Beware- EBAY Seller "gregg57" does not honor autograph authenticity guaranty
 

This is not the post I want to be sharing but I have tried all prior remedies to this situation.

From Dec. 2018 to Aug. 2019 I paid over $1,000 for 24 autographs (all on index cards/3x5's) from EBAY seller gregg57. All of his auctions indicate:

“This item is guaranteed this item to pass PSA or Spence Authentication or purchase price minus shipping will be given. I do not accept refunds for other issues so please ask any questions you have prior to bidding.” sic

The seller knew I would be submitting these to PSA/DNA for authentication and holdering/slabbing. Over the period March 2019 to July 2021, I submitted these items to PSA, but 3 kept coming back unauthenticated. Based on repeated communication with the seller, communication with a lead PSA authenticator and with lots of documentation, I had these reviewed multiple times- (2 items 4 times and 1 item 2 times), and unfortunately the PSA turnaround was roughly 4 months for each submission. Late this past Nov. these 3 came back unauthenticated again and I have tried repeatedly to obtain the refund from the seller, per his guaranty. Note, all other 21 items were successfully authenticated.

Here is gregg57’s one-and-only response to my emails, EBAY messages and Paypal request since Nov.

I have no idea why these other items still are not but I can’t take them back this many years later. If I knew this was going be such a problem and require this much work over the course of multiple years, I would’ve never sold you the cards to begin with. It would’ve been much easier for me to sell them To another collector and avoid This hemorrhoid

I decided, since I knew these items would not pass PSA/DNA, to return these to the seller so he now has them back in his possession but has not responded to my follow-up. I am most disappointed by his lack of service, his harsh language and disingenuous “guaranty.”

I am an honest individual who would always try to work things out in a polite and reasonable manner but in this situation my refund request has gone on deaf ears. My cost for the 3 items was $199. I know there was a long lag from purchase date(s) to final return to me from PSA, but I was totally up front with gregg57 about where this stood with PSA.

I told gregg57 I would be posting this on multiple message boards.

Thanks for reading. Scott

PS- Should I receive a refund I will remove this post,

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That is very unfortunate and disappointing :mad:

I believe he purchased and dismantled the Jack Smalling autograph collection and dismantled it over eBay, along with a bunch of other prominent collection.

I have bought numerous pieces from him, this is very disappointing news.

To Jim Stinson’s credit, I know he refunded an autograph YEARS after selling it to which changed hands several times after it came back questionable.

I have known him for a lot of years. He is a collector 100% who only sells duplicates etc. He is not a dealer despite his large ebay inventory. I think like a lot of old time collectors, he probably gets frustrated with the third party authentication system when they feel like they know an item is good or know the source and then it does not pass authentication. Just a guess.

I agree 100%....I don't feel I did anything wrong. I was just looking to be made square for the items that did not pass. Thanks

Thanks for your response, I am most disappointed in the lack of honesty and it is roughly $200 total. One was a $125 single item.

Thanks, I do know that he was frustrated but nonetheless I purchased these based on the guaranty. I tried to keep him posted all along and really didn't want to have to go "here" with this posting.

I guess his reputation is only worth $200. This is sad to me.

But the other side of the coin is that it would only be $200 to make good on his word and apparently he has refused.

Thanks, that is all I was asking, $199. I'm out the authentication fees too but I understood that risk. I do know that he has items in his possession as I sent them with tracking. I know that was at my risk too but I tried to politely appeal to him when I returned them.

We are saying the same thing.

Yup, I re-read it. Thought you were taking the other side. My fault!

I have purchased items from this seller over the years. I don't usually buy bigger ticket items though, but curious what was deemed bad? I'm assuming if you returned them and he doesn't eventually send them back to you (or if he finally refunds you), he'll likely try to sell them again it sounds like. Maybe it's worth showing which 3 items you are talking about to potentially warn a future buyer?

I bought some stuff from this guy, but passed on a number of their things. There were items that were definitely not good he had on eBay. You should show the items you purchased if you’re going to out the guy.

....sure (Pedroia, Cano, Campanella), more relevant should these surface again......I did share the Campy on another thread when it was returned to me in Nov.

I was told on the Campy "I don’t remember specifically where I got the Campanella, I bought it in the late 1980s when he started using that contraption to sign items. It was the only example of his autograph ever had in my collection until recently. I do have a pre-accident Campanella which I would also guarantee as legit if you’re interested."

Now that I re-read this, the email to me implies an additional guaranty (besides what was on the EBAY listing) on the one I have/had in hand.

He's not interested in internet message boards, so it's highly doubtful posting this here will serve to generate a reply from him outside of eBay.

Oh I know that.....my EBAY/Paypal protections have long passed. While this may look like a "jerk" move on my part, I got this off my chest and can move on........I thought I was most upfront and fair all throughout the last couple of years.

I don't have an opinion on the autographs, but I did have a weird dealing with this seller last month. He posted the card below on eBay, but when I tried to buy it, there was no way to; the buy it now button is missing. I reached out to him, but he didn't know what was going on, and while we were communicating, someone else bought it. His other listings didn't have that issue, and I've never seen that happen anywhere else. It was a bit strange, and very disappointing.

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d5b871bd27.jpg by [/IMG]

Side note question in complete sincerity; is it common to send items in 3-4 times? I have sent maybe a total of ten items in to third party authenticators but know that people who buy autographs from me send them in, probably thousands of them over the years. Is it common to send things in multiple times like that? If so, would that not indicate how we really feel about third parties if we believe "keep sending it in and maybe it will eventually pass?"

So true!

......would not have been even something I would have ever considered but I was in contact with this seller, with a lead PSA authenticator (who knows this seller well as I understand things) and PSA Customer Service. I kept "layering" what I had for provenance with each submission.

Side note for me.....this was the most frustrating item, the item I submitted on bottom, PSA slabbed on top????

And I am well versed in authentication and know that it is just an "opinion" and many an item gets missed.......

The seller has spent over 20 years travelling thousands of miles per year to secure signed 3X5s in person at every level of pro ball and even at the collegiate level. He does this for the sake of his own collection and sells off the duplicates he gets signed at the same time he is securing his own. Judging by his penciled notations, he obtained that one himself in 2003.

No disrespect is intended in saying this, but if you're willingly within 50,000 miles of that Campanella autograph, you have a lot of learning to do before wading into the Campy pool. If PSA was to ever pass that item, you may wish to try your hand at spinning straw into gold. Again, not trying to be harsh in making this statement, which applies to anyone and everyone--sellers and buyers. It's not pointed at one person in particular.

I appreciate your comment, which is accurate, but actually not germane to the issue. I "waded" and was 100% going by what this seller indicated to me (direct quote above) as I would otherwise have stayed far away. But I was willing to take the chance knowing the authentication fees were on me and this seller would refund me for the purchase price if it did not pass.