After nearly two weeks, eTopps cards are back on eBay. There was a communication issue since there is no ‘actual’ delivery of eTopps, and eBay is cracking down on the sale of non-tangible goods.
This move came just a day before the 2008 Football IPOs launched. Doesn’t it seem a bit fishy that it took two weeks to figure out a patch to the problem? It isn’t like eTopps is a new company, as they have been in partnership with eBay since 2000. One would think that there would be a more active line of communication between the two, but apparently not. AND, it gets even better. eTopps started a ‘partnership’ with CardTarget as of September 1st, but according to the CardTarget guys nothing has changed.

The reason why eTopps and CardTarget were going to link up was to give more “real time” price data, as well as secure card transfers after a rash of NPB filings on eBay causing artificial inflation on cards only to be dumped later on the Trade Post. Also, the Pump and Dump scheme with multiple account users was causing people to leave the platform. Market manipulation on eBay and eTopps is horrible, but with CardTarget in the loop it was going to make it harder for people to manipulate the prices.

So eTopps and eBay is no longer “buyer beware;” it has shifted to “seller beware.” Let me explain a bit. The new “patch” between eTopps and eBay is bad for the SELLER. ALL eTopps auctions now have $0.01 S/H. The problem with that is nothing is actually being delivered. eTopps still hasn’t put a program in place to add a tracking system with confirmation number for the seller once they ‘release’ a card for claim. This new patch will do nothing but cause problems as more buyers enter the market. The average card buyer may like the design of a card and think it’s a new set, then after 2-3 weeks when the card doesn’t arrive in the mail, file a PayPal claim. With the new shipping and handling charge they are suppose to deliver a product. It is hard to deliver an item that hasn’t been produced by eTopps yet, as the cards are printed at a later date and are available at IPO sometimes four months before actually being ready to be taken “in-hand.”

My advice is to refrain from selling any ‘in-port’ eTopps cards until this issue is resolved. Instead, use www.cardtarget.com to do your instant flipping. I can only see problems with the new quick fix. I wonder how many PayPal claims related to eTopps will be made before this gets fixed.

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