Brz-2 shill bidding featured on msn.com news

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Posted By: Toscata 

check out the fraud article in todays msn.com hope that link is ok..

http://go.msn.com/CM/10000/default.asp?target=http://www.msnbc.com/modules/counters/msn_story.asp%3Fu%3D/msn/818257.asp

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Posted By: Brueso

which was basically "Oh gosh- I just bid on my own item under a different account so I could bid the collection up to as least what I paid for it. I'm ashamed."

Methinks he'll get over it.

The article then notes that now Rick does primarily private auctions when selling on Ebay.

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Posted By: Tom A

I thought the mention of the private auctions was a very important part of the article - pointing out there's still ways to be underhanded even after you've been caught once.

This is not an argument against private auctions per se, i think they have a very valid place, but they just need to be policed in a different manner.

I was also happy to see that the story was linked to by slashdot.org, a very popular geek culture/computer nerd site. Most of the reader comments there indicate a knowledge of Ebay's "Power Seller first" attitude, but anything linked there generally receives thousand of extra web views.

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Posted By: dan mckee

That is a great article! About time! I turn in shill's all of the time and always get that generic bullcrap letter from them! Ebay is a great product but run by IDIOTS!

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Posted By: Paul

Do you think ebay now has enough evidence to conclude that Broadway Rick has engaged in shill bidding? Isn't he still a Power Seller? Didn't ebay say in Part 1 of this article that it revokes the Power Seller title when it confirms fraud? I guess Rick's confession to MSNBC still isn't enough proof for ebay.

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

more often...What good does it do do allow this guy now to run "private auctions"? He doesn't care who he cheats; only that he gets his $$$.

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Posted By: David

Realistically, eBay could find themselves in legal trouble if they don't handle some of these situtations-- especially after it has been featured in MSNBC where they were interviewed and even the seller admits he broke the law.

Further, eBay is essentially a monopoly. Their current inaction may come back to bite them someday, when a bill comes to the floor of Congress concerning their monopoly status and/or regulations of the industry. Especially in the current Enron mood, Congress and regulators are not going to go out of their way protect a system that encourages fraud or ordinary citizens.

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Posted By: David

The one thing you can say about this whole incident is that Broadway Rick was REALLY stupid.

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Posted By: David

It reminds me of the true story of the man who robbed McDonalds (no mask) and went back the next morning for breakfast.

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Posted By: runscott

Based on ebay's handling of frauds and shills in the past, Broadway Rick could feel fairly certain he would get away with it. Let's face it, he HAS gotten away with it!

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Posted By: David

Agreed that he has so far gotten away with it. However, if he continues to shill bid, I bet he will someday find himself in legal trouble.

The MSNBC story essentially worked as a public warning, and if Rick doesn't change his practices (perhaps he already has) I bet he will go to jail. The fact that he said in the national press that he broke the law and promised to never do it again, is the type of evidence that a gung ho State Attourney General D.A. dreams of.

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Posted By: petecld

Maybe one of the many lawyers on this board can answer this:

As long as ebay claims there was no proof of wrong doing they were covered legally.

But now that ebay KNOWS Broadway Rick is doing this and they continue give him access to a venue to continue said illegal activity and does nothing about it doesn't that effectively make ebay a "cohort" in crime so to speak?

Kinda like a banker who knowingly allows drug dealers to use the bank to launder money?

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Posted By: David

Except that eBay does know what he's doing. There's no doubt that they read the MSNBC article where Rick said he broke the law.

I bet you $3 (that's a lot for a Norwegian-American) that, down the road, the private auction bidding records of Rick's and/or other significants will be subpoenaed, and eBay will have some explaining to do.

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Posted By: petecld

Yes, yes, I know that ebay is aware of what Broadway Rick is doing.

THAT'S why I'm asking the question.

It puts them in a different legal situation. I'm not a lawyer. Doesn't it?

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Posted By: David

You're right, Pete. I should have actually read your entire post (sorry excuse = Packers were on t.v.)-- and my point was largely repeating your point. Apparently, my philosophy is that, if an idea is good, to latch on and pretend it's mine ... Mood ring, that was my idea too.

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Posted By: runscott

they told Rick that he was a bad boy and to please not do that again. Also, I invented "clackers" but I used lemons instead of glass balls...

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Posted By: Paul

As a general rule, someone who provides someone with the tools for fraud, knowing that those tools will be used for fraud, can find themselves liable for aiding and abetting. Whether there can be criminal liability (jail), or just civil liability (money), I don't know. I suppose ebay's best defense is that they told Rick not to do it anymore, Rick told the world through MSNBC that he wouldn't do it anymore, and they believed him. But it seems to me that ebay should have at least the obligation to make sure Rick isn't using the same 2 bidder IDs to bid on his own auctions in the future.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Someone claiming to be Rick Kohl, the owner of BRSZ, called me today. Apparently, he got my number from Don Betz at VCBC. This fellow was quite different than the contrite person MSNBC interviewed.

He said that the shilled items had been mistakenly listed as no-reserve $1 opening items and that he was bidding to correct the mistake. When I asked about ending the auctions early and why he had not simply done so, he admitted that he knew of the process, then he changed the subject.

When I asked him if he had offered a $531 refund to the buyer of the 1959 set to assuage his conscience (he said that as a good Roman Catholic, the incident was bothering him), he claimed that he had no way of contacting the buyer who had paid him nearly $2,000 for the set.

He characterized ebay as a place to get rid of junk and said that he had no idea what the power seller program meant.

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Posted By: David

My recommendation to Rick would be that next time he's going to talk to a reporter on the phone, to come up with a better class of excuses. Maybe he could have a friend write some down on index cards.

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Posted By: runscott

(my Broadway Rick imitation)

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Posted By: Joe

Yeah ...nothing about this guy surprises me...a few years ago I had the misfortune of dealing with him..
I bought a 1915 Crackerjack for over $450... When I sent it in to PSA to have it graded.it came back as having been "cleaned" ..When I tried to return the altered card to Broadway "Dick" I got the runaround for so long that I eventually gave up and still own the card...dealing with him is a sure strike out...

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Posted By: Julian Fernandez

Because of idiots like "Broadway Rick," PSA and SGC became viable options to buying "Rick's" altered cards. I heard about his tricks when I was a kid in the 1980"s. I was told never to approach this "Shark," about either purchasing, or selling cards to.

He must be so proud that he continues to distinguish himself in this industry, what a fraud.