[SiriFiina]

Just a general question on your level of trust when buying online from a vendor selling vending boxes that they have not been searched. I am not accusing anyone of anything, but I wonder who you can trust.

For example, a 1985 Fleer Baseball vending box for sale on ebay. It is listed for $12.50 plus shipping. Scam or good deal?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281956670033?_tr...EBIDX%3AIT

I have been a wax box buyer my whole life, mostly for building a collection of stars from that year, not to build complete sets. What are the disadvantages of buying a vending box when looking for stars, vs traditional wax or cello packs?

Thanks!

[Hofcollector]

I bought a bunch of early to mid 80's vending boxes last year supposedly unopened. When I opened them all the major stars were gone, almost all cards were damaged significantly and a few of them contained cards from different years. The seller took them all back which leads me to believe he didn't know but I wont ever buy any again.

[rjcj2017]

I'd say you're covered by eBay if it's a scam, but it would also be hard to prove that you didn't take out the good cards (Clemens, Puckett) either.

Is it sealed by any chance?

Not that they couldn't re-shrink wrap something that old, but if it's not sealed I would stay away.

Then again, it's only $12.50, might as well try one. If you pull the right cards and are happy with it, you can always order more if the same dealer has them.

[djohn]

First off it's not $12.50, it is an auction with the current bid of $12.50. When you factor in shipping the total cost is currently $20.50. There are still about 4 days left in the auction so the price could change again if someone bids.
That being said, the purchase of single vending boxes has a lot to do with trust. The seller appears to have good feedback, so it's unlikely he is trying to scam. The real question would be whether he got the boxes from a sealed case or just picked up a bunch of vending boxes from someone and is now selling them on eBay. Personally I steer clear of vending boxes unless I know they came straight from a sealed case. It is way too easy for someone to claim that they are unsearched, but for someone to have carefully gone through and replaced the big rookies with commons. In fact if they don't come from a sealed case it's possible that they changed hands a number of times, and it only takes one owner to have pulled the good stuff to make the box a dud and the current owner might not have a clue that at some point in the past it was searched.

[Hofcollector]

First off it's not $12.50, it is an auction with the current bid of $12.50. When you factor in shipping the total cost is currently $20.50. There are still about 4 days left in the auction so the price could change again if someone bids.
That being said, the purchase of single vending boxes has a lot to do with trust. The seller appears to have good feedback, so it's unlikely he is trying to scam. The real question would be whether he got the boxes from a sealed case or just picked up a bunch of vending boxes from someone and is now selling them on eBay. Personally I steer clear of vending boxes unless I know they came straight from a sealed case. It is way too easy for someone to claim that they are unsearched, but for someone to have carefully gone through and replaced the big rookies with commons. In fact if they don't come from a sealed case it's possible that they changed hands a number of times, and it only takes one owner to have pulled the good stuff to make the box a dud and the current owner might not have a clue that at some point in the past it was searched.

+1

[pjrussell529]

The pro to buying a vending box is no wax or gum stains. I've bought a few vending boxes from Baseball card exchange and been very happy. The con is you may not get a Puckett or Clemens or you may get 2. But you should get some stars and top rookies. They also do not come sealed.

I know with topps you can tell fairly easy if they have been tampered with because you see a pattern as soon as you open it. I've never opened Fleer so I'm not sure if they have a pattern. But almost anything can be tampered with. The seller has some Topps vending and you see the pattern however the cards on top of the row with the Fleer make me somewhat leery.

I would say be very cautious and if you bid and win, video tape the opening of it. All just my opinion.

[rjcj2017]

First off it's not $12.50, it is an auction with the current bid of $12.50. When you factor in shipping the total cost is currently $20.50. There are still about 4 days left in the auction so the price could change again if someone bids.
That being said, the purchase of single vending boxes has a lot to do with trust. The seller appears to have good feedback, so it's unlikely he is trying to scam. The real question would be whether he got the boxes from a sealed case or just picked up a bunch of vending boxes from someone and is now selling them on eBay. Personally I steer clear of vending boxes unless I know they came straight from a sealed case. It is way too easy for someone to claim that they are unsearched, but for someone to have carefully gone through and replaced the big rookies with commons. In fact if they don't come from a sealed case it's possible that they changed hands a number of times, and it only takes one owner to have pulled the good stuff to make the box a dud and the current owner might not have a clue that at some point in the past it was searched.

Sorry, I looked at this part of the post ... "It is listed for $12.50 plus shipping."

I didn't click on the link.

Yeah, $20 something with 4 days left, that would be too much for me to take a risk on.

You're always free to email the seller with specific questions, like the ones mentioned above. Hopefully he'll tell you the truth about the origin and then you can decide for yourself.

If you decide to go for it, do a box break post and let us know how it went.

[SiriFiina]

Thanks for the responses. It was about what I suspected, but it is nice to hear it from the collector community. I may take a flier on it and see what happens. A wax box of 1985 Fleer Baseball can go for $100+, so if I get this for under $50 and pull a few stars then maybe it was worth it.

The other thing that I heard from a few places was that there is so much at risk for negative feedback on ebay and so little to gain (its not like this is 86 topps football or anything) that "most" sellers that have lots of transactions on ebay don't take risks with searching the boxes.

The upside is that I get every star card >$1 and can but the Pucket and Clemens cards separately and still end up ahead vs a wax box.

[djohn]

The upside is that I get every star card >$1 and can but the Pucket and Clemens cards separately and still end up ahead vs a wax box.

Before you consider dropping $50 on a vending box, you might want to check to see what 1985 Fleer sets are going for. Last I checked they were selling for $25-$50 on eBay. Buying one of those would guarantee you get all the cards including the Puckett and Clemens.

[cspen]

When McGwire was hot I bought a few 1985 Topps vending boxes. The first one got me two McGwire rc's. The next one got me zero and the third one got me one. Also the way I understand it, at least for Topps, they were never wrapped. So I guess that makes it easier to tamper with them. I bought all of mine from cards shops so I figured I was good.