eBay Idiot of the Week: Patch Faker of Epix Proportions
A friend of mine brought the following eBay Idiot to my attention. He suspected the seller was a “patch-faker", someone who purchases memorabilia cards and replaces the plain jersey swatches with multi-colored patches (usually cut from cheap, fake uniforms bought from overseas). The card in question is a Brett Favre dual game-used auto from 2010 Panini Epix. Being a skeptic, I went ahead and superimposed one image over the other to check for discrepancies between the two.
The result of my examination: The autographs and Panini holographic stickers line up perfectly. The chance of anyone writing the identical autograph twice out of a thousand tries is slim to none. Then when you combine that with an identical sticker drop with an identical angle, you end up with something that is a bit too hard to believe.
I am 99.99% positive that the seller is a fabricator of football cards. He purchased a nice card for $260, then substituted the jersey swatches for multi-colored patches and resold the card for $306.
Out of curiosity I looked at the rest of the seller's auctions and they all feature 3-4 color prime patches on cards that are unlikely to contain hearty patches. When a Panini card contains a thick, multi-colored patch and isn't a "prime" parallel, something fishy is afoot.
You can view this seller's other cards below and decide for yourself, but to me it just furthers the notion that there's usually an underlying reason a deal is too good to be true. When buying a big card, it's important to take the time to read a seller's feedback comments in addition to checking out their past and present auctions.
Past eBay Idiots of the Week:
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 2010 Panini Limited Football Hobby Box $84.20 |
