Ok, for a different bit of a take on it, even though it is a red flag.
There was a seller who was an Olympic cyclist in 64, his father had been in 48, and grandfather in 28. His father was also a coach in 56. I'd bought a few items from him.
He listed a 1948 Olympic jersey. Really cool, but with a bit of staining from the red stripe bleeding into the overall white while it was folded.
I was the underbidder, and got a second chance offer also within minutes of the auction ending. Hmm... he didn't seem like that sort of guy. And riders usually had at least two team jerseys. But it felt wrong.
Talked to a friend who said it did look odd, but maybe he did have another. He figured that if he did it would get listed eventually, if it was a shill, the same one would be listed eventually so I'd probably get another chance either way. So I just let it all slide.
About a month later, he listed another 48 Jersey, this one a lot nicer. I won it for about half of what I'd bid before. This listing was better, with a few pics of his father in uniform riding in England. I asked about the photos, which weren't for sale. When I got the Jersey he'd included nice copies of the photos. I eventually bought a few other things from him. His national championship jersey, a 56 team mechanics coat and tote bag. and a couple other things. I missed out on his 64 Olympic jersey, which went to a Japanese collector for a really big amount.
So not all red flags are indicating a real problem, sometimes it is just the person having two of something.
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