Dentist classes via coupons reminds me of when I was in a lobby browsing a magazine for professional women that was filled for ads for vasectomy services and how to become a life coach courses. It confirmed my worst fears.
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In many cases a consignor seemed to have a common and designated shiller. But in the cases where Mastro is the shill, I'm just wondering if his greed is u fairly reflecting on a legit consignor...or if pretty much everyone on the Consignor/Shill list is a bad apple to be avoided. |
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And I would add a special raised middle finger to those gutless hypocrites who had friends bid with Mastro or Legendary Auctions for them while publicly decrying the fraud problem. |
NO ONE deserves to be a victim of fraud or to be cheated period.
IMO if you continue to do business with people who you know are dishonest or have strong reason to believe are unsavory and find yourself a victim, the biggest thing you have to complain about is your lack of self-control. |
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Yes, that actually happened and a number of people got into a lot of trouble. http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/s...stamp-auctions Done verbally between friends it's probably way too hard to prove in most cases. I did however see it caught at a live auction. One bidder in the front row turned to his competition and said "let me have this one and you can have the next" Right within hearing of the auctioneer. :eek: The auctioneer stopped the auction, gave them a stern warning that he could lose his license and they could be arrested and that if they wanted to make deals they should do it outside before bidding. The the item was restarted at the former high bid with the offender getting credited for the next advance which he never made. The third bidder came in then, and got a quick thank you and the lot eventually sold for around $40 more. Steve Birmingham |
So, let me get this correct:
- Auction house owners don't want to have open reserves because it will look bad and hurt future business if any/many lots go unsold. So how does going to prison look for future business ventures? - As for consignors, if I am to believe that they actually paid the BP for any of their items that they ended up being the high bidder on, how can it be a good business decision to pay 20% BP on your own item instead of letting it go for a little less than you had invested into it? I know it depends on which is greater, the BP or the loss? But if you "bought" your own item back, you still have it and have to try to sell it again later. - For those caught this time, but only once, really? This is just the data for a single AH over just a 3 year period. Imagine if it were opened up to all AHs for the past 10-15 years? Just this once? Just like the drunk driver that was caught and he says, "this was the only time I drove drunk". Yeah right. - Can you imagine what it would look like if you could get this type of information for eBay:eek::eek::eek: |
With over 500 posts it's really clear to see that this stuff affects us all about getting ripped off. My opinion as far as the ones on the list from PSA coming on here and voicing there opinion on why they are on the list is slim to none. Anytime anything has come up involving PSA or JSA on anything I have never seen anyone come on and defend themselves. Which shows me they either don't care what people say on here as long as they are raking in money or they just think we are just a bunch or winers and it's not worth there time. Just my opinion. I have read 90% of the posts so if I missed one of them coming on then I appologize.
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With regard to the names of the shilling list, I spotted names like Peter Calderon whom I consider a friend and whom I have always trusted and respected and others that I consider hobby friends who I have had private selling experiences with that were good and fair transactions. I also saw a few others who I considered to be arrogant a@@holes whom I disliked for their attitudes and lack of character. and anyone who knows me well knows exactly who I am talking about. I had no surprise seeing their names pop up on the lists. A real mixed bag. As far as the post about the collector who taught the students about card collecting and the hobby, my suggestion would be to quickly point out the true hobbyists and collectors who are absolutely great people, great to know, great to deal with, and great people in general. I have met (many in person, many more through Net54 and its predecessors) so many collectors and collector/dealers and dealers over the past 30 years that I know they are the backbone of the hobby. All ages, all backgrounds, all over our country. Tell your students about them. They are the REAL reason the hobby survives. Finally with regard to SGC, I am one of those collectors who was sickened by the Forman revelations, not because I expected more from him, but because I have a huge number of pre-war cards in SGC holders. I always liked the customer service, the way the cards were displayed in the holders and what I felt was more accurate grading of the cards than other TPG companies. If SGC goes away, I'll still have the cards (and I always bought my cards for the cards not the holders anyway) and they will still mean the same to me, even if the prices might dip without the company in existence anymore. I also have a large number of PSA cards and I always knew that a PSA 5 would bring more than an SGC 60 in the pre-war market but that's life. Finally, I realize that there were different reasons for the shilling, sometimes it was out of business greed, sometimes because of events like divorces which eliminated collections and forced sales, friendships, etc., but it still didn't justify it. For those who posted and explained why, I'm willing to accept it and go on, we all make mistakes. But it wasn't right. Cheers Bob M. |
Let's simplify this
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It isn't rocket science. It becomes real when they start naming names.
Realize the list is after the evidence was shredded and represents couple of years worth of auctions about 8 years ago. I seem to remember getting those catalogs all the way back in the 1990's. If you think this didn't happen before and after those dates and still happens every week on eBay, stick your head back in the sand. It would be scary to get that information from eBay across the last 20 years. Also, for the group that says "I don't have a problem with that". It distorts pricing across the whole market. At the end of most auctions, that email goes out stating "over X million sold". Or "highest price ever for X". They have a vested interest in higher sales. The grading companies, same thing. PSA XXX sold for some new high... It is a thinly transacted market (pre war). Some cards may have 1's or 10's data points a year (or less) of pricing data points (I don't have a membership to VCP but that would be an interesting stat to gather on the # of data points/year for some of the commonly shilled items). Paying a BP (on a shill in the scenarios provided earlier) to get a 50%-100% bump in price makes perfect sense when the market always goes up and you could protect your investment to sell higher later. Does everything always sell for more, no. I've had mixed results. I would expect that. But I don't have friends protecting my investment. Does it happen 100% of the time, no. But it is much wider than the glimpse that was provided in that list. Will it stop me from bidding on cards, no. So ultimately, it won't stop until all the money stops flowing on cards at AH or brokers on eBay that are even suspected of participating. This information is years old and Legendary was still getting lots of activity and high prices all the way to the end. My two cents... It has been a fascinating read... Rich McGillicuddy |
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But on the other hand...it seems lots where groups "collude" seem to sell at higher prices as individual collectors are usually willing to pay more for a card they want/need...and not have to deal with reselling the rest.
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I have passed on countless numbers of lots because I only needed a few cards and the price wasn't worth it. If the cards I want total $30 and the lot is selling for $50, why would I bid on it? Doesn't make sense.
So, I don't think it's colluding at all when a group of collectors get together and buy a lot and then distribute the lot among each other. Most of those guys would have never even bid on the lot if it was just them bidding on their own. |
I was at a live auction where two people start out bidding against each other, and then one stops and they split the lot. The auctioneer was ticked off. BTW, both of those people are on the list in this thread. One works for a major auction house, and one is involved in a grading company. I am not going to name them, as it's hearsay, but I spoke to the auction house owner afterwards and he confirmed that it happened. Definitely collusion.
How would he know? He is familiar with both of them, their bidding patterns, and they were sitting next to each other, when they spoke, and one of them stopped bidding. BION |
There are cases of bidder collusion to suppress bidding and there are cases where a group of collectors each of limited financial means and collecting needs going into together/pooling together their funds to get a large group lot. Two different cases, and the latter may in fact raise the final winner price. The latter can allow bidders of limited financial means and specific collecting needs to enter the bidding where, due to the largeness/variety and expense of the lot, they would pass on the lot on their own.
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I attend 50-75 live auctions per year, there are 4 dealers who are constantly colluding with one another. Lots of times it's to share a lot and other times it's an agreement to not bid against one another. They almost always come to me to get me to try and "share" with them when it comes to certain items like postcards or Husker football memorabilia. There is only one reason they do this. To save money. The auctioneers know this is going on. I have even had conversations with them and they know who it is and they know when it's going on. They don't do anything about it I guess because those 4 dealers also happen to be their best customers.
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My suggestion may of been over-simplified, and I can understand why some of you are worked up. I've been about as vocal as anyone against shilling and retractors. Reference my post in June of last year (not sure how to link posts).
Quote: ..."Exactly. REA/Mile High/Memory Lane/Heritage/H&S....all have one thing in common; proprietary bidding software with no transparency. If you want to make an argument about shilling, start their first" Everyone of us has probably been shilled, some of us multiple times. It's too dam easy for these scum to do this via the internet bidding platform. IMO, shilling is still rampant at AH's; less so on e-bay. Here's my mental health bidding tips; just my opinions, as I'm primarily a buyer: 1. Assume your are going to be shilled if you bid at an AH. Place your bid as if your going to be shilled; makes your life so much more enjoyable when you win or lose. 2. If your max bid wins an auctions and you think the underbidder is a shiller, don't cry sour grapes, see rule #1. Lower your max next time so your competing against real bidders, not shillers. 3. Learn to enjoy coming in 2nd. I'm an aggressive bidder on cards I like, but I come in 2nd a lot. In all likelihood, shilllers have won several of these auctions, which is just fine with me as long as they paid the commission. This is a hobby, not surgery. If you bid enough, you start to get a feel where shillers will bid. 4. Follow up with your AH policy on reserve bids, consigner won bids, bid history, etc. Hold them to the fire, ask for clarification in writing. Read their fine print. Do nothing verbally. 5. Do not ever say the market was artificially inflated when your bid wins an auction and you may of been shilled. See rule #1 and 2. If your max is what you are willing to pay, then you just set the market my friend. 6. If anyone associated with your AH is on the "list", stay away. Does shilling suck, yes. Is it illegal , yes. Did the shiller drive up the price, yes. Do you want to get heart disease stressing about shillers? No. Do you have countless free hours to go after these bastards, hire a lawyer and go to civil court? No. Then bid what you think the card is worth, then move on and let the shillers rot in hell. that's my point |
Shill shillery shill shillery shill shill shillroo!
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Steve |
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And I agree that scenario #2 may point to the auction house bundling together the items poorly. Pairing a Madonna autographed corset with a 1957 OPC hocket set may not be the optimal pairing to maximize bidding. "I don't know. There's this guy in Toronto." |
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Also remember that Mastro was taped as saying (according to him) that most of the high grade cards in holders are altered. I, for one, think the whole high grade section of the hobby is a farce and a crock.
In psychology there is a concept called swarm intelligence. I've often said that humans often exhibit swarm stupidity. |
when you're dead
- you don't know it. It only bothers other people. It's the same when you're stupid.
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+1 |
Closure?
It's been pretty quite y'all. Do my fellow collectors feel, as I do, that we need some closure on this episode? We haven't seen many step up and take responsibility. There have been some serious charges leveled against TPGs in particular. Although millions are at stake for them, I see no response. As a small fish, why should I put in a $100-$300 plastic order with TPGs any more? As a non-dealer, and therefore a potential victim of shilling, I am feeling pretty bad about buying any card over $20 and the hobby in general. I feel like focusing my collecting on low-grade and cheap cards. Do other hobby collectors feel this way?
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other Forum-censorship
If anyone have the time check out the air waves of the other Forum. They are refusing to post the List and saying posting of list breaks forum rules and denying members access to the list (with great reason). The Mods are out like secret police and the backlash is will noted. The last comment from a Mod in response to a question as to why does a Card forum have a on-going discussion about this and allowed to post the List. Trying to quell the restless, the Mod implies that Mastro was more of a Card auction house and the scandal is more isolated to cards vs game used items. Hilarious. The posts of the members sound like the disenchanted populous before the Revolution.
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Can't wait for the next Hauls Of Shame. Should be a good one.
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Here's an interesting thread from 2007. http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=86809 |
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btw, it is ok to mention CU here....or whatever you want to with your name by your post. . |
We've been complaining about the censorship on the CU board forever. It's not going to change, from their perspective as a publicly traded company there is no upside to allowing controversial discussions that might reflect badly on PSA.
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What's Nash going to say?
"Can't wait for the next Hauls Of Shame. Should be a good one."
I think he should say my stuff may have been fake but at least I wasn't a shill bidder. Honestly don't give a rats arse what grandmaster b has to say about it. I am sure it will mostly be about the one freaking lot where Rob's name appears as a consignor. Too many people give him way to much credit. This thread was a much better read than however he will spin it. |
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I posted the link and thread over in the SGC forums on the 29th..no responses from anyone and only 24 views and has one of those emotion-icons noteing it as important.
Depiste little to no activity at all for years there, you know some folks read it. |
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I've been thinking more about the "consignor/shiller" aspect of this list. I wonder if it's unfair to not have the entire auction's results in front of us while making judgements. Considering this list came directly from a piece of scum, isn't it possible he twisted it to make certain people look worse?
Let me give you an example: I've always been into older game used bats, but I have a small budget. I like to put bids in on items I like when they're absurdly low, just as a way to watch. So it's no big stretch to assume I put 15-20 low bids on bats in each of these auctions. Usually, before the auction closes, I'll bump up my bids as much as I can, only to watch myself get blown away. Once a year or so, I'll actually win one! Since the bat world is/was fairly limited at the time, let's suppose it's not a stretch to think that one guy consigned many of these bats. Thinking back to the biggest bat guy back then, a man I have nothing bad to say about, let's call him "Dave." So in the records you will see many instances of "Ke.n Su.lik" bidding and not winning. If most of those items were consigned by "Dave," it would be very easy to create a partial list that only shows when Ke.n Su.lik has bid up--but not won-- items consigned by Dave! Especially when you DON'T list the items that I bid on from other consignors, nor do you list items I actually won and paid for. Viola! Ke.n and Dave must be in cahoots as shillers! |
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