AMI Auction: What Happened???

[Moustache Gang]

Forum,

I was observing the recent AMI auction and noticed some of their top ten listings were bringing in some very decent bids. After the auction was over I reviewed the auction and noticed four of the top six listings were not listed as "sold"? They were as follows:

#1 Paul Hornung Jersey was in the neighborhood of $16K+
#2 Terry Bradshaw was up well over $6K
#5 Sid Crosby jersey
#6 Harold Charmichael Eagles jersey was over $1.5K

Were these jerseys pulled?? or possibly did they not make a reserve. Not selling the Hornung and Bradshaw would make a dent in AMI's overall profit.

Mark

[David]

I don't know for this auction, but this typically means the bidding didn't reach a reserve.

[Neely8]

Not selling the Hornung and Bradshaw would make a dent in AMI's overall profit.

Mark

Great. I guess that means even less consignors get paid now.

[suicide_squeeze]

I would LOVE to respond to this question.

If you want my opinion, please email me privately. I am in good standing with AMI, and want to leave it that way. Say what you will about Victor, but at least he communicates, unlike that unprofessional piece of human waste at Grey you-know-where.

I made a sincere effort to "clear up" our misunderstanding, and apologize for my over-the-top comments about Rich and his company.

I received no phone call, no letter (besides the C & D), no email...nothing.

I know why to.

There was no misunderstanding. Just bad exposure they couldn't allow to continue.


In any case, back to the AMI auction.....did someone win the Pete Rose bat inscribed to Fernando Gonzalez? I didn't see that one listed as "sold" either?

[sportscentury]

I would LOVE to respond to this question.

If you want my opinion, please email me privately. I am in good standing with AMI, and want to leave it that way. Say what you will about Victor, but at least he communicates, unlike that unprofessional piece of human waste at Grey you-know-where.

I made a sincere effort to "clear up" our misunderstanding, and apologize for my over-the-top comments about Rich and his company.

I received no phone call, no letter (besides the C & D), no email...nothing.

I know why to.

There was no misunderstanding. Just bad exposure they couldn't allow to continue.


In any case, back to the AMI auction.....did someone win the Pete Rose bat inscribed to Fernando Gonzalez? I didn't see that one listed as "sold" either?

So AMI is the auction house with which you want to stay in good standing?! C'mon, Steve, you have to admit that that's pretty funny. Share your story! I realize that you're the one person to whom AMI actually responds (if Victor communicates with you, you are in a very small minority), but you really plan to do more business with them? To the point where you (for perhaps the first time ever) won't be outspoken about a problem? I appreciate all of your GUU posts, but this just doesn't add up.

[sammy]

Perhaps they shill bid the items up to the point where no one else bid, and AMI was the "winner".

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I refer to AMI's Auction Rule No. 9:

AMI reserves the right to place a bid on any Lot on behalf of the seller up to the amount of the reserve, if any.

[suicide_squeeze]

So AMI is the auction house with which you want to stay in good standing?! C'mon, Steve, you have to admit that that's pretty funny. Share your story! I realize that you're the one person to whom AMI actually responds (if Victor communicates with you, you are in a very small minority), but you really plan to do more business with them? To the point where you (for perhaps the first time ever) won't be outspoken about a problem? I appreciate all of your GUU posts, but this just doesn't add up.

To be honest, it's nothing that everyone couldn't guess, and I just don't find a reason to get into it with another auction house.

Any auction house.

There is no specific "story" to share....just an opinion. And in answer to your question, and as many of the members have eluded to on other threads, the reality of being a true collector is......If and when an item comes up for auction you really want, it doesn't matter who the auction house is that's offering it, or what they have done in the past, that matters.

As a collector, the only thing that matters is obtaining that item you're after. I hope you understand.




Oh, and did I mention.......Sammy basically summed it up in a very short post?

[sportscentury]

As a collector, the only thing that matters is obtaining that item you're after. I hope you understand.

My values and principles will always trump my collecting passion, so no, I don't understand. I assure you, there are many collectors who would never do business with AMI, regardless of what they offer.

Oh, and did I mention.......Sammy basically summed it up in a very short post?

If you know of AMI shill bidding, I hope you will decide to share the story with us. You have always been great about sharing information to help the GUU family and protect its members/readers.

.

[suicide_squeeze]

My values and principles will always trump my collecting passion, so no, I don't understand. I assure you, there are many collectors who would never do business with AMI, regardless of what they offer.

For whatever reason, you seem to have put on the gloves with me.

I assure you, my values and principles are every bit as lofty as yours, as I am a person of high integrity too.

But sportscentury......if you follow the lead you are suggesting, to avoid places who have shown at one time or another lesser scruples than you feel is worthy of your business.....then who would you buy from?

Grey Flannel?

AMI?

MastroNet (Now Legendary Auctions)?

Lelands....Hunt Auctions......Heritage?

EBAY, for Christs sake???

I mean, c'mon man, you can't be that naive can you? They have all done something we all would consider "shady" at one time or another.

Do you think Bill Mastro is out of the business because he wanted to grow strawberries in his garden fulltime?

Do you think AMI arbitrairily just got rid of their "Max Bid" capabilities on their bidding system because they really wanted to go back to the "good old days of bidding" once you got outbid as high bidder on an item?

No....there were absolutely deals cut withe FBI on both accounts. "You do this, and we won't slap the cuffs on you".....

Ebay has changed it's policies and the way we view and do business on their site in a relentless effort to suppress the illegal activities which plague the auction industry. And they STILL haven't found a sure fire way of avoiding the ever-so-present "shill bidding" problem. I don't know how they ever will, with the possible exception of having every auction a floor auction with mandatory presence to be able to bid.....yeah, THAT would work.

So when an item I want comes up and is available via an auction, I am more concerned with how the bidding is going, and at what level the item I want is at, instead of wasting my time worrying about who the company is that's offering it. First off, if I'm bidding on it, I've already done my homework on the item, so I'm past the point of worrying about it's authenticity. I'm not going to sweat the integrity of the auction house, because being of the type that's above ground and breathing air.....I already know there's probably something amiss somewhere in their existence.

Again, I hope you understand. Robert Edwards Auctions unfortunately isn't the only auction house that offers EVERYTHING I'm interested in.

[suicide_squeeze]

If you know of AMI shill bidding, I hope you will decide to share the story with us. You have always been great about sharing information to help the GUU family and protect its members/readers.

And thank you for the kind comment.....I will continue to do so because it's all that matters.

sportscentury......one last thing to add on my last post....

Because of the kinds of things we collect, it would be impossible to obtain game used items that we seek if there was a prerequisite attached to every possible transaction whereas the company we were winning the item from (or buying, if that were the case) had to "pass" a certain level of "integrity" tests. I mean......forget about our hobby, just look at big business in America in general?

Are you going to cease from buying a Corvette that you've always wanted because the UAW's Union has essentially bankrupted the industry due to the greed and demands placed on the industry? Are you going to move to France because our own Government performed war crimes against terrorist detainees, and most likely breaks many laws on a daily basis to keep us all safe.....well, not safe from taxes, but I don't want to get off target here.

I suppose you could on both accounts (not buy the car......move out of the country, respectively), but isn't that defeating the bigger picture of living where you want to live, and enjoying your life with something that will bring you happiness?

I collect items that are one-of-a-kind, sportscentury. If MastroNet is offering Willie McCovey's very forst career home run baseball he hit in MLB for career homer #1......I can't just pass up on it because I think Bill Mastro shill bid the f&%k out of me on a few other items I won in their past auctions. I would be severly limiting my options to adding to my collection if I followed that path.

Please keep in mind, that is NOT to say that I wouldn't like to see the wrong-doer's punished and for them to get what they deserve. And in large part, aren't we seeing that? There have been some monumental events unfolding in the industry in recent months, basically with auction bidders as the winners, the recipients of the good being done by the changes being rendered. This is a good thing.

Here's to hoping it continues.....and as long as we are all here looking out for one another, the hobby is looking up.