Can't make this stuff up...
...you gotta love this dirty hobby.
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Reluctant To Accept...
That Mrs. Steinbach knowingly participated in this "Low Rent" endeavor. And I wonder who this douche Les Perline is that is so frequently associated with her bidding. I certainly could be naive or confused but I've had a few conversations with Henny and her deceased husband Don and these revelations don't seem to match up with those folks. Could it be a stretch to think that "Higher Up's" could have exploited her account?
What about the CPA engaging in this ongoing horror show? They are held to a very high ethical standard in their profession. I assumed that would carry over to one's personal life. I was, in other years, a bidder/winner on 3 lots and most likely got nicked. |
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CU Thread...Poof. Not sure why. Disappointing.
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Gone...
....in two shakes of a lamb's tail
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There is no gray area...you attempted to help a friend at the expense of others. Own it and move on.
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Yea I'm not seeing any gray area. Should just admit you made a mistake and move on. Everyone does something they regret once in a while.
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This list just shows 2007-2008. Can you imagine what the list would look like if it included all the years that Mastro was in business? You know that it doesn't end with Mastro. I am sure that this is still going on within many AH's today. I am not saying that the AH are involved but there must be shilling done by individuals that have a connection with the consignor.
I have won 21 items from Mastro between 2005-2009 for a total of $34,000. The list shows that I was shilled only once in 2007 on a lot of 38 Colgan Chips. It makes me wonder how many other times they shilled me. |
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By the way when is someone going to post a picture with a bunch of people holding pitchforks with something funny stated on it.....you net54 guys are good at that stuff |
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Garth Guibord
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Not to mention the data point each shill auction, including that one, provides the industry, but is also deceptive. I would hope people would be smart and decent enough that when they engage with somebody with shady practices, in this case an auction house who doesn't provide a specific service but encourages a deceptive alternative, they would simply walk away and find a more respectable auction house. Not offering a reserve, but suggesting this type of bidding as a proxy is a big red flag. |
The fact is there was never any intention to purchase the lot.
My opinion is that this was not the first time this occurred. What I ask is to stop the BS gray area talk, no excuses, the same conversation I have with my kids and myself, daily. No pitchfork just advice. Jeff D'Errico |
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I'm not a big baller in the card world, but I do follow the story. Peter, I disagree 100% of what you did. But you did step up and tell your story. I do applaud your for that. Thanks. |
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Procedural query
How was it determined shill bidding occurred on all these lots? Many of them are obvious, such as the ones listed as the shiller being the auction house or an employee, and ones from consigners with multiple lots, each having the same shilling bidder, but how about the other one-offs? Are there records of 'shill agreements' that wasn't obvious in this document? Being a non-lawyer, I refused to read the whole document.
Brian |
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D@v1d D@v1s |
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Based on Peter S's history on here...I am a little surprised as well that you do not see this type of behavior as wrong...a little shocking...but I respect u for coming forward.
On another note...apparently this type of behavior routinely occurs in other areas of collecting...fine arts, etc...where the "house" will "bid up" an item to a "hidden reserve" or such...and this is accepted. While I dont like this...I dont like most things...so go figure!!!! Many here consider these pieces of cardboard "Art"...is it time for the hobby rules to change? |
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Crickets
Anyone whose name is on that list in spite of their innocence is welcome to come here and set the record straight. Feel free to let us know all about how you didn't do it and how you're outraged that your reputation is being dragged through the mud. Go ahead and publicly declare your innocence right here. There is absolutely no reason not to, if you're innocent, so please post here so we can help you clear your name. If innocent people are being publicly accused of unethical actions which they didn't do, I say we demand an investigation into how that happened. Don't just sit there and let everyone think you have zero integrity. The truth shall set you free! Or shut you up. The truth will definitely do one of those two things.
-Ryan |
Why would you ever put a bid in for something that you didn't think it was worth? Seems to me if you put a bid in for something at $5,000 and it's bid up to it, that's what you are willing to pay for it and what it's worth(to you).
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Here's my take: If there had been, say, a $2,000 reserve on the lot, and the highest bidder bid $1,500, everyone would see that the set did not meet the reserve. This could be attributed to either the reserve being set too high, or there just being low interest in the set at that particular time. As it happened, a "shill bid" was placed for $2,000, to match the "unstated" reserve. This led people to believe the set had sold at that price. This is the lie, that the set sold, when it actually did not; and this is where, in my opinion, the main problem lies. It results in false price information being released to the public, and a false value being placed on the item. The set may later exceed the value that was falsely reported at that time, but there is really no way of knowing what effect the false info had, even if there are years between the auction in question, and the actual later sale. The safest and best way to proceed is to set a reserve (if desired), and let the bidding determine if the reserve is realistic (at that particular moment in time). Then at least, if the item does not sell, the public has accurate information to use, in later placing a value on it. Steve |
As heroic as it was to "come forward" AFTER he'd been publicly outed for shill bidding, which he actually did do, maybe every board member doesn't still need to come forward and congratulate Peter. I think we all get it. He did a wonderful thing and has received plenty of kudos and validation for it. Hopefully Peter will serve as inspiration for others to come forward and admit their guilt, which will certainly be received with thunderous applause while board members sing "For he's a jolly good fellow" before each one individually praises the shill bidder in a brand new post for being such a stand up guy.
-Ryan |
Have been looking over the information in this document a lot through the day and while I was not directly affected by this I have a lot of thoughts I want to express.
1. Peter, seeing your name appear as a shill bidder was disappointing to me as I genuinely appreciate the knowledge, experience, and opinions you contribute to this community. However, I thank you for being willing to acknowledge your actions and face fallout from them. I respect you for doing that even if I think your actions were wrong. There are others that have much more to answer for but so far remain silent. 2.This is only a tiny portion of the fraud. 2 years worth of auctions by only one AH and this is only the transactions that someone with direct knowledge squealed on or confessed to having direct knowledge of the conspiracy. We know about Peter's because of conversations between the consignor and Maestro. How many agreements like that might have been reached that the AH didn't know about. I don't have to tell the AH that I am going to have a proxy place a protection bid on my consignment to keep from losing it at too low a price. 3. If a name appears as a shill bidder you placed a shill bid or one was placed under your name. The only way your name appears in that column was if there is direct evidence or testimony that the bid in question was part of the conspiracy. Some of the theories that some in that list may not be directly involved is in my opinion likely just wishful thinking. 4. The AH has an incentive to shill if there is a high max bid so it is possible for a consignor to have his lots shill bid without his involvement. However, when I see a board member appear as a consignor for 30 lots in this list and the names of the shill bidders only appears on their lots then I can make a pretty safe inference they were a willing participant in the fraud. If there is some other explanation for that JC Clarke I welcome you to offer it. 5. The occurrences I mention in 4 are present for Ken Goldin as well. So, there is a strong likelihood that he was involved in arranging shill bidding of several consignments to Maestro. If he is willing to participate in such actions in other auctions why should I have any confidence that he doesn't allow or even facilitate it in the auctions his AH runs? I hope Leon is already considering whether Goldin Auctions should continue to be allowed to advertise on this forum. I know I am unlikely to ever bid in one of their auctions. I know I am just a bottom level collector and I don't have a spit's worth of significance in the collecting world but even a novice nobody like me can see that there are a whole lot more people than just the ones on this list that have dirt on their hands. |
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So the "Hidden Reserve" was basically the same concept that PWCC used in eBay for years as well as are still in the Terms of Service at multiple auctionhouses going today. Not illegal, just unsavory.
I wasn't in the vintage card market at that time, and I don't really splash in the deep end now, but I will continue to make minimum bids and then snipe at the end. |
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I'm going to unsubscribe to Goldin Auctions Do I have to start a thread to ban myself? |
Makes me want to open a pizza shop . It's kind of disturbing to the soul .
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I really don't know Peter, except posting on here. But he stepped up and told what he did. I think you are going over board on the praise thing. I, and others, have said what he did was wrong, but thank you for stepping up and telling us your story. Others haven't responded at all. And probably won't. Peter told what he did. Everyone, except him, have said it was wrong. He'll come around. No one has supported his action or position. |
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#186 Report Post Unread Today, 08:16 PM
overall pretty well said.
Peter I read most of your posts as they're generally threads of interest to me and I respect your thoughtful contributions much of the time. I think you made the wrong call back then - the climate was a bit different than it is now but your action has to be seen in the light as complicity in creating an artificial transaction. This is true whether or not you could see evidence of your bid's effects and it's impact. Frankly I'm surprised. Not an egregious act - done without ill intent - but in the arena of right vs. wrong - wrong. I don't think owning up with a caveat is the degree of response I'd expect from you but appreciate that you felt manning up was the way to go......... As for Henny or Chad - my gut feeling is they were unwittingly exploited. When one sees the actual scope reflected in but a small part of the hobby over a short period of time ON PAPER - it becomes very real. Everyone in the hobby pays the price so I think everyone should be pissed. That and my friends Marty and Glen Mechanick were shilled more than once. That makes it personal...... |
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Since I called out one forum member by name for appearing as a consignor on a large number of lots all shill bid by the same person I should also point out that that is also true of forum member Greg Schwartz.
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It appears you haven't gone through the 10-step shiller program. Your are now a recovering shiller, which means stop digging. But I do commend you for having the balls to post. In 12 months, no-one will remember this. |
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After reading through this document I felt like I wanted to puke. WTF!
How do they know that those on the shill bidders list actually shilled the auction? Can we assume that each of the victims were notified? Was any restitution paid to the victims by the shill bidders or Mastro or Allen? OMG - how much of those auctions were actually legitimate? Based on all the shill bidding going on it appears that many items are probably a bit inflated in value. Is anything going to happen to the other shill bidders listed? |
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