If you've noticed some cool Brett Favre variations in Topps Football, you aren't alone. There are two variations of Favre's base card in the set and both are extremely tough to find.

First, there's a card that initially looks identical to his base card, but a closer look shows Vince Lombardi's face in the background. Three completed auctions on eBay have them closing at $237, $168 and $148.

Second, there's a card that pictures the future HOFer riding a lawnmower. Yes, riding a lawnmower. The last two of these on eBay have sold for $229 and $202.

There are also five rookies who have variations, including Matt Ryan (no helmet), Brian Brohm (no helmet), Darren McFadden (crushing football), Rashard Mendenhall (crushing football) and Jonathan Stewart (no helmet). McFadden is selling for the most, at around $120 online.

According to the wrapper, the base card variations are inserted 1:1,722 packs, which means each variation is inserted 1:12,054 packs.

Ebay announced several changes recently, with most taking place in Oct. Included in the changes is one specific detail that seems to have everyone irritated: Beginning in late Oct., eBay will no longer allow checks or money orders as payment methods. That means they are essentially forcing all buyers and sellers to use paypal.

If paypal were owned by an independent, third party it would only cause a mild ripple, but since eBay owns paypal, it's a big deal. But we all knew this was coming for a while. First, they've tested it in other countries. Second, the company is aggressively looking to increase revenues in an attempt to keep up with online monster Amazon.com. This means eBay makes percentages of everything sold on the site – when it sells and then again, when it's paid for.

Lost in the announcement were several upgrades, including limits on shipping and handling in certain categories, incentives for sellers offering free shipping and some new seller standards. We've all grown very tired of sellers overcharging buyers on shipping so any improvements in that category was needed.

The incentives for free shipping are running Oct. through Dec. and designed for the holiday season, but I wouldn't be surprised if they become the law. Listings with free shipping get a free subtitle upgrade for that item. PowerSellers will get double their Final Value Fee discounts. Listings with free shipping also get an extra advantage in search results.

I've read numerous online forums about the subject and there's a wide range of opinions. Many are claiming to be "done with eBay." Some point out the good parts of this announcement. As an active seller, the most glaring thing I see is that this might hurt international sales since paypal requires proof of delivery on behalf of the seller (your receipts, signatures and tracking numbers are no good if the postal worker in France didn't scan it correctly when he/she delivered it). Having to accept paypal as payment could be the final straw for many sellers who go through the pains of shipping internationally.

If you didn't have a chance to get to the National to see it, or didn't see Mastro's live auction, here's some video from the National that we shot at their booth.

Rarely a day goes by that I don't hear or read about some sort of major gripe concerning paypal. Whether it's a chargeback or international shipping or a freeze on their funds...it's always something. Yes, it's still the easiest way to do business on eBay and it's actually very difficult to buy and sell on eBay without relying on paypal, but lessons can be painful.

While most concerns aren't worth writing about, the most recent one is. Apparently, some people have been getting funds held for transactions that are almost a year old for no apparent reason. Why? Paypal claims it's part of a routine screening process. The problem is that chargeback possibilities only last for 90 days so many sellers throw old delivery confirmation sheets at that point. In addition, the delivery confirmation numbers don't work online after around 90 days. This means you are basically out the funds unless the buyer "decides" to pay you again.

There is speculation on the PSA message board that this is a ploy to push people into using paypal's online shipping and they are targeting accounts that don't use it, but that's someone educated guess. Either way, it's very interesting to see how this mini-monopoloy continues to push people around.