[Runscott]

Amazon removed the item. It is still on the 'sportscollectibles.com' website, but the image has been removed.

Checking around, I found an Amos Strunk signed baseball for sale by them both in their Amazon Store and also on their website. It is owned by Mill Creek Sports, which is a reputable seller here in Washington State. I called Mill Creek and they said that they are aware that Sportscollectibles.com is doing this with their items.

I can see someone advertising something for sale that is generic (not unique), then going out and buying the product from another seller in order to fulfill an order, but this is different. It can affect the opinion that potential customers have about the actual owner's business, in addition to possibly giving the false impression that an item is not as rare as it actually is.

Another thought - if one of these unique items actually ever sold on the sportscollectibles website, it could create problems for the actual owner. When they attempted to buy the item from the actual owner, in order to fulfill their sell request, if any issues came up with their customer those issues could get passed back to the actual owner. Selling someone else's stuff without their permission is just a bad idea.