When Someone I Met Online Gave Me a Present

Christmas is still 6 months away but I have already been given a Christmas present. Santa Claus came in the form of a person I just met online. 

I am a member of Beckett Forums. This is a forum dedicated to sports trading cards collectors where members can chat and give ideas to other members all over the world regarding their hobby and their preferred sports. This is also a place where members can trade or swap cards with fellow members. They’re maybe just pieces of cardboard to some, but for us, they hold some value.

Around March of this year, I made a deal with a certain mwatson692k from New York, USA. I found out that he collects Shaquille O’Neal cards and owns one of the most awesome collections in the planet worth thousands of dollars. Since I’m a big Shaquille O’Neal fan and collector as well, I asked if he has duplicate cards. Luckily he has so I planned to trade with him. He’s a complete stranger but since he is a senior member on the site, well-respected and most importantly, has the cards I want to add to my fledgling collection, I decided to proceed with the deal. I’m getting around $1,400 worth of cards while he will get around $300. That was a very lopsided deal but he carried on with the trade anyway. That was my first ever card trade done internationally and I was nervous because I felt that it seemed too good to be true. I was a little bit skeptical but I hoped for the best.  

After 3 weeks, he gave me a private message on the forum that he already got his part of the deal. I still have to get mine however. After 1 month, I asked him if he can show me any proof of mailing and he promptly emailed me his receipt from the post office as well as the certificate of mailing. It was really true. He did mail me the package. Now, I’m pissed off with our customs and post office! 

After 2 months, I emailed him that I’m giving up waiting for the package to arrive. I had hoped that it was just somehow misdirected or it was just too delayed but gut feel told me that the customs or post office suckered us. There are many cases of packages being opened and ended up not being delivered to recipients here in the Philippines. I myself have been a victim countless times for my trading cards purchases from eBay international. Depressed as I am, I asked him if he can send me some replacement cards. Any cards of my favorite players will do (Shaquille O’Neal, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade and Deron Williams).  

I wasn’t really expecting for him to send me anything. He did send me his part of the deal anyway and it wasn’t really his fault if I have not received it. But surprise, surprise! A package was delivered to our place last week and when I came home to open it; it contained lots of trading cards of my favorite players!

I counted more than 250 cards in all with book value estimated at more or less $500. Great! I might not have been able to receive the original package but this is enough to remove my sadness over the lost one. And to think that he even shelled $16 to send the package to me is a very grand gesture on his part I must say.  

Thank you Mr. Matt Watson. I didn’t expect you to be so generous. I feel privileged to have met someone as kind and cool as you. I owe you one. I hope I’ll be able to repay your kindness some time.

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My Ark Full of Worry-Free Thoughts 3.0