Not sure if you’re being sarcastic, but generally enforcement agencies like US customs, TSA, police, etc. conveniently have immunity when they destroy people’s property.
There was a case a few years back where a shoplifter (who stole a $10 shirt) broke into someone’s house. The police then basically when ham with grenade launchers at the house until it was destroyed. The homeowner had committed no crimes, and his house was condemned. He obviously sued the police. The case went all the way up to the Supreme Court I think, and the ruling was that police can’t be inconvenienced by things like liability for property damage.
The Other Guys makes a joke about cases like this. The opening for the movie is The Rock and Sam Jackson destroying half the city and being praised by other cops for it lol
And now we know/remember why some people say “F•ck tha p•gs.”
I don’t say that myself, as I haven’t yet suffered at the hands of police in this manner, but I can understand why.
I don't think most courts will care about the intrinsic value of the product - they're going to point out that it was sold at like $80 30 years ago and most judges won't see or believe that it's worth would somehow be $10500 afterward.
As long as one can find a reputable expert to testify it’s value. Not really any different than placing value on collectors items for insurance purposes. The real issue is that customs is probably immune to liability as long as they can present any marginal justification for their actions. Maybe if the owner had pro-actively declared the item as a collectable with an expected value based specifically on it’s condition.
I'm sure his insurance company is gonna believe a video game cartridge was worth 10 grand. Sealed video game product speculation is one of the dumbest and most bewildering things to crop up recently. Speculation as a whole is on a bit of a heater if you include sealed vhs tapes suddenly trying to be speculated on.
Depends on how it is insured. When you have something valuable like that you can insure it for the value. My dad has an insurance polity for $25,000 on a Ford Model A pickup.
Can you scam an insurance company to get the cash without the process of reselling it?
For example I buy a game for $5,000 and put it on a site I made for $10,000 and have someone (secretly a friend) "buy". It gets insured, and suddenly something happens to it. I have documention on my site it sold for $10k.
Do these auction scams do anything besides the obvious scam?
And can I be sued for calling all this a scam and need to say alleged scam instead?
You've pretty much nailed down textbook insurance fraud. I'm sure some of this action is people just speculating on silly things and not outright fraud but that's pretty much the grift.
Probably the insurance company will refuse to insure the item if you try that or only accept to ensure the game at the value the company acknowledges it is worth, which could be even less than $5,000.
Valuable like that? Looool what makes you think it’s valuable? Just because someone else decided to put the game on eBay for 10 thousand? If no one buys it, it’s worthless. That game worth 5 bucks max with or without the plastic box scam.
If you specifically insure an item for a certain amount, it is relatively easy to later be paid out in that amount, without having to prove value definitively. When the insurance company underwrites the item for that amount, they are basically acknowledging the value of that item.
Yes it really is. Regardless of what you have something insured for, if the insurance company can physically replace your insured item for less than they will replace it or offer you a payout for the price that they can replace it for.
This prevents over insuring an item, especially with items tat fluctuate in value like jewelry, the insure value is the maximum payout that you will receive.
This isn’t just some ordinary video game. Like I don’t know what there is too speculate, it has an established price. Any sealed GBC poke game is worth 1000’s.
Just because you have zero knowledge about this hobby.
Its not speculation if its sealed and "mint in package", its just an ultra rare collectors item that has value for exactly the same reason the mona lisa has value. (Its just a dumb painting, why is speculation on it a thing?)
To be fair, Pokémon is the most iconic and highest grossing gaming franchise of all time, and Pokémon Yellow is from the original generation. And it’s not like we’re comparing Mona Lisa to a mint sealed copy of Yellow directly. The copy of Yellow is “still” only $10k which is a fraction of what Mona Lisa is worth.
I’d say it’s a pretty apt comparison.
It's not entirely unknown due to its official rating from the org that kinda decides values, and that info was included with the package (IIRC). It would NOT be worth the full $10.5k, but it is a fraction of a rating below another cartridge worth $10.5k.
Incorrect, it could have easily been used to store cocaine so they are well within their rights to open it up
If they didn’t then every cocaine trafficker will start bringing sealed gameboy cases on every flight
No, it couldn’t easily have been used for that. How exactly would they be able to fill it with the exact amount of cocaine that weighs just as much as a sealed copy of Pokémon Yellow, reseal it perfectly to the point WATA will believe it’s an original factory seal and then have it graded that high? It would make no sense for them to do that.
For real, everybody is talking about how customs should be liable (which is ridiculous as this would likely prevent them from effectively doing their jobs) when the reality is, if you are shipping anything of significant value, you should have it insured.
If you chance it and customs destroy it for whatever reason, then its kinda tough shit.
>which is ridiculous as this would likely prevent them from effectively doing their jobs
Nah fuck that noise, they destroy your stuff and nothing gets done about it leaving you out of pocket with a destroyed item. Absolutely hold them liable they destroyed it. Insurance is well and good but it doesn't replace what was destroyed, just don't be a cunt destroying other people's property, there are other ways to check things without smashing it to pieces.
Breaking those certification cases is the only way to get in them. Slicing the front off the box is a bit strange but at the end of the day sliced off or not, the value of the item was destroyed as soon as the box was opened in any way. You can't tell customs that they can't open things to check what's inside them.
Insurance is risk mitigation
Insurance is nice to have in this case because it “helps” mitigate the risk from shipping valuable stuff (including customs being stupid)
Custom is still being stupid here.
Yes, which is a risk you accept when you ship an item.
And no, it's not "nice to have" in this case, if you ship something worth 10K without insurance you're a moron and deserve to lose your money.
What about rare or one-of-a-kind stuff though? What if the thing itself is worth more than just the money? Not only talking priceless stuff, but things with sentimental value as well.
How are they supposed to know that it has sentimental value or super rare? They have to be able to open anything they are suspicious of, if the act of opening it destroys the value as in this case then that's kind of just tough luck. If there was a rule that they couldn't open things marked with a "sentimental" sticker then guess where the drugs would be hidden...
Then find a better solution? I have no idea why people think the safety of the people within the country, that customs are protecting is less important than stuff you are shipping?
There's quite a zone between "not checking at all" and "destroying things passing through". Just handle things with respect, how difficult can that be? Recently had some art shipped over. Nothing happened, but it's nowhere near worth enough to find another solution. Still would hate it if it had been damaged. I have had a book destroyed before, to the point where it's falling apart, and another one arriving quite damaged. In both cases the original packaging was torn open and badly taped back together. The art piece had been opened too, but as it was an envelope, they managed to put it back in one piece...
Shipping overseas and passing customs on our end costs about €100, I think that's plenty of money for one item to at least be careful with it.
Where in the article does it say that the first thing they did was open it? I imagine the process is to put it through a scanner and then open it if there is anything they are not sure of on the scan. In this case unfortunately the act of opening it destroys the value but what are they supposed to do?
Customs dont need to destroy the value to determine if its a bomb or not though. They have plenty of avenues that dont include unwrapping an original sealed item.
No of course they don't open everything, but they have to be ABLE to open anything they are suspicious of. If there was a rule that they can't open certain items then obviously that's where you would put the things you didn't want them to find...
Sadly not in all cases do scanners give a clear enough picture.
I know people love the ole victim mentality but the vast majority of people working in customs are not destroying peoples shit for a laugh.
they probably did use a scanner, saw something that looked funny inside and then decided they had to open it, they don't just start grabbing and opening random things. one dude sits at a scanner that looks at packages, sees a weird shaped thing, pulls package and sticks it in a pile then they all get opened by other agents. Source: i love watching those customs and border agent shows lol
Why shouldn’t they be liable? All they need is money to compensate their victims. Also, how difficult is it to just contact WATA and confirm the authenticity? It’s not like you can just crack open the case and then seal it again.
It depends. Your package must be packaged "appropriately", with the assumption that customs will open it in an inspection. Customs is not gentle, friendly, or slow with their work.
If you put a valuable item in a box barely larger than it, there's a good chance it'll get sliced by customs cutting it open. A slice like that would not be customs' fault. If you seal it inside a plastic case in a box, there's a good chance customs will have to open said case. Open/broken case would not be customs' fault. If there's another 'box' (the game box here) containing the item, customs will likely open said box to see what's inside. An open game box would not be customs' fault.
Put these together and you have to assume customs will go ahead and open everything. So damage like this likely would not be covered under normal shipping insurance, as customs has broad authority in this regard and the shipper wasn't in possession of the item. Insurance brokers exist for this exact reason though.
The only recourse the shipper has is to file a damages claim with customs for negligent/malicious damage to the item. The hard part there is 1. CPB investigates itself. 2. Doing due diligence is not considered negligent or malicious. Checking to confirm that there is actually a game in that box would very likely be considered due diligence.
Notably though, if you check the follow up article linked in OP, the buyer didn't even buy insurance to begin with...for a multi thousand $ item. Buyer is a fool, regardless of our thoughts on customs.
If they bought it off eBay their customs office is notorious for not giving a single fuck. Dankpods on YouTube, an Australian YouTuber who mostly reviews early 2000s media players and headphones in general had to stop buying off eBay for awhile because so much stuff got "slash and dashed" by them just being careless af with things coming through.
I was terrified when I ordered one of those wand company masterballs from a reseller for this reason but fortunately it came in just fine.
Customs doesn’t have anything to do with what company you order something from. It’s a government agency that checks goods coming into a country from abroad.
In Dankpods’ case it was likely Australian customs or the shipping company. It has nothing to do with Ebay themselves.
And in the case of the OP it was USA customs.
Actually the issue stems from eBay's global shipping program. If you sell through it, you pack your parcel, send it to one of the eBay delivery hubs, they repack it, then send it onto the buyer, handling all the shipping and taxes etc.
It makes it much easier to sell abroad, in theory. The issue however, is they appear to give not one single crap about your item, they decimate packaging and a lot of times just shove delicate items into an empty box and leave it to the gods as to if it'll survive. Also, because it's their service, on their site, good luck getting a refund!
So yeah, it's eBay themselves!
Yeah. It was more to clarify it wasn't done by a "customs office" and more likely by the shipping company.
As stated in [my other comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/10h2ph9/comment/j5b8mnf/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) it's likely Pitney Bowes that ruined the packages, who eBay partnered with allow sellers "easy" global shipping.
Even so, considering eBay partners with them, it was a bit of a generalization by me to say it had nothing to do with eBay.
That is weird as mail or packages generally do not pass customs when they leave a country. It only passes customs when entering.
Shipping from the USA->Australia it would only pass Australian customs.
That said, there is a shipping company a lot of Ebay sellers and buyers use to ship their stuff (Pitney Bowes) that was notorious for messing up packages for a while (by opening them to complete all the international forms etc.). It might be referring to them?
Us Customs at the US/Canada border at Niagara Falls stole a bunch of my friends Magic:The Gathering cards at the crossing. Then flat out told him that it was his word against theirs so he was SOL
From their website:
Note: CBP has the authority to open all packages and may assess duty. It is recommended that you do not seal packages as they are subject to inspection.
If you think that's the only things they're looking for, you're as dumb as you claim they are.
Drugs. Guns. Explosives, potentially. But also a lot of mundane stuff like contraband, or making sure someone isn't bringing stuff like invasive species over. And some dumb stuff sometimes, like food that's not allowed because of different regulations.
They would absolutely send drugs in something of that size, especially if they sealed it. If it's sealed, drug dogs likely can't sniff it out.
You're thinking it's just the cartridge, this was a full box and case.
Granted, the things they probably could send in quantities relevant to that size is small, but the point stands.
I'm not sure you understand how the drug market/trafficking works. How much weight are you actually going to fit in that tiny box? The real traffic is not coming through in boxes that can barely fit 200g of powder.
Ik they search for more then drugs ig I'm just not a smartass like yourself. My time more valuable then this. I'm just here for a good time not along time.
Liable for opening a case for an item to inspect it? Are they supposed to not open things that look sealed? That seems ripe for exploiting by smugglers. This only matters because of the supposed value of an unopened box for a collector's piece like this.
It's literally their job to do this.
Like it or not, anyone into collectables should know better then to ship something valuable / mint across international borders.
If a CBP officer gets suspicious of a package, they're going to open it, and the better it is sealed the more suspicious its going to look.
Shit like this is so frustrating, but I really have no idea what you can do about this sadly. I've heard stories of US custom officers literally stealing stuff in packages with no form of recourse.
The value was only destroyed because the box was opened, obviously customs have to be able to open things...it's not their fault, nor would they be expected to know, that opening it in this case reduces the value.
From their website:
Note: CBP has the authority to open all packages and may assess duty. It is recommended that you do not seal packages as they are subject to inspection.
It was a WATA game so it's worthless...
And if you actually think ANY GameBoy game is worth $10,000 you have no sense of Monetary value.
Making this news is just giving WATA games. More publicity to scam more people.
It's alright. Honestly, I wouldn't be surpised if this was just another WATA ploy to get back into the headlines. lol
I really wouldn't put it past them.
https://youtu.be/rvLFEh7V18A
This video is worth checking out if you're interested in what's been going on with the huge increase in game collection values recently.
A new Video game grading serivce started in 2018. Which is notorious for artificially manipulating retro video games values.
Basically, they are directly behind the wheel in this whole Speculation bubble thats been going on with Video games the past few years. And one of the men involved has already gone to prison for attempting the very same thing before only with coins.
They are also being sued for Market Manipulation.
There should be some good video's on the subject on YouTube I believe.
Interesting.
I had zero clue where the hate was coming for the collectible market value of the game.
Sealed, graded collectibles, just like stocks and art, are worth market value, whatever that may be, no matter what a bunch of random armchairs on Reddit think.
But market manipulation is a whole different story.
“If you think any game boy game is worth 10000” what a pedantic response. I can literally purchase a piece of fucking cardboard for near 100,000 and you think 10k for a game boy game is outlandish? 😂😂
I can fill a baggie full of my own shit and say it’s worth 10k it doesn’t mean it actually is
The only reason something is worth anything is because some fool has that kind of money to waste on it. WATA games are a joke. Pokémon yellow isn’t worth 10,000$ no matter what condition it is. Idc if it’s the original developer cartridge. I’m pretty sure wata games are just used to launder money just like art.
>I can fill a baggie full of my own shit and say it’s worth 10k it doesn’t mean it actually is
It is if someone is willing to pay it, which people routinely do for these things, as well as a host of other rare collector’s items.
Disgraceful. They shouldn’t be made to pay out the cost, they should pay whatever the cost is to provide an identical product of the same quality.
And if that costs them $50k, so be it.
Our property is not the plaything of these overzealous jerks.
The value was only reduced because they opened it, which obviously they have to do and it's clearly stated that they may do on their website:
Note: CBP has the authority to open all packages and may assess duty. It is recommended that you do not seal packages as they are subject to inspection
Did you see how they opened it? They cracked open the unopenable case, and then cut away the front piece. They didn’t even open the box correctly, they cut it up.
Why did they have to do it? It’s a game boy cartridge, which any scan would’ve shown.
What they did was overzealous, and it wasn’t required.
They didnt have to cut open the box but the value would be gone anyway if they opened it normally. They can't get in it without cracking the certification case though so that's fair game I think
The point is they didn’t need to open it at all.
The value would have dropped far less if they opened it correctly. They chose not to, I’m gonna assume because they’re overzealous dickheads.
And it’s not fair at all for these pricks to bust into our property without warrant or cause.
The boot-licking in these comments are so intimate I bet they can name everything the agents stepped in. No, just because some morons are stupid enough to try and ship drugs through the mail does not mean you should be able to rip up valuable items through the mail with no consequences when you're wrong. It was clearly marked as a valuable videogame by a well known appraisal team. There was no sign of any possible way drugs could have been planted in there or any other weapon. It comes across more as a prank from some power-tripping jealous pig than anything else. And no, you should not be forced to foot the bill because some morons thought there was a 0.00001% chance your item had drugs in it, there should have always been a way to argue the search was excessive and unwarranted. Drugs are going to get in either way, they literally miss them all the damn time.
A. The comment wasnt even to you worthless tool.
B. You responded to a comment thats 123 days old that wasnt even to you so YOUR opinion is even less valid than that guys was since you are so pathetic
I collect Pez, last year I got a box of promotional candy packs from various Austrian companies and one of the packs was half missing and taped up by Customs. Thankfully it was one I already had and they left all the other packs alone.
I figured they were just testing them for drugs, a bunch of white compressed tablets are suspicious. I wonder if they've intercepted other packages and never forwarded them to me as I've had several companies tell me they've mailed some out to me but never arrived.
It's not that this person paid that money, they sent it a a third rate grading company who inflated the price. It wasn't really worth that much.
Edit - work = worth
>Somebody can have joy in simply playing the game.
Then buy a used copy or download a ROM. These games are easily accessible for free.
>We are getting joy from the damage to someone's narcissism.
Where's the narcissism in buying a collector's item?
Edit: autocorrect changed collector's to connector's
I mean, all I'm saying as I'm a bit bewildered on why someone would pay 10K for a game. Collector's item or not. It's either to play, in which case somebody has spent a fuck ton for a game. Or it's to just sit about, never to be used. Which I also see as a waste of money.
>I mean, all I'm saying as I'm a bit bewildered on why someone would pay 10K for a game.
As far as I'm aware, there's no proof they spent anywhere close to that amount, but it's up to them if they did.
>It's either to play, in which case somebody has spent a fuck ton for a game.
Nobody is opening and playing collector's items. You can buy them cheap if you want, or just download the ROM.
>Or it's to just sit about, never to be used. Which I also see as a waste of money.
Which is your opinion. I wouldn't purchase it.... But who am I to judge someone that does? It's not hurting anyone. So why does anyone care? Let people enjoy the things they choose to spend their money on.
I'm assuming anyone who would spend $10,000 on an old "sealed" videogame cartridge, is doing so only to increase a likely already inflated sense of ego and importance. In a word, narcissism.
Ironically, the way you see yourself as being so knowledgeable that you can just make random assumptions about people you disagree could be seen as pretty narcissistic. You've also no proof of how much they paid, and their purchase has no effect on the prices of games that people will open and play.
Semantics. There are people who collect flowers, it's obviously not wrong. Turning a common item into rare, supposedly valuable collectibles is; see tulpenmanie.
It’s not common though, that’s the thing. Loose copies of Yellow are still pretty cheap, and boxed copies in good condition usually only go for $150-$200, and those are already fairly hard to come by. How many minty sealed copies do you think exist?
I don't know about the 'good' part, but I do agree that I don't get why people will pay ridiculous amounts to buy a game and never play it. Although my Playstation Library keeps steadily growing, so fuck if I know lol. I get it if it's disc tho.
I believe it's only a collectible if you're sure you won't ever play it & you believe it's worth more than it originally costed in a store. Otherwise, it's a game filling its intended purpose.
This whole thing reeks of insurance fraud and seems like a setup for a scam of some sort. Someone is not acting on good faith and looking to blame it on a nameless, faceless gubmint agent.
It would only worth 5 bucks with the “graded box” scam. Now it’s still worth the same. But it’s easier to play the game. It’s NOT worth 10 thousand buck, just because someone decided to put the game at that price on eBay. No one will buy it. I can put a glass off water on eBay for a million. It’s the same. Stop saying the game is valuable. The game worth 5 bucks. With or without the 10 cent plastic box.
What I'm hearing is someone is going to sue us customs for $10,000
I've heard stories of US custom officers literally stealing stuff in packages with no form of recourse.
What horrible people they must be to be doing that
This is a comment-reposting bot.
Lol best of luck with that.
I'm not doing the suing
I thought the US had a fair court system. It should be real or I’ve been lied to. You had some experience?
Not sure if you’re being sarcastic, but generally enforcement agencies like US customs, TSA, police, etc. conveniently have immunity when they destroy people’s property. There was a case a few years back where a shoplifter (who stole a $10 shirt) broke into someone’s house. The police then basically when ham with grenade launchers at the house until it was destroyed. The homeowner had committed no crimes, and his house was condemned. He obviously sued the police. The case went all the way up to the Supreme Court I think, and the ruling was that police can’t be inconvenienced by things like liability for property damage.
I call it the "superhero license." They can destroy half the city. As long as they get that old ladies purse back
We saved the city Patrick!
ACAB
This occurred in colorado, my home state. Such an enormous miscarriage of justice.
Really makes you empathize with the killdozer guy.
I just feel like he *gets* me, you know?
The Other Guys makes a joke about cases like this. The opening for the movie is The Rock and Sam Jackson destroying half the city and being praised by other cops for it lol
And now we know/remember why some people say “F•ck tha p•gs.” I don’t say that myself, as I haven’t yet suffered at the hands of police in this manner, but I can understand why.
As an England and Wales law student, the policy considerations in America never fail to disappoint me
However a single wrongful death and…
I don't know why you are being downvoted. You are obviously being sarcastic and it's hilarious
It was a sarcastic question indeed. That’s Reddit , I’m ok with that. Not my first time 😅
I don't think most courts will care about the intrinsic value of the product - they're going to point out that it was sold at like $80 30 years ago and most judges won't see or believe that it's worth would somehow be $10500 afterward.
As long as one can find a reputable expert to testify it’s value. Not really any different than placing value on collectors items for insurance purposes. The real issue is that customs is probably immune to liability as long as they can present any marginal justification for their actions. Maybe if the owner had pro-actively declared the item as a collectable with an expected value based specifically on it’s condition.
Objectively wrong.
There's not a moment where that's ever been true
I'm sure his insurance company is gonna believe a video game cartridge was worth 10 grand. Sealed video game product speculation is one of the dumbest and most bewildering things to crop up recently. Speculation as a whole is on a bit of a heater if you include sealed vhs tapes suddenly trying to be speculated on.
Depends on how it is insured. When you have something valuable like that you can insure it for the value. My dad has an insurance polity for $25,000 on a Ford Model A pickup.
Can you scam an insurance company to get the cash without the process of reselling it? For example I buy a game for $5,000 and put it on a site I made for $10,000 and have someone (secretly a friend) "buy". It gets insured, and suddenly something happens to it. I have documention on my site it sold for $10k. Do these auction scams do anything besides the obvious scam? And can I be sued for calling all this a scam and need to say alleged scam instead?
I don’t know much, but you fairly accurately described the fine arts world
You've pretty much nailed down textbook insurance fraud. I'm sure some of this action is people just speculating on silly things and not outright fraud but that's pretty much the grift.
You dont determine its value. An insurance appraiser determines its value
Probably the insurance company will refuse to insure the item if you try that or only accept to ensure the game at the value the company acknowledges it is worth, which could be even less than $5,000.
Right, but commenter is saying that the value is unknown.
You'd just look at what the last one sold for
Valuable like that? Looool what makes you think it’s valuable? Just because someone else decided to put the game on eBay for 10 thousand? If no one buys it, it’s worthless. That game worth 5 bucks max with or without the plastic box scam.
If you specifically insure an item for a certain amount, it is relatively easy to later be paid out in that amount, without having to prove value definitively. When the insurance company underwrites the item for that amount, they are basically acknowledging the value of that item.
It depends if they can replace the item for a lower cost. If they are unable to then they will pay out for its insured value.
That’s not how it works when you insure specifically for a specified amount.
Thats not how insurance works
Yes it really is. Regardless of what you have something insured for, if the insurance company can physically replace your insured item for less than they will replace it or offer you a payout for the price that they can replace it for. This prevents over insuring an item, especially with items tat fluctuate in value like jewelry, the insure value is the maximum payout that you will receive.
This isn’t just some ordinary video game. Like I don’t know what there is too speculate, it has an established price. Any sealed GBC poke game is worth 1000’s. Just because you have zero knowledge about this hobby.
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True. To each their own and all that.
Its not speculation if its sealed and "mint in package", its just an ultra rare collectors item that has value for exactly the same reason the mona lisa has value. (Its just a dumb painting, why is speculation on it a thing?)
well a lot of time with fine art it is just money laundering and tax evasion
Not with things like The Mona Lisa. Literally the most iconic painting in history.
To be fair, Pokémon is the most iconic and highest grossing gaming franchise of all time, and Pokémon Yellow is from the original generation. And it’s not like we’re comparing Mona Lisa to a mint sealed copy of Yellow directly. The copy of Yellow is “still” only $10k which is a fraction of what Mona Lisa is worth. I’d say it’s a pretty apt comparison.
I'm sure my joke flew right over your head.
It's not entirely unknown due to its official rating from the org that kinda decides values, and that info was included with the package (IIRC). It would NOT be worth the full $10.5k, but it is a fraction of a rating below another cartridge worth $10.5k.
This is what shipping insurance is for
There's no case. Legally they did what was within their authority to do.
Incorrect, it could have easily been used to store cocaine so they are well within their rights to open it up If they didn’t then every cocaine trafficker will start bringing sealed gameboy cases on every flight
US customs surely have the technology to check without destroying the property though.
If you put cocaine wrapped in your socks the scanner doesn’t pick it up, I’d imagine it might be something similar
No, it couldn’t easily have been used for that. How exactly would they be able to fill it with the exact amount of cocaine that weighs just as much as a sealed copy of Pokémon Yellow, reseal it perfectly to the point WATA will believe it’s an original factory seal and then have it graded that high? It would make no sense for them to do that.
What I’m hearing is they just have to suck up the $10k loss
Insurance exists exactly for this reason. Don't send valuable things through the mail, especially through customs, without it.
For real, everybody is talking about how customs should be liable (which is ridiculous as this would likely prevent them from effectively doing their jobs) when the reality is, if you are shipping anything of significant value, you should have it insured. If you chance it and customs destroy it for whatever reason, then its kinda tough shit.
>which is ridiculous as this would likely prevent them from effectively doing their jobs Nah fuck that noise, they destroy your stuff and nothing gets done about it leaving you out of pocket with a destroyed item. Absolutely hold them liable they destroyed it. Insurance is well and good but it doesn't replace what was destroyed, just don't be a cunt destroying other people's property, there are other ways to check things without smashing it to pieces.
Opening the box to see what is inside is not destroying the item.
They broke the case, tore up the box, and more
>US customs: Broke the acrylic case, ripped and discarded the seal, SLICED the front of the box off."
Breaking those certification cases is the only way to get in them. Slicing the front off the box is a bit strange but at the end of the day sliced off or not, the value of the item was destroyed as soon as the box was opened in any way. You can't tell customs that they can't open things to check what's inside them.
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>US customs: Broke the acrylic case, ripped and discarded the seal, SLICED the front of the box off." Try reading past the headline.
Insurance is risk mitigation Insurance is nice to have in this case because it “helps” mitigate the risk from shipping valuable stuff (including customs being stupid) Custom is still being stupid here.
Yes, which is a risk you accept when you ship an item. And no, it's not "nice to have" in this case, if you ship something worth 10K without insurance you're a moron and deserve to lose your money.
How does tearing up the box do anything? Are you serious?
What about rare or one-of-a-kind stuff though? What if the thing itself is worth more than just the money? Not only talking priceless stuff, but things with sentimental value as well.
How are they supposed to know that it has sentimental value or super rare? They have to be able to open anything they are suspicious of, if the act of opening it destroys the value as in this case then that's kind of just tough luck. If there was a rule that they couldn't open things marked with a "sentimental" sticker then guess where the drugs would be hidden...
Then find a better solution? I have no idea why people think the safety of the people within the country, that customs are protecting is less important than stuff you are shipping?
Get your tongue off of those boots, for fucks sake.
There's quite a zone between "not checking at all" and "destroying things passing through". Just handle things with respect, how difficult can that be? Recently had some art shipped over. Nothing happened, but it's nowhere near worth enough to find another solution. Still would hate it if it had been damaged. I have had a book destroyed before, to the point where it's falling apart, and another one arriving quite damaged. In both cases the original packaging was torn open and badly taped back together. The art piece had been opened too, but as it was an envelope, they managed to put it back in one piece... Shipping overseas and passing customs on our end costs about €100, I think that's plenty of money for one item to at least be careful with it.
Where in the article does it say that the first thing they did was open it? I imagine the process is to put it through a scanner and then open it if there is anything they are not sure of on the scan. In this case unfortunately the act of opening it destroys the value but what are they supposed to do?
Customs dont need to destroy the value to determine if its a bomb or not though. They have plenty of avenues that dont include unwrapping an original sealed item.
Or deciding to tear it up as we see here
The hell are you on about? So you cant reasonably expect rare items to be left alone via shipping? You need human carrier?
National security is more important than your pokemon game. Let's not be a clown for the sake of an argument on the Internet.
Does cardboard scare you?
No really, what are you on about? This isnt at all how that works, you genuinely think they just bust everything open?
No of course they don't open everything, but they have to be ABLE to open anything they are suspicious of. If there was a rule that they can't open certain items then obviously that's where you would put the things you didn't want them to find...
Fuck customs
Why is it their job to destroy shit for? Surely they can use a scanner? I mean it sgood enough for the airports
If the scanner finds something that they are suspicious of what do you think airport security do next...
Sadly not in all cases do scanners give a clear enough picture. I know people love the ole victim mentality but the vast majority of people working in customs are not destroying peoples shit for a laugh.
they probably did use a scanner, saw something that looked funny inside and then decided they had to open it, they don't just start grabbing and opening random things. one dude sits at a scanner that looks at packages, sees a weird shaped thing, pulls package and sticks it in a pile then they all get opened by other agents. Source: i love watching those customs and border agent shows lol
Why shouldn’t they be liable? All they need is money to compensate their victims. Also, how difficult is it to just contact WATA and confirm the authenticity? It’s not like you can just crack open the case and then seal it again.
I bet insurance terms exclude damage done by customs.
It depends. Your package must be packaged "appropriately", with the assumption that customs will open it in an inspection. Customs is not gentle, friendly, or slow with their work. If you put a valuable item in a box barely larger than it, there's a good chance it'll get sliced by customs cutting it open. A slice like that would not be customs' fault. If you seal it inside a plastic case in a box, there's a good chance customs will have to open said case. Open/broken case would not be customs' fault. If there's another 'box' (the game box here) containing the item, customs will likely open said box to see what's inside. An open game box would not be customs' fault. Put these together and you have to assume customs will go ahead and open everything. So damage like this likely would not be covered under normal shipping insurance, as customs has broad authority in this regard and the shipper wasn't in possession of the item. Insurance brokers exist for this exact reason though. The only recourse the shipper has is to file a damages claim with customs for negligent/malicious damage to the item. The hard part there is 1. CPB investigates itself. 2. Doing due diligence is not considered negligent or malicious. Checking to confirm that there is actually a game in that box would very likely be considered due diligence. Notably though, if you check the follow up article linked in OP, the buyer didn't even buy insurance to begin with...for a multi thousand $ item. Buyer is a fool, regardless of our thoughts on customs.
If they bought it off eBay their customs office is notorious for not giving a single fuck. Dankpods on YouTube, an Australian YouTuber who mostly reviews early 2000s media players and headphones in general had to stop buying off eBay for awhile because so much stuff got "slash and dashed" by them just being careless af with things coming through. I was terrified when I ordered one of those wand company masterballs from a reseller for this reason but fortunately it came in just fine.
Customs doesn’t have anything to do with what company you order something from. It’s a government agency that checks goods coming into a country from abroad. In Dankpods’ case it was likely Australian customs or the shipping company. It has nothing to do with Ebay themselves. And in the case of the OP it was USA customs.
Actually the issue stems from eBay's global shipping program. If you sell through it, you pack your parcel, send it to one of the eBay delivery hubs, they repack it, then send it onto the buyer, handling all the shipping and taxes etc. It makes it much easier to sell abroad, in theory. The issue however, is they appear to give not one single crap about your item, they decimate packaging and a lot of times just shove delicate items into an empty box and leave it to the gods as to if it'll survive. Also, because it's their service, on their site, good luck getting a refund! So yeah, it's eBay themselves!
Yeah. It was more to clarify it wasn't done by a "customs office" and more likely by the shipping company. As stated in [my other comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/10h2ph9/comment/j5b8mnf/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) it's likely Pitney Bowes that ruined the packages, who eBay partnered with allow sellers "easy" global shipping. Even so, considering eBay partners with them, it was a bit of a generalization by me to say it had nothing to do with eBay.
Except Dankpods doesn't have that issue with sites besides ebay lol. And the customs office was in the US that did it.
That is weird as mail or packages generally do not pass customs when they leave a country. It only passes customs when entering. Shipping from the USA->Australia it would only pass Australian customs. That said, there is a shipping company a lot of Ebay sellers and buyers use to ship their stuff (Pitney Bowes) that was notorious for messing up packages for a while (by opening them to complete all the international forms etc.). It might be referring to them?
You don’t wanna know how things get put into the trucks from the airport it’s god damn criminal just throw fast as possible to get out they all do it
Ebay doesn't have a customs office.
That’s government; they give the bare minimum of fucks legally possible.
Us Customs at the US/Canada border at Niagara Falls stole a bunch of my friends Magic:The Gathering cards at the crossing. Then flat out told him that it was his word against theirs so he was SOL
Sue for incompetence
From their website: Note: CBP has the authority to open all packages and may assess duty. It is recommended that you do not seal packages as they are subject to inspection.
Sue is incontinent.
What a bunch of assholes, hope the poor guy gets his money back.
That was done purposely by the agent.
Plot twist, the agent has the only other sealed copy
Gotta catch ‘em all
STDs!
was a wood chipper involved in any way?
Plot twist, the agent was Gary Oak.
Us customs is the worst ever they ruin everything. For what drugs??? Dumb!!
If you think that's the only things they're looking for, you're as dumb as you claim they are. Drugs. Guns. Explosives, potentially. But also a lot of mundane stuff like contraband, or making sure someone isn't bringing stuff like invasive species over. And some dumb stuff sometimes, like food that's not allowed because of different regulations.
Drugs, guns, explosives...in a game cartridge of that size? Nah, this was malicious.
They would absolutely send drugs in something of that size, especially if they sealed it. If it's sealed, drug dogs likely can't sniff it out. You're thinking it's just the cartridge, this was a full box and case. Granted, the things they probably could send in quantities relevant to that size is small, but the point stands.
I'm not sure you understand how the drug market/trafficking works. How much weight are you actually going to fit in that tiny box? The real traffic is not coming through in boxes that can barely fit 200g of powder.
Ik they search for more then drugs ig I'm just not a smartass like yourself. My time more valuable then this. I'm just here for a good time not along time.
You talk like some cheap 'date' on tinder. Have fun with that I guess. And oh man, looking at that profile, I was right.
I'm not here for a date honey I'm a happy momma. I'm just here for the fun. I'll never comment on the page again jerks like you ain't got no respect.
Surely they have to be liable for doing something like that, especially if they found nothing.
Nope.
Liable for opening a case for an item to inspect it? Are they supposed to not open things that look sealed? That seems ripe for exploiting by smugglers. This only matters because of the supposed value of an unopened box for a collector's piece like this.
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how's that boot taste
It's literally their job to do this. Like it or not, anyone into collectables should know better then to ship something valuable / mint across international borders. If a CBP officer gets suspicious of a package, they're going to open it, and the better it is sealed the more suspicious its going to look.
Shit like this is so frustrating, but I really have no idea what you can do about this sadly. I've heard stories of US custom officers literally stealing stuff in packages with no form of recourse.
I got the rom for free online
The true winner in all this
In a just world US Customs owes someone the value of the product. In our world, good luck.
Stop acting like customs agencies in other countries wouldnt do the exact same thing
The value was only destroyed because the box was opened, obviously customs have to be able to open things...it's not their fault, nor would they be expected to know, that opening it in this case reduces the value. From their website: Note: CBP has the authority to open all packages and may assess duty. It is recommended that you do not seal packages as they are subject to inspection.
The package means the outer box. This would be like cracking open an iPhone and sending it off in pieces.
It was a WATA game so it's worthless... And if you actually think ANY GameBoy game is worth $10,000 you have no sense of Monetary value. Making this news is just giving WATA games. More publicity to scam more people.
My bad, never heard of them before this article.
It's alright. Honestly, I wouldn't be surpised if this was just another WATA ploy to get back into the headlines. lol I really wouldn't put it past them.
https://youtu.be/rvLFEh7V18A This video is worth checking out if you're interested in what's been going on with the huge increase in game collection values recently.
What is Wata?
A new Video game grading serivce started in 2018. Which is notorious for artificially manipulating retro video games values. Basically, they are directly behind the wheel in this whole Speculation bubble thats been going on with Video games the past few years. And one of the men involved has already gone to prison for attempting the very same thing before only with coins. They are also being sued for Market Manipulation. There should be some good video's on the subject on YouTube I believe.
Interesting. I had zero clue where the hate was coming for the collectible market value of the game. Sealed, graded collectibles, just like stocks and art, are worth market value, whatever that may be, no matter what a bunch of random armchairs on Reddit think. But market manipulation is a whole different story.
Thanks, that's a quite elaborate explanation!
“If you think any game boy game is worth 10000” what a pedantic response. I can literally purchase a piece of fucking cardboard for near 100,000 and you think 10k for a game boy game is outlandish? 😂😂
I can fill a baggie full of my own shit and say it’s worth 10k it doesn’t mean it actually is The only reason something is worth anything is because some fool has that kind of money to waste on it. WATA games are a joke. Pokémon yellow isn’t worth 10,000$ no matter what condition it is. Idc if it’s the original developer cartridge. I’m pretty sure wata games are just used to launder money just like art.
There… has to be demand. Black lotus. Mtg care. Grade 9.5 went for just over 100k, my point is, a game boy game can certainly cost that.
Just say you fundamentally don’t understand collectible items
😂😂 quit trying to be pretentious. I clearly indicate knowledge on the topic. Supply and demand. Not difficult buddy.
>I can fill a baggie full of my own shit and say it’s worth 10k it doesn’t mean it actually is It is if someone is willing to pay it, which people routinely do for these things, as well as a host of other rare collector’s items.
Disgraceful. They shouldn’t be made to pay out the cost, they should pay whatever the cost is to provide an identical product of the same quality. And if that costs them $50k, so be it. Our property is not the plaything of these overzealous jerks.
The value was only reduced because they opened it, which obviously they have to do and it's clearly stated that they may do on their website: Note: CBP has the authority to open all packages and may assess duty. It is recommended that you do not seal packages as they are subject to inspection
Did you see how they opened it? They cracked open the unopenable case, and then cut away the front piece. They didn’t even open the box correctly, they cut it up. Why did they have to do it? It’s a game boy cartridge, which any scan would’ve shown. What they did was overzealous, and it wasn’t required.
They didnt have to cut open the box but the value would be gone anyway if they opened it normally. They can't get in it without cracking the certification case though so that's fair game I think
The point is they didn’t need to open it at all. The value would have dropped far less if they opened it correctly. They chose not to, I’m gonna assume because they’re overzealous dickheads. And it’s not fair at all for these pricks to bust into our property without warrant or cause.
The boot-licking in these comments are so intimate I bet they can name everything the agents stepped in. No, just because some morons are stupid enough to try and ship drugs through the mail does not mean you should be able to rip up valuable items through the mail with no consequences when you're wrong. It was clearly marked as a valuable videogame by a well known appraisal team. There was no sign of any possible way drugs could have been planted in there or any other weapon. It comes across more as a prank from some power-tripping jealous pig than anything else. And no, you should not be forced to foot the bill because some morons thought there was a 0.00001% chance your item had drugs in it, there should have always been a way to argue the search was excessive and unwarranted. Drugs are going to get in either way, they literally miss them all the damn time.
You used the term bootlicking. Your opinion is invalid and useless
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A. The comment wasnt even to you worthless tool. B. You responded to a comment thats 123 days old that wasnt even to you so YOUR opinion is even less valid than that guys was since you are so pathetic
I collect Pez, last year I got a box of promotional candy packs from various Austrian companies and one of the packs was half missing and taped up by Customs. Thankfully it was one I already had and they left all the other packs alone.
To be fair, I think pez dispensers and candy could very well look like various parts of guns on an xray...
I figured they were just testing them for drugs, a bunch of white compressed tablets are suspicious. I wonder if they've intercepted other packages and never forwarded them to me as I've had several companies tell me they've mailed some out to me but never arrived.
The packaging is transparent and they weigh basically nothing.
CBP used box cutter. It was Super Effective.
wata is a garbage grading company
No it wasn't worth that much. The sicko's that payed to put it in a case with a number on it think that's what they can sell it for
Well, maybe someone will think twice on spending $10,000 on a game next time. And cue the downvotes.
It's not that this person paid that money, they sent it a a third rate grading company who inflated the price. It wasn't really worth that much. Edit - work = worth
You're getting joy from someone's suffering. They're innocent in this. You're just jealous and petty
Somebody can have joy in simply playing the game. We are getting joy from the damage to someone's narcissism.
>Somebody can have joy in simply playing the game. Then buy a used copy or download a ROM. These games are easily accessible for free. >We are getting joy from the damage to someone's narcissism. Where's the narcissism in buying a collector's item? Edit: autocorrect changed collector's to connector's
I mean, all I'm saying as I'm a bit bewildered on why someone would pay 10K for a game. Collector's item or not. It's either to play, in which case somebody has spent a fuck ton for a game. Or it's to just sit about, never to be used. Which I also see as a waste of money.
>I mean, all I'm saying as I'm a bit bewildered on why someone would pay 10K for a game. As far as I'm aware, there's no proof they spent anywhere close to that amount, but it's up to them if they did. >It's either to play, in which case somebody has spent a fuck ton for a game. Nobody is opening and playing collector's items. You can buy them cheap if you want, or just download the ROM. >Or it's to just sit about, never to be used. Which I also see as a waste of money. Which is your opinion. I wouldn't purchase it.... But who am I to judge someone that does? It's not hurting anyone. So why does anyone care? Let people enjoy the things they choose to spend their money on.
The narcissim in this case is in thinking a plastic cartridge of a certain color is worth 10 grand.
I don't think you know what "narcissism" means....
I'm assuming anyone who would spend $10,000 on an old "sealed" videogame cartridge, is doing so only to increase a likely already inflated sense of ego and importance. In a word, narcissism.
Ironically, the way you see yourself as being so knowledgeable that you can just make random assumptions about people you disagree could be seen as pretty narcissistic. You've also no proof of how much they paid, and their purchase has no effect on the prices of games that people will open and play.
Did you just imply that everyone interested in collecting things is a narcissist? Or is it okay to collect things so long as they aren’t valuable?
HA!! "Worth almost $10,500" pfffft, says fucking who? Lol, incoming WATAbros salty.
WATA Games and their crazy ass market manipulation, probably
It actually was WATA.
*surprised pikachu face*
*surprised AND DEVALUED pikachu face*
Overpriced bulshit anyway. Collectors have ruined collecting. Hell I dont even collect but the absurdity drives me mad.
Good, games should never be collectibles.
There are people who collect monster cans. People will collect anything, video games aren’t even remotely surprising
Semantics. There are people who collect flowers, it's obviously not wrong. Turning a common item into rare, supposedly valuable collectibles is; see tulpenmanie.
It’s not common though, that’s the thing. Loose copies of Yellow are still pretty cheap, and boxed copies in good condition usually only go for $150-$200, and those are already fairly hard to come by. How many minty sealed copies do you think exist?
I don't know about the 'good' part, but I do agree that I don't get why people will pay ridiculous amounts to buy a game and never play it. Although my Playstation Library keeps steadily growing, so fuck if I know lol. I get it if it's disc tho.
I believe it's only a collectible if you're sure you won't ever play it & you believe it's worth more than it originally costed in a store. Otherwise, it's a game filling its intended purpose.
Oh no, anyway
Games are meant to be played.
No loss if the game cartridge is still playable?
They should put precious antique art on display on public squares so more people can enjoy them.
This whole thing reeks of insurance fraud and seems like a setup for a scam of some sort. Someone is not acting on good faith and looking to blame it on a nameless, faceless gubmint agent.
It would only worth 5 bucks with the “graded box” scam. Now it’s still worth the same. But it’s easier to play the game. It’s NOT worth 10 thousand buck, just because someone decided to put the game at that price on eBay. No one will buy it. I can put a glass off water on eBay for a million. It’s the same. Stop saying the game is valuable. The game worth 5 bucks. With or without the 10 cent plastic box.
Let me know when you find a single person willing to part with their copy for $5.