Mid-August 2026 · The listing
The card was a 2026 Topps Finest Shohei Ohtani “The Man” SSP #TM-2, listed on Facebook Marketplace at $1,750 by “Alex Diaz” — a seller profile carrying 4.9 stars and 37 reviews. The listing photos showed a card in perfect condition: sharp corners, clean edges, a flawless surface.
Before agreeing to anything, the buyer asked the one question that matters on a raw card: did it have any noticeable damage? The answer was unambiguous. “No, it's real clean. I got it in a break.”
The deal · $1,200 by Zelle
They agreed on $1,200. Payment went by Zelle to a recipient registered as “Alexis Diaz.” Because Zelle caps what can be sent to a new recipient, the money went across in three separate transfers — $500, then $500, then $200 — over more than one day.
Zelle is the detail worth pausing on. It is a bank-to-bank transfer with no purchase protection and no chargeback: once it clears, there is no dispute button. Marketplace conversations that steer a buyer toward Zelle for a four-figure card are steering them away from every safety net that exists.
Before shipping · The “proof” photos
With the money moving in pieces, the buyer asked for more photos of the actual card. The seller sent close-ups of the front and the back. Neither showed a single flaw.
Those photos do not match the card that arrived. The corner damage that would show up in the buyer's hand a week later is nowhere in them.
August 16–22 · The shipping saga
A tracking number was provided. It did not move. Days passed with no scan, no pickup, and no confirmation that anything had actually been handed to a carrier.
Asked for a drop-off receipt, the seller said there wasn't one: it was all electronic. Pressed again later, the story changed — now he had proof of drop off. Both statements cannot be true.
Somewhere in the middle of this, while the buyer was still asking where a $1,200 card was, the buyer asked about a second card and the seller responded.
His reassurance through all of it was the same line: “You will get that card.” And his defense, when doubted, was his own reach — “Why in the f--- would someone that is deep in the card world and has as many followers as I have try to f--- anyone over with cards man? Think about it.”
On arrival · The card that showed up
The card finally arrived. The bottom-right corner is soft and whitened — visible in hand immediately, and obvious in a close-up. It is not the corner in the listing photos, and it is not the corner in the “proof” photos.
Checking the image files he had sent, the metadata had been stripped. The listing images carried the flat, over-smoothed look of AI clean-up: perfect edges, a surface with no texture, damage simply gone. When the buyer raised the AI editing directly, the seller never denied it.
The refusal · Deleted and blocked
The buyer offered two ways out, both reasonable: a partial refund to reflect the condition of the card actually received, or a full refund with the card shipped straight back.
Both were refused. “…now I don't give a s---. Do your worst kid. I'll take my chances. Oh and I'm blocking you here also. ✌️”
The Marketplace listing was deleted shortly after. The buyer was blocked. What remains is the record: the listing screenshots, the AI-enhanced photos, the mismatched “proof” photos, the damaged card, and his own messages.
