What would you do - mislabeled jersey purchased through charity auction

[yanks12025]

This all boils down to one thing, what is "game used". Some people think when a player wears a jersey but doesn't play in the game, it's not game used. But other people think they're game used. some people think BP is game used, while others think it's not. Are spring training items really game used??

[onlyalbert]

I had the mirror image happen to me. Cardinals charity auction. Game used Molina bat. Bat was in a tube on display and they said it was a March bat and not authenticated. I won the bat at a decent price. Got home and took it out of the tube. Notice the 3 was an 8 for late Aug and there was a auth sticker covered by the black tube end. Looked it up and it was used 2013 nlcs gm 6. The pennant clincher! Prob would've drawn more bids had that been known.

[sox83cubs84]

Sad to say, though, that there are some less than accurate or incomplete descriptions that charities will stand behind, even if they're confronted with it.

In the mid-1990s, a guy sent me a Warren Moon Oilers "Game-used" jersey to get an opinion on. When I looked at it, it was obvious the jersey was a reatil version, with no wear except for one or two small dirt smudges. I sent it back to the guy, and, feeling gypped by the charity, confronted them and wanted a refund.

Sad to say, the charity wouldn't cooperate. After hearing the bidder's explanation, a spokesperson mealy-mouthed an excuse that "We nere said Moon wore it in an NFL game". The game it was used in, as it turned out, was the charity's celebrity touch football game in Houston several months earlier. They would NOT issue him a refund, and the poor guy was stuck with it.

[Phil316]

Your a fool if you put full trust in anyone without doing some research. That includes buying from auction sites whether it be Ebay, MLB Auctions, NFL Auctions..... At least from my point of view. Just look at the Auction forum. Imagine if no one did research and trusted everyone. That place is proof to do research before buying. I think almost every auction site has shown to have some kind of issue wetter it is dealt with or ignored.

I do not think it is the original posters fault completely. Had he known I am sure his bid would have been less like he said.

I like this forum lots of different views.

[gingi79]

This is exactly why this hobby needs a set-in-stone list of definitions of what each item actually is. Preseason/Spring Training isn't as desirable/valuable/the same as actual season used game worn. Worn while watching on the bench/dugout isn't the same as worn during participation in an actual game. Issued to the team as a backup with team mods isn't "pro model with similar mods".

I'd settle for using Game Worn/Used being used EXCLUSIVELY for regular/post season worn while actually playing the game and leaving everything else made to team/player specs, worn on the bench, worn as a backup as "issued" while leaving all other versions as "replica".

Everyone from auction houses to the average person posting on Craigslist has impunity to call any old item whatever they wish because our hobby has no guidelines or criteria for terminology. We are actively contributing to the muddling of and depreciation therefore of our items. Consider as well, the perception that everything in our hobby and the autograph hobby are fake.

Due to the fact the only time average folks hear about our hobbies is a 60 Minutes expose on Operation Bullpen or the recent bust and indictment of what they deemed "impeccable sources of game used memorabilia" at the National, I cannot be alone in understanding our hobby requires stringent guidelines to help police and classify items.