A man in Knoxville, Tennessee, claims to have entrusted $375,000 worth of trading cards for GameStop to assess. However, the store allegedly misplaced the package, and he is suspicious enough about it to have involved the police.
The videos documenting the situation come from creator Mason Ray (@cardboardgems). He puts up videos about his card-collecting life on TikTok. The original video drew more than 84,700 views as of Friday, while a follow-up video with an update has gathered more than 17,800 views.
In the first video, he recounts, “I submitted a PSA order to Gamestop and here’s how it went. They lost the package, and the declared value? $375,000. Let’s see how it goes. The police are on their way now. I’ll keep you updated.”
In the comments section, Ray reveals that the haul included rare vintage Star Wars trading cards, though he’s not quite clear about the number of cards he’s amassed and shipped to justify his six-figure estimate.
In the update, he notes, “After dealing with the police officer, he’s pulling the information from the local GameStop store from the video surveillance system and interrogating the employees. I’m on the phone with corporate yet again, and they’re searching for my order yet again, and they’re not documenting a single phone call.”
He shows that he’s actually on the phone as he’s recording the video, with hold music audibly playing.
“Nothing’s documented,” he observes. “It’s the third time I’ve called and they don’t know who I am.”
He makes his discontent further known in the captions to both videos, asserting, “GameStop is a scam” and “Don’t trust GameStop!”
How it’s supposed to work
According to GameStop’s site, it does deal in grading trading cards and will offer “a maximum of $1500 in cash or in-store credit” for a card meeting its valuation standards.
GameStop’s site explains the PSA that Ray refers to in his initial video.
“A graded card is a trading card that has been professionally evaluated and assigned a grade by a third-party grading company, such as PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator),” the site explains.
“Grading involves a detailed assessment of the card’s condition, including its corners, edges, surfaces, and centering. Graded cards are encased in a protective card slab with the grade and certification information displayed on the label, providing collectors with a standardized way to assess the condition of a card.”
It goes on to explain, “PSA is the largest and most respected authentication company worldwide for grading trading cards. Cards are checked for authenticity using a 10-point grading scale to evaluate their quality and condition. A trading card can receive a grade only after it has been deemed authentic.”
GameStop will offer cash or in-store credit on cards for cards that rate an 8 or above.
What commenters said
Commenters had retrospective advice, questions, and theories about what happened.
“Why in the world would you trust this to GameStop?” asked one.
“I wouldn’t try anyone other than myself to send cards in,” another chided. “The threat of someone stealing them is too high if they are expensive cards.”
@cardboardgems Gamestop is a scam #psa #gamestop #police ♬ original sound – Mason Ray
“$375k? Yeah the employee definitely has that somewhere,” one surmised.
Another, quipping about the value, said, “You sent PSA a house to grade?”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Ray via TikTok comment and to GameStop via email.
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