collect.com - be scared, be very scared.
 

i just went to the collect.com auction site. Honestly, I collect rings, I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to signed items. This lot is very scary if it is a reflection of the quality of this auction's other lots.

They claim to have a real "salesman sample" miami ring. However, this ring is a very poor quality fake. there are no markings on the inside of the ring (gee, what a surprise!).

Here is a photo of their auction and i am including a photo from my web site of a real ring. please feel free to visit www.sports-rings.com to see other championship rings.

their ring: <br>
<img src = "http://collect-auctions.com/LotImages/2/CA1-1390c_lg.jpeg" WIDTH=280 HEIGHT=330>

My ring: <br>
<img src = "http://sports-rings.com/gallery/00005703.JPG">

yes, I am scared
 

As I continue to look over this quality auction, i see lot no. 740. it's a jets giants duel custom helmet with autographs from Lawrence Taylor and "Wesley Walls". It;s even JSA certified. I said to myself, "Who is Wesley Walls" and then I see the #85, it Wesley Walker!

Nice quality job.

just wondering
 

Just wondering,

no one wants to talk about collect.com here?

wow .. i see the quality difference. Have you tried emailing the auction house .. if so, i`m curious as to what collect.com had to say.

aL

I'm sure you'll get some discussion if you ever have anything new to offer. Rounding up the usual suspects probably won't have much impact. This isn't usually that kind of board.

One more thing I forgot. This may be my opinion only.

You can always get a lively discussion going on Coach's Corner. That's easy.

You can probably add in good discussion about SCD's support of Coach's Corner. Again, an easy target.

But you, sometimes take it another step and go after the editorial employees and writers (both past and present) of SCD. These are, generally speaking, good people trying to do their job, in an industry/hobby they love. They happen to work for a publication that has gone off the reservation. They don't make the decisions that allow a Coach's Corner to exist. So don't beat up Bob Lemke. He's one of the good guys in this hobby. Don't beat up TS O'Connell. He's not making the decisions that accept ads from Coach's Corner. The other stuff is fair game, the people aren't.


So yes, I think you can safely assume that if you post a topic and no one but you responds for 2-3 days, that no one is interested in talking about it in the manner you would like.

Jim,

thanks for your comments. Maybe you are right, maybe I was too hard on the employees. I am not sure where to draw the line and how responsible they are. In fairness, If I don't really know, can you say for sure if you know? If the editor and Publisher are not responsible than who the heck is? Also, I am a business man, they are too; why would a company loose advertisers and subscribers to accomodate one advertiser? In my business, my biggest client is 20% of my entire sales. While I am greatful for their work, I would hate to be in a position where I loose other customers and then this client becomes 30-40% of my revenue. By increasing your largest client's share, you loose even more objectivity and if they leave you are truly screwed. There is something more going on with the SCD / CC relationship that we don't know about. It just does not make sense. I am sorry if I upset you I am sorry, but CC is just so wrong. The market is getting flooded with garbage and SCD is not doing anything about it.

sporttec,

I did not contact them, The quality of the ring they are auctioning shows that their auction team may not be as experienced and knowledeable as some of the other auction houses. Well, at least they are not going after the same type of garbage that SCD does.

Mike,

There is no connection between Coch's Corner and SCD, except...


Right now, like it or not, they need each other to survive. This is known in nature as a symbiotic relationship. These things usually start out as a parasite/host relationship, but progress to the point that killing (or removing) either party kills the other party.

That's what you have here.

CC gives SCD 60-80 pages (a guess, on my part, I didn't count) of advertising each month. Without that revenue the magazine would shut down. Back in the days when SCD had several hundred pages each week, they could live without this. Now they can't.


Writers and Editorial staff must hate this. Not only are they in the same magazine, but they are probably forced to write and comment on these "auctions" before and after, as part of CC's advertising committment.

Publishing any periodical isn't easy these days. Newspapers are dying off. Magazines are all struggling. Circulation is down. Ad revenue is in the tank. Electronic/on-line sites have sucked a huge hole in their revenue stream.

There is not a lot of long term hope for the industry. I can't get my kids (15 and 19) to read a paper, except for the comics. Yet they always know what is going on in all "sections" of the world. They get it online. To them, the paper is full of yesterday's news.

You make a lot of great points. Your theorey makes total sense, you may have hit the nail on the head with each company needing each other to survive. What a shame, SCD used to be such a great publication.

I've said it before, and will say it again. SCD should switch back to the wonderful BCM format. Then again, there's not much point in wishing for a past that could never be recaptured. BCM's largest advertisers were Score Board and Big Apple Card Co. Too bad they're long gone. Both seemed to be on the up and up as far as their ads went.

A lot of good points were made here as far as how to behave in regards to the person/s that are not directly involved in the decisions up above.

The word "business" was used and if you do simple math, don't you think back when, that if you kicked out this massive advertiser (partner?), that others who alienated you would remain and you could get back those pages? Get back those subscribers?

The figure that the one forum member was incorrect. I believe (IMO) Coach's did a 13-15 page advertisement once a month (X13), and I think smaller ads the other three months, as well as one page in Tuff Stuff, also owned by FW Publications. If you think about a full page at roughly $1,000. If you do the math, that's roughly $200,000 (not counting Tuff Stuff and the smaller ads) and I'm sure they get a nice discount. Let's say $100,000 and then look at the advertisers in the same field who are no where to be found in the magazine for the very reason that they don't want to share print space with them. Now you have to not only compete with Coach's Corners, but you also have to compete with the periodical whose sole goal is to help you get the word out on your business.

I saw an issue a few months ago and SCD has actually shrunk and it was 60 pages, instead of the normal 36-40 and Coach's was like 25 pages with a full page write up about the success of their last auction.

It's what has been talked about often. How a company handles itself. SCD ignores us, and we don't support it, nor would I support the auction. If we have issues with SGC, they come on board and want to make it right. That goes for several auction houses as well.

I found this on the collectors.com site. The forum thread suggests that Mr. O'Connell find a different form of employment.

http://forums.collectors.com/message...hreadid=723662

This is the first time I have been there, and this board is run and executes with so much more class.

I have to disagree on the statement about O'Connell just doing his job and he has no say in how things are handled on the business side. I am fairly certain that he does have a say about it. If not, then I apologize but still feel that his integrity is suspect. I would never put my self in a position to knowingly hurt someone or defraud someone. It is his name on the cover and bylines. If he argues he did not know, then he is either a liar or completely deluded as I know for a fact that many items, authenticators, and business practices in the CC auctions have been discussed constantly for years on his site, sites he reads, and in emails to him personally.

Joshua