Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

[pungent]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

Whenever I watch this video, I think how cool it must be to work for Steiner.

https://v.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/89F31C0A-BEF0-4AF5-B104-353854FACCCB-21190-0000075A936DB150_1b7c5738358.1.3.mp4?versionId=uqke4MWJb6ttkGGqB3NdaFNfpEVv0G.e

Brooks, have you spoken with Brandon and will he be addressing the community here at game used?

[BCowan]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

This is the 2nd time you have reminded us that you are not an official spokesman for Steiner and that you will stop posting if your involvement in it is an issue.

You post answers and make claims about Steiner but keep reminding us that we should not put any faith in your post.

Why are you posting answers for Steiner if your answers are not to be taken as official statements from Steiner? That would be like me posting as a spokesman for a company without being asked to do so by said company but reminding everyone that I am not the official spokesperson.
This makes no sense at all.

Roady nowhere in any of my posts have I said anything even remotely close to "we should not put any faith in your post". I actually thought my posts were the complete opposite of that as I am posting as someone who can speak with actual facts on this particular thread. Some forum members have commented that Steiner Sports has accepted returns of Eli Manning Game Used items and resold those items, these are statements being made with absolutely no facts and are based simply off of what they've read in the paper. My posts on this issue are as a forum member who knows these statements to be completely baseless and inaccurate, that's why I commented on them. As far as mentioning one time that it was not an official statement, I did that because it is not an official statement. I am participating as a member of the forum and did not wish for my posts to be taken as something from Steiner Sports as only Brandon will be commenting officially on behalf of the company. I had to preface my statements as such because I don't have any interest in seeing my statements in the paper. At the same time I have an obligation to the forum to properly represent myself as a Steiner employee.

I am participating in this thread as a member who has information and knowledge on the thread, I was under the impression that was the purpose of this forum, for members to share information. I am not here to speculate or make statements without facts to support which is why I have really only commented on this thread and the issues that I am certain of relating to it. I don't want to speculate or guess on anything. I'm here to participate in the discussion as all of you are. I will not comment on anything I don't have facts to support. I will also do my best to stay on topic of the particular thread. Also some have asked for Steiner reps to comment and to my knowledge I'm the only Steiner rep who is an active member of the forum so felt if I didn't respond you wouldn't get any response as requested.

Some forum members have asked about the signed LOA's that have been on ebay, on that matter I can say yes Steiner Sports is aware of them and we have made several attempts to have them removed. As you can see we have had no success there. I personally do not know how they got there and we are looking into. To say anything more would be speculation and that I won't do as it serves no purpose. For any members who would like to discuss that with me feel free to e-mail me at bcowan@steinersports.com or call me at 914-307-1004. I sincerely apologize for those of you who have sent e-mails to Steiner Sports and gotten no response. I am always available to discuss any questions or concerns you may have on this or anything for that matter.

I'm not going to get much more into detail on that issue though as it does not relate to this thread. As I've mentioned I don't want to ever speculate or say anything without having facts to support.

[allstarsplus]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

What bothers me is we have member(s) stating they returned items to Steiner for different reasons only to see the items being resold with the same description.

Has anyone given us the full details of what they purchased and returned to Steiner and the issues they have along with any proof that the exact item was returned and relisted for sale?

This to me is more disturbing if it can be backed up with facts.

[pungent]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

If you post anything negative about the Eli controversey on their Facebook page, they will delete it and ban you from posting on their wall.

[3arod13]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

I'd like to see B Cowen respond about the Steiner authentication letters being sold without the item.

How did the letters get out of the front door?

Has it been investigated by intra company employees?

As with many others, I've sent numerous emails to Steiner about this, and never received a response. Sent more than 10 emails over a two month period. When you don't respond or try to stop something like this from happening, it doesn't look good.

[10thMan]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

I don't really care what Steiner "says" There is scandal in EVERY industry. I've never been a "hype" typa guy, I'm from San Diego, not the east coast. The more someone hypes something up, the less I'm interested. I've never been impressed with Steiner. The best game used Items I've ever got, I still have, mostly Gwynn stuff. I've shown him plenty of stuff & I always get an honest opinion. We ALL know that a good percentage of game used is junk.

[Phil316]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

What bothers me is we have member(s) stating they returned items to Steiner for different reasons only to see the items being resold with the same description.

I have emailed Steiner 2 times regarding my question.

"If a buyer returns an item questioning authenticity what happens to that item when returned to Steiner?"

I still have not received an answer or an acknowledgment of getting my email's.

Very frustrating.

I have a feeling this thread is going to get locked very soon. I just hope that in the end it is an eye opener for companies. Do not always take a player or teams word on what you are given. I think most collectors would pay the extra to have a photomatch or even include a 8X10 of that match with the item. This has been proven over and over again. Look at Goldin Auctions they take the time to do the photomatches the best they can considering the limited time they have to set up their auctions.

Also for the companies regardless what your business income is. Hire some knowledgeable employees to do the photomatching. Modern day jerseys are not that hard to match especially with the access these companies have to press photos (like getty images ect). Spend the extra few minutes to do things properly instead of trying to sell 300 jerseys at one time. You will not only build a reputation but in the end you know the product you sell is 100.

A company to learn this from that comes to mind is MeiGray. They have a great system set up. Sure you pay a little more but you know what you are getting is top quality. No frills no gimmicks just great product.

This is gonna be my last post in this thread. I am not a game used guru or anything like that. I am a consumer wanting to know the items I buy are legit.

[Roady]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

If my involvement in this thread is a concern to anyone I will gladly stop at this time. I don't want this thread going off topic because of me. I was simply engaging in this discussion as a forum member who I believe is in good standing and doing so because of a request from a fellow forum member. I am not an official spokesperson for Steiner Sports on this issue, the only official spokesperson for this matter is Brandon Steiner. Again I was just jumping in as a forum member and to clear up the major accusations that were circulating regarding Steiner Sports taking returns and reselling items and knowingly selling fraudulent items, neither of which is accurate.

This is the 2nd time you have reminded us that you are not an official spokesman for Steiner and that you will stop posting if your involvement in it is an issue.

You post answers and make claims about Steiner but keep reminding us that we should not put any faith in your post.

Why are you posting answers for Steiner if your answers are not to be taken as official statements from Steiner? That would be like me posting as a spokesman for a company without being asked to do so by said company but reminding everyone that I am not the official spokesperson.
This makes no sense at all.

[sportsnbikes]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

I'd like to see B Cowen respond about the Steiner authentication letters being sold without the item.

How did the letters get out of the front door?

Has it been investigated by intra company employees?

[BU54CB]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

I am not a Steiner apologist, and I don't even own anything of much value from the company. But it makes no sense for a multi-million dollar organization to jeopardize their reputation by knowingly selling a few questionable $300 jerseys (or a $5,000 helmet, for that matter). They are heavily dependent on the information given to them by the teams and players when they purchase their inventory. In a perfect world, Steiner would employ people who sit around all day and photo match equipment... But is that realistic, especially when a shipment of two to three hundred jerseys arrives directly from the team?

Several here have pointed out some of the mistakes made by MLB authenticators, even though that program was designed to be error-proof as humanly possible (with "human" being the key word here). Mistakes do happen, and can you imagine Steiner getting a random email from someone claiming the jersey they bought isn't what the Yankees or Giants said it was? What the heck are they supposed to do? They can refund the money, which the seem to gladly do, but now what? The team says one thing, the collector says another, and Steiner is stuck in the middle somewhere.

Several great points have been brought up here, but my advice is to be careful before you accuse anyone of knowingly selling a bogus item. If you want to have more interaction with company owners/reps here in the forum, you've got to cut them some slack and give them time to figure out what the problems are, how they happened and how to fix them.

I agree with most of what you said, except that many multi million and billion dollar companies and organizations jeopardize their reputations to make money.

Just because a company is large and has nothing to gain from tarnishing their reputation to make money, doesn't mean they won't.

[BVC]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

I have proof of Steiner reselling a Cubs jersey that was authenticated incorrectly and I told them about it and showed them proof of everything I could find. It's a minor player but still the principle. I still buy from Steiner but do my homework. You need to do your homework in every aspect, shouldn't have to but it's the new day and age. Every auction house has listed a questionable jersey, just depends on how they resolve the issue. Just like collectors don't buy Lou Lampson items anymore, do your homework and you're okay. He didn't get to where he was by authenticating fakes his whole career, had to sell some good ones to get to where he was.

This is only my 2nd post, but I joined this forum specifically to discuss issues I'm seeing with game-used memorabilia, so I might as well jump in at this point. I don't buy much modern game-used stuff, but I quickly discovered that the trail from the football field to my hands was littered with opportunities for mistakes.

An item goes from the player [to the equipment manager] [to 'NFL Auction' or the specific team's auction] to the final seller (auction house, Steiner, etc). Sometimes PSA/DNA enters the mix. I believe that the final buyer has the right to know what the authentication was at each step, and who did it. Until that happens, it's only safe to purchase photo-matched items.

It would be easy enough for sellers to explain this to us, but the information is sometimes out there if we do our homework, as you suggest. Example: PSA/DNA 'authenticated' game-used NFL footballs for the SuperBowl. They accomplished this by marking the balls BEFORE the game started: 120, including the special 'K-balls'. Does PSA/DNA authenticate these footballs AGAIN, after the game? or do they just take the word of the equipment manager? When these footballs get sold, will the COA's and seller descriptions say 'game-used', or 'prepared for game use'? I've personally never seen any balls sold as 'prepared for game use'.

[jbean023]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

I have proof of Steiner reselling a Cubs jersey that was authenticated incorrectly and I told them about it and showed them proof of everything I could find. It's a minor player but still the principle. I still buy from Steiner but do my homework. You need to do your homework in every aspect, shouldn't have to but it's the new day and age. Every auction house has listed a questionable jersey, just depends on how they resolve the issue. Just like collectors don't buy Lou Lampson items anymore, do your homework and you're okay. He didn't get to where he was by authenticating fakes his whole career, had to sell some good ones to get to where he was.

[allstarsplus]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

+1 Commando. I know it sucks for those with the items in question but this needs to play out first. Glad to see you back posting by the way!!!

Peace!

John

Well said. There's not enough there right now to point fingers at Steiner, and sometimes things aren't what they appear.

This could be nothing more than guilt by association and not sure if there is guilt until the legal proceedings play out and keep in mind that Steiner isn't even named in the lawsuit.

What I think has been exposed if even nothing comes of the civil lawsuit is that the authentication system in the stadium clubhouses are lacking as the reliance in this case is on the clubhouse manager, the athlete, and the trickle up to the team and the dealers that handle the product could be flawed.

I'm a big advocate of a better authentication system. To me, buying items that lack independent initial authentication can be tainted and that's what this whole lawsuit brings to the surface.

[carbonrosa]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

I once heard that the players don't sign the letters at the same time they give them their game used items. Is that true?

This was true with the Mariano Rivera Charity Auction. I won the Robinson Cano 2013 Game used glove in mid December but didn't receive the Mariano Rivera signed COA stating he received the glove from Cano for his charity until the first week in February. Unfortunately the COA they sent had the wrong date with "Game Used 2012". I called Steiner this week and was told to mail the letter back which then they would mail me a new COA. Just not sure how long this would take since Rivera would have to resign a new one....Frustrating

[swainer]

Re: Steiner weighs in on Eli Manning controversy

+1 Commando. I know it sucks for those with the items in question but this needs to play out first. Glad to see you back posting by the way!!!

Peace!

John