I definitely do not want to accuse anyone of theft (just yet)......for now I will assume he has yet to make all deliveries to me.

Let's hope he is reading this and delivers the rest of your items to your work so they are not left out in the elements.

I still can't get over the idea of giving over $700K worth of collectibles to a start up who called themselves Crazy Uncle Auctions. I really truly hope you get all you stuff back and this works out for you in the end. I can't image being in your shoes right now.

I'm curious if you know who the owners of this company are?

Aaron Rothchild is the president, but apparently not an owner. There is no indication of the owners' names.

The description is as follows:
Crazy Uncle Auctions is a company owned by collectors for collectors. Founded by a small group of elite collectors, Crazy Uncle’s owners have been collecting, trading and selling for over half-a-century. They have been involved in some of the most significant auctions in sports collectibles history and use their vast hobby knowledge to further enhance the experience for collectors who use the Crazy Uncle platform.

As many suspected they are registered in Delaware, likely for tax reasons:

THIS IS NOT A STATEMENT OF GOOD STANDING
File Number: 7497394 Incorporation Date / Formation Date: 7/2/2019
(mm/dd/yyyy)
Entity Name: CRAZY UNCLE AUCTIONS LLC
Entity Kind: Limited Liability Company Entity Type: General
Residency: Domestic State: DELAWARE

REGISTERED AGENT INFORMATION

Name: RESIDENT AGENTS INC.
Address: 8 THE GREEN, STE R
City: DOVER County: Kent
State: DE Postal Code: 19901
Phone:

Dave, couldn't you physically go to Aaron's home/place of business and demand your items? Given the suspicious nature of their auction and the amount of money involved, I would be on the first plane, along with my mask, of course. Auctions are a complicated business, and it seems CU didn't learn much from their first auction, making even more of a mess on their second

I did consider that, but then I would have to go to the local police station there, explain the situation and from what I have been told the police will tell me this is a civil matter and let the courts deal with it. If I then show up at his place, he will end up calling the police on me for trespassing, making threats, etc...….which may hurt my position in the end.

Yes....but this isn't someone stealing $300 from you. This is someone stealing $300,000 from you. SURELY something can be done about this.

Since I posted earlier about shipping and invoices thought I would give an update:

I registered in the last 24 hours before close and bid on 5 items of my collecting interest, 1 card and 4 autograph lots. I only won one of them (would have chased after one or two more as prices were about average for those items but wanted to save some money).

As stated they did send an invoice via email that was correct which I paid the moment I received it. It did take a few days for that to be sent but not unusually long. The invoice on the website never updated to show paid or shipped, I did email CUA I think 3 times (spaced out over a few days) once asking about if the invoice online would change and maybe twice asking for shipping update. I received an answer each time within 24hrs all professionally worded ( no they dont update the invoice or give you shipping update on their auction website to answer that question). I was sent email notification 7-14 that item was shipped and it arrived today 7-20 (USPS 3 Day priority...USPS ripped us off on that shipping!).

While yes I think it could have went faster from end of auction-emailing invoices-shipping once paid and would like for the invoice on the website to reflect changes in status throughout...I think it was handled ok and my questions via email and two messages to Aaron (before a lot of this stuff was posted) were all answered timely and in a professional way.

Doesn't touch on issues with co-signers obviously as I can speak to that, but does reflect on some of the other issues brought up in regards to buyers. I feel I might have been a little impatient.

Sounds like "The Human Fund" from Seinfeld.

Crazy uncles
 

Let's put the truth out there
Invoice online next day 18,%...no shipping included
Next day to 21 % no shipping
Next day email invoice 21% + shipping with no option to pay 18 %
PAID by PayPal just to get this over with
Won 5 lots and received 5 different tracking #s
Was told to forget 3 of them and my items are in 2 different locations...one is out the other being sent now
Received the 1st one saturday with no items in it, just a psa book
2nd one still hasn't arrived...19 days since I paid
Never answers phone never answers email
Finally got personal email address which he answered immediately and told me never to use that email
Package is now floating around florida expected delivery date unknown
Will videotape when it gets here....I'm giving odds that not everything I won will be in there

If this isn't justification NOT to use Crazy Uncle, I don't know what is.

I may have to trump you on this one...…..in addition to my nightmare from this ordeal, and still awaiting a ton of merchandise to be returned, this morning via USPS I find a package with 22 COAs (JSA, PSA, etc.) but only one item associated with those COAs are in the box (a Gerald Ford signed baseball......the least expensive of all of the COA items.) While I am still awaiting many many many items, as far as this box goes, where are the other 21 items that you sent me back my COAs on ???

If they are truly that unorganized, I don't think you can even begin to count on getting all of your items returned safely.

I have heard plenty of auction house horror stories, but these are by far the worst. When your items are all split-up and COAs are separated from the corresponding merchandise, it's a nightmare to clean up. Good thing you documented everything you had sent them, or this would be even worse.

It sounds like this will be a very long, drawn-out miserable ordeal. Hope that somehow you are made whole in the end (as unlikely as that now seems).

Hopefully I get it resolved sooner than later !!!

I actually have a crazy uncle. I explained this story to him and he said, “That auction guy ain’t crazy....he’s a f***ing clown!” This coming from a guy who did hard time and drinks pickle juice straight from the jar.

Don't knock the pickle juice......that'll put some hair on your chest (and tongue, teeth, and eye balls)

So I'm wondering if these "elite collectors" are known to anyone on this board? An awful lot of silence out there from Aaron and the "elite" owners of this company. Not one of them has the balls to step up and own this? It's not like they'll be harmed in this hobby in any way. If Mastro or Allen opened an auction house back up we know they'd have no problem finding consignors and bidders.

Truer words have not been spoken. I remember when I first got into the "game" some 20 years ago. I remember calling Mastro and enquiring about bidding with them. They told me I needed to pay a yearly fee to join them. Something like $25. (it might have been more - my memory is hazy) They were the only auction house that told me I needed to pay a yearly fee to bid with them. I never paid it. Looking back on things 20 years alter, were they just joshing with me, or did others have to pay "dues" to bid with Mastro??

I've said it before.....I welcome Aaron's comments and/or rebuttal. Look, some of you know me, we've done some business as either buyers or sellers, but most of you don't. I could be full of crap (which I'm not!!!). Let's hear both sides.....unfortunately Aaron knows I can back up everything I am saying and any excuse he shows (other than sheer incompetence) I can dispute and prove otherwise !!! I have everything detailed !!!

Think of it like this...….two cars are in an accident...…..one car flees the scene and hides out......you tend to believe the one that stuck around, don't you? I mean there's a reason the other car ran off.

Wasn't so much as dues, probably the $$$ were to help offset the price of the many auction catalogs sent throughout the year.

Crazy uncles
 

Hallelujah
3 weeks exactly from PayPal payment package arrived
1 lot out of the 5 not in condition advertised
Charged $22 postage probably cost him 50
Just glad it's all there

Yep, I remember paying that fee to bid, but I think it got credited if you won something? Can't really recall, but I don't think I won anything in their auction for years and they still sent me catalogs up until the end.

Before their began their highly-questionable AH, did they ever put up any kind of announcement about the company; directors, experience, capital etc. on the net or any other distribution channel?
If they have been around for awhile, they certainly flew under my radar.

Hooray crazy uncles
 

They banned me from their auction...yippee

Well if they're banning people I guess it means they are planning on continuing.

I think they banned themselves from the rest of us...

Seems like ......
 

They must be connected with Collectors Universe as they have similar "banning" criteria and the same initials - CU!!!!

Did you cancel your chargeback?

Crazy uncles
 

Cant cancel on paypal
Called they said has to run its course
And y r u interested?...,u one of their owners?

You seemed very proud to have started the charge back in the first place, before receiving all your packages. Wasn't sure why you left out your response on your follow-up.

I have no relationship with Crazy Uncle Auctions. I have even posted negative things about them in the past, including this thread. Doesn't seem like something an owner would do.

I am a small time guy, with a very small collection, and sell most of my cards through COMC.

Putting on my tin foil hat here:

What if the "elite collectors" who "own" Crazy Uncle that Aaron is just the "President" of were in fact Joe Orlando and other higher ups at PSA/Collectors Universe?

I’m not quarreling with anyone’s bad experiences, but mine in bidding on items was a very good experience.

It's very possible...

Below is a list (off the top of my head- I'm sure there's more) of identical business practices which Crazy Uncle and PSA share...

* A complete lack of communication from management on key issues and concerns
* Disappearing when public issues need to be addressed
* Lack of any follow-up measures to help the customer
* Unthinkable incompetence/ineptitude at doing the one thing they are supposed to do
* Failure to honor their commitments (PSA with its supposed "Guarantee" / CU with enacting its reserves)
* Apparent disdain for it's customer base
* Complete failure to ship the customers' possessions back to them in a timely manner
* Inherent lies and false statements which hide actual facts
* Banning of dissatisfied, truth-telling customers

Crazy Uncle and PSA run their respective businesses the same exact way. Since PSA is thriving despite employing these "unusual" business tactics, perhaps they myopically believe it can work in other arenas, like online auctions.

I would not be at all surprised if Orlando and Sloan were revealed to be the owners. Collectors Universe (CU) and Crazy Uncle (CU)... Just a "crazy" coincidence?
I think not. :rolleyes:

A close friend of mine works with women recovering from abusive relationships. He says overall the emotional abuse does way more long term damage than the physical. I can’t help but notice some of the overlaps in our hobby. Some of the abuse that collectors endure only to run back to the same companies because of “stuff” is unnerving sometimes....and the companies (abusers) never change their ways because the victims keep coming back, so why would they.

Hi Robert,

So in answer to your question from some time back...…..it is now approx. a month since the auction close and I have yet to see a dime !!!

It says in writing that I would be paid immediately. Just another nail in the proverbial coffin !!!

I heard he hired a dump truck to hold all the pennies and you should see you consignor payoff in about an hour on your front lawn.

Get a shovel and some wheelbarrows ready.

I recently sold a large collection of GU bats and payment took about 7 weeks. It was not a problem because I was in no hurry and the amount was under $15k, plus communication with the AH was excellent.

After an auction closes, it can take a few weeks for all bidders to pay, another week for the last payments to clear, a week to get the items delivered to the winners, and then most reputable AHs allow a week or two for the winners to return an item, if it was misrepresented.

So I think expecting the money after just 4 weeks from auction close might not be realistic. However, there is NO excuse for poor communication, especially considering the dollar amount you're dealing with.

Good luck!!

It's a simple formula really, do what you say you're going to do. If you say it may be 4 to 6 weeks then great I'll wait 4 to 6 weeks. If you say 5 days then it had better be 5 days because I'm likely counting on it.

FWIW our contracts are 14 business days.

Any AH that took 7 weeks to pay me would quickly be crossed off my list.

Normally I would agree with that but I was told 14 days. It is double that now. No communication or anything. REA communicated with me, acted professionally and paid 6 figures in less than 30 days. LOTG communicated with me, acted professionally and paid 6 figures in less than 30 days. Crazy Uncle........well you know !!!

ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE FOR THIS !!!

One thing I learned early in life is that every decision you make is an OODA Loop. There's "no excuse" for you working with them a second time. This complaining is void of personal responsibility regardless of the lip service. These people clearly run a sh*t sandwich shack but you came back for seconds and ordered the full menu. There is an excuse for their behaviour and that is they don't care about you, your stuff or your business. Get in the fight man. Lawyer up, hire some goons, take action. Complaining will only get you more sh*t sandwiches.

That's crazy, I know for a fact Dave doesn't even like bread.;):D

Over/under on them not having all of it because some bidders weren't real?

+1 (kind of). Dave, you got seriously screwed. But with everything that’s happened and the dollars at stake, I don’t understand why your actions have been limited to posting complaints here. It’s a good start, but it seems awfully disproportionate. I would have called the state AG, filed a lawsuit, reached out to media publications (not just Net54), and the least, found out where the business is located and showed up in person to get my money and the hundred of thousands of dollars of items they still have. I am rooting for you, but I can’t understand how relatively relaxed you seem about all this. I would be going ape shit

Has anyone noticed Dave has not given his full name as per board rules.

Rich

In his first post on this thread
 

----

..at the bottom of his first post = Dave Ostrove , Long Island , New York....

..

Sorry my apologies to Dave.

With all due respect to everyone.....all are assuming because I haven't shared my legal course of action, that there is none.....trust me there is. I just don't want to give too much of the legal plan as it could hurt my case.....kinda like the Astros stealing signs.....why give the other side a heads up as to the pitch I'm about to throw.....and CU will have pitches thrown at them (and before Aaron says that was a threat to cause bodily injury.....it's only an expression and an analogy).

I've said it before, the purpose of my posts are to warn people and to educate people that there may be despicable and dishonest AHs and despicable and dishonest people who run AHs out there.

Not looking for any help, I have a team handling that. Just wanted to share my story.

Blame Game
 

I’ve been following this thread from the beginning as I find it informative and frankly I’m just curious to see more twists and turns until the conclusion finally happens. Kind of like reading a decent novel. Unfortunately, this involves real people with real feelings and real live’s at stake. By no means do I want to minimize the impact this has on all parties involved.

With that said, I do not understand the bashing that the OP receives from some board members. Would I have given the AH another opportunity, definitely not. But would I judge Dave from where I sit, definitely not. How can I judge someone when I am not in their shoes and do not have his experiences and past history at my fingertips. What I do know is that Dave has an incredible collection that I financially am not anywhere near. My collection is pennies to his dollars (but I do love my collection :D). Apparently, Dave has made some pretty damn good decisions in his past to be where he is now. Maybe by showing compassion in his past business dealings have benefited him?? This time it didn’t, but who am I to judge. What I do know is he got screwed as I have not heard from the other side. For me, I have compassion for the crap that he’s been through, nobody deserves that, regardless of any perceived poor decisions. It’s like blaming the victim for making poor choices, it still does not justify the crime.

Anyhow, those are my two cents, now back to the originally scheduled program.

Thank you Jeff. Those are very kind words and I appreciate you taking the time to say what you did. Yes, I gave someone a second chance and yes they screwed me for that. But as you said, and to further the analogy, (and pardon the crude comparison) but you don't blame the rape victim because they walked alone one day......was it a bad decision to walk alone, yes, but the despicable act is 100% on the criminal.

I've said this repeatedly on this thread but here's one more try......I welcome Aaron's comments and/or rebuttals. The reason he has not commented is because he knows he screwed me intentionally and he knows I can document EVERYTHING I am saying here. He has no defense other that incompetence or thievery....THAT IS ALL HE HAS. Any excuse he comes up with, I can show document after document to prove he is not telling the whole truth.

Does anyone else find it odd that he has not commented for weeks (and we know he has been logged in)??? Wouldn't any of you be defending yourselves if I were in fact telling lies about you??? Could it be that I am telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth???

And once again, the legal aspect is being taken care of...…..these postings are just FYIs and a detail of my experience.....again not trying to influence anyone to stop doing business with Crazy Uncle......you are all adults, make your own decisions.

So Aaron...…….BRING IT!!!!!!!!

Aaron has spoken loud and clear.....
 

The volume and impact of his silence is deafening!!

He'll be alright...stuff trumps all.

Yup
 

..yup,,,...I still search for "Battlefield : auctions ';ending soonest"

..

What's the latest?

Is Bill Goodwin associated with CU, who have undoubtedly discovered running an auction house in 2020 is not a slam dunk?

Let's see...…………

*Auction closed 5 weeks ago.

*No communication from Aaron or anyone at CU in 4+ weeks.

*No payment or discussion of payment has been made (and according to Aaron's numbers we are talking over a quarter million). According to me.....many times that number.

*Missing around $300K - $400K or more worth of stuff that was not "sold" at auction or returned to me.

*Items that were dropped off were damaged.

*Aaron has yet to respond to any of my posts.....pretty much means he has no defense !!!

Just keep adding nails to that coffin !!!

Seems like the list of owners for CU is a big mystery.....if there truly are any owners

No bueno. Check the bus and train stations!!!

Does anyone know if they still plan on running future auctions?

Why wouldn't they?:confused:

6/27 Won 1 Graded T206 card, 10 raw T206 cards, and one complete set of Indian Head Pennies 1880-1909.

Received Invoice on 7/2.

Paid Invoice via Paypal on 7/2.

Received Shipping Notification on 7/6 with no statement of the contents of the shipment.

Received shipment on 7/11 in blue flat envelope mailer which was not taped closed, only the adhesive on the flap (the envelope could have been opened, some of the contents removed, and resealed).

Inside blue mailer was a smaller bubble mailer that was not taped closed, only adhesive on the flap, that contained all of the cards. There were no coins in the package and no list of contents. The smaller bubble mailer was not large enough to have contained the coins.

I waited a week hoping the coins would be arriving in a separate shipment.

On 7/20 I went to CU website and sent email stating cards had been received but not coins, and asked for shipping status of coins. Did not receive a response.

On 7/27 I again went to CU website and sent email stating my displeasure in not receiving a response to my previous email and again requested shipping status of coins.

Today, 7/30, still waiting on response and coins.

By no means is my apparent loss even close to Dave's, but I am becoming thoroughly disgusted with CU's complete lack of customer service.

I waited over a week for tracking. Received 3 from 2 different locations over 100 miles apart. Nonetheless, the last package arrived Friday and overall I was missing a $200 card. Throughout the process Aaron was communicating with me up until Sunday when I emailed him about the missing card. No response. Tried again Tuesday. No response. I wasn't waiting anymore and today I opened a PayPal dispute for the value of the missing card. I just want the card or the refund, or a response.

What a complete clusterf*&#. Does anyone on Net54 know this Aaron guy? How long has he been in the hobby? Was he a known quantity before he started Crazy Uncle?

I'm highly doubting this company is owned by anyone other than this Aaron guy. What "elite" group of collectors would allow this to continue?

He worked briefly at Steiners before venturing out on his own. I would be curious to know why he left and what his co-workers thought of him.

According to his auction website he "has been an active collector since the 1980's"... so based on his age, he's counting his experience as a small child as a selling point toward his experience with baseball cards. I was born in 1985 and was opening packs as early as 1988, does that mean I have 5 decades worth of collector experience now too?

That was my initial assumption based on what seems to be a one-Aaron shipping/customer service operation, but who knows. Might have some seed money from Collectors Universe or Steiner or some other higher up silent investor that wanted to make more direct money.

As much as Dave has been screwed by this, I'm wondering if Aaron's head is on a platter from some other silent investors who maybe helped him set up the auction with their own stuff and are getting screwed just as bad. There was a LOT of stuff in all of his auctions so far, which is unusual for a small start up auction house.

Yes, I am not always good with my civilian analogies, but where I come from it's called brotherly love, not "bashing". The anxious desparity in the posts reminded me of being forced to ingest Portnoy's Complaint so again, my bad for not being sensitive enough in my response. The story is so crazy that it warrants a range of emotions. I now understand Dave's intent and fair warnings. It's all good. I'm pulling for you Dave and the rest of you that got screwed.

If you want to pay they are registered in Delware to avoid taxes. For a fee you can get all of their info.

Sorry to hear about people's issues with CU...esp Dave. If it looks like a duck...quacks like a duck...chances are...it's a duck! Live and Learn!

There are plenty of good AH's out there...frequent them!

Stuff does NOT trump all...it's just stuff! And you can't take it with you!

I was thinking of giving Crazy Uncle a third chance. Not sure yet if I should go with them or if I should invest my money in something and I've heard good things about this investment guy...….I think his name is Bernie Madoff. It's a toss up between going with CU or Madoff.

Any thoughts on this???

At least I can joke about this if nothing else !!!

you kept saying "duck" may want to check your spelling...

+1. Very clever

Not sure why you go back in forth with one of the most argumentative jack asses in the hobby PERIOD.

Crazy Uncle seems very Crazy after reading this thread. That's a shame. Glad I never purchased from an auction house. 18%-21% on anything is retarded. My name is crime and crime don't pay that. Add in the horrible service and what do you have? ZERO.

The service level by that elite group of "collectors " seems pretty rotten to the core from these experiences of their customers. You wonder why it is so easy to make a killing in the world today. All you have to do is service the customer. So easy.

Just like your wife...... If you don't service the customer, somebody else will.

It still amazes me that it has been 5 weeks since the auction closed, 7 pages so far on this thread, plenty of comments about CU (mostly negative......ok all negative......I was trying to be nice) but not one single solitary rebuttal from Crazy Uncle. We all know he has been on the site. He claims he has "people" that inform him of everything on Net54. So if anyone reading this is one of his "people"...…..get some feedback from Aaron.

Everyone reading this is hearing a one sided story......only from me. I welcome Aaron's comments. I'm asking for them, begging for them, rubbing my magic lamp and using my third wish to get them. You guys on Net54 can be the jury. You've heard from the Plaintiff...…...can we get the other side's story or defense ???

Isn't Ryan Spence the son of JSA's James Spence?

https://crazyuncleauctions.com/aboutus.aspx

Is there a possibility of Spence or his company having some ownership of Crazy Uncles? I know they spam for a lot of auction houses, but they did send me emails for both Crazy Uncle auctions.

Ooof... this would add a layer of craziness if JSA was part of the ownership.....

Considering how late the images for the first auction were I think I'd have asked to have my name removed.

I was SO there.....
 

When I read the original post and then saw you beat me to it!! Great minds....

Paid invoice!
 

The invoice is marked as balance due almost a month after it was clearly paid! Are these guys trying to declare we did not pay to show a loss? Are they going to try to collect money from us in the future doctoring up the invoices? Early on in the thread one consignor stated they needed time to manually input our payment.