Question For Everyone On Here.........

[DoctorLoomis]

Take a look at all of the undeniable evidence that has been posted in the last 48 hrs concerning bad jerseys in the next GF auction. The auction hasnt even started yet and several jerseys have been PROVEN to be no good! Question is.......why would anyone on here buy anything from GF? Why? I would appreciate some honest feedback..........

[slam]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

So, finally after registering 3 months ago to have the ability to bid on their auctions, they final got back to me to declined my ability to bid. I guess after seeing all these bogus items, they are doing me a favor.

[both-teams-played-hard]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

I have been a critic of GFC, sense this forum originated. However, in that time, they have sold many incredible jerseys and sports relics. They have also sold many questionable items. It is up to the collector to do his own research and ask questions. It is a mistake to take an authenticator's word for it. Don't forget: jerseys of common players are rarely forged.

[suave1477]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

I agree right off the bat you did find some bogus items in your opinion as I wouldn't know I am not a football jersey expert.

I would still consider GF a reputable for the most part auction house. Now I am not saying they are perfect by any stretch of the means but on the baseball side of there things they do get some pretty good quality items.

Just like any other company things can go wrong, things slip through the cracks, something is missed. But the one good thing about them is if they are shown something doesn't seem right they will pull the item off auction with no problem.

Which some auction houses will try to devise a defensive answer why your wrong when it is blaintly in there face it doesn't add up. Or worse like another auction house yes you to death and still leave it up for auction.

I would say there quality stuff does out weigh by far the few bad items that just may slip through.

I have had good experieinces with them and even once I bid/won something from them and when I recieved it in hand for some reason something just wasn't right about the item. I don't know what but something didn't seem right and I wasn't comfortable with it.

I called them up and told them I wasn't comfortable with the item, they said no problem send it back and they refunded my money.

Again this is just my opinion!!

[suicide_squeeze]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

DoctorLoomis,

A short answer would be.....because some.....some......of the items they auction off are authentic.

That said (and since I really didn't want to spew venom out about them, so I made a joke on the 'Dickerson' thread), I can't understand for the life om ME why these crooks aren't behind bars.

I have been watching their auctions for years, and they are the most flamboyant B.S. dealers in the business. I mean, at least AMI makes an ATTEMPT to hide the fact they sell forged fake garbage from time to time, and they try to establish SOME sort of doubt that what they are in fact offering as "real" items MAY be. GF just puts absolute GARBAGE out there in MASSIVE NUMBERS and places rediculously shallow descriptions under them, usually speaking of the players greatness, and nothing substantiating the actual item being auctioned off.

Hey, it's a GREAT job if you can get it. Or should I say....get AWAY with it. I have seen no organized effort on the part of a class-action lawsuit brought about by collectors who have been taken by these bums, so why downsize the practice? I think we all know the reason why, too. Fraud is a HARD thing to prove, and hey, after all, if you buy an item you find out to be BAD, it's a whole lot easier to just cut your losses by listing the dung on ebay for some other unsuspecting buyer to have the good fortune to place their ill-suited winning bid on.

I have steered clear of these scumbags for years......but every once in awhile, they do come up with ONE item I may want....one I've done my homework on, and have proven to MYSELF is real. But it still pains me they are seperating me from my "buyers premium"....but that's life in the hobby.

I'm with you on the angst.......GF is dangerous for the guys who don't know a whole lot about what they're bidding on, because they sell bad stuff, and a lot of it.

[suave1477]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

DoctorLoomis,

A short answer would be.....because some.....some......of the items they auction off are authentic.

That said (and since I really didn't want to spew venom out about them, so I made a joke on the 'Dickerson' thread), I can't understand for the life om ME why these crooks aren't behind bars.

I have been watching their auctions for years, and they are the most flamboyant B.S. dealers in the business. I mean, at least AMI makes an ATTEMPT to hide the fact they sell forged fake garbage from time to time, and they try to establish SOME sort of doubt that what they are in fact offering as "real" items MAY be. GF just puts absolute GARBAGE out there in MASSIVE NUMBERS and places rediculously shallow descriptions under them, usually speaking of the players greatness, and nothing substantiating the actual item being auctioned off.

Hey, it's a GREAT job if you can get it. Or should I say....get AWAY with it. I have seen no organized effort on the part of a class-action lawsuit brought about by collectors who have been taken by these bums, so why downsize the practice? I think we all know the reason why, too. Fraud is a HARD thing to prove, and hey, after all, if you buy an item you find out to be BAD, it's a whole lot easier to just cut your losses by listing the dung on ebay for some other unsuspecting buyer to have the good fortune to place their ill-suited winning bid on.

I have steered clear of these scumbags for years......but every once in awhile, they do come up with ONE item I may want....one I've done my homework on, and have proven to MYSELF is real. But it still pains me they are seperating me from my "buyers premium"....but that's life in the hobby.

I'm with you on the angst.......GF is dangerous for the guys who don't know a whole lot about what they're bidding on, because they sell bad stuff, and a lot of it.

Suicide I was a bit surprised by your response, I am sorry (even though I have no involvement with them) to hear that you had bad expeirieinces with them. You basically are saying for the most part they are just pumping fake stuff onto the market. I cannot say I agree with this for the most part of the items I have seen them sell over, I would say last 10 auctions or was about 80% to 90 % legit. Again this my opinion. But I cam curious can you point out some of the items that have not been previsouly discussed here that you felt were not up to par?

Even a lot of the items they receive come from the actual players them selves. Again I am by no means saying they are perfect. I am just trying to understand why you feel for the most part they are pumping junk into the market?

[suave1477]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

THIS WAS AN EMAIL SENT OUT TO POSSIBLE BIDDERS - WHICH I THINK FURTHER CONFIRMS MY POINT OF THEY ARE TRYING TO MAKE THE RIGHT ADJUSTMENTS!!

Dear Collector,
Please be advised that we have made some changes to our upcoming April 29th Auction. Grey Flannel Auctions makes our entire auction available online for previewing one week or so before bidding actually begins. In striving towards impossible perfection, we believe this allows the well-intended bidding public to form their own opinions in a more educated manner. Further, there are times when we feel that removing an item is best, even though we still feel it is authentic. In these cases, we may feel that further research is needed or perhaps a point has been brought to our attention that we agree with. That being said, the following changes have been made on our auction web site and will differ from the printed catalog descriptions.
Lots 253, 278, 288, 292, 307, 316 and 757 have been removed from the auction.

[JETEFAN]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

DO YOUR HOMEWORK......every single auction house and even "exclusive" team dealers have all, with no exceptions at one time or another offered bogus items, no one can be an expert on every phase of collecting. Honest mistakes....maybe, but it's up to you to research and make sure of what you are looking at.

George

[nyjetsfan14]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

I would say last 10 auctions or was about 80% to 90 % legit.

You believe 20% of the items they are paid to authenticate, promote/market, sell, and generate profit off of are fake? And that makes them in your words "reputable?" This is all very alarming. I would think that for most of us...if we carelessly erred 20% of the time at our place of employment we would be terminated immediately. Do mistakes happen? Absolutely. But, if your estimate is close, is what we see tolerable and/or even legal?

[suave1477]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

You believe 20% of the items they are paid to authenticate, promote/market, sell, and generate profit off of are fake? And that makes them in your words "reputable?" This is all very alarming. I would think that for most of us...if we carelessly erred 20% of the time at our place of employment we would be terminated immediately. Do mistakes happen? Absolutely. But, if your estimate is close, is what we see tolerable and/or even legal?

Actually no I said technically as a guess 10% to 20% - I am going by what I have seen pointed out on this forum and items I personally felt questionable. But as I said that is just a guess percentage.
I am sure the real precentage is actually lower.

As far as comparing it to other businesses being done at only 80% - I am not sure that would require anyone to be fired. Most companies expect failure somewhere. That is why they have profit and loss statements to be off set by budgets.

Take for instance cars that are mass produced. Do you know how many cars are put out on to the market with faulty parts? And get called back? Or the parts themselves get called back?
Do these companies go under No. Of course not because they produce over all quality product. So that one car that failed, caused an accident and possibly lives were lost - gets swept under the carpet.
Insuarance money / law suits pay out and everyone goes on with there lives.

This is just a mere hypothetical example before everyone goes crazy on me. I am just making a point that there is failure in companies and if a company has 80% success that is considered a profitable company and is not going to close doors the next day.

[both-teams-played-hard]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

Take for instance cars that are mass produced. Do you know how many cars are put out on to the market with faulty parts? And get called back? Or the parts themselves get called back?
Do these companies go under No. Of course not because they produce over all quality product.

Horrible analogy. Just plain horrible. Use Frito-Lay or The Gap as examples. Maybe NIKE or Nabisco. How about Apple or Taco Bell?

[gatorcollector]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

I think we're all willing to accept that mistakes are going to be made. No way around it. What I and a lot of others have trouble with is how easy it is to spot so many of these mistakes. Take the Chris Leak jersey as an example. You're Grey Flannel and this jersey has just been offered to you for consignment in your auction. It's presented to you as a game used 2004 jersey. First step: look at photos from 2004. Hmmm, it seems the Gators wore A-Ross commemorative patches in 2004. Next step: Look at jersey. This jersey has no patch. No evidence the patch was ever on there. Step 3: reject jersey.

There's just no excuse for this crap getting through.

[suave1477]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

Horrible analogy. Just plain horrible. Use Frito-Lay or The Gap as examples. Maybe NIKE or Nabisco. How about Apple or Taco Bell?

Both teams play hard I am sorry you feel it is a horrible analogy. Do you not like the car industry?

[suave1477]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

I think we're all willing to accept that mistakes are going to be made. No way around it. What I and a lot of others have trouble with is how easy it is to spot so many of these mistakes. Take the Chris Leak jersey as an example. You're Grey Flannel and this jersey has just been offered to you for consignment in your auction. It's presented to you as a game used 2004 jersey. First step: look at photos from 2004. Hmmm, it seems the Gators wore A-Ross commemorative patches in 2004. Next step: Look at jersey. This jersey has no patch. No evidence the patch was ever on there. Step 3: reject jersey.

There's just no excuse for this crap getting through.

Gator I 100% agree.

But it seems to some members mistakes are not allowed.

Mistakes are made daily within all our lives, there is no such thing as a company giving absolute a 100% perfection

[byergo]

Re: Question For Everyone On Here.........

I don't care if you are talking about major auction houses, ebay, online game used dealer web sites or even buying directly from the leagues: NFL/MLB, directly from the actual teams, or even from individual players directly--there is NO source that puts out only 100% legit game used items 100% of the time. It is counter productive to crucify any entity on this message board. Everyone makes mistakes despite their best efforts, and no authenticator can rapidly authenticate game used items across the full spectrum of professional and collegiate sports with 100% effectiveness.

The best thing any of us can do is become an expert in the subject matter you decide to collect and act as your own authenticator. Ultimately YOU are the only authenticator you can trust 100%.