Zis time....itz personalll........ - Ranier Wolfcastle

[Gallinator]

A record of my eBay messaging with the seller:

(this morning)

Dear secondcitysignatures,

I'm glad you think destroying a rare card that many people would have been glad to have in their collection is a "fun" thing. What else do you do for fun - tear up stock certificates, use twenty-dollar bills to roll a cigarette? Or is your pleasure more derived from the sadistic side of it...you are a sick person either way.

If you've found the message board where we are discussing your actions, you should create an account and join in. Help us understand you. Or, if you really are just a petty, childish, selfish seller who threw a spiteful tantrum, don't bother.

Please forward this to eBay if you think it violates site usage - otherwise, have a terrible day, OK?

- gallinator

His response this afternoon:

Dear gallinator,

With all of your name calling, I feel as though I should join your forum. If I don't then I feel as though I wont be a man in your eyes.

If someone wanted this card in their collection they should have sent me a reasonable offer. Seeing that no one did that, I decided to do what I wanted to do with the card. I'm not into playing the wait and see game, or the relist at a lower price game, or the auction it off game. If you want something that is rare and nice make an attempt to get it. Don't play games.

As for the money, it didn't matter to me. The point I'm trying to make is don't put sellers in situations where they don't wish to sell anymore. I easily would have taken 70 if someone had offered it up. I also would have taken 199 if someone bought it at that. Its called the idea of making the most out of a sale.

The only thing someone had to do was make a reasonable offer.

I sincerely hope you have a great day. Name calling isn't nice.

- secondcitysignatures

and my rebuttal just now:

Dear secondcitysignatures, You're right - it's not nice to call people names and wish a terrible day upon them. It's also not nice to mutilate a collectible, something that really would have made someone's day to own, and shove it in their face to let them know that they'll never, ever get it. Don't you see that? By putting this card up at $199, which is roughly 3X-4X what you would expect the market price of such an item to be, you clearly discouraged those who would want it at $50-$60 from even making the offer. Why? Because there are sellers who would deride them for the "lowball" offer and even BLOCK them from bidding in fear of getting negged even if a deal was made. Yes, there are people out there who are that paranoid. So, most buyers don't even bother. They'll either move on or add the item to their Watch List to see if the seller ever comes down into a reasonable range. You waited a whole nine days before deciding to destroy the card? I've been watching some items for YEARS! My wife, who is a non-collector, agreed that your actions were essentially just a giant middle finger to the hockey card collecting community. Don't be surprised at the vitriol that is spewed in your direction. So, what are you going to do with the Rackell /5 you currently have listed at $199? This is a card that has a market value of roughly $40-$50 and I would be very surprised if either of the two offers you've had on the card exceed that range. Are you going to destroy that as well if no one makes a $70 offer? If you do, please keep it to yourself and don't torment us with its destruction. The Titanium Messier/Bure 11/25 won't even get an offer of $25, let alone $199! I expect to see that rendered down to its composite layers within another couple of weeks - or whenever you run out of meds again. Don't blame the market for putting "sellers in situations where they don't wish to sell anymore" - plenty of others will take your place! YOU are responsible for your own dissatisfaction. - gallinator

[87sluggo]

Ok, we've all had our say, and there's been some name-calling and calling out and I have tried to steer things towards a saner place, and I realize this is all on me for starting it in the first place but now it has to stop.

It was a hockey card. A reallllll nice hockey card of a player who I collect to the Nth degree. And I LOVE hockey cards. We ALL love our hockey cards. They keep us connected to ourselves and dis-connected from the real world. But that card is destroyed and the rest of the world is still here.

I gotta shut this down now before any of you take it upon yourselves to go to this poor schmucks house and slap him or something. Please. The Canucks won tonight!! Five goals and Kesler had 1 assist and 2 hits. He's not worth the hassle ok?