My Dealings with Memory Lane...GREAT read :/

[barrysloate]

It's okay to forgive JP's past, and do business with him. It's also okay to choose not to do business with somebody whose ethics you question. Either of those is fine.

What's not okay is to berate somebody for his ethical standards, but still do business with him because he has a card you need. That is being a hypocrite.

And my post is directed at nobody in particular.

[Peter_Spaeth]

As stuff trumps all for (I am guessing) most people, it's pretty easy to rehabilitate oneself in the sportscard/memorabilia industry.

[drc]

I agree with Barry. Many (not all or even most) will criticize the ethics of an auction house, then buy from the auction house when it has something they need. Hypocrisy is a good word choice. Perhaps even worse, these buyers are helping keep in business an auction house that they claim is unethical-- hard to wash their hands of that.

I have no opinion on Mile High and have never bid in one of their auctions. Simply a case there are too many auction houses for me to follow closely. I have no opinion about and haven't bid in many auctions. Also I tend to find people go overboard in their criticism on chat boards, so I might take it as seriously as they wish me to. Not suggesting that they don't have a point.

[botn]

Originally Posted by drc

I have no opinion on Mile High and have never bid in one of their auctions. Simply a case there are too many auction houses for me to follow closely.

This thread is about Memory Lane and JP Cohen. Mile High is entirely different auction house.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

It's okay to forgive JP's past, and do business with him. It's also okay to choose not to do business with somebody whose ethics you question. Either of those is fine.

What's not okay is to berate somebody for his ethical standards, but still do business with him because he has a card you need. That is being a hypocrite.

And my post is directed at nobody in particular.

Actually, that would be blaming the victim. And here we go, around and around, with the same arguments I've heard on this board since 2006: 1) Charlie Manson never killed anyone in my family so he's okay in my book. 2) Auction houses are expected to commit fraud and if you choose to do business with a house you deem crooked then you are to blame. As Mastro's indictment does not include any bidders, just auction house executives, it would seem that the bad guys are alleged to be just the perpetrators of the fraud and not the victims.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Actually, that would be blaming the victim. And here we go, around and around, with the same arguments I've heard on this board since 2006: 1) Charlie Manson never killed anyone in my family so he's okay in my book. 2) Auction houses are expected to commit fraud and if you choose to do business with a house you deem crooked then you are to blame. As Mastro's indictment does not include any bidders, just auction house executives, it would seem that the bad guys are alleged to be just the perpetrators of the fraud and not the victims.

Jeff, I understand not doing business with auction houses that you think are crooked. But would you deal with someone who you knew bought from crooked auction houses? For instance, if I bought a rare Ty Cobb item that you wanted, from an auction house that you thought was crooked, and put it up for sale at a reasonable price, would you consider buying it? What if I sold it to one of your friends and he put it up for sale?

There was at least one person on the board who said they wouldn't sit down at a dinner table if someone who represented a 'crooked' auction house was there, so I was just wondering how far this goes.

[grundle20]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

It's okay to forgive JP's past, and do business with him. It's also okay to choose not to do business with somebody whose ethics you question. Either of those is fine.

What's not okay is to berate somebody for his ethical standards, but still do business with him because he has a card you need. That is being a hypocrite.

And my post is directed at nobody in particular.

I do value you weighing in, Barry.

However, the origin of the entire post was not even JP's past. It's JP's present. The whole point of bringing up his past was to accentuate how he runs his business today. His business ethics, while no longer illegal, haven't exactly pulled a 180 degree turn.

And I'd finally like to just point out that I'm not suggesting anyone do or not do business with Memory Lane. That's clearly your call. This isn't Romper Room. But if you guys had a bad experience with someone (see: Any hundreds of EBay users who we all talk about), honestly, I'd want you to tell me. I trust you guys way more than an ex-con salesperson. So that's why I told you.

The one point Barry made, though, I'd like to stand by loud and clear: It IS being a hypocrite to berate Memory Lane and still do business with them. That's why I'm just stating for the record that I'm not doing business with them...ever again. I don't care what card they have that I "need" (I never "need" anything in a hobby). My moral standards will always trump a PSA something-or-other (that Mastro probably photocopied...) for my collection.

[forazzurri2axz]

from grundle's post above......The one point Barry made, though, I'd like to stand by loud and clear: It IS being a hypocrite to berate Memory Lane and still do business with them. That's why I'm just stating for the record that I'm not doing business with them...ever again. I don't care what card they have that I "need" (I never "need" anything in a hobby). My moral standards will always trump a PSA something-or-other (that Mastro probably photocopied...) for my collection.
Last edited by grundle20; Today at 06:15 PM.

THEN WHY DID YOU ATTEMPT TO DO BUSINESS WITH THEM AT ALL---DON'T FEED US THE LINE THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW OF HIS PAST BEFORE YOU INQUIRED INTO THE 48 LEAFS!! THE CARD(S) WAS AND WERE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR MORAL STANDARDS OBVIOUSLY-------You didn't get your way with daddy and came cryin' to mommy!
And YES I put cards ( plural) since you fail to mention the whole story this entire time .....you have been PARTIALLY up front with this entire Net 54 community , not completely, so you just may want to shut up and give this a rest!!!

Bill Latzko

[Kenny Cole]

Originally Posted by forazzurri2axz

from grundle's post above......The one point Barry made, though, I'd like to stand by loud and clear: It IS being a hypocrite to berate Memory Lane and still do business with them. That's why I'm just stating for the record that I'm not doing business with them...ever again. I don't care what card they have that I "need" (I never "need" anything in a hobby). My moral standards will always trump a PSA something-or-other (that Mastro probably photocopied...) for my collection.
Last edited by grundle20; Today at 06:15 PM.

THEN WHY DID YOU ATTEMPT TO DO BUSINESS WITH THEM AT ALL---DON'T FEED US THE LINE THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW OF HIS PAST BEFORE YOU INQUIRED INTO THE 48 LEAFS!! THE CARD(S) WAS AND WERE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR MORAL STANDARDS OBVIOUSLY-------You didn't get your way with daddy and came cryin' to mommy!
And YES I put cards ( plural) since you fail to mention the whole story this entire time .....you have been PARTIALLY up front with this entire Net 54 community , not completely, so you just may want to shut up and give this a rest!!!

Bill Latzko

Um, maybe because he didn't know about their past until he tried to buy a card from them and got cheated? Maybe he didn't look at the seller's prior history until that occurred? Don't know, but it isn't real apparent to me that he put stuff over morals simply by trying to buy a card from someone who he might not have known had a history that might cause him to be cautious. Just sayin' ...

[grundle20]

Originally Posted by forazzurri2axz

THEN WHY DID YOU ATTEMPT TO DO BUSINESS WITH THEM AT ALL---DON'T FEED US THE LINE THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW OF HIS PAST BEFORE YOU INQUIRED INTO THE 48 LEAFS!! THE CARD(S) WAS AND WERE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR MORAL STANDARDS OBVIOUSLY-------You didn't get your way with daddy and came cryin' to mommy!
And YES I put cards ( plural) since you fail to mention the whole story this entire time .....you have been PARTIALLY up front with this entire Net 54 community , not completely, so you just may want to shut up and give this a rest!!!

Thanks, Bill, for your wonderfully insightful post.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

It's okay to forgive JP's past, and do business with him. It's also okay to choose not to do business with somebody whose ethics you question. Either of those is fine.

What's not okay is to berate somebody for his ethical standards, but still do business with him because he has a card you need. That is being a hypocrite.

Yes, but

[FourStrikes]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Yes, but

GREAT post, Adam! gotta love the Fabulous - (and Furry!) - Freak Brothers!

DS