Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

[sportscentury]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

what's the purpose of using those numbered holograms if they're not even trackable, why not just issue the same general hologram they place on their signed items?

sportscentury, is it true that some of the more coveted items they do not list on their website and instead notify mailing lists recipients to not only give them first change before everyone else but to preclude use of discount codes?

Mbenga, I really don't know. Andrew/AllStarsPlus and some others would be better able to answer this question. I really have never bought much from Steiner. I buy regularly from MeiGray and also some top items from Upper Deck here and there, but most of my buying is from my NBA contacts or a handful of reputable collectors. I have tried to buy from Steiner a few times, but each time have had the feeling that the sales rep simply didn't know what he was talking about -- when you are considering buying a top-dollar item, this is not exactly the feeling that gets you comfortable enough to pull the trigger.

[sportscentury]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

Hi everyone one of the “gremlin’s” or "brightest bulbs in the shed" aka "Jigga-Man" chiming in here. I had to jump in here and hopefully nip this one in the bud before it spirals out of control as I can already see is happening. Without being a part of the conversation that was cited and without knowing who the conversation was between I do feel the need to set the record straight. Steiner Sports is not and has never "spread the word that Steiner items on the secondary market are fake." Again I was not part of the alleged conversation but what I think was meant to be said was the Steiner Sports is aware of fakes and misrepresentations that can happen on the secondary market, by no means are all secondary market purchases potential for fakes but the unfortunate reality as a lot of you know is in this day and age people do dishonest things and may misrepresent something in an effort to make a fast buck (a perfect example being the Obama/Jordan baseball which was portrayed as a Steiner item). Is it true that the best way to guarantee an item's authenticity is to buy directly from Steiner? Yes that's absolutely true but you can 100% get great and legitimate Steiner items on the secondary market. Nobody here believes that items not purchased directly from us are worthless at all we just don’t like to get involved in commenting on e-bay or other secondary sources because we don’t want to run into trouble in instances where our documentation has been tampered or someone is misrepresenting items. We stand behind our products and their authenticity as well as our dealers who resell our products. I think this thread has turned into a very big misunderstanding.

Thanks for chiming in, Jigga. I, for one, want to thank LegalEagle for his post, and for starting this thread. He is a well-respected, regular poster here on GUU, and also a collector of Steiner items. He has no reason to make up a story or "alleged conversation" as you put it. The implicit suggestion that his report may be less than honest is not fair. Sharing this type of critical information is what helps us to look out for each other here on GUU, so LegalEagle is to be thanked for his contribution.

[mbenga28]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

agreed with sportscentury, and if there was a question regarding authenticity with say a MeiGray product, Barry Meisel would be here in a heartbeat to try to clarify matters. I'd like to hear Mr. Brandon Steiner address us, the valued customers, directly for a change.

[BCowan40]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

Sportscentury I’m with you about Legal’s post that’s exactly what this forum is about, I applaud his post as well. Multiple people have asked for a comment from the “bright bulbs in the shed” so I was making an effort to help as well. If you perceive it as an attack on Legal then I sincerely apologize. I was not in anyway calling him a liar or saying he made anything up, I used the word alleged simply because I was not a part of the conversation. I’m trying to help as well and clear up the misunderstandings that are permeating through this forum. Steiner Sports is not spreading the word that Steiner items on the secondary market are fake as some have said. I’m not doubting something along those lines was said in a one on one conversation between two people I’m stating that as a company we are not saying anything even remotely close to what’s being alleged. We believe that we are the best place to buy Steiner products of course but you can without a doubt get legit Steiner items in other places, that’s all I’m saying, nothing more, nothing less.

[sportscentury]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

agreed with sportscentury, and if there was a question regarding authenticity with say a MeiGray product, Barry Meisel would be here in a heartbeat to try to clarify matters. I'd like to hear Mr. Brandon Steiner address us, the valued customers, directly for a change.

Exactly.

[BULBUS]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

what's the purpose of using those numbered holograms if they're not even trackable, why not just issue the same general hologram they place on their signed items?

I think the main purpose of the numbered holograms was to make sure the LOA and the game used/issued item go together. Before the numbers, there seemed to be a lot of "switching". Also, I think Steiner had the intention of starting a database for the hologram numbers, but for whatever reason, never followed through.

Steiner is now using MLB Authentication more and more, so I see that as a step in the right direction.

-Chris

[BULBUS]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

Brooks,

Do you have any comment on the Steiner game issued jerseys (on Ebay) discussed here. They are all star players, game issued, without the LOA's. The latest was a Jeter game issued WS jersey.

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=33860

[nickacs]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

Mr. Cowan-
Could you please address the fact that if you lookup Steiner hologram#'s via your website, they are always 'Not found'? Furthermore, in the past I have emailed certain Steiner employee's about specific Steiner hologram#'s to verify on Steiner's end and am always told 'We don't keep any record of them.'

I find this very irresponsible and as any other game-used memorabilia collector here or anywhere, if "buying directly" from Steiner is 100%, then I would expect the same level of satisfaction that on any given day, I can use your website or contact a Steiner employee and verify the game-used Steiner collectible in possession is 100% legit "game used".

I'm not trying to pick any fights here with you/Steiner, but in just the last several weeks, there have been several forum members here post similar threads and, personally, I have come in contact with two Steiner "game worn" jerseys with hologram #'s that are questionable at the very least. But without verifying the hologram#'s, it makes the latter more difficult.

Thank you in advance.

[legaleagle92481]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

Hi everyone one of the “gremlin’s” or "brightest bulbs in the shed" aka "Jigga-Man" chiming in here. I had to jump in here and hopefully nip this one in the bud before it spirals out of control as I can already see is happening. Without being a part of the conversation that was cited and without knowing who the conversation was between I do feel the need to set the record straight. Steiner Sports is not and has never "spread the word that Steiner items on the secondary market are fake." Again I was not part of the alleged conversation but what I think was meant to be said was the Steiner Sports is aware of fakes and misrepresentations that can happen on the secondary market, by no means are all secondary market purchases potential for fakes but the unfortunate reality as a lot of you know is in this day and age people do dishonest things and may misrepresent something in an effort to make a fast buck (a perfect example being the Obama/Jordan baseball which was portrayed as a Steiner item). Is it true that the best way to guarantee an item's authenticity is to buy directly from Steiner? Yes that's absolutely true but you can 100% get great and legitimate Steiner items on the secondary market. Nobody here believes that items not purchased directly from us are worthless at all we just don’t like to get involved in commenting on e-bay or other secondary sources because we don’t want to run into trouble in instances where our documentation has been tampered or someone is misrepresenting items. We stand behind our products and their authenticity as well as our dealers who resell our products. I think this thread has turned into a very big misunderstanding.

There is nothing "alleged" about the conversation. It took place by email and I retained a copy of it if you would like to see it. I would never post an email in a public forum but I felt that the information was very important to the collecting community so I communicated it here. I and other have noticed a widespread and disturbing pattern of fake "Steiner" products lately and I hope that Steiner takes its head out of the sand and takes the necessary action to correct this problem, which affects everyone in the collecting community. Yes, you stand behind "your" products but what about those products that are falsely passed off as yours? That people invested their hard earned money in, what happens to them?

[indyred]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

Can someone post some examples of what are supposed to be fake Steiner items out on the market?
I've never seen fake Steiner autograph items with both their hologram and COA with it.

[mbenga28]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

Can someone post some examples of what are supposed to be fake Steiner items out on the market?
I've never seen fake Steiner autograph items with both their hologram and COA with it.

this was posted in another thread.

[legaleagle92481]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

Can someone post some examples of what are supposed to be fake Steiner items out on the market?
I've never seen fake Steiner autograph items with both their hologram and COA with it.

The famous Obama-Michael Jordan dual signed baseball is a great example. It had a Steiner hologram and Steiner Credit Card COA and was purported to be signed by both. The guy did an amazing job of doctoring and the Obama was a pretty good forgery but he forgot to remove the MLB hologram and gave the # on the doctored COA that corresponded to a Phil Hughes baseball. Other examples appear to be the game issued jerseys of star Yankees that have turned up in quantity being sold by a particular seller on Ebay that have the hologram but no LOA. There was a Mariano Riveria purported game used world series jersey that also generated much discussion on here that raised serious concerns as to its origin.

[David]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

The problem with the 'buy only directly from us' idea is that their memorabilia only has long term value if it has secondary market resale value. If it doesn't have resale value on the secondary market, few people will invest in Steiner. Once you buy something from Steiner, the only way you can can get money from the item is on the secondary market.

[David]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

In short, for their own benefit, Steiner should be protecting their stuff on the secondary market and hoping it sells well and smoothly on the secondary market.

[skinsfan0521]

Re: Steiner admits there are many "fake" Steiner products

I think that if Steiner was actually concerned about the authenticity of their items, they would just keep a database of all the numbers for you to look up. It's the simplest thing they could do and would go the furthest in restoring confidence in Steiner.

It always amazes me how these memorabilia companies seem to get further out of touch with customers as they get bigger. You'd think that as they get bigger, the better they would get at these things because they have more staff and capital to spend on these improvements... but it seems to be the exact opposite. They're growing as a company and forgetting about the details that made people respect them so that they could grow. EVERY reputable game used dealer (even small/new ones) has hologram numbers that can be matched using their website. It would take me literally 10 min to add that code to their website w/the database... and I'm not even a great web programmer.

Just unnecessarily irresponsible in my opinion...