SUBJECT: BEWARE Steve Verkman, Keith Vari, Leland’s, Clean Sweep & Paragon auctions

[joeb]

My name is Joe Borozny. I have been collecting cards and memorabilia for almost 40 years. I am posting to share a situation with the hobby community to ask for any advice (lawyers – is there any legal course of action here?) and help prevent others from falling victim to what I did by Steve Verkman and Keith Vari of Clean Sweep, Lelands and Paragon auctions.

I am in an exceptionally challenging life situation involving my health and the health of my family and feel forced by that to sell my collection. I have not been very active in the hobby the last few years, but knew of Lelands as I had purchased from them in the past. I reached out to discuss the possible sale of my collection through Lelands. I explained my life situation to them – they were verbally very sympathetic. Keith Vari called me up on November 30th, said he was in Staten Island and was on his way over to look at my collection. Keith did not communicate that Steve Verkman was with him or that they intended to take anything that day. They came with a 2 trucks. Steve told me that he would take my entire collection for a 60% (me) -40%(them) split. I questioned that 40% sounded like too much on top of the 20% buyers premium - to which Steve in part replied “it’s a lot of work”. There are numerous items in my collection worth thousands of dollars individually (Tom Seaver contracts, Nolan Ryan contract, Rusty Staub Game used Jersey’s, rare Topps Test issues to name a few). I estimate the whole collection is worth well into six figures. I feel stupid for signing the contract (see attached) and letting them take so much of my collection without checking in with other hobby contacts first (they DID NOT take it all as discussed, but cherry picked all of the more expensive items), but felt pressure both from them as well as my life situation.

I checked in with a couple of old hobby friends a few days later and was told that an auction house taking 40% of the hammer + the buyers premium was anywhere from gouging to criminal. I desperately need the funds to pay off debt and medical expenses. When I reached out to both Keith and Steve to discuss and attempt to renegotiate or get my collection returned, I was told I was in a binding contract and there would be no renegotiation. I am attaching a copy of the contract.

1) If you are an attorney and believe you can be of any help please reach out to me

2) If you find yourself ready to sell your lifelong collection – think twice before contacting Clean Sweep auctions, Lelands auctions, Paragon Auctions, Steve Verkman or Keith Vari.

[ALBB]

Wow

[Tim Kindler]

I am not seeing the attached contract? Is there a place to see it I am not aware of before making any kinds of judgements or opinions.
Thanks Tim

[G1911]

I’d love to see the contract, looks like it didn’t attach.

[Leon]

Steve Verkman is out of pocket and asked me to post this for him. I am cutting and pasting....thanks


Hi Leon,

Can you please post this for me:

"This post is not accurate. With very large collections that involve hundreds and hundreds of lots and photographs, we do have to charge an extra fee.

The labor involved in this is extremely extensive and we take care to break these collections up over hundreds of lots to maximize the value for our consignors.

Mr. Borozny will get 60% of the buyer's premium, this was explained to him over the phone.

We explained to Mr. Borozny at the time how much work would be involved in this collection, that literally a team of people would be working on it, so we will have to charge for that.

We have never and would never take advantage of someone. The amount of work going carefully through a collection of this size, with most items not organized or authenticated, is a massive endeavor.


Thanks much - Steve Verkman"






.

[raulus]

From the AH statement posted by Leon, it sounds like the consignor will get the hammer price plus 60% of the BP?

If so, that seems like a pretty solid deal for the consignor.

Probably would be helpful to take a gander at that contract to see what it says.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by Leon

Steve Verkman is out of pocket and asked me to post this for him. I am cutting and pasting....thanks


Hi Leon,

Can you please post this for me:

"This post is not accurate. With very large collections that involve hundreds and hundreds of lots and photographs, we do have to charge an extra fee.

The labor involved in this is extremely extensive and we take care to break these collections up over hundreds of lots to maximize the value for our consignors.

Mr. Borozny will get 60% of the buyer's premium, this was explained to him over the phone.

We explained to Mr. Borozny at the time how much work would be involved in this collection, that literally a team of people would be working on it, so we will have to charge for that.

We have never and would never take advantage of someone. The amount of work going carefully through a collection of this size, with most items not organized or authenticated, is a massive endeavor.


Thanks much - Steve Verkman"



.

Looking at this response, it does seem to only indicate that the consigner would be getting 60% of the buyer's premium. I believe the buyer's premium is 20%, so if this was the case the consigner would only be receiving 12% of the final winning bid amounts.

Of course this can't be correct, so once again a little better communication would hopefully clear things up.

Brian

[Neal]

The AH needs to undo this or join the discussion. Seems there is some confusion regarding details and, as previously stated, it isn't a good look at all.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[theshowandme]

Can I get the cliff notes of this thread in 5 bullets or less?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by theshowandme

Can I get the cliff notes of this thread in 5 bullets or less?

Someone in the hobby is trying to make money off another person in the hobby.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Someone in the hobby is trying to make money off another person in the hobby.

LOL. What he deserved for that request.

[gunboat82]

Originally Posted by theshowandme

Can I get the cliff notes of this thread in 5 bullets or less?

• OP has big collection, needs to sell at a difficult time in his life, and consigns to Leland's/Clean Sweep with 60/40 split of proceeds

• OP now thinks that 40% seems high and wants to rescind the consignment

• OP produces what purports to be the actual consignment agreement, but it's handwritten and leaves out a lot of potentially material terms, including a schedule of items to be sold, leading to uninformed speculation about what is actually being auctioned and what OP is supposed to receive

• OP was given a $15K advance, and it appears that he may be expected to pay interest on that advance at a rate just shy of the usury threshold.

• Leland's/Clean Sweep responded by proxy and defended the agreement as standard in light of the work involved, and the thread was moved to the Watercooler section to minimize the visibility and potential reputational damage.

[Gorditadogg]

I've been watching old Game of Thrones episodes, and I like that when someone is on trial, the accused can opt for Trial by Combat. The prosecutor and defendant both choose a champion to represent them in a fight to the death. Because the survivor is chosen by the gods, this is considered a just verdict.

While Joeb is no longer prosecuting his case and Steve V only sent one written statement to us, through Leon, we have bigfanNY and oldjudge acting as champions of the two parties.

May they fight with honor!

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

I've been watching old Game of Thrones episodes, and I like that when someone is on trial, the accused can opt for Trial by Combat. The prosecutor and defendant both choose a champion to represent them in a fight to the death. Because the survivor is chosen by the gods, this is considered a just verdict.

While Joeb is no longer prosecuting his case and Steve V only sent one written statement to us, through Leon, we have bigfanNY and oldjudge acting as champions of the two parties.

May they fight with honor!

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

A lot less nudity here than in GOT thankfully.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by Carter08

A lot less nudity here than in GOT thankfully.

Actually I'm usually naked when I post but that's neither here nor there...

[ocjack]

I'm late to the party, but in a quick review of the postings, I don't see anywhere that Steve Verkman actually commented on the transaction. Just a lot of "I spoke to Steve..." and "Steve told me..." comments.

Is there a reason Steve doesn't come on and explain the transaction himself? Wouldn't that be better than alot of heresay evidence? If I missed Steve's comments, I'm sorry. But short of that, it appears - to my mind - that he may not want to be on the record with any comments.

Just my 2cents.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ocjack

I'm late to the party, but in a quick review of the postings, I don't see anywhere that Steve Verkman actually commented on the transaction. Just a lot of "I spoke to Steve..." and "Steve told me..." comments.

Is there a reason Steve doesn't come on and explain the transaction himself? Wouldn't that be better than alot of heresay evidence? If I missed Steve's comments, I'm sorry. But short of that, it appears - to my mind - that he may not want to be on the record with any comments.

Just my 2cents.

I would say Steve not posting anything is by far the best thing he could do. Do you remember when Brent and Betsy(PWCC) used to come on here? Their posting never made anything better. It also hilariously never hurt because nobody cares how slimy or great someone is as long as they have the card(s) they need. There are so many ways to enjoy this hobby.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by ocjack

I'm late to the party, but in a quick review of the postings, I don't see anywhere that Steve Verkman actually commented on the transaction. Just a lot of "I spoke to Steve..." and "Steve told me..." comments.

Is there a reason Steve doesn't come on and explain the transaction himself? Wouldn't that be better than alot of heresay evidence? If I missed Steve's comments, I'm sorry. But short of that, it appears - to my mind - that he may not want to be on the record with any comments.

Just my 2cents.

Why would he? I highly doubt this little thread is not hurting his business.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by ocjack

I'm late to the party, but in a quick review of the postings, I don't see anywhere that Steve Verkman actually commented on the transaction. Just a lot of "I spoke to Steve..." and "Steve told me..." comments.

Is there a reason Steve doesn't come on and explain the transaction himself? Wouldn't that be better than alot of heresay evidence? If I missed Steve's comments, I'm sorry. But short of that, it appears - to my mind - that he may not want to be on the record with any comments.

Just my 2cents.

I think you must have missed this rule near the top of every page in bold letters? It's been there forever...ALso, I don't see your full contact info in the system. Some very early members didn't have their registration info recorded. Please PM that....full name and verifiable ph#.. Thanks so much!

If you write anything concerning a person or company your full name needs to be in your post or obtainable from it. .

PS...this goes for everyone commenting in this thread. So, if your full name isn't there, put it there please....

.

[jayshum]

The OP is now sending me PMs telling more of his side of what happened. Is anyone else receiving similar messages? I would encourage him to post in the thread for everyone to see.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by jayshum

The OP is now sending me PMs telling more of his side of what happened. Is anyone else receiving similar messages? I would encourage him to post in the thread for everyone to see.

Yes, I believe he is having issues with the upload limitations.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by G1911

Yes, I believe he is having issues with the upload limitations.

He didn't tell me about any problems he had posting so I don't know why he chose to PM me. Did he tell you anything more?

[G1911]

Originally Posted by jayshum

He didn't tell me about any problems he had posting so I don't know why he chose to PM me. Did he tell you anything more?

I'll DM you.

[RCMcKenzie]

I would not sell my collection for a 60/40 split, but I can see where someone would. The whole thing of selling is a lot of work. I used to sell on eBay. Time value of money. Did my boxing card friend Greg argue both sides of this, or did I misread the thread?

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by jayshum

The OP is now sending me PMs telling more of his side of what happened. Is anyone else receiving similar messages? I would encourage him to post in the thread for everyone to see.

Yes, please do. The view count on the thread indicates that many people are following it.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by jayshum

The OP is now sending me PMs telling more of his side of what happened. Is anyone else receiving similar messages? I would encourage him to post in the thread for everyone to see.

No I haven't received one but would definitely be interested.