r/SportsCardTracker

u/Interesting_Wish_693 posted about a non-traditional trade. They would trade a card in exchange for you using their referral code for fanatics sportsbook. Well, I bit and as you can guess from the negative review that they didn't hold up their end of the bargain. Oh well, I guess it really wasn't a big lost for me but it still sucks when you deal with dishonest people like that. Their posts below, you can see me trying to follow-up in the thread and I also did through DMs. Crickets.

Note to mods, even though I didn't give a card or money directly to them, it was still something of value. Plus, I paid $20 on a bet as required for the referral. If this is in violation of the sub, feel free to remove.

Ohtani Giveaway : r/sportscards

Bought Misiorowski 1st chrome auto for $275. Label printed immediately, never dropped off at UPS. Contacted seller a week later and said he went to the UPS store and they were "just picked up" that day. Nothing has ever shown to be scanned in at UPS. I was refunded but others have said they were not. :-(

Many of you saw (and commented on) my recent post about my grail card (3rd photo pictured). For a brief moment, I thought I had finally hit the jackpot.

A guy DM’d me with a photo of the card—complete with a coin showing ownership. Looking back, I’m not sure if he took the photo from someone else’s page or what, but because it was my grail card, I got excited. When he accepted my offer of $350, I should’ve recognized that as the first red flag. Raw copies have been selling for $750+.

The buying process started on June 16, and as of today (June 22), I’ve got nothing. He sent me a UPS tracking number, but it still shows “Label Created” and hasn’t moved since. There were several other warning signs along the way that should have alerted me, but I ignored them because I was focused on finally getting my grail card at what I thought was a reasonable price.
I submitted a claim through Venmo, and thankfully it was approved.

Even after getting back into buying and selling a few years ago, I’m apparently still learning lessons the hard way. Don’t worry—I’ve already kicked myself plenty over this mistake. One positive takeaway is that choosing the right payment method matters. Using Goods & Services (or Merchandise Purchases) protection likely saved me from being completely out the money.

I let my excitement and emotions about the opportunity override my better judgment. Hopefully sharing this helps someone else avoid making the same mistake.

On June 9, I purchased roughly $1,100 worth of cards from u/Breezybeagle, including PSA 10s of Elly De La Cruz, Jackson Chourio, Gunnar Henderson, and a Paul Skenes auto.

I initially sent $505 via Venmo. When we expanded the deal, I attempted to send another $600, but Venmo placed a hold on the transaction. The seller then asked me to send the remaining payment to his wife’s Venmo account instead. I have screenshots documenting this.

The seller provided a photo of the package and a tracking number. However, the tracking has never progressed beyond the initial drop-off scan and has shown no movement since June 9.

After the package failed to move, the seller repeatedly offered to refund me and stated he would send the refund. He never did. He has not responded to my messages since June 19.

I have since contacted multiple buyers who purchased cards from him around the same time. None have received their cards. One buyer told me he eventually received a refund, but I have not.

What’s confusing is that this is a 12-year-old Reddit account with nearly 50 positive feedback ratings and no prior negatives that I’m aware of.

I’m posting this both to warn others and to ask for advice. I have purchase protection on the $600 payment, but unfortunately the original $505 payment was sent without purchase protection.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation, and what are my chances of recovering the unprotected portion?

Fun mystery pack. Good price and shipped same day as order. Would get again!