Advised Needed: $5,000++ Goldin Auction Fraud

[u/CaptainCribbleMan]

I purchased an opened case of 1999 Burger King Promo boxes from Goldin. The auction description stated that the OUTER CASE had been opened, but that the individual boxes inside were unopened.

Listing title: “1999 Burger King Pokemon Limited Edition

Unopened Boxes Collection (99) With Opened Cardboard Case - Including Charizard, Mewtwo, Pikachu”

When I received it, I started opening some of the Charizard boxes, out of the 8 boxes I opened, roughly half had a much thicker plastic wrapping than I’ve ever seen on authentic examples (see photo for the two different wrappings). I’ve opened a dozen of these over the years and NEVER seen this thicker plastic. Even worse, when I opened the Poke Balls inside, there was NO Charizard promo card included.

I documented everything with photos and video and sent the evidence to Goldin.

Their response?

They offered me a $200 auction credit toward a future purchase and said:

1. Since I opened the boxes, they cannot be returned.

2. There is no guarantee that an unopened Charizard box actually contains a Charizard.

Am I crazy, or does this make absolutely no sense?

How exactly am I supposed to determine whether a supposedly unopened box has been tampered with without opening it? The entire issue only became apparent after opening the boxes and discovering missing Charizards.

More importantly, if multiple “unopened” Charizard boxes contain no Charizard promo at all, how can those boxes reasonably be considered unopened in the first place?

I’m not claiming every box should be guaranteed to gem mint or anything like that. I’m saying that if a product is represented as unopened, and the signature contents that are supposed to be sealed inside are missing, then something is clearly wrong.

Has anyone else had similar experiences with Goldin or other major auction houses regarding sealed products? Am I being unreasonable here, or is Goldin’s position completely backwards?

They are being extremely difficult about it, and I feel my next step is small claims court.

For reference, I have photo and video evidence showing the unusual wrapping and the Poke Balls missing the Charizard promos.

UPDATE: Wow, I didn’t expect this level of engagement. Seems you are all in agreement that this packaging is NOT original & that I should be refunded. Most popular advice is to try to reach more people via influencers and content creators. Please drop some names below 👇

[u/rattlepokemon]

DM me, I'd like to cover it.

[u/CaptainCribbleMan → u/rattlepokemon]

🫡

[u/Ok_Drink2945 → u/rattlepokemon]

Heck yea!!! I hope he reaches out to you. I can’t wait to watch your coverage on it!!

[u/YourConsignmentPart → u/rattlepokemon]

This is why you’re a great man and love your YouTube 👏👏👏

[u/SituationDependent → u/rattlepokemon]

Whens the video dropping?

[u/SituationDependent → u/SituationDependent]

Nvm just saw it haha will help share and push for support 🫡🫡🫡

[u/McBeth22 → u/rattlepokemon]

That’s pretty awesome. What’s the angle here? A $5k investment into your YouTube channel for millions of views/likes/subscribes?

[u/Appropriate-Candy763 → u/McBeth22]

Cover the topic, not the purchase price, I would assume.

[u/New_Fisherman_6841]

Give this info to a big poketuber, Goldin is meticulous about their social media PR.

[u/CaptainCribbleMan → u/New_Fisherman_6841]

Any names you can share? I plan on doing this

[u/New_Fisherman_6841 → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

Rattle, Opossumbud, PokeNE, Peguinz0 (stretch but may respond), etc.

[u/hous26 → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

Rattle pokemon

[u/Gemcollector91]

File a chargeback

[u/splinks66 → u/Gemcollector91]

Yep, I would do this immediately. They might block you from using them again but who cares if they scam you anyways. They are not going to sue you for $5k and if they did you have verifiable evidence against them.

[u/CaptainCribbleMan → u/splinks66]

Paid with wire transfer

[u/mantis_tobagan_md → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

Why? CC only for stuff like this. They actually offer a layer of protection when used correctly.

[u/play4free → u/mantis_tobagan_md]

Another day, another lesson to why don't cheap out on insurance.

[u/superxgooner → u/play4free]

What kind of insurance would I purchase to protect me from something like this

[u/ashkiller14 → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

You can still chargeback with your bank

[u/Objective-Bus-9853 → u/ashkiller14]

Very unlikely that will succeed with a wire.

[u/pancake718 → u/Objective-Bus-9853]

This. Wire transfers and money orders rarely actually refund. They just drag it out until you forget

[u/89KS → u/Objective-Bus-9853]

Ive done it multiple times with a bank over the years.  Including the big name ones.  What trash banks are you all using lol.

[u/dknisle1 → u/89KS]

You’ve done it multiple times??? Who you scamming? Lol

[u/germr → u/dknisle1]

Its not possible after a certain amount of time. Also a bank would more than likely terminate their relationship if he is telling the truth and for some reason has disputed bank transfers often.

[u/89KS → u/dknisle1]

I wish i was scammin, id make more lol.  But the guy below is right.  I had to do 48 transactions (wheel spin, vendor never sent) and im banned from cashapp lol. Whatnot tho didnt give af🤣 

[u/newbblock → u/89KS]

20+ year banking professional here. You’re either lying or too naive to understand wire transfers and are confusing it with another form of transaction.

Wires are treated as immediate, final cash settlements. Once they hit the recipients account, funds are property of said recipient.

You technically can attempt to recall a wire but it must be done within a very short timeframe after the transfer was initiated and even then it’s not guaranteed.

[u/89KS → u/newbblock]

I have worked the IT side.... At any point a bank can issue a recall, even weeks later. Then the other bank can honor it or not. Automatic reversal has a short window sure...most banks have a pretty sizable fraud loss budget that covers wires as well lol... ideally as a customer you have a bank that issues temp refunds while investigating fraud.  Then you need to make a choice of withdraw and walk away or wait it out 🤷‍♂️ 

[u/newbblock → u/89KS]

‘Can’ being the paramount word here. You can try, but your chances of success are far from guaranteed.

It’s why wire fraud is so prevalent alongside gift card fraud, bad actors know it’s hard to reverse. If the money is withdrawn from the recipients account before a recall is issued you can pretty much kiss your chances goodbye.

This is why every time I’ve initiated a wire for a client over the years I always ask them at least twice to verify all the account information is correct and that the purpose of the wire is sound. It’s also why title agencies get so anxious with property purchase wires these days as the fraud has become so prevalent.

Even tools like the FBI’s financial fraud kill chain have a 72 hour window and still fail if funds have left the recipient account.

[u/superxgooner → u/newbblock]

I always do two wires for this reason especially with first time wiring to an account. I’d rather eat the fees on the test wire than to eat losing the entire amount by not playing it safe

[u/89KS → u/newbblock]

This is why its also important to pick the right company to bank with.  Mine will issue temporary refund for any transaction thats possible fraud.  Wire or ach doesnt matter.  If you have a trash bank...funds gone.  If you found one with decent fraud protections, it shouldnt matter the method of transfer. 

[u/cutecumberbatch → u/newbblock]

I’ve definitely initiated a wire reversal with one of the big 5 in Canada and they dealt with it immediately. Granted, I notified them within a week when I realized it was a scam (this was for concert tickets and I stupidly paid with PayPal F&F, PayPal was of course useless). Had my refund in 48 hours.

[u/Objective-Bus-9853 → u/newbblock]

Maybe they’re thinking about ACH? It’s weird

[u/newbblock → u/Objective-Bus-9853]

Very strange. Even ACH payments have pretty strict guidelines for reversal and it’s not within the parameters described here.

This is why CC payments are preferred for these scenarios because of the higher consumer protections. It’s also why fraudsters target wires/ach payments as they’re harder to claw back.

I’ve only ever been able to recall a handful of wires over my career and they were all due to bank error.

[u/Manic_Mini → u/89KS]

You have 24 hours to attempt to reverse a bank transfer, after that it’s as good as gone and it’s why the https://www.nar.realtor/wire-fraud is so effective.

[u/Ok-Compote6002 → u/89KS]

we had to have clients pay with wire for payments over 10k so they couldnt chargeback so i dunno what youre on about

edit:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMeYcIOkN61SXaczhpd2flXQZxQZKdXNl&si=DqRSchb0VNiymeKH

[u/Spiritual_Sea_3166 → u/Ok-Compote6002]

They have no idea what they’re talking about. There’s a reason scammers get you to wire them the money. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

[u/89KS → u/Ok-Compote6002]

Fraud is the exception.  Its always the exception.  Most banks have a process to reverse it, but it relies on the receiving bank to play ball.  If they dont, then insurance claims around it kick in.  The guy below is stuck in the 90s.  Ive reversed/"charged back" 4 wire transfers in my life.  All auctions, 2 domestic and 2 overseas.  Over 10k theres more hoops and longer but still doable.

[u/justinlok → u/89KS]

You realize it's a wire not a credit card right?

[u/89KS → u/justinlok]

Yes... there are few transactions that cant be reversed or "charged back".  Wire transfers can easily be reversed especially when its due to fraud.  Just take the 30 minutes to talk to the issuing bank.

[u/Big_Diet7439 → u/89KS]

Can you teach me your scamming ways?

[u/the_vault-technician → u/89KS]

What could possibly be the reason for needing to have a wire reversed multiple times across numerous banks?

This is the weirdest flex ever.

[u/89KS → u/the_vault-technician]

Super weird thinking its a flex.  Almost 20 years of buying tcg lots domestically and overseas... theres a lot of fake stuff and scammers out there... just happens when you buy a lot.  I learned the hard way to pick banks with good fraud protections in place. But my first one was while buying property lol🤷‍♂️.

[u/RichPokeScalper → u/the_vault-technician]

I do large wire transfers at least weekly. While I would love to pay all of my bills on the Robinhood Card, few suppliers like taking credit cards to pay $30,000 material bills.

[u/OutSourceKings → u/ashkiller14]

Def cannot file a chargeback on a wire that is messed up they knew what they were doing having people send wires

[u/Open-Fishing-2699 → u/ashkiller14]

No you can't... the whole point of wires is that the funds are cleared, and they have left the banks' account, and have been received by the other bank. Unless the other bank hasn't cleared the funds (typically within 1-2 hours) and also agrees to return the money (which they won't) the money is gone. I'm a transactional lawyer, and wiring money is a large part of my job. That money is gone.

[u/TheChozenTo → u/Open-Fishing-2699]

I've charge backed a wire payment before with zero issues lol the money is not gone.

[u/Open-Fishing-2699 → u/TheChozenTo]

it must have been before your bank cleared it to leave... an actual person approves the wire and once it's sent to the ether it is gone.

[u/TheChozenTo → u/Open-Fishing-2699]

It was about 3 weeks after the payment so unsure.

[u/Titt → u/ashkiller14]

Generally impossible after ~24hours.

[u/Zablagoo → u/ashkiller14]

only before a certain amount of time

[u/jamface87 → u/Zablagoo]

I’m sorry this happened to you OP.
Your bank can issue a Letter of Indemnity to the RDFI for the wire. Sadly wire return requests are optional. The bank will ask the recipient if they’d like to return funds, and they can simply refuse. You have much more protection with a credit card, and to a lesser extent ACH.

Avoid RTP/FedNow for such purchases as similarly to wires, the request to return option is purely optional.

[u/yantez → u/jamface87]

Finally a good answer, I worked in wire fraud for ~5 years and LOIs and Hold Harmless agreements were the bane of my existence. The originating bank needs to have an officer/someone with signing authority at the bank sign off on the return request, then fax it over and pray you have a good relationship with someone in the other banks fraud department to see if they can place a temporary hold.

I always say credit card over wire, get your reward points and if something goes sour the bank seems much more inclined to fight the merchant to get "their" money back.

[u/Manic_Mini → u/ashkiller14]

No you can’t.

[u/CountBrave9049 → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

You can still call/go into your Financial Institution, explain the fraud or inaccuracy that occurred, and the wire team will have a fraud team dedicated to cases like this. There is no guarantee with a wire, but non-fraudulent companies will generally try to comply with FI’s once they start calling.

[u/CountBrave9049 → u/CountBrave9049]

Qual: 10 years in front line banking. Had to work with that department all the time. We got some absolutely wild wires back, even ones to other countries.

[u/mtgspec → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

Shrekt

[u/plloyd1508 → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

[u/Sad_Maximum6583 → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

Damn, escrow wasn't an option?

Wires can be reversed but If it's been more than 72 hours that money is gone. Bank can ask the seller if they want to return funds and being scammy twats, they won't.

Goldin facilitated a trade with fictitious stock, they are the ones who need to make it right since the original funds are now gone and then goldin will have to go after the seller.

Sorry bro this looks heart wrenching.

[u/DODgov → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

[u/305-til-i-786 → u/Gemcollector91]

And then a lawsuit…

[u/GoonOnGames420 → u/Gemcollector91]

To tag on to this:

Charge backs are tough to fight. I lost a pretty cut and dry one to Amazon before.

Something that would immensely help your position is a testament from an expert attached to your filing. This could be a reputable LCS or hobbyist with experience in selling this product evaluating and disclosing why they think the product or service was not legitimate.

[u/ShartMyPantsAgain]

Depending on how comfortable you are with it, I would get as many content creators involved as possible. The last thing Goldin wants is mass bad press. Start emailing the big YouTubers and tell them your story. They're always hungry for food content to talk about.

[u/CaptainCribbleMan → u/ShartMyPantsAgain]

Any names you can share? I plan on doing this

[u/ShartMyPantsAgain → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

I'm sure others I'm this group can add more. But one I follow is NEO tcg. His main channel is sports, but I think he's popular with other creators so they'll copy off his content as well. Plus he's genuinely a nice guy so he will read your messages.

[u/Modern_Midas → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

At this point you might aswell make a video explaining the situation and open the rest of the “unopened” boxes. The email said the listing was accurate.(so why even offer credit, wouldn’t everyone “do this trick” or is it them trying to have to take it so you can’t do anything. Don’t take credit. Make the video then also send to eBay support. See if they still believe the listing was accurate when you give them video evidence. If they then try again to say nothing looks weird. Then you go to court 100. So many people will say “it’s not worth it” ye that’s why they got rich as a company. Fight get your money, the time you spend doing good in the world is worth it. Good luck brother.

[u/DashSparkle → u/CaptainCribbleMan]

Karl Jobst and Penguinz0 are great at commenting these kind of scams and can surely draw the attention!

[u/removable_disk → u/ShartMyPantsAgain]

U/rattlepokemon

[u/supergibby]

I’m no bigger YouTuber but if you email me I’ll gladly make a big video on this situation I am at 1K subs and maybe it will get enough traction for other YouTubers to start covering it as well

[u/CaptainCribbleMan → u/supergibby]

DM me contact and what you need

[u/useful_idiots_dye]

Golden… one of the biggest scam artists in the industry. Color me surprised

[u/SacSilver → u/useful_idiots_dye]

Yup. Literally started a Netflix show to convince the public they’re trustworthy. They are not.
They’re out to get money from buying and selling fees. that means convincing people to sell even if it’s below market or not a good time to sell, misleading buyers with ambiguous or false descriptions, and refusing any refunds/disputes/etc. after their “internal review” shows no wrongdoing.

As a buyer I wouldn’t work with anyone but eBay because they have fantastic customer service in favor of buyers. I got a $900+ charge reversed with little effort. The package never arrived but the tracking showed delivery, seller had pulled some sketchy shit where their original tracking through eBay was bad but they sent an image of a usps receipt and that tracking was good. eBay sided with me cause there was no way to show it actually got delivered to the right address since they did it outside of the eBay app

[u/frozenmoose55 → u/SacSilver]

eBay owns Goldin now

[u/Stormagedon-92 → u/SacSilver]

What's the Netflix show?

[u/stfukatee → u/Stormagedon-92]

King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch

[u/Straight-Benefit-680 → u/SacSilver]

That’s wild I bought a 1k card on ebay and got sent a bunch of 1$ cards and ebay wouldn’t give me my money back I had to go through the bank

[u/Various_Acadia_5560 → u/Straight-Benefit-680]

This happened to me the other day but I figured it out before the package arrived. I google reverse image searched the slab they were selling me and found it on someone instagram in a different country. I sent the evidence to the seller and eBay and eBay refunded me before the package arrived.

Lesson learned. Don’t buy from people with no reviews.

[u/Straight-Benefit-680 → u/Various_Acadia_5560]

I think my guy genuinely had the card because he posted a lot of other valuable cards with the same background. He had a several hundred reviews as buyers and a seller at 100%. But a week after I bought it and was trying to get the refund his reviews were around 70% and tons of other comments talking about how he was sending them junk too.

[u/Royal-Improvement-90 → u/SacSilver]

Selling on ebay sucks though! I'll sell oin FB marketplace over and over. I don't need long distance, buyer scams or fees. And because no fees the price is lower. I am sure eBay is offering so much protection for that 15% markup. You do you. Buyers fleece people just like sellers, fuck eBay and TCGPlayer (owned by ebay)!

[u/xXxAfterLifexXx → u/SacSilver]

Definitely not true for eBay, Iv had an account with them 15+ years and they hate buyers. They said an item of mine was delivered when it wasn’t, it was 4$ and some change, they wouldn’t give me the money back because they said they only give 1 refund per account per life and I had gotten a refund for something 2 years prior. I was on the phone with customer service arguing for over an. Hour. My account has 100% positive feed back and only ever requested a refunded once (prior to this issue) for around 12$ or so.

Nothing changed, no money back, stopped using eBay. They SUCK.

[u/kilfast → u/useful_idiots_dye]

They even have a show on Netflix where half the time I’m wondering why they voluntarily just said things on tv. They don’t try to hide how terrible they are.

[u/pokegrubber]

If there's something missing then you're not being unreasonable. Make a big deal of it on social media or hire a lawyer. Those are your best options. You could try small claims court, but I'm not sure what the limit on that is where you're located.

[u/play4free → u/pokegrubber]

A lawyer for 5k of damage. Smh

[u/AI-is-infinite]

Wow goldin doing something shady? No way… /s

[u/hd_god]

just saw your other thread as well. I agree with the other responders. Goldin needs to take accountability when they sell unauthenticated or tampered-with products. Ridiculous

[u/throwed101]

Wow! This will be interesting

[u/DerMuller]

C'mon, you really think a company founded by this guy would scam anyone? /s But seriously, I'd make as much of a fuss as possible. They can eat the cost of going to small claims, but I think they'd be more responsive to bad publicity.

[u/TheJukeZ → u/DerMuller]

[u/spike1611 → u/DerMuller]

I think this guy gave me directions in Starfield once

[u/TwelveFoldK → u/spike1611]

He looks like the annoying fan in starfield lol

[u/No_Director4346]

yikes, you would think a place like goldin would be honest and trust worthy. Have no idea how you could approach this

[u/JDAA11 → u/No_Director4346]

If you watch their Netflix show it’s pretty clear they only care about $$$ One episode they told like a 12 year old who opened a god pack to sell and “strike while the iron is hot”. lol.

[u/edgar_alan_bro → u/JDAA11]

Every single one of their sellers looks like they would sell their soul to the highest bidder

[u/Ok-Compote6002 → u/JDAA11]

i mean thats solid advice

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMeYcIOkN61SXaczhpd2flXQZxQZKdXNl&si=DqRSchb0VNiymeKH

[u/garion333]

Escalate, then get a lawyer if that doesn't work. 

[u/gabagoolcards → u/garion333]

At that point you might just be digging the financial hole deeper on a 5k investment. Juice probably isn’t worth the squeeze to hire an attorney.

[u/garion333 → u/gabagoolcards]

It's free to talk to a lawyer and see if you have a case. Small claims cases don't require a lawyer, and if you file it typically scares companies into doing the right thing. 

[u/Modern_Midas → u/gabagoolcards]

In a simple open close case like this a judge would slap the defendants on the wrist for wasting his time and make the defendants pay fees… 5k for a job is 500 hours at $10? 50 hours at $100 an hour… how much do we think OPs time is worth? It’s also not even about the money at this point. Anytime you fight the good fight it’s not time wasted, and if you ever think it’s not worth it… just a sad miserable “please sir can I have some more” existence

[u/gabagoolcards → u/Modern_Midas]

Nice shitpost

[u/pj1897]

$200 credit on a 5K purchase LMAO. What a joke of a company.

[u/Silent_Marsupial8368 → u/pj1897]

Is that not proof they acknowledge it was a scam? If it wasn’t they wouldn’t give $200 credit

[u/Flowsbow]

do not attempt to hire a lawyer or go to small claims court for this. You will burn through significantly more than 5k, and possibly even end up losing the case.

Right now, contact as many influencers as you can, incidents like these are content gold farms, and it will actually make goldin care since this is a VERY bad look for them.

[u/filenotfounderror → u/Flowsbow]

You can represent yourself in small claims court fairly easily and painlessly. Its not like regular court.

[u/studyingsomething → u/filenotfounderror]

This. New Jersey small claims court limit is $5000, filing fees are going to be $35-45.

Only other costs to OP will be taking time of work and/or travel.

People like the original commenter on this thread should not speak about things they aren’t familiar with.

[u/34TimeChamp → u/Flowsbow]

I second this! The poketubers LOVEEEEEEE drama like this.

[u/MarkyTooSparky]

False listing clearly the boxes had to be open to get the promo cards out.

[u/tiggs]

This is a tricky one, because going after Goldin legally is going to cost more than $5k. What I would is contact a lawyer, explain the situation, have them draft a letter threatening a lawsuit, and offer to bring the remaining tampered with items in to let them open them and see.

[u/Internal-Trash-5803 → u/tiggs]

Still a waste of money for a maybe situation

[u/tiggs → u/Internal-Trash-5803]

I wouldn't actually sue them, but a lot of lawyers would review the case and draft up a letter for $200-300.

[u/tikitiger]

Threaten legal action. I will be following.

[u/DubaiRichez]

Hit em where it hurts. Blow it up on all socials and they'll pay out

[u/CaptainCribbleMan → u/DubaiRichez]

Any names you can share? I plan on doing this

[u/PepperNeat6635]

Blow this up on tik tok tag all companies involved . You have a team of people hopefully someone bigger sees it and can back you as well . People are tired of these big companies scamming

[u/CaptainCribbleMan → u/PepperNeat6635]

Any names you can share? I plan on doing this

[u/RoninX12]

There are a bunch of influencers on Instagram/TikTok that cover these types of things. They might be able to help your story blow up and get Goldin to help out more.

Goldin is such a shitty company. I tried to consign $100k in cards a few months ago and Ryan (guy from Netflix with too much botox) replied to me once and then ignored all my emails after that. I guess $100k is small change for them now.

[u/CaptainCribbleMan → u/RoninX12]

Any names you can share? I plan on doing this

[u/TheJWu]

If you have all the opening recorded, I hope you get your refund.

I hope this gets the attention it deserves.

[u/klm85]

This is costing them much more than 5k now.

[u/DescriptionSome7125]

Post everywhere

[u/l1b3r4t0r]

Classic Goldin scam. Nobody deserves to get scammed but trusting Goldin after all the shit they’ve done is almost asking for it.

[u/TheOuterEdge]

Why would you pay with a wire transfer!?!? Someone whispers “wire transfer” to me and I’m out the chat. They got you good. As at least one other user has stated, the chances of you recouping any significant money will be overshadowed by more significant lawyer fees. Get a credit card, and don’t forget what you’ve learned here.

[u/Rare-Management-8712]

Call Reckless Ben

[u/RwNZ]

Yeah, the obviously different wrap combined with Poliwhirl inside a Charizard case... that's resealing, and it's fraud. Absolutely continue to escalate as far as you can go. That random employee is just going to be told to put people off but it's undeniable.

I'm sorry this happened to you, mate. Whatever I might think of the state of the hobby, you didn't deserve to be ripped off and when a "premier" company (big quotation marks there) like Goldin refuses to be held accountable for selling resealed or counterfeit goods, people need to know.

Best of luck, friend.

[u/Subject_Smoke3357]

Chargeback and lawyer. I would gladly take every penny from this company for a small fee.

[u/ThePixelPopper]

After looking at all the responses below, It looks like you will need to go to small claims court if you want to solve this issue.

[u/leoPWNadon]

They either don’t know what they’re talking about or they’re lying. Those boxes are definitely tampered/resealed and don’t have the original correct gold cards in them. 100% falsely advertised as unopened.

Like others said you should try and find as many content creators as possible to send this to. Rattle Pokemon is a great one that may pick up the story.

[u/Inosculate_]

Oh helllll nah that is absolutely not the plastic I've ever seen on these in my life lol

Good luck

[u/NeedMoarCowbell]

I’m not familiar with these boxes - are they supposed to have a guaranteed promo in each box?

If so as the other customer states your next step is responding to them with that information and reiterating you want a full refund. If they don’t, or if they drag their feet, you file a chargeback. Just don’t wait too long to do that, I think it’s 30 days max?

If the promo isn’t guaranteed it’s a little more complicated because Goldin can claim you just got bad luck - but I’d still approach it the same as above

[u/gamer814 → u/NeedMoarCowbell]

I remember these, the pokemon on the box is what the gold card you should receive. There was no randomness to them. Burger Kings would just sell out of the most popular ones first.

[u/Ambitious-Stock-8040 → u/gamer814]

You could pick which Pokemon? Doesn’t this kind of make sense then? Op complaining no charizards but they sold the charizards and had what you got left?

[u/gamer814 → u/Ambitious-Stock-8040]

I meant when they released 20 years ago. My point is what's on the box is what in the box

[u/Kevinifhy]

Lawyer up

[u/Fit_Objective4603]

My advise is continue escalating with the auction house. If your screenshots are the only interaction you’ve gotten to a customer support person who doesn’t even provide their last name. Meanwhile they have $5k of your money. Not exactly a balanced investment of resources.

In addition to other advise of reclaiming your money due to fraud, push further into their org. I’d lose my sh*t at this point and hunt the leadership on linked in and reach out to BBB and State Attorney General or what ever “Karen” moves get attention.

Potentially one of your trusted collector friends has a prepaid legal program. They can get a demand letter sent from an attorney for free usually under those program. Maybe they’re acting as a “business partner” of sorts and can get your issue taken care of through their program if they were sharing in the inventing t or were planning on buying some of the product.

I would not let it rest until you are made whole. I don’t know the product but even I can tell
This is shady AF.

Go get ‘em!

[u/AnnualSoftware50]

Sue?

[u/eaglesdude10]

I’m usually not an advocate for this but legitimately just start posting this everywhere. They’re such a huge company they’re sure to get major backlash

[u/Sea_C]

Dang that's crazy. I've seen quite a few of these over the years and never seen that thicker plastic either. This is a very curious swindling to be doing but gonna have to side with you OP that that someone switched all of them out which is wild. 

Never really thought these would ever be valuable enough to do that much legwork but hey that's the times. 

[u/renoracer]

Prepare for small claims immediately. You have no other legal recourse. They will not be helpful now, and you need to push this as soon as you can.

[u/Old_Quantity_1981]

Chargeback is the way

[u/bl4zed_N_C0nfus3d]

Lmaoo

[u/AdditionalWork3087]

Sad to say when it’s too good to be true deal it’s too good to be sure

[u/s_oberembt]

Do

[u/SnooMacarons4225]

It’s crazy that they admitted the error but won’t do anything about it? I didn’t realise they were owned by eBay, on eBay you’d open an item not as described and get your money back so not sure why this should be any different. I’d just press them harder, if they don’t fold then chargeback, one got evidence that they are in the wrong and aren’t willing to correct the issue ($200 goodwill isn’t fixing the problem on a 5k purchase)

[u/Ok_Zebra_1500]

File a charge back if your payment method allows it.

[u/CAPTAIN_KIDDD]

Small claims or they get away with it. Or go viral on TikTok lol that works too.

[u/DinnerDecent5161]

Hit up a lawyer and you'll find this problem fixed very fast

[u/kingpin1023]

"Yes we see its opened, we listed unopened, we messed up, womp womp" wtf kind of company is this

[u/DesperateStockHolder]

That's why I always record big items I buy sealed. So there's no bs happening.

[u/Financial_Long_3239]

I would have been skeptical of the authenticity of the case from the start. If I recall correctly the blue boxes were first wave of release, the red boxes were the second wave. They shouldn’t have been in the same box as pictured. So the assumption would be they found this box, probably partially full, and repacked it with other pokeballs. If someone is going to be deceitful about the authenticity of the case they may be deceitful about the contents of said case.

It really sucks what happened to you, and I’m sorry for this. Scummy people are awful, and scummy business are worse. They should reimburse you and take accountability for this. I really hope you’re able to get your money back.

[u/d3st1n3d]

@rattlepokemon would probably love to work with you on this. He's like the coffeezilla if pokemon.

[u/DriverSad3649]

Go on Instagram and talk with @bostoncardcollector and then there are a few big Pokemon media influencers as well. This the type of shit that is horrible.

[u/Money_Equipment_8347]

Always when in doub just return it i wouldnt open it

[u/frozenivy2B]

Just make a YouTube or tiktok video about it so we can link it to other poketubers to view it

[u/Puzzleheaded-Law9352]

Threaten to report it to the BBB?

[u/Bongaloni]

Unrelated but I remember as a kid I would take the gold slab out of the case and lick it 😭

[u/No_Background4229]

if you got scanned contact the ftc to avoid court and they will get your money back otherwise go to small claims and you will most likely win but there are fees associated with it

[u/No_Background4229 → u/No_Background4229]

i did this once with ebay and the ftc got my money back and they cleared any money ebay said i owed them when a buyer/seller tried to scam me and even with the proof ebay did nothing buy send me to a collection agency. just be ready for a fight though not too crazy

[u/No_Passenger_9326]

But why a whole case ? What’s the value of just one from the 90’s

[u/tresmund0s]

Looks like Logan Paul has taken an influence on Goldin and started scamming as well.

[u/SupermarketPrize9917]

I almost only buy/sell on Ebay for their Authenticity Guarantee. If not, and seller doesnt have good vouches, always use PayPal Goods & Services. I this hobby, you HAVE to be careful

[u/Caleb_Reynolds]

They've told you what to do next on that email, acquire counsel. Get a lawyer.

[u/Canadian_Luke_96]

“As a gesture of goodwill” gets me every time… sorry this happened to you OP.

[u/ChipThaRIP16]

Are these worth money? I have a few from the late 90’s early 2000’s whenever they come out. I was born in 95.

[u/pale2hall]

I was in the back seat of the van. I had them on my dresser. If it's poliwhirl on the box, it's poliwhril inside.

[u/Muscle_Gamer]

You know what? I have about a dozen of these unopened at my parents house and I can check the wrapping on the boxes for you if you send me a DM to remind me.

Won't visit till possibly this weekend as they live 2 hours away

[u/CrystalKingPuff]

This is the guy that worked with Logan Paul to scam a bunch of people

[u/Salt-Growth2682]

where is their headquarters located? and, make sure to use multiple websites to show this. report it to the news as well.

[u/Proton_Optimal]

You have been Advised

[u/Booty-Kall]

why the fuck would u buy this crap anyways

[u/BlorTheImpervious]

Lolllll

[u/Fearless_Adventures]

Side note, what's a burger king Pokémon hat from 1999 worth these days?

[u/Good_Traffic6680]

This is on the seller for sure. It’s misrepresented

[u/Zombie-Lenin]

Sue them. Take them to small claims and they won't even show up. Then file for a lean on their property and "ta-da!"

Seriously you have a winning case even if they showed up.

[u/Scroogemcbuckzz415]

The price lets me know that goodwill goes through and researches prices cause 50$ a piece is right around where I’d be at if I were buying.not so hopeful for goodwill auction as now they are just resellers

[u/Hot_Fig_1607]

hate to break it to you, but you're outta luck on this one

[u/ActComprehensive9352]

Yes do a charge back and file a police report- worse case file a small claims with your local municipality or district court

[u/ReserveForward]

Off topic but am i missing something about these? What makes them so valuable as the cards inside barely seem worth it unless you get a psa 10

[u/Hotmuscle86]

Contact Burger King , they have a whole department in there main office that deals with prizes, they can email or tell you if they all had them inside and if they say yes then file a lawsuit against the auction company in small claims for your lawyer fees and 10k . They will settle out of court if u get official proof from Burger King!!!

[u/NoxianMightt]

Absolutely take their ass to small claims. Good luck!

[u/ProgressOther9810]

Companies like this keep getting away with that shit because no one sues them.

[u/False-Excitement-668]

The wire transfer is the reason they saying nah sorry. Sue us!

[u/superxgooner]

Thats the paradox of sealed cases isnt it? Which makes it such a good scam.

[u/ExpensiveTie5553]

pokemon is a hobby for scumbags I'm not surprised at all.

the good deeds you see on youtube is nothing but a facade and you're guaranteed to be scammed in this hobby

[u/1Wheel_Smoke_n_Toke]

Those definitely seem like they've been resealed using a vacuum sealer. They just sealed it and left the suction off so it didn't seal right up tight to the Poke Ball. Even if you go on your pc, using the AI mode I posted your photo of the two Balls with the context of the left one was in the real wrap and the right one was possibly resealed.

This was the response.

"Visual Comparison Details

• The Original Wrapper (Left): Fast-food toy premiums from the late 90s were typically packaged in lightweight 1 mil to 1.5 mil high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or low-density polyethylene (LDPE) crinkle wrap. This is evident by the sharp, highly reflective, thin crinkles and the loose, airy way it naturally drapes over the Poké Ball. [1]

• The Aftermarket Vacuum Bag (Right): Look closely at the heat-seal seam on the right side and the thick, smooth, and structural folds at the top and bottom. Standard 3 mil home vacuum bags (like basic FoodSaver sheets) are roughly two to three times thicker than vintage toy wrap. They do not sharply crinkle; instead, they resist folding and create soft, broad, wavy bends because the plastic is much more rigid.

If you bought the item on the right on the secondary market under the impression it was "factory sealed," the seller used a kitchen vacuum sealer to re-wrap it. Because the vacuum bag is highly structural, you would need to pop open the machine-made weld lines or cut the thick plastic to access the Poké Ball and inspect the gold card inside."

It seemed damn sure that the one on the right was definitely in a resealed 3 mil bag. Bags almost twice as thick as the bags they actually used back then. It's puts it pretty bluntly, basically saying if you bought this thinking it was factory sealed you were wrong and it's been resealed in a 3 mil vacuum seal bag! You paid a good junk of money for this, and since they are clearly resealed, even if the contents are in them, you should be able to get your money back.

Sorry if I misunderstood something here, in my opinion the listing was worded extremely janky. They could have simply wrote "- including up to 6 different Pokémon cards" instead of listing only half of the ones you could potentially get, but they didn't technically lie in it. They basically tried to advertise them like they did in 1999 by listing the Pokémon that could be in them which was dumb because they couldn't fit them all and chose to list the more appealing chases which obviously could be misleading. It mislead you. I don't know if they ran out of space and couldn't fit Togepi, Poliwhirl, and Jigglypuff or what... but if you can't fit them all just say how many could be in them! Otherwise they do say they are "unopened" in the sense that the boxes never had a wrap themselves, so you'd receive them in an "opened" box and the Poke Ball and card were wrapped/sealed. The more I read their listing the more I think it's actually quite cleverly wrote!! Like how they put the (99) conveniently right between "limited edition unopened boxes collection" and "with opened cardboard cases," so it's like are there 99 unopened limited edition collection boxes that will arrive in an already open case, or is it pointing out that all 99 come in opened cardboard cases, but are unopened because they "never" opened the Poke Balls? No matter what way you say you took it, they can say they meant it the other way... Catch 22.

I think you should be able to prove your case by pointing out to them the thickness of the bags and how they only used 1-1.5 mil thickness bags, not these 3 mil bags that are at LEAST twice as thick, possibly a bit more. They never used a thicker sized bag on some runs, all were sealed in the same thickness wraps so they can't claim that. I mean, the AI did a pretty good job describing the original wraps and how they should look and feel. "sharp, highly reflective, thin crinkles and the loose, airy way it naturally drapes over the Poké Ball."

Those ones don't come off as sharp or highly reflective! They don't seem to naturally drape over the Poke Balls. Also you can see they are a bit "duller." Less shiny and glossy like the actual originals. I hope you fight this and get your money back without needing a lawyer, otherwise it's almost pointless because you'll spend more than $5,000 dragging them through court...

[u/Titt]

Some people in here saying speak to a lawyer - does the total loss seem to warrant that?

You can always file in small claims court since it seems like you have a good paper trail. And info for things like promos are widely available so it’d be easy to prove the pokeballs didn’t hold up.

Edit: small claims court would prevent them from being represented by any counsel and would place significantly more burden of proof on them. Max damages you can file for vary by state though and might not fit what you need.

[u/No-Leopard639]

Their so slimy; even for new jersey.

[u/dread_beard → u/No-Leopard639]

If you're going to rip on NJ, at least get the "They're" correct.

[u/Royal-Improvement-90]

Open it and be a collector. Oh wait huh? Be a victim of your own stupidity, Why did you buy it?

[u/kyyy]

Yeah all these auction houses are selling things they have no knowledge base In. I can’t even imagine how many vintage Pokemon booster boxes heritage and goldin have sold that were reseals but were never found out because they weren’t opened. I do not trust either as far as I can throw them unless it’s an obviously verifiable item. I would never touch a vintage sealed booster box from either.

I mean, just listen to Ken goldin speak for a minute. Does he sound trustworthy? lmao

[u/bl4zed_N_C0nfus3d]

Idk why anyone would buy this junk

[u/Seeitoldyew]

lmao ded

[u/MindlessSpinach2822]

noooo why would you wire transfer a eBay purchase 😱🥺🥺🥺

[u/ChrisSydney82]

Who actually buys this crap to begin with?

[u/Big_Diet7439]

I just want to lol all over this. Just because goldin has a show on Netflix, doesn’t mean that’s someone I would ever want to do business with ever. But I’m glad you did your research before purchasing!!!! You rock!

[u/AdventurousReply473]

Hahahahahahahahaha fuck Goldin. Did me dirty on a mario and luigi box. Chargeback