Man Accused of ‘X-Men’ #1 eBay Swindle

If you've ever had a bad experience selling something on eBay, here's something to make you feel a little bit better about how things turned out for you: Chances are, you didn't find yourself potentially scammed out of a first edition X-Men #1 from 1963 after your buyer cancelled payment after delivery of the comic.WBTV3 in Charlotte, North Carolina, reports on a story about a complaint to local police from a 37-year old man in Ontario that someone in the Charlotte area has made off with a copy of the very first X-Men comic by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby after agreeing to pay $3,000 for it through eBay and PayPal, but then canceling payment as soon as the comic arrived at the agreed address.

According to the victim, the payment was officially canceled because no-one signed for the package, with the U.S. Postal Service recording that, although the package wasn't signed for, it was officially delivered. On the plus side, the police do have an actual address to begin investigations, but part of me wonders whether the comic really did make it to the buyer, or whether it disappeared somewhere in the USPS system. This is why we need a Law & Order: Bad eBay Etiquette show as soon as possible, let's be honest.

A cursory look at other X-Men #1 listings on eBay indicate a copy of the book graded by the Certified Guaranty Company in good to fine condition sell in the $1,000-$4,000 range. WBTV3 doesn't specify what the exact condition of the allegedly swindled copy in question was, though its price seems to suggest it could have been in similar shape.

[Via WBTV3]