong item. Two grave mistakes and the only reason eBay won't provide support is because it falls outside the 3-day return window (which is a direct result of a seller mistake)? If eBay doesn't protect buyers from such seller behaviour, what value does the eBay buyer protection program hold? If this is how the rules for the buyer protection are enforced, i feel like as a buyer i will literally be open to wild west situations when buying on the eBay platform, just hoping and praying the correct adress will be used and the seller shipping correct items as i will have no support if the seller uses these loopholes.

I sincerely hope eBay will reconsider their stance and provide me with the appropriate assistance to resolve this matter, when it couldn't be more clear that the seller has made some grave mistakes and unjustifiably gets to keep $7000+ of my hard earned money without having to make any effort to correct his mistakes and resolving the matter.

Kind regards,
Daniel
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________________________________________
Van: customerhelp@ebay.com <customerhelp@ebay.com>
Verzonden: woensdag 30 juli 2025 21:33
Aan: @hotmail.com <@hotmail.com>
Onderwerp: Re: Appeal the outcome of a case as a buyer SR# 1-496447752605

Hello Daniel,

I am *** with High Value Claims. Thanks for reaching out regarding the (). I am happy to assist you further. As a buyer myself of more than two decades, I can understand how disheartening it can be when a transaction does not go according to plan.

I understand the concerns you outlined in your response. Looking into this issue further, your seller used eBay Labels to print their label. I show the address printed to that label to be the following:

COMC.com Mailboxes C/O Flight23NL
6727 185th Ave NE
Redmond WA 98052-5037

This address comes directly from the information you have provided during your account registration. Should the seller alter any of that information, they are no longer eligible for seller protections and the system throws up a red banner warning should the seller make edits to the address. At this time, because your appeal was denied for being outside of the time frame, we won't be reversing that decision. Know that we consider this case resolved. We may not respond to any future messages concerning this case.

Daniel, we wish to thank you for twelve years of loyalty to eBay, and I am pleased I was able to resolve this issue for you today. Thanks for getting eBay involved.

Regards,

***
High Value Claims

[MavsRChamps]

Thanks for heads up & Ebay should figure out this somehow. I'm too tired to think how right now lol but there has to be a way to circumvent this. Seller also did not label package correctly with your name - But it seems there is seemingly no penalty for that which isn't right.

[BigAl83]

Yeah apparently there is no penalty for that.

I am currently trying to get a clearer/raw picture from COMC of the package coming in at them. The picture above was included in an email message and therefor a lot less clear.

The label was printed using eBay's automatic label generater, if the seller altered this label it would have drawn a red flag as one of the eBay employees mentioned.
This shows as to how deliberate this was and how far this person thought this through!

If you look closely enough, i believe you can see that he actually covered up my username on the package!
So he printed through eBay, drawing no attention from them and having proof that it all went through the eBay system, but then deliberately covering up the username to ensure it would get lost at COMC.

And that's my point, this could also happen at SMC, or any vault service that requires a username in order for the company you are using to process the package correctly.

That last audacious message though has me worked up the most. Trying to make it look like you are a collector like me, just to tell me thanks for all your business but we won't do jack for you. And ending it off with saying how happy he was to assist me in getting this resolved!?

[wilsonsingles]

time to get local and feds involved, as this is clearly mail fraud at a high level.

[imbluestreak23]

eBay should 100% be called out for that. That rep, their manager, their manager's director, all the way up to the CEO should split hell wide open for sucking at life.

I'd be pissed to no end

[eastbayak]

Sorry OP, what a stressful and crazy experience.

[mjohnatgt]

EBay is correct that any location/vault service you send to voids the ability to return the card. Why did the card not go through Authenticity Guarantee program?

[wilsonsingles]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

EBay is correct that any location/vault service you send to voids the ability to return the card. Why did the card not go through Authenticity Guarantee program?

that is the big question.

probably listed under non single card category to bypass auth. guarantee.

[kingofsnake]

Yes, covering up the user name on the shipping label was very devious.

I'm sorry this has happened to you. Thank you for sharing your experience however.

[RKH916]

Originally Posted by BigAl83

That last audacious message though has me worked up the most. Trying to make it look like you are a collector like me, just to tell me thanks for all your business but we won't do jack for you. And ending it off with saying how happy he was to assist me in getting this resolved!?

They read like automated messages to me, with a little bit of personalisation thrown in (not hard for AI to handle now).

Business of this size and volume must have means to communicate via phone.

[orion9578]

Did you pay with a credit card? I read through most of it but might have missed that part. If you did, file a chargeback with your credit card company for fraud. They should side with you.

What a ridiculous response from eBay, start to finish. Obvious fraud.

[MavsRChamps]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

EBay is correct that any location/vault service you send to voids the ability to return the card. Why did the card not go through Authenticity Guarantee program?

Why is that? I genuinely don't understand why it would void the ability to return a card if there is clear signs of Idk ... the seller not even sending the card?

At some point some human in Ebay has to use common sense - COMC or Fanatics is not going to ruin their whole reputation for 1 customer and lie about a package not having a correct card, AND collude with a specific buyer for all this all to paint 1 specific seller in a bad light. Use common sense Ebay.

[boxbuster7]

this is some high level stuff

so just to confirm the seller is the one pulling off this scam?

[3124508 on COMC]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

EBay is correct that any location/vault service you send to voids the ability to return the card. Why did the card not go through Authenticity Guarantee program?

Because the word “collection” is in the title.

[mjohnatgt]

Ah, yep. And it voids the return policy because it's eBay's policy. You have to follow their rules when you buy/sell on site.

[boxbuster7]

why would the word collection void a return?

What a stupid policy that makes sense ebay would implement

[auctionjmm]

Didn't take me long to cross reference your listing and find this guy's name, address, DOB, and IG account. 100% positive feedback and seems to sell a lot of high-end cards and bullion.

I think at this point you would also have to consider if the theft happened in transit. A USPS employee or even someone at COMC could have put the sticker over the address and swiped it out. I suppose there is a first time for everything, but an 18-year eBay account with great feedback and a guy that is clearly not hiding from the internet and actively posting on IG using his real name would really have me wondering about those other possibilities.

I will say, it is odd he won't at least respond to your message, but if the card truly was stolen in transit, he may think you are the scammer and deciding to ignore you.

I'm really sorry this happened. If you decide to contact law enforcement, just consider this scam could have occurred in any one of these 3 locations. Wouldn't be the first time a USPS employee was stealing near a popular shipping destination for collectibles.

[mjohnatgt]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

why would the word collection void a return?

It voids the Authenticity Guarantee, not the return. I was responding to multiple posts without quoting them, my bad.

Mailing to a non-home address voids the return, based on eBay policy, because the 3rd party could be the culprit. That has been their policy for decades.

[RKH916]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

Didn't take me long to cross reference your listing and find this guy's name, address, DOB, and IG account. 100% positive feedback and seems to sell a lot of high-end cards and bullion.

I think at this point you would also have to consider if the theft happened in transit. A USPS employee or even someone at COMC could have put the sticker over the address and swiped it out. I suppose there is a first time for everything, but an 18-year eBay account with great feedback and a guy that is clearly not hiding from the internet and actively posting on IG using his real name would really have me wondering about those other possibilities.

I will say, it is odd he won't at least respond to your message, but if the card truly was stolen in transit, he may think you are the scammer and deciding to ignore you.

I'm really sorry this happened. If you decide to contact law enforcement, just consider this scam could have occurred in any one of these 3 locations. Wouldn't be the first time a USPS employee was stealing near a popular shipping destination for collectibles.

This is a very valid point. I think there is more to it here than meets the eye.

[aschade]

eBay just sucks.

I just had a case ruled against me for a sale of a bobblehead that was sent and delivered July 18th. Tracking shows clearly delivered, plus I do not accept returns. Even as a Top Seller they refunded the payment, plus I have to still pay the transaction fees.

Does anyone know when paying transaction fees on a return started? I feel this is new. I am now out additional ebay fees and the shipping cost. Doesn't make sense why I should be penalized $20+ and I no longer have the item. Seems like a scam to me especially when they have tracking that showed I did nothing wrong.

Your situation just sucks the seller 100% knew what they were doing. You need to call your cc company and talk to someone with ebay over the phone. No reason that wasn't sent to the authentication service.

[Ericc5Bears]

Worth noting that on his most recent instagram post someone commented 177 weeks ago saying check dm please, then 136 weeks ago the same person commented "SCAMMER." Seems pretty clear they negotiated some kind of deal and then he scammed him in some way. So even though as others have pointed out he does have a good amount of positive feedback on higher end transactions he may look for specific opportunities to scam.

[ninjacookies]

Seems Ebay's really sticking to the 'outside the 3 day return window' clause on this one. Are we absolutely, 100% sure the outcome would have been the same if the buyer had opened his claim within the allotted timeframe? Feels like Ebay's basically unwilling to listen to the particulars of your case because you waited a tad bit too long.

I'd be interested to know if there were similar cases with the same outcome that were filed within the 72 hour deadline.

In any case, this really sucks. And that's why I never used 3rd parties to facilitate high end transactions, even though they should technically be safe. That extra layer of handling doesn't wear well on my nerves.

[PuddleMonkey]

If you guys feel safer sending me your high end card purchases I am willing to accept them.

[blackvodka]

Buying high-end has just become way too risky. I try and avoid cards over $750 simply because I got into this hobby to enjoy it, not be miserable.

That authenticity guarantee in my opinion was implemented so sellers could just send it there to try and limit this garbage from both sides.

Personally, I think it's wild to list a 7k card and then throw in a $40 card into the mail, but here we are.

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