Send lawyers, guns and money

[pwilk17]

Easy short read - Conflicts of Interest are prohibited for all employees - these are representations made to the public as Collectors Universe is a publicly traded corporation. I believe that any conflict of interest is extremely serious and therefore not very likely.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....p=irol-corpgov

Go to Code of Conduct and then See Page 11

[barrysloate]

Joe- PSA employees may own cards but they shouldn't. The potential for conflict of interest is enormous. And maybe it is time for the FBI to take a good look at some of these graders. Given how much money is at stake based on a bump of a half grade, I can only imagine what is going on behind the scenes. If I were a betting man I would say much of what transpires after hours behind closed doors would be nothing short of shocking.

[Fred]

Do you think Joe O has SGC graded cards?

[bijoem]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Joe- PSA employees may own cards but they shouldn't. The potential for conflict of interest is enormous. And maybe it is time for the FBI to take a good look at some of these graders. Given how much money is at stake based on a bump of a half grade, I can only imagine what is going on behind the scenes. If I were a betting man I would say much of what transpires after hours behind closed doors would be nothing short of shocking.

Barry -
I wasn't really arguing whether employee's owning cards was a conflict of interest or not.

I just found it fascinating that anyone could state, as if fact, that PSA employees are not involved in owning cards.


"James Beckett (I think that is his name) and PSA's Joe Orlando (and employees) as part of a publicly traded company are not involved in the owning, buying and selling of sports cards as it is a HUGE conflict of interest."

[barrysloate]

I understand Joe. Nobody really knows what is going on over there.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by pwilk17

Easy short read - Conflicts of Interest are prohibited for all employees - these are representations made to the public as Collectors Universe is a publicly traded corporation. I believe that any conflict of interest is extremely serious and therefore not very likely.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....p=irol-corpgov

Go to Code of Conduct and then See Page 11

Heh. David Hall, the president of Collector's Universe (parent company of PSA) is also a coin dealer who sells his own company's graded coins (PCGS).

[botn]

Doubt this situation will have a favorable outcome for Legendary, SGC or Dave by the time it is all over. There is a reason that Mastro continued to loan money to Dave well after he proved he was not able or not willing to pay it back. It would be nice to have a more information on that, at the very least.

As far as what Barry said it is time for the FBI to take a closer look at these grading companies. It is obvious that not all cards are held to the same standards. Some submitters have advantages or opportunities which are not available to the general public. It is not always by accident or inexperience that we see so many altered or over graded cards in holders.

[barrysloate]

To continue my point, if it is discovered that employees of an auction house are bidding in their company's auctions, everyone on the board is up an arms and crying foul.

So why is it any different if graders are caught buying and selling baseball cards? As far as I'm concerned, it is potentially a much worse offense. An auction employee bidding with his own company may simply wish to add a piece to his collection. Not the worst transgression in the world.

But if a grader can assign a grade to his own cards, and then sell them himself or have somebody else do it, the potential for fraud is off the charts. As far as I'm concerned, if I owned a grading company and I caught one of my graders selling cards, I would fire him on the spot.

[Jim VB]

Barry,

I hear you but I don't think it's likely that we're going to find publishers, graders, or auctioneers, who have zero interest in the hobby.

[barrysloate]

I say if you want to be a grader you have to sign a contract which forbids you from buying and selling baseball cards while you are employed with the company, and that goes for everyone associated with it, from the top down. If buying and selling is your preference, then you need to find another job. You just can't do both.

[Abravefan11]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

I say if you want to be a grader you have to sign a contract which forbids you from buying and selling baseball cards while you are employed with the company,

I can understand why you would think this is a good idea but I find it a bit unreasonable. I don't know how someone could attain the level of expertise required to be a grader and then be OK with not being able to buy cards.

I could be wrong but I doubt the level of pay would out weigh the love of cards.

[Robextend]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

I say if you want to be a grader you have to sign a contract which forbids you from buying and selling baseball cards while you are employed with the company, and that goes for everyone associated with it, from the top down. If buying and selling is your preference, then you need to find another job. You just can't do both.

How about something along the lines that if you work for a 3rd party grader you can not have your cards graded? There might be very minimal conflict and of course there are plenty of ways around that, but I think it would be near impossible for someone that much involved in the hobby to just not collect at all.

[bijoem]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

I say if you want to be a grader you have to sign a contract which forbids you from buying and selling baseball cards while you are employed with the company, and that goes for everyone associated with it, from the top down. If buying and selling is your preference, then you need to find another job. You just can't do both.

Barry.....

If that was the rule for grading companies.... I would suggest the same rules for auction houses.

I think 'auction house' - owned lots opens a tremendous path toward potential conflict of interest.

Yet.... I believe most auction houses (even the ones I would trust most) have owned lots in their own auction.


With the proper transparency and the proper checks/balances in place - I don't think this rule would be necessary for either graders or auction houses.