Who is the Best EBay Seller for Baseball Memorabilia

[cbcbcb]

Who do you think is the best ebay seller of great, rare vintage baseball memorabilia? Not just autographs, but hard to find things too. Auction house quality stuff but on eBay.

[J.McMurry]

Dont know if he's the best or not,but when he was doing regular auctions on ebay, I bought a lot of stuff from Scott Gaynor.

[jbsports33]

Scott Gaynor and Bob McCain

I run smaller type auctions every week, but the two above would be my choice, very consistent with Memorabilia


Jimmy

J&B Sports Auctions

[cbcbcb]

Originally Posted by jbsports33

Scott Gaynor and Bob McCain

I run smaller type auctions every week, but the two above would be my choice, very consistent with Memorabilia


Jimmy

J&B Sports Auctions

Do you know the ebay usernames of them off hand?

[Bobsbats]

Bob McCann......best for memorabilia. His ebay seller ID is: bthoven14. He really had great items when he did shows like Willow Grove.

[jbsports33]

the above got the name right and info for Bob McCann

Scott Gaynor eBay Id is scgaynor

eBay store http://stores.ebay.com/Gaynor-and-Dent-Auctions?_rdc=1

Jimmy

[perezfan]

I agree with Bob McCann and Scott Gaynor being at the top of the list.

Mears is also doing ebay now, and had some nice recent offerings (which just ended yesterday). Stuff that doesn't make minimum in their regular Auction apparently goes to ebay.

A few others of note...

Sports Investments (sportsinvestments)
Will Hays (wcm-inc)
Jerry Snyder (jerryjersey)

Wish there were more with ongoing items of quality. The best/most exciting stuff still seems to come from random sellers who don't really know what they have.

[thekingofclout]

You only get three auctions a year but each has over a thousand lots and his quality goods, knowledge, and customer service are second to none. He also has a seven day return policy.

ebay seller ID is hyee_auctions

I'd say that at least HALF of my collection is due to Henry. Thanks again Hank.

Best, Jimmy

[rhettyeakley]

All of those mentioned are great sellers, I'll throw a bone to my brother as well. He doesn't always have items on there (but usually does), but he digs up some great stuff.

Rhys's ebay ID is prewarsports

[GrayGhost]

I love prewarsports stuff, I just never win any of it..haha.

[batsballsbases]

I agree with Jimmy
Hyee_auctions Always has some very nice items and his return policy is one of the best.
Bob McCann always has some very nice items for sale.
For me the Jury is still out for Scott Gaynor. I have won many items from him before but I bought an item from him a few years back and it really wasnt what the description stated. (Hello Scott) He refused to take the item back after a long conversation with one of his people. I stilll have it and have replaced it but I dont like to bid on his items that much anymore.
And yes Will Hays always has quality items.

[slidekellyslide]

Nobody has mentioned Jonsstats yet....he always has great stuff...he is one of those dealers you can count on to win the big auction lots and break them up via ebay.

[ibuysportsephemera]

I agree with Dan...Jonsstats is always great to deal with. Also Bill Diebold from everythingbaseball has lots of nice items.

[perezfan]

I "third" that...

Wish I did not initially forget Jonsstats and Bill Diebold (everything baseball).

Both are well established/honest sellers with ongoing nice vintage material. I have been purchasing from Bill Diebold and Bob McCann since long before the days of ebay's inception.

[frank5k]

scott gaynor is a crook , gave him about $6,000.00 in memorabilia years ago to sell , after several months of trying to find out if any thing was sold , he told me he never received anything from me , then after I sent the police to his house and contacting the person who was also at my house at the time of the transaction , his friend /partner made good on the items , thank you ,frank /845/590/6224

[batsballsbases]

Sorry to hear that Frank. Im glad you were able to get back your items. Looks like Im not the only one left with a sour taste from SC Gaynor. Hello Scott you always come on to answer questions how about some of these. I would be happy to post up the item I still have if you dont remember.

[scgaynor]

Thanks for the positive comments made by others. I appreciate it.

Let me tell you about Frank Foremny (Frank5K).

First, lets set the record straight about these Babe Ruth photo. He did NOT consign them to me. He consigned them to a friend of mine. My friend asked me to send them back to him because I have a shipping department and as a favor, I did. That was my only involvement with those photos. Why Frank thought that I should be responsible for photos that he said were missing was never clear and my guess is that there were never any missing photos anyway. What was clear however was that Frank was desperate for money (which was why he was trying to sell the photos in the first place) and saw me as what he perceived to be an easy mark who would pay him to make him go away. Out of principle I would never do that, and when I told him to shove it, he went crazy. He sent a fax to every auction house telling them not to do business with me. I called the police in his hometown who told me that although they were quite familiar with him because of past problems that it was a civil matter. I then had an attorney in his hometown send him a cease and desist and I never hear anything more about it until now. As for my friend (I assume the one that he consigned the photos to) making good on them, I don't know anything about that as I would never have given Frank a penny. To this day Frank still owes me an apology, but it does not look like I am going to get it.

Frank represents every bad connotation of what people have in their mind when they think of this hobby. Frank is hobby legend. When dealers talk about the all-time hobby scumbags, he is always within the top 5. When you mention Frank's name to any old time sports auction house, it is always followed by a roll of the eyes and a chuckle. His reputation is of being (A) crazy and (B) a habitual reneger. Getting into a fight with Frank Foremny is like a rite of passage or a badge of honor. You have finally made it when Frank tries to take advantage of you. The first time that I met him he tried to sell me a fake Mickey Mantle game used bat that I later learned he knew was fake, a true sign of his dishonest character. In the 1990's he reneged on Christies for thousands of dollars after a sports auction that the then Christies consultant (Don Flanagan) told me that they were never able to collect. Another auction house had to ban Frank from bidding because of nonpayment. Frank then registered under a fake name, but was caught because this new “person” was bidding on the exact same items that Frank collected. Frank has never had a reputation for being particularly smart. Another auction house would only allow him to bid if he had enough consignments in the auction to cover his bids as they knew that they would never get paid otherwise. There are other similar stories, but I won't bore you. You get the idea.

However, the absolute worse Frank Foremny story (and the one that shows his truly despicable character) is one that I was told by the victim when comparing “crazy Frank Foremny” stories. It seems that this dealer had some items that Frank wanted and agreed to give Frank a set amount of time to pay for them (something like two weeks). When Frank didn't come up with the money in time, the dealer sold the items to somebody else. Frank went nuts. Shortly after the dealer was at a show doing some buying. Frank found out that he was there and called the local police and told him that this particular dealer was a wanted pedophile or some sort of sexual offender. By the time that the police showed up, luckily, the dealer was gone. But the fact that Frank would stoop to doing something that vile, mean and nasty over a sports memorabilia deal that went bad (which was Frank's fault by the way) should be a lesson to anybody that thinks about doing business with him.

Anybody that runs a business will tell you that unfortunately the Frank Foremny's of the world are out there. Like the mosquito, they seem to only exist to annoy and cause trouble for others. There is no way to avoid them. Having had tens of thousands of transactions, it is inevitable that some are going to go bad for one reason or another. Luckily those are few and far between.

Usually in these types of fights, nobody really wins, and I half expect Frank to do something insane to retaliate, but I can't let him call me a crook in a public forum without setting the record straight and letting people know about his character.

Finally, AL, please contact me and let me know what item you were unhappy with and when the transaction took place.

Thanks

Scott

[batsballsbases]

Scott I will send you an email. Al

[batsballsbases]

Scott message sent. Al

[Leon]

So I guess we can assume there will be no exchanging of Christmas presents between Frank and Scott?


I have done business with most mentioned in this thread with no bad transactions. I received a shipment from my good friend, and fellow Texan, Jon Richmond (jonsstats) today. I sat next to Henry Yee for several hours once, at a Mastro dinner. He seems like a really nice guy. That being said if you do a search on this forum you will see some things mentioned, from several years ago, about him allegedly embellishing a bit too much with his descriptions. He certainly knows quite a bit about photographs. best regards

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Leon

So I guess we can assume there will be no exchanging of Christmas presents between Frank and Scott?


I have done business with most mentioned in this thread with no bad transactions. I received a shipment from my good friend, and fellow Texan, Jon Richmond (jonsstats) today. I sat next to Henry Yee for several hours once, at a Mastro dinner. He seems like a really nice guy. That being said if you do a search on this forum you will see some things mentioned, from several years ago, about him allegedly embellishing a bit too much with his descriptions. He certainly knows quite a bit about photographs. best regards

I don't think the complaints against Henry Yee were for embellishing, but rather for shill bidding.

Dan

[batsballsbases]

Leon,
You are so right. I had forgotten about Jon Richmond . A class act and a great guy to talk to.
A little follow-up to Myself and Scott Gaynor We have talked and because of this posting I believe we have been able to work out an agreement. After all is done I will write about it and let you know the out come. But just to say all looks good!!!

[Leon]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

I don't think the complaints against Henry Yee were for embellishing, but rather for shill bidding.

Dan

A quick search proved that there were allegations of shilling AND some embellishing. I knew I remembered Scott Forest ragging him for the embellishment...


http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...&highlight=yee

[byrone]

Jonsstats will not ship to Canada, so unfortunately I am out of luck

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by byrone

Jonsstats will not ship to Canada, so unfortunately I am out of luck

I lost out on one of his items earlier this year because my snipe didn't register....it said seller had me blocked. That was odd to me since I had never done a deal with him at all...the further I checked into it I found that jonsstats blocks everyone automatically whose paypal account is not connected to their ebay account..all I had to do was click on a few links and I was "connected"...I never knew that I wasn't "connected", but..anyway I'm "connected" now.

I think.

[batsballsbases]

Dan,
It always pays to be connected!!!

[batsballsbases]

Just as a follow-up to a problem that I had with SC Gaynor and because of this thread I was able to solve a long standing problem. Scott contacted me right away and I was able to send the item in question back for a FULL refund. Once I contacted Scott the situation was worked out in a matter of days. Scott and his partner Andrew handled it in very professionally. It goes to show that these 2 men will take great care to resolve an issue. In a day of bad dealings with auction houses here is one that is willing to back up a buyer if they had a problem. Scott and Andrew I want to say thankyou and you now have a customer that will be back buying from you again in the future. Regards Al S.

[ss]

i have had a only very positive experiences with scott, and when there has been a misunderstanding he has always done the right thing. Very strongly recommend him.

[Forever Young]

1) HYEE_AUCTIONS
I have bought items both VERY reasonably and paid a premium. I don't mind paying the premium as I know the items are legit and they back them. Also, the items where I have paid a premium on, the second bidder was a high end photo collector as well(I can tell by the two letter code and feedback-no shill).
I am a photo guy. Photos, in particular, in most other auction houses are presented in such a way that you cannot tell if they are originals(type 1s). They seem to "cover" themselves either way. HYEE does not hide anything and does wonderful research on all his items(i.e. shows companion pieces, points out obscure facts and describes each item with creativity based on these facts).
Whether I bid on an item or not, I ALWAYS learn from his auctions. This in itself is of value..and it's free.
PLUS..there is no buyer's premium...I love that...let ME decide if I am going to go up another 15-20%.
All I know is that I cannot wait until the next HYEE auction goes live just as the last one ends as I ALWAYS find something to add to my collection.
2) BE COLLECTIBLES
Quality quality stuff....
3) jerryjersey
I Like that he discloses his reserve when asked and has good product.

[Ladder7]

'firstsportsagent' (Matt), Has some great, rare photos but his prices are great too, initially.
He will come down when he relists.

[Forever Young]

Originally Posted by ladder7

'firstsportsagent' (matt), has some great, rare photos but his prices are great too, initially.
He will come down when he relists.

100% agree steve. Great stuff -straight shooter all the way.