Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss
Travis. This is one place that you and I disagree - the old guard pwcc. You seem to always defend them. They did a lot of sketchy stuff and it’s documented. We also know that the old pwcc was in financial trouble from their loan program. In my experience, if someone is sketchy in good times, they will be sketchy in bad times (often more so). We also know it’s common practice to post high, fake sales on cards one is looking to unload to establish a comp. Put that all together and I am more cynical
A few things to note: (1) PWCC was sold and is under new ownership. All of these Mantle sales happened before PWCC was sold. I have no reason to believe that new PWCC has done anything wrong, sketchy, improper. My guesses are related only to old PWCC. (2) I have no idea what really happened here. These are all guesses and I may be 100% incorrect. (3) When using VCP or any other resource, I almost always ignore BIN comps. Plus, you will see they are almost always higher than comps through auction. (4) All of these sales could be real, meaning money between 3rd parties changed hands. However, the temporal proximity, combined with PWCC’s involvement in 3 of them while PWCC’s economic condition started to turn, makes me highly dubious. (5) the Mantle in question is gorgeous and is a great example of an a great card. Compared to the same-graded Mantle in Heritage, which is similarly amazing looking, the Goldin sale looks like a good get for whoever bought it.
One final note about PWCC- they revolutionized a helped popularize the industry and they deserve big credit for that. They also grew the platform from a small eBay seller to a premier outfit and one of the largest auction houses. That is not easy and they deserve credit for that. Notwithstanding some very questionable actions, PWCC did some pretty impressive and important things
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I agree regarding PWCC having done some sketchy things in the past. And yes, it appears as though they were experiencing financial pressure prior to being acquired by Fanatics and laying off 30% of their workforce.
Where we disagree is whether or not these facts make it likely that the $500k Mantle sale was faked and owned by PWCC as opposed to a customer. Remember, this sale occurred at the absolute peak of the market. PWCC was rolling in the dough at that time. The financial turmoil didn't begin until after the market had crashed and interest rates began to rise causing consigners to default in their loans. It wasn't until May 2023 when PWCC made the layoffs and were acquired by Fanatics. They were not feeling any financial pressures at all in March 2021.