Lucky eBay Buyer Strikes Gold With Aaron Judge Rookie Card

Mark LaPierre bought a mislabeled Aaron Judge 2017 Topps Gold for the price of a base rookie card

Oct 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) celebrates after hitting a two run home run during the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Mark LaPierre, a college student on a limited budget, wondered if he had found an amazing deal on eBay: a 2017 Aaron Judge Topps Gold, listed as Judge's normal base card. The Gold parallel is serial-numbered to 2017 and was selling for $250-300 raw at the time, during MLB playoffs, according to 130point.com. LaPierre paid $35.

Price paid shown on 130point.com for Aaron Judge 2017 Topps Gold rookie card, listed as base / 130point

What happened next was straight out of a slapstick buddy comedy. I have reviewed private messages between buyer and seller.

LaPierre posted on Reddit about his find (since deleted), and shortly thereafter received a message on eBay from the seller, telling him there had been a mistake in the listing and they needed to not only cancel the order, but also asked USPS to intercept the shipment.

The seller told LaPierre that they had been tipped off by his Reddit post.

But LaPierre and the seller bonded over the mistake, and the seller told LaPierre that after messaging him, he seemed "like a really cool and reasonable person." He went on to say that if the USPS intercept failed, LaPierre could keep the Gold card after all.

The intercept did, in fact, fail, despite the box being labeled with a Sharpie to be intercepted.

The seller had already refunded LaPierre his money, so LaPierre offered to pay him back. They worked out a payment method via eBay, and LaPierre had an Aaron Judge rookie Gold card for a small fraction of the normal price. It sometimes pays to be kind when messaging with buyers and sellers.

Aaron Judge 2017 Topps Gold rookie card / eBay

This time he waited to post on Reddit until after having the card in hand.

"It really encapsulates the best parts of the hobby," LaPierre told me about the experience. "Kindness, generosity, and the endless cycle of passion that is transferred from one collector to the next."

The seller responded to a request for comment by quipping about his team's World Series loss. "After Aaron Judge dropped that fly ball I was ready to burn the card anyways. Glad it went to someone who appreciated it."