BIDDING WAR on Ebay - Ty Cobb Tin

[GrayGhost]

I don't want to poo poo on this, but why are those pictures so small? Is everyone sure this is authentic? Stories like this one of the guy sound so "fairytale" like, makes me wonder. he said he sent pics to major auctions. Well, a picture, especially those sized, does NOT guarantee things to be real, right?

Anyone else wondering this?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by GrayGhost

I don't want to poo poo on this, but why are those pictures so small? Is everyone sure this is authentic? Stories like this one of the guy sound so "fairytale" like, makes me wonder. he said he sent pics to major auctions. Well, a picture, especially those sized, does NOT guarantee things to be real, right?

Anyone else wondering this?

The small scans were a yellow flag for me, immediately. I don't know about the tin being real or not (positively) but the auction on ebay, itself, smells to holy heaven. I have some serious concerns about the "auction".

[ullmandds]

I agree there are a bunch of red flags here...the small scans, the weird extra payment for insured shipping, the story of course...but the 14 day return policy doesn't really fit?!?!

I think the item is probably real...seller is just very...very green!

[barrysloate]

His feedback of 7 doesn't garner a whole lot of confidence. Would you bid 40K with somebody who had so thin a track record?

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

His feedback of 7 doesn't garner a whole lot of confidence. Would you bid 40K with somebody who had so thin a track record?

If I was seriously interested, I'd ask him to email a pic of the tin with today's newspaper.

[ullmandds]

I wouldn't be bidding 40K on anything...so it is irrelevant...for me!

[thecatspajamas]

Personally, I think it looks like somebody who may have talked to several auction houses (he didn't say which ones, so there's no telling whether the estimates he was given were "good" or not), and decided to sell it himself because he didn't want to pay a percentage to the auction house. He's staked out a high-end price so that, in his mind, there's no risk for him. He's not taking into account all the detractors that have been listed that have nothing to do with the item itself and everything to do with how he presents it and himself. People just don't realize how much effort goes into presenting their items in a favorable manner, and how much of an effect that has on the final price. He hasn't used his eBay account in 10 years, the pics look to have been taken with an old camera phone, and the shipping charges may seem petty but go along with a mindset of milking it for all its worth.

My guess is, assuming the final bid doesn't reach his reserve, we'll be seeing this tin again at whatever auction house he talked to that has the lowest seller's commission (hopefully with better photos)