Thank you Doug, definitely worth checking out.

You can't even find their LLC, I doubt they had insurance. Is this guy still sending you threats about "slander"?

He's been ducking my calls and emails for weeks !!!

I doubt you get your consignment check.

He hasnt been ducking this website.

+1

This is a horrible story. But I'm impressed by how many people support you. You seem like an outstanding guy.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I'd like to thank the members here for sharing their experiences with Crazy Uncle. I almost always pay for my auction wins with a check to save the 3%, but after reading people's issues, I proceeded with Paypal/credit card.

http://www.monstercards.net/imagesm/cu2.JPG
Above shows the payment date.

Below shows that as of tonight, this invoice is still not marked paid.
As I have tried numerous time to reach Aaron via e-mail and phone, I'm not sure how to check on the status of my order, but at least I still have the option of a chargeback if these cards don't arrive.

http://www.monstercards.net/imagesm/cu1.JPG

Thank you Tim. We all have our faults and unless one has the word Saint before their name, then none of us are perfect. Bottom line is that I don't cheat people on business deals, I try to be as fair as possible. But I don't rip people off, I don't take advantage of people and I don't lie to make a buck !!!

Can we say that about Crazy Uncle's...…..I'll let everyone decide that for themselves.....just so that Aaron doesn't threaten to sue me again for slander (which is actually libel) as he threatened me if I said a word on Net54. I've said more than a word.....so Aaron, go ahead and sue....I double dog dare you !!!

A story for sports collectors daily??
 

I believe they have offered non biased reporting of good and bad in the hobby and I believe reach a lot more collectors than this board. I for one believe this story is "newsworthy". May be worth contacting them Dave - to see if they are interested in publishing the story - I am sure they would reach out to Aaron for "his side" and at the very least would put a high degree of pressure (assuming he has a desire to continue in the auction business) on him to make effort to right this wrong (as best he can at this point). Here is their contact info: editor@sportscollectorsdaily.com
I would have sent the email myself, but believe it is your decision to make.

Excellent Suggestion, Howard, But...
 

It is indeed a great website, as it gathers news, both good and negative, about the hobby.
I just recently dealt with Rich in connection with a two-part blog about having a plan to sell your cards/sets through an auction house/eBay. Rich had me change/edit some material in the two pieces, which any good editor should do. He also had me take out a flip remark I made about the PSA scandal. And that's fine too. And let's not forget he has advertisers that support him so if a "scandal" broke out about one of them, don't look for Rich to report on it UNLESS a piece has already been published about it elsewhere. That's key.
Here's my point: I don't see Rich tackling this particular story for the simple reason that he is not an investigative reporter. He's a gatherer of stories from other newspapers/sources. Some good, some negative.
It's worth a shot, of course, Dave. But I see a big problem in the fact that there is not a truly independent reporting source when it comes to the current available media outlets for this hobby/industry. They are all supported by advertising to one degree or another.
Just thought I would provide that firsthand experience, which I have also had with a number of the other industry trade pubs in recent years.
Peace and stay healthy.

Dave sorry this happened to you.
Why did so many lots get no bids, didn't C.U. list them all or list them properly?
Auction houses usually list a lot at a fraction of its value as they love spirited bidding.
So curious why hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of memorabilia went unbid & was returned.

Can you post some links of a few of the unsold lots?

Hope you get your missing items & consignment check in a timely fashion.

He couldn't handle the quantity even though he kept asking for more and more. So many never even made it to the auction.....I am assuming also in hopes that he would have enough to make his next auction look substantial.

Horrible marketing. Only sending out email blasts isn't enough. He wouldn't even take out a banner ad on Net54. Not sure if it was out of cheapness or bad strategy.

Aaron told me it is because our members criticize him and why he doesn't do more advertising with Net54baseball.

.

Maybe they criticize him for a reason. It is easy to change the negative things in your life. He needs to start by looking in the mirror. He was given a gift of a consignment and abused it.

If it looks like a duck....
 

I'd prefer to NOT see his advertisements here based on many horrifically bad service experiences reported by members.

On a side note, ironically every time someone uses the abbreviation C.U. - my mind immediately thinks - Collectors Universe - Then - oh no - Crazy Uncle - Then, well maybe there's something to the initials C.U. and customer/company service issues.

They spent their money advertising at Blowout. I linked this article to one of their promotional posts so people there could read about how they run auctions.

Here was the email sent to all of their account holders:

Kinda putting the chicken before the cart or the horse in front of the egg or something like that.

Should have been called the Big Bummer Auction!

Jeff

Throwing the baby out with the chicken before it hatches under the horse after it got out of the barn then closing the door.

FWIW I got my card in the mail today. They sent a shipping notification a few days ago and everything turned up cleanly.

Not sure if that is because I've made a few posts on here and Aaron wanted to make sure my one whole card got out to avoid further bad press or not (if so, Hi Aaron), but either way take the spirit of my posts from POV of the small-time collector.

As I wrote before, this enterprise just seems like it is way over its head at the moment. You see it all the time in tech startups. One guy gets his feet wet with a big company, strikes out on his own with only a fraction of experience, then goes overboard trying to make that company a major player in the game without having any sort of actual infrastructure or quality control in place. Then when it comes crashing down, instead of having a network of support or set of ethics in place, it devolves into a blame game.

I'm small potatoes, so no I'm not going to consign 500k or buy 500k at an auction house. I hope that gets worked out between Aaron and CJDave and anyone else who is feeling screwed over. I'd be happy to try CUA again at a later date if there's actual positive experiences and quality control developed in the future. But it's sounding like some serious legal mistakes have already been made. Lets hope for all parties involved there's appropriate resolution.

What always amazes me in this hobby is how people decide who the good guys and bad guys are and then conveniently ignore all the evidence that their self-appointed good guys aren't anywhere near as sparkling saintly as they suggest. ("Ah, it was only one [fraud investigation] [lawsuit]. And [owner] explained what he has in place now. I'm not bothered.")

Sort of like ranting about a guy cheating with steroids . . . until he gets traded to your team. Then it's not such a big deal at all.

THAT'S it. Knew I was close.

Placing the blame on others when things are clearly their own fault, that seems to be par for the course!

Own up for your mistakes and make things right. Not dropping off high dollar consignments in inclement weather and being easily accessible would be a good start.

I wonder if Aaron ever hear the expression “a leopard never changes its spots” meaning that it's impossible for one to change their character.....I guess no character is a type of character.

As many of you know, Crazy Uncles has been on the weekly Great American Collectibles Show (sponsored by PSA) a couple of times with the hosts Tom Zappala and Rico Petrocelli to promote their auctions. I don't know much about how guests are invited, but I am sure these visits are all pre-arranged and follow a script. I assume they will be on future shows as future auctions are scheduled.

Dave, I am so sorry this happened to you. I hope it gets worked out to some satisfaction for you. I may be wrong but it seems to me that your in a position that you don't need the money, not that it is fair or right that you got your items undersold. But I most distraught over the totally unwarranted and horribly wrong unloading of your items on your front doorstep with no warning or anything!

You were the next person in line who seriously took up the mantle of preserving, keeping, and ready to pass on to the next caretaker of the items you have. I watch the show "American Pickers" and I love it. The people they meet are mostly people who love their items and many of them feel as if they are preserving history, teaching and some want to pass them on to the next caretaker of the items. I don't know you but you seem like that type of person from what I have read in my limited experience reading on here.




I also want to thank everyone here for letting the community know about what happened to them. I know now that I have to be very careful when thinking about bidding in their auction if I do. I have a few auctions I bid on where I have to lower my max bids for various reasons from previous experiences of mine with them. I just reframe from never bidding with them again because I don't want to lose out on an item I would really want at a good price I can actually afford.

...got out of the barn then closing the door and slipping on the bathwater.

Brian (closing the proverbial baby/bathwater loop)

Are you sure it's not "That's a leopard of another color?"

Sorry, trying to inject a little levity.

I do hope for the best for you, but I have the nasty feeling nothing is going to fix EVERYTHING that has gone wrong in this case.

Thank you Michael for those kind words. Here's the deal, I'm a history buff/nerd at heart. To have documents signed by George Washington, Ben Franklin, John and Samuel Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, and so on to me is like Doc Brown showing up with the DeLorean and taking me back to the Colonial days. I gave Aaron a signed document and/or a cut signature from EVERY U.S. President (From Washington to Trump) and EVERY U.S. Vice-President (From John Adams to Mike Pence). I mean has anyone even heard of John C. Calhoun who was VP for both our 6th and 7th Presidents - John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) and Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) or Hannibal Hamlin, VP for one of our most famous Presidents, Lincoln (1861-1865)…...I have, but I'm a geek. I further gave Aaron signed documents from 52 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Basically I could have recreated the Declaration with authentic signatures (John Hancock, Charles Carroll, Benjamin Harrison.....some top names here). Everyone of these Presidential, VP or DOI signatures mentioned above were authenticated by either JSA, PSA or Beckett so you know they are real. Many of these items were beautifully framed in a reddish brown Cherrywood frame from the individual I bought these from who had the same love of preserving history as I do. Each frame cost well over $1,000 (he showed me the receipts) and they were all meticulous.

Now these documents were kept in a locked facility, temperature controlled for years. It is beyond disgusting to have left these out in front of my home in either 95 degree heat and/or a tropical storm. No warning, no protection, no nothing !!! And not to mention leaving $500K - $1MM worth of high end collectibles out in the open to anyone passing by to take !!!

There was over $75K-$100K in coins between thousands of silver half dollars, quarters and dimes from the 1800s and early 1900s plus high end coins like large cents from the 1800s and complete sets that he was instructed NOT to break apart and to list as a set, which he chose to ignore my instructions so now I am left with 2/3 complete sets.

This is not to mention the Blacksox memorabilia (ticket stubs to the games, signatures from almost every player on the team (except Shoeless Joe but I did have 5 Joe Jackson signatures from his wife as he was illiterate, plus a ton of other Blacksox items).

Then there was a ton of Yankee memorabilia 1923/1927/1928/1932 stubs/programs/autographs/bats/etc.

Historical autographs, Wright Brothers, Charles Lindburgh, Thomas Edison, Houdini, Civil War Generals, too many to list.

I could go on and on with the list of items he was consigned but bottom line is he lied to me, he screwed me, he avoided and hid from me, he had no regard for my items by dumping them and risking being ruined or stolen.....all to make the mighty dollar. Save those dollars, you will need them !!!!

Wowza. I'm sure some of the AHs with long track records of excellence on this board would have loved to had some of this amazing stuff.

Sounds like an amazing collection, and I share your love for history. I see they had about 250 historical items in their last auction. Just curious: were the items that were returned items that did not sell at any price, or were they items that sold, but for less than you wanted, so instead of shipping them to the winners, he's returning to you? Said another way, are there also some bidders who are getting "screwed" in this debacle? (Sorry if this was answered earlier.)

I can't imagine consigning all this to a new and unproven AH. All the time, effort and expense it took to accumulate and preserve these pieces of history and you give it all to a new company called Crazy Uncle? No excuse for the deplorable actions of CU, but man it just seems very cavalier.

Hope it all works out for you. Really hate to see irreplaceable pieces of history ruined.

Condolences.

But would still love to hear the other side of the story. You'd think Aaron would at least make a brief appearance here to defend some of these accusations. Otherwise, I have got to believe his company is toast.

Sorry this happened to you. Hope the courts can root out the truth and award proper restitution. Also hope you'll consign the unsold items to a more proven auction house such as REA or LOTG.

How about posting pics of a few items, just to give us a "sneak preview" and provide some free publicity for what's coming down the pike?

The items returned for the most part never made it to the auction because he said he couldn't handle the volume, his site kept crashing, people are furloughed etc. The majority of what was returned was probably earmarked for the next auction.....along with some items that received no bids. Basically any item that had a bid was sold regardless of the reserve price I gave him, (which means some people got the deal of a lifetime, paying sometimes 1/3 of my reserve) but according to Aaron, at first he claims he didn't realize the prices I gave him were reserves, he says he thought they were the prices I paid for them (even though it was a similar list as the first auction which he did my reserves in....and furthermore many of these items were leftover from the first auction which had the same reserves.....that mans he had to intentionally delete the reserve prices in the system). Then he claims the amount of lots was too voluminous to put all those reserves in...….which was never communicated to me. I have countless texts to support my need to be financially protected.....and got the "yeah don't worry" from him.

At the end of the day, I am assuming any bidder who "won" will get their items.....the only one screwed is me !!!

I welcome Aaron's responses.....and I would love to catch him in any lie that spews from his mouth. I know if someone was making falsehoods about me, rest assured I would be responding and defending myself.....can only assume he has no comebacks. Remember, he sent me the following emails and if he did nothing wrong, then what would cause him to send me this email: That said, we should handle this privately. In regard to your satisfaction as a customer, we blew it... I truly am sorry, I didn't want to have our relationship end after this auction and never on a bad note.

Or why would he email me: I would like to work this out in private and would appreciate if you did not post again on the board about this - we can find a path forward not in the public eye. You would think if he did nothing wrong, why keep it private???

You'd think if for some crazy reason I was making this up about dropping stuff in front of my house, he would respond with something like he called me the night before and coordinated a drop off date/time/place. He knows full well that I was at work and that I work long hours, he was at my office on many occasions. Furthermore, the fact that he picked up all of my items from my office would ask the question, why not drop the stuff off where it was initially picked up? Or, regarding the failure to place the reserves, he'd say that he has an email or text to me prior to the start of the auction that stated he could not handle putting reserves on, how do I wish to proceed? But that hasn't happened and we can all see he has been on the website.

I was smart enough to document every conversation we had, keep every email, keep every text. It is possible, though I can not be certain or recall, that maybe I have additional proof of a conversation, or two, or three.....but I'm guessing if I do.

Crazy uncles
 

Dave i have 5 lots coming from crazy uncles..I hope...they're in the mail and should arrive friday and saturday...just incase I'll have to videotape opening them..making sure everything is there
That being ssid....for the life of me...how could anyone
With your money, knowledge, and collecting enthusiasm
Possibly give a million dollars worth of historical autographs documents etc...president vice president
Declaration of independence signers to an unknown auction....I wouldn't even put that stuff in any sports auction....that's for Christie's sotheby's etc...probably who you bought them from...I'm surprised you didnt give them a Picasso....that being said.noone should get screwed over like that...but it's almost like you said ..I dont know you but heres a million dollars do what u want

Hi Larry,

By no means am I saying the following to boast, that is not my style. Please note, I simultaneously gave a considerable consignment to REA (including a complete decent grade set of 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks plus other pricey items. At the same time, I gave another considerable consignment to LOTG (including a complete decent grade set of 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks plus other pricey items)….yes I had two complete sets. I also wanted to go with a third company, and when I reached out on the board with recommendations Aaron messaged me that he was a new company but could give me the one on one and dedicated personnel to help me move some excess collectibles. Now what I gave is by no means my entire collection and I have a lot of choice pieces left. As I mentioned before on this thread, I was young and hungry once and someone gave me a chance who had no reason to give me a chance. There were much much much more seasoned professionals than me, and I imagine more talented and educated than me, but I was given the chance, I ran with it, I proved myself and I kicked ass. Now today, maybe I am not as young, maybe not as hungry.....but I will never forget the opportunity I was given to shine.....and shine I did. So as many of you will call it stupid to give a startup AH this kind of a chance, I did it because I could relate. The stupid part was giving it to this specific startup...….who just ruined it for all other startups in the future as I wouldn't trust another startup again.

I hope this makes sense and people can understand where I was coming from and my intent...….again as stupid as it may sound.

Dave, I'm really sorry about your situation and I hope that things work out for you, but it sounds really naive (at least to me) that you gave this guy such a big first chance...and after he blew that...an even bigger second chance to blow it again. I'm all for supporting the new guy, but to trust someone that you don't know really (really...) well with a $1M collection including irreplaceable U.S. historical items is outright irresponsible in my opinion. Regardless, that does not let him off the hook for all his mis-doings and I hope that the legal system supports you 110%.

I just had my first visit to the Crazy Uncle auctions site. Just for kicks I googled his business address. I know he's just starting out, but this would have been another red flag for me on where my priceless collection was headed. Second pic is from Apt's dot com. Hopefully the place is not this empty today.

Jeff

I totally get giving a guy a chance to prove himself. TOTALLY. But to give a small startup who has NEVER proved himself close to a million dollars worth of valuables is unheard of. Couldn't you have given him $5,000-$10,000 just to see how he did with that first, before giving him a seven figure consignment?

The office at least has a window air conditioner unit installed, though it has been cleverly disguised in the interior shot by a pulled down window blind.

Brian

Crazy uncles
 

Thsts all well and good
REA is the place for baseball stuff
But historical documents and coins are not for a sports auction.....if you gave him playball sets , something in that range for a test run...ok you gave it a shot
Lesson learned
Hopefully you'll get all your stuff and whatever money is due

Your desire to give a break to an upstart and pay forward a good break you got years ago is extraordinary and I tip my hat to you. You are wise enough to know how the entire trajectory of one's life can be changed by someone reaching down and trying to pull someone up. And when someone does it for no other reason than that its one of the very rewarding things to do in one's life.

Hoping you are made whole from this. I don't know anything about you but the high quality of your character is crystal clear to anyone who has read this thread.


QUOTE=CJDave;1999594]Hi Larry,

By no means am I saying the following to boast, that is not my style. Please note, I simultaneously gave a considerable consignment to REA (including a complete decent grade set of 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks plus other pricey items. At the same time, I gave another considerable consignment to LOTG (including a complete decent grade set of 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks plus other pricey items)….yes I had two complete sets. I also wanted to go with a third company, and when I reached out on the board with recommendations Aaron messaged me that he was a new company but could give me the one on one and dedicated personnel to help me move some excess collectibles. Now what I gave is by no means my entire collection and I have a lot of choice pieces left. As I mentioned before on this thread, I was young and hungry once and someone gave me a chance who had no reason to give me a chance. There were much much much more seasoned professionals than me, and I imagine more talented and educated than me, but I was given the chance, I ran with it, I proved myself and I kicked ass. Now today, maybe I am not as young, maybe not as hungry.....but I will never forget the opportunity I was given to shine.....and shine I did. So as many of you will call it stupid to give a startup AH this kind of a chance, I did it because I could relate. The stupid part was giving it to this specific startup...….who just ruined it for all other startups in the future as I wouldn't trust another startup again.

I hope this makes sense and people can understand where I was coming from and my intent...….again as stupid as it may sound.[/QUOTE]

I did give him a smaller consignment in the first auction. The auction didn't have too much traffic and he said he would focus on marketing better for the second auction. It was the second auction that I have him more and more per his begging and promise he would spotlight my stuff and "Market the Sh*t out of it".

[/QUOTE]


Thanks Steve. Again, I'm not perfect but I believe in doing the right thing and doing right by people !!!

Dave,

So sorry to read about the horrid details of the mess this guy caused. You are a much better person than me because I would have tracked him down and lets just say, worked out things a much different way.

I can understand why Dave went with Crazy Uncle on such a large consignment. They offered him reserves on seemingly every single lot including lower priced commons, something no other AH is going to do. It was obviously important to Dave to protect his investment at the values he perceived his collection to be worth, so really Crazy Uncle was his ONLY choice. I don't think it's unreasonable for Dave to have expected Crazy Uncle to not blatantly lie to him and fail to actually implement the reserves. If all the above details of what occurred are true, 100% of the blame lies with Crazy Uncle and not Dave in my opinion.

First, no offense to those of you criticizing Dave, but how many of you have collections likely as good as Dave does. No one gets a collection like that unless they inherit it, win the lottery, or have done well in their lives to be able to acquire such a collection. It seems that Dave did the later, working his way through life to save such a great collection. So I think Dave is allowed to make a mistake here and there. I wish I was in a position to have made such a mistake. I am really sorry that this happened to him and know the rest of you do too, and sure those of you criticizing him wouldn't have done such a thing, but how many of you criticizing him have anywhere near the collection he does to even think about that, not happening???

Dave, I have been thinking about this for the last few days and thinking back to when I was thinking about this auction the first time I got an email about it. And I feel that I have to THANK YOU! I think I saw a lot of your expensive items on the auction site and thought I should stay on more affordable auctions sites.

I also understand your wanting to help out the new guy, heard your report of how someone gave you a chance and you ran with it hard, made something of yourself, and never looked back it seems. I know you said he ruined it for other future startups, but I stress you to re-think that.

Guessing you're a bit older than me, not too much but my point is that things were different years ago. I remember my parents opening up businesses with no money when I was a kid and they made something of themselves. They went bankrupt one time but paid all the little guys and let the big companies go into the bankruptcy. I too was given chances, though I didn't do as well as my parents did, I was happy to be given a chance which I did do good. But like most things in my life, bad timing, it was just before 9-11. You can't do that anymore, you need credit, you need money like never before and you still need a little luck.


A bit long-winded but my point is that you should give those chances to the next guy but along the lines of others who suggested a smaller first submission, which I know you said you did, but then just a little more each time until they really prove consistently that they are doing really good by you.

I have been reading all the replies to both threads so I gathered how high quality, rare, and diversity of your collection. I also hate that the so well cared for items you had were treated like they were. I hate the ungrouping of your sets, I hate the reserves not put on your items, but the unforgivable item for collectors is what he did with your items by leaving them to the weather and anyone who happened by your house.

So of course I would not consign anything to him after hearing your story, but now I can't even think of bidding on anything because he obviously is not someone who cares about the items. I know some collect to make money in the future, but most of us collect because we love the item, the person, the team, or just for the historical value the items might have. I cannot contribute to this person making more money or saving him from his eventual demise in this endeavor.

I know he was on this board, don't know if he still is but he had plenty of time to put up his point of view, opinions, or opposition to all the things people have been saying. It just seems that Dave's problem trumps all of the others I have heard. His silence on here since the auction ended saying all I need to know!

Hi Jeff. Thank you. You hit the nail on the head. No offense to the bigger AHs because I have consigned with them and they have been absolutely professional.....but sometimes the little guys can give you more of that 1 on 1 attention. Kinda like going to the doctor, you can go to a large established medical building or you can go to that "one man shop" where they know you and your needs because they have fewer clients. Just my thought !!!

Again, I welcome Aaron's replies and rebuttal. I have done business with many on this site, both as a buyer and a seller. Most of you do not know me. I could be a BS artist (I'm not), I could be a drama queen (I'm definitely not), and there are always two sides to a story. I've given mine....where's the other side??? And Aaron, if you do reply, I can support everything I have said here...…..can you back up your story (or lack of story)???