Final Mailday From Sean - Saying Goodbye to a Scammer

It's funny that I finally got around to posting some cards that I got from Sean from Instagram today.  These got here randomly in mid-February, right when Sean disappeared from Kik/Instagram again (for something like the third time or so).  When we first met, we were pretty cool, then I started to see a lot of people posting that he had scammed them out of cards.  He disappeared soon after, then reappeared in October with a new screen name, and a new Kik ID.  Sean, then, befriended my buddy, Ben, and worked out a trade.  Ben is a really awesome kid that I talk to every day.  He asked me what I thought of Sean, and I told him honestly that Sean was always good to me, but had a really bad reputation, after having scammed a few people.  Ben was really skeptical of making a trade with him, but went through with it.

Unfortunately, Ben never received his cards, after Sean messaged him to tell him that he got what Ben sent.  So, after the two of them went back and forth about Sean sending Ben back his cards (which Sean never did), Sean disappeared again.  I held off posting this mailday from Sean, out of respect to Ben because I hoped that Sean would do the right thing and replace Ben's stuff.

Today, out of the blue, Sean messaged me and right off the bat told me how disappointed he was that I never messaged him on his birthday back in April.  This kind of stuff frustrates me.

I try to be a good trade partner, and a lot of times, I make friends in the process.  I hardly ever have a bad experience with people, but with all of the drama that has surrounded Sean in the past, I pretty much told him that I didn't want to do any more trading, especially since he hasn't made things right with the other folks who he had apparently scammed.

You all who read my blog regularly, know how much I enjoy Instagram as a vehicle to make and complete trades.  There are a ton of good people on there, adults and kids alike.  I generally give folks the benefit of the doubt, and I am always giving folks second and third chances.  While I appreciate these cards, I won't be dealing with Sean or his friends any more.  They all have done ok by me, but they each have scammed others.  The trading community doesn't need a bunch of scammers around scaring off the actual good folks in the community.

So, I apologize for the negative tone of this post, but I felt that it might be inappropriate id I tried to paint Sean in a good light when he hasn't been legit with others.  Maybe one day, he will work on bettering himself, but in the meantime, I think I will be better off if I sever ties.

Care Package From Sean

I was really surprised recently when I got a Kik message from my friend near Chicago, Sean.  He had vacated Instagram several months ago and stopped chatting, so I assumed that he found better things to do with his time.  More surprising than his return was the fact that not too long after, I got a surprise care package in the mail from him.

In the package was a good bit of Orioles stuff and according to Sean, some of the cards came from him and a few others came from his best friend, Alex, whom I also had chatted with and who had also disappeared.

The above Bowman Ripken was a card that I needed in my PC< so that was nice.

I also needed this purple Machado from 2014 Chrome.  The purple cards look nice, I think.

I hate that Sean felt the need to take off and not let me know what was going on, but I guess you can't expect folks you trade with on occasion to let you know their every move.  Good thing is, he is back chatting and trading, so that's nice.

I really appreciated the though with the care package.  I don't get nearly as many of them as what I send out, so it's nice to get surprises in the mail.

Instagram Mail From Sean

I got some mail from my friend, Sean, today and paired with the envelope I got from him last week, I ended up with some sweet stuff from a guy that I have traded with a bunch, so far.  He is set to received a graded gem mint 10 minor league card of Craig Kimbrel and in return, Sean sent me this SP of Dylan Bundy from 2014 Topps.

I like these Future Stars SPs and I didn't yet have the Bundy, so it was a fair trade for me.

In his prior package, Sean included the above 2013 Topps Tier One (on card) auto of Bundy.  Oh man, this card looks awesome in person.  I didn't realize it was on card until I looked at it when I was scanning it.  It looks so nice.

Finally, I got this red parallel of Manny Machado from 2014 Bowman Platinum.  The Platinums never disappoint and this red parallel looks really awesome.

Thanks for the trade(s), Sean!  I really appreciate it.  Your Kimbrel will be mailed tomorrow!