Talk About Fishy - Can Anyone Spot The Mackerel?

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Posted By: Joe P.

I, myself am a wonderful liar, but go on with your story.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2773905956&category=31719

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Posted By: runscott

saying that if he is going to scam reprints on ebay, he should at least realize that the "Ty Cobb" back doesn't go with the "bat on".

"Hey, honey - could you please pull the Dovers out of the oven for me?"

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Posted By: Hankron

Seriously, I don't condone this type of action ... but it would be funny if two people conspired so there was a $1 billion winning bid. What would the seller's eBay charge on that be?

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Posted By: Hankron

Obviously the seller would end up not having to pay the fee, but I can assure you that there would be at least a moment of pure horror upon receiving his eBay bill and knowing that eBay has access to his credit card.

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Posted By: Joe P.

If the collectors don't try to police the hobby no one else will do it.
Not SCD.
Not eBay.
Their mindset is in the intake of the buck.
They close their eyes to the bottom fish and sometimes give them Customer Service Awards, or Power Seller's degree. ..... sometimes even after the facts are known.
The bottomfish know this, so they ply their trade in confidence.
Whereas the buck starts and ends with the collectors.
In reality "The Buck Stops Here."
Back in 1990 I learned that lesson.
Between Memorial Day and Labor Day of that year, I was stung, I took a quick crash course on the sting, I regrouped, I fought back, I won. .... it was an all around learning experience for someone who should have known better.
I mainly got to know the ground rules and the playing field conditions.
In 1990 I was up against a situation that would have made a mockery of vintage card collecting.
I got to meet, deal and undeal with your favorite Doctor.
Although I didn't realize it at the time, I also got to see some of his other works of art.
The lions share of the crash course that I immersed myself into was looking for flaws in his works.
The pooling of information between Mark Macrae, Lew Lipset and myself, turned out to be invaluable.

Scott, if we allow the bottomfish to operate, they will kill the hobby.

Back in 1990, I pointed out a bottomfish to SCD and the majority of the major dealers in the hobby during my visit to the Texas National.

In 2003 I'm reading on this forum about someone that sounds very much like D.D. the Doctor in question.

The Big Boys have had a chance to take care of business since 1990, and they haven't.

Well done Scott, it's a step in the right direction.

Joe P.

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Posted By: Mike McGrail

Check out the **** this dude or dudette is trying to move. I see fairy tale cards and fakes everywhere ...

- Black Sweet Cap back
- Red Cobb back
- Green & Red Polar Bear backs (must be for XMAS)
- Borders so wide that you could trim half or more away and still be left with too much

Also looks like our "valued" seller has a history of selling fakes before. Seems that they have moved from sun glasses to cards.

Mike McGrail

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Posted By: Adam J. Baxter

Apparently, Grandpa isn't handing down cards anymore. Now the Stepfather is consigining his collection. These are the type of "authentic' vintage cards only the Anti-Christ could love......and I think I'm being kind.

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Posted By: Adam J. Baxter

Oh my mistake, The FRIEND of the stepfather is consigining these gems. Forgive me, I must have slipped and hit my head while trudging through the knee deep B.S. of this seller's description. On second thought, I can't really fault the guy for taking a little poetic license in describing these cards. Doesn't everyone deserve a little extra spending money for Oxycontin this holiday season?

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Posted By: runscott

I recently won a 1910-15 photo album with photographs of airplanes, including one in mid-air. The photos were taken in Washington State, but the seller described as follows:

Part of the seller's wishful description: "...the one shot of it in the air reads under it, "Mrs.Bryant Aloft/state fair grounds 1912" (is it the KITTY HAWK?..I think one of the Wrights were in this area around those years)..."

Now why in the world would this fellow who thought "Kitty Hawk" was the name of an airplane, believe one of the Wright Brothers was flying airplanes in Washington State in 1912? Turns out that Mrs. Bryant was the first woman to ever fly in the Pacific Northwest, has a page on the Smithsonian web-site, and this photo album contains actual photos of her, her airplane, and one picture of the plane in the air on what might be her first flight.

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Posted By: Hankron

Sometimes, honest people don't now what they have ... Like the elderly woman from Maine who had a SF Hess baseball card (a real one) and insisted that she 'wasn't taking less than $20 for it.' And, for the record, she had kept it in a desk drawer.

Or a well known autograph dealer who was offering a nice but 'inexpensive' little Smoky Joe Woods autographed photo. Offering it, he had scans of the front and back, as the back had a variety of wear. Little did he know that that Charles Conlon stamp and signature raised the value about $200.

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Posted By: Hankron

The funny thing about these "I can't authenticate, so selling as reprints" items .... As with all collectors and dealers, I have items that I am not yet sure what the are. And, guess what?, until I do know what they are, I don't put them up for sale on eBay.

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Posted By: Hankron

And I have yet to bake anything in my oven before offering it for sale. But, hey, perhaps that's just me.

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Posted By: MW

EBay actually amended its policy on authenticity disclaimers:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/authenticity-disclaimers.html

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Posted By: TBob

we can report all day long but if eBay doesn't do a frigging thing about it, it is an exercise in futility. I have personally turned in that clown selling color reprint Fro-Joy reprints on ebay as the real deal, umpteen times, and yet they continue to appear- $9.99 minimum bid, $99.99 BIN. Scotty put up some of his reprints carefully relating they were replicas and telling how color ones were fakes and offering his for a buck and STILL morons continued to bid on the clown's at 9.99 an opener and even sometimes BINing them for $99.99. Sigh.....

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Posted By: Hankron

Concerning Michael's post, eBay's rule is an excellent one, and I couldn't have written it any better. The question is the degree to which it is enforced .... As has been suggested before, a reprint category would be nice. This would mean that "Cannot authenticate, selling as reprint" would go straight to the reprint bin, along with all the 'old reprints' ... Of course, you learn not to hold your breath with eBay

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Posted By: MW

Right you are Bob. I should have added the words "...in theory."

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Posted By: runscott

This particular seller hasn't yet perfected her scam - still not using "private" auctions, which means that the winning bidders on these reprints can be contacted and warned.

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Posted By: runscott

Thanks for your opinion!