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View Full Version : Bad Sellers/bad GU items - hurts all of us



jake33
03-07-2012, 05:35 PM
I have long have held the thought that we should always be harsh and critical of fake items, whether it be by someone selling by ignorance or by their intention. However, the flip side of that is that when a seller would list an legit game used item incorrectly and losses potential $$ on a cheap sale, is that ethical to jsut go ahead and buy it and not say a word. Yes, I am guilty of doing that i.e. an ebay seller lists an item generically as " packers jersey" it is game used, you buy it and dont say anything about it. Yeah, techincally that could be considered wrong and I have done that. However this post is on a different topic.

I always have an issue when anything fake about game used hits auction, or makes the media for whatever reason. The reason being is to outside lookers, the game used industry always looks like a joke and that everything we collect is "fake." I often get game used items I buy shipped to me at work. The other day, I received a game sued 2009 WBC baseball that is mlb authenticated. I will have friends/co-workers often go, "yeah, I bet that is real." they don't care about the COA, the mlb hologram, the company I bought it from, photomatching, etc. I think in general game used items are viewed by mass people as a strange hobby and lacking the legitimacy of its authenticity.

I get upset when I see people listing stuff on ebay wrong, blatant fake items, news stories of fraud, all of it matters. Not one individual incident means the world, but all small pieces equate in the industry not have a clean name, in my opinion.

Think of this scenario, a guy lists a game used helmet by the wrong player on ebay, some casual fan buys it thinking it is of a certain player, and finds out the seller stupidly gave bad information. Of coarse, we within the game used hobby will yell (including myself) "the buyer needs do their homework first." That is very true, but it doesn't take away from the fact that, incidents like that turn new people away.


It's is kind of like a guy who runs a red light and hits another car. Yes the guy shouldn't have ran the red light, and he will get ticketed/insurance claim will cover it/ blah blah blah, but the damage is done. The time lost and feeling of the person who got hit by the other car, still remains.

My thought is that this hobby DOES need more people in it to grow. How many times have you sold an item for $175 that you paid $300 for? With the influx of new game used items that hit the market yearly (or in some cases monthly), the growth of new collectors needs to increase on a simialr level, or one day we could all be 75 years old dumping this stuff in an already overwelled and increasingly flooded market.

Lastly, I appreciate when people complaing about possible fake items, many times we jump the gun to call something as a fake. it isn't a perfect answer at all, but I think the collector's policing the auction houses, ebay, etc and being too aggressive is better long term than letting stuff slide. Unfounded claims obviously are totally wrong, but I think as all of us become the crazy old guys who collect this stuff, we have a great voice on improving the culture and growth of the hobby.