Ebay Seller

[stlbats]

Has anyone dealt with an ebay seller Lumberjackkitz? perhaps he is a member of the forum? he always has several nice bats on ebay but will never reply to emails, His bats always sell well, but i have noticed several things about his bats.

i would greatly appreciate it if he would reply to his emails.

[geoff]

He never replies to emails i like his stuff but without a response i won't buy from him or anyone at that.Geoff

[Calrima]

I bought one bat and NO PROBLEMS.

Den

[nate]

I purchased a bat from him about two years ago with no problems.

[nate]

I've also sold bats to Calrima! Small world?!

[stlbats]

I dont know why he wont reply to emails. he has some nice stuff listed, but I am not sure about some of it


Jason

[Calrima]

I've also sold bats to Calrima! Small world?!

Yes, you have Nathan.....................and I'm very happy and hope someday to do it again!


Dennis

[wllump52]

Bought a Derek Jeter bat from him a year and a half ago. Sold it this summer and told the buyer that if it did not pass authenticiation, I would take it back and pay his PSA/DNA fee. John Taube examined it and stated in his conclusion (D63163)

"Based on our examination of this Derek Jeter bat, its player use characteristics, we believe the bat to be an authentic professional model bat, ordered by Jeter during the referenced labeling period. The visible use is not typical of Jeter and in our opinion is questionable"

I called John Taube to discuss what his concerns were and specifically he felt that the seems marks had been faked -- they were not deeply imbedded.

Based on this information, I refunded my buyer his payment plus the PSA/DNA fee. At this point I emailed the seller Lumberjackitz as follows:
-------------
Hi Andrew—

I was the winner of a Derek Jeter game used bat that you auctioned on EBAY back in February of 2005. I recently sold this bat and as a condition of the sale, I agreed that if the bat did not pass authentication by either PSA/DNA or MEARS, that I would accept the bat back.

The PSA/DNA opinion has come and in their opinion, the bat is a professional model Derek Jeter bat ordered by him during the respective labeling period, however, the bat does not show Derek Jeter use characteristics. In their opinion, they think it questionable that Derek Jeter used the bat. Based on this opinion I now have the bat back in my possession and have refunded the buyer his money.

In light of this PSA/DNA opinion, I too would like to return this bat to you and get a refund. The auction price was $1,032. Had I known that this bat was not used by Jeter, I would not have bid on this bat. I have had good experiences with you in the past and have heard good things about you from other bat collectors so I hope you will be willing to refund me the purchase price and accept the bat back.

Lumberjackitz response dated 9/6/06 follows:

all my bats come from mlb sources, the bat you won was unquestionably used by derek, i put no faith whatsoever in the bat authentication services. many including psa/dna also sell game used bats which is a direct conflict of interest. it is in their best interest to not "authenticate" certain items which will help their items sell for more. they make mistakes ALL the time. never have i offered a refund if a service does not authentic and never will. all my auctions are described acurately and honestly. psa/dna does not see any of the items the authenticate being used and therefore are making guesses. Every bat a player uses does not xibit the same characteristics. thanks andrew

My Response:

Andrew—

I have spent $1,032 for what you have described as a bat that was unquestionably used by Derek Jeter. You indicate that the bat came from MLB sources. At this time, I am not disputing what you have told me. But the problem is I now have a bat with a PSA opinion letter that states it is questionable that Jeter used this particular bat because it does not exhibit his use characteristics.

Since you stated that Jeter unquestionable used this bat, would you be willing to provide me a letter of provenance signed by the person who can attest to the fact that Jeter used this bat? The actual game the bat was used, opponent, regular season or spring training, team and title of MLB source should be included in this letter/COA.

This would provide me the written assurance that would rebut the PSA/DNA opinion letter.

Thanks
Steve
9/11/06

_____

Have not heard back from him at this point-- Have a few other bats from him that I now have questions about

[stlbats]

Wllump52, your email link did not work, can you repost

thanks
jason

[bagbig]

This is an unfortunate situation, I feel terrible for the buyer, I don't agree with the seller. The one point that the seller made that I agreed with was John Taube's conflict of interest. I don't think it is right for an authenticator to also be a dealer. Essentially, he buys bats from Ebay, then writes these letters of authentication, and then puts them on his site for four times more than he paid for the bat. If he had clubhouse sources then I would be more comfortable with the situation. However, to just buy bats on ebay, write PSA/DNA letters, and then sell them on his site for huge prices because of the letters seems like a conflict of interest. Am I thinking straight?