Posted By:
warshawlawI want to preface this by stating that I am not trying to slam anyone here; I am trying to raise a concern about something I have seen that should be of interest to all of us who buy or sell cards through auctions. I really want to know how the other members feel about what I am describing below and whether we should as a group seek to arrive at a consensus and perhaps seek to exert some influence with respect to this issue.
In December Lelands auctioned off a very rare T229 Kopec Harley Davidson card (lot 426; SGC cert #1225762-011). I follow these cards closely so I followed the auction. The Lelands web site currently states that the card realized $517 (including vig). Today, the exact same card showed up on Ebay (Item number: 6246645118, same SGC cert number) with a $99 minimum bid. My observations are two-fold:
(1) The seller on Ebay is JSP CARDS & COLLECTIBLES. The listing itself gives a personal email belonging to Lelands staffer Jonathan Perry. He is referenced in the catalog for Lelands December auction as "bringing valuable hands on expertise to the New York office" and was staffing the Lelands booth at shows I've been to.
(2) The auction description of the card and the ebay listing describing the card are identical.
To me, this raises the question of whether the Lelands auction for the card really yielded a $517 sale. Did he actually win this card for $517 and is now ebaying it for $99? Or did the card not sell at Lelands and is being sold on Ebay? If the latter, how many of the Lelands results are not reflective of auction sales? Does the auctioneer-affiliated buyer receive a better deal on the sale than the general public? Was the language plagiarized or did Lelands grant permission to cut and paste it? Has Lelands got any interest in the outcome of this Ebay sale, or is the seller just taking the risk?
Here is my main concern: I consigned a card to that auction that sold for the minimum. I now have to wonder whether it sold at all or whether it was sold to a Lelands-connected person for my net proceeds. Is this something that auctioneers do? Is this a form of self-dealing something that we as a group should pressure auctioneers to disclose or not do?
I personally think Lelands has some explaining to do because this situation does not fill me with confidence either as a bidder or a consignor. I also think we should pressure auctioneers to adopt a policy barring self-dealing by employees. Robert Edwards Auctions already has that policy and I have to consider that as a consignor in the future.