Dave Grob and President Coolidge request your advice

[ndevlin]

Hello Everyone,

I just deleted a number of posts that were very off-topic and personal in nature. If you wish to contribute anything more to this thread please make sure it is constructive in nature and beneficial to the community.

Thanks in advance.

I agree with this action, but why not follow forum rules and take further action? Why ban someone for posting an item in the for sale section, if you arent going to play out the rules completely and fairly for a different yet similar offense?

Thats what I dont get about this site. Its like people say and do things as they please, yet they just get a slap on the hand and get their post deleted. Yet when someone does an offense on the For Sale section for example, they get suspended. It feels like you guys make the rules as you go along and its quite frustrating for the common forum member.

I know you guys make the rules, and thats fair with me. But why not follow them like every other forum member does, or is supposed to do. If you guys did, I would bet it would cut back on the name calling, the personal bashing, and the all around poor environment this site sometimes sadly shows.

[allstarsplus]

"Folks, let’s face it and be honest about it… If you are running an auction house or selling items on E-Bay or at card show, your goal is to make money….Ouch…dirty as it may seem, it is the truth."

it's not the mere making of profit that folks see as "dirty" or the issue. it's how that profit is made that is the issue. rudy.

Thanks to Chris for his attempt to get this thread back on track.

There are opinions on all sides of the aisle, and it begins with honesty and integrity and full disclosure.

With that said, the mind sometimes plays tricks on you when conflicts of interest are present. For instance:

1. I buy a game used bat from a reputable source
2. Then I authenticate the bat myself and give it a 10 rating
3. Then I sell it on my own auction site.

I give full disclosure of all the potential conflicts of interest. Doesn't it then become "do your homework" and caveat emptor (let the buyer beware)?

Some would say that dealers are sort of doing the same progression on items they sell, but I disagree.

Yes, I do #1 all the time and that is the start as you buy from reputable sources and then self-evaluate the item as to authenticity, but most dealers don't rate the item (#2) and the LOA is merely a proof of sale as most have agreed that LOA/COA aren't worth the paper they are written on. #3 becomes a problem with any auction house as we all know if you own the auction house there is always the possibility that bids can be manipulated and feedback could be ignored (unless it is GUU) so yes this can be problematic.

I'm of the opinion that the guys at MEARs are honest guys, and I will check out whatever they do and comment when I actually see what they have when their auction goes "live".

As far as Jim Reed goes, he is a highly intelligent, and is as honest as they get. I have not had lunch with him but did buy him and his daughter a Slurpee at 7/11.

Nobody's likes the truth! I'm sick of so many people sitting back and keeping their mouths shut, when they also agree. You know what goes on, yet you'd rather have guys like Rudy do the talking, so you don't put yourselves out there.

We live in a society that is greedy and all about making money. No morales. No integrity. No honesty.

Tony, we don't live in a society that is greedy, we live in a society that has some greedy people. Worse than that, are people that make their money by ripping off people. If the guy that bought the Pedroia jersey a month ago wants to now sell it for a huge profit because he is going to capitalize on Pedroia winning the MVP, good for him if he does it honestly. My problem is the guy that tells you his Favre jersey is game used and is a fake. That is the scum of the earth and the problem with society.

[kingjammy24]

With that said, the mind sometimes plays tricks on you when conflicts of interest are present. For instance:

1. I buy a game used bat from a reputable source
2. Then I authenticate the bat myself and give it a 10 rating
3. Then I sell it on my own auction site.

I give full disclosure of all the potential conflicts of interest. Doesn't it then become "do your homework" and caveat emptor (let the buyer beware)?

Some would say that dealers are sort of doing the same progression on items they sell, but I disagree.

Yes, I do #1 all the time and that is the start as you buy from reputable sources and then self-evaluate the item as to authenticity, but most dealers don't rate the item (#2) and the LOA is merely a proof of sale as most have agreed that LOA/COA aren't worth the paper they are written on. #3 becomes a problem with any auction house as we all know if you own the auction house there is always the possibility that bids can be manipulated and feedback could be ignored (unless it is GUU) so yes this can be problematic.

hey andrew

completely agreed. "LOA/COA/LOO" is a very broad term that unfortunately has come to encompasses many different things. two points to the ones you made above:

1) there's a clear difference, in every respect, to a letter of provenance, which is what dealers offer, and a letter of authentication, which is what authenticators offer.

2) this conflict between authenticating/grading items ones own items and reselling them deals with the notion of perception of bias. obviously, any decent dealer will "authenticate" an item they intend on purchasing and reselling. however, the key here is that buyers aren't under the impression that the dealer is wholly impartial. they realize the dealer has a financial stake so the dealers statements and assurances are naturally taken with a grain of salt, much like a car salesman promising that the car he's selling you is great. sure he may be honest but everyone realizes the bias. third-party authenticators, on the other hand, are assumed to be entirely impartial and unbiased. unlike the dealer, folks assume the authenticator has no stake in it and is being completely honest and candid and so their opinion is taken differently than a dealers. it's these expectations on the part of buyers that strike the fundamental difference between dealers' "letters of provenance" and authenticators "letters of authentication". when the authenticator and the dealer are the same person, these expectations collide and buyers can't be quite sure whether it's the biased dealer speaking or the impartial authenticator. hence the conflict and hence why pointing to dealers who issue letters of provenance isn't a fair comparison.

rudy.

[3arod13]

Tony, we don't live in a society that is greedy, we live in a society that has some greedy people. Worse than that, are people that make their money by ripping off people. If the guy that bought the Pedroia jersey a month ago wants to now sell it for a huge profit because he is going to capitalize on Pedroia winning the MVP, good for him if he does it honestly. My problem is the guy that tells you his Favre jersey is game used and is a fake. That is the scum of the earth and the problem with society.

Andrew, agree 100%. Well said!