Another Probstein LOL

[jhs5120]

I've hired an armed guard to make sure I don't over bid on auctions, I suggest posters here do the same. I can't help myself otherwise.

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by jhs5120

I've hired an armed guard to make sure I don't over bid on auctions, I suggest posters here do the same. I can't help myself otherwise.

Get married and you won't need an armed guard to make sure you don't overbid on auctions.

[calvindog]

Regarding the Probstein Mathewson signed ball auction which ended a couple days ago: http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=370937104344

The ball sold for $8990, solely because the underbidder put in a bid at about $1600 above the third bidder for the ball, three days before the ebay auction ended -- and the underbidder just happens to bid in Probstein's auctions 94% of the time. Curiously, the underbidder's bid of $8890 is almost identical to what the ball sold for in the 2013 REA auction ($8887): http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/...85.html#photos This bid of $8990 was placed a few days before the auction ended, solely to provide a floor/shill bid, presumably to ensure that the owner of the ball didn't lose any money following his purchase of the ball in REA.

I emailed Rick from the Mathewson auction listing and the following dialogue occurred:

1) Rick -- were you the owner of this ball which just sold in your auction?

Response: which ball ?


2) The Mathewson ball.

Response: consignor .....I owned the ruth ball though


3) Would you permit Rob Lifson to answer my question if you are not, in fact, the winner of that Mathewson ball from his auction?

No response


4) So are you saying that you consigned the Mathewson ball but didn't own it? How can you consign something you don't own?

Response: I'm not gonna be online, if something is pressing try me at 973 747 6304 , all our transactions are confidential...both buyers and consignors....


5) Rick,

I'm not asking for you to betray the confidence of a buyer or consignor. I'm simply asking if you bought the Mathewson ball in the REA auction. You denied that you were the owner of the ball but said you were the consignor. To me, if you consigned the ball that means you own it. Again, I don't wish to know who purchased the Mathewson ball in the REA auction unless it's you.

Jeff Lichtman

Response: jeff, your not understanding my emails....we're having email confusion..lets try again....

I bought the matty from REA , sold it privately , and the guy didn't like so it was consigned to us...
I bought the ruth ball from either REA or legendary or huggins, don't recall, and I was the owner who sold it....

the names of all my consignors are private as are the winning bidders....


6) Rick,

Are you aware that the underbidder of your Matty ball auction bids on your auctions 94% of the time? And that the bid he/she put in was almost to the dollar the amount that YOU paid for in the REA auction for that ball? Presuming you didn't sell the ball to him for exactly what you paid for it from REA, don't you find it interesting that the underbidder put in a placeholder bid 3 days before your ebay auction ended which matches what YOU paid for it on REA?

Jeff

Response: I wasn't aware of this...were u the winner of the ball ?


7) You don't know the winner of an auction of yours which ended a couple days ago?

Response: typicallyno
we currently run 20,000 auctions a month...I had 20 staff people here today...I spend the lionshare of my time keeping them busy..

when people email me or call when they see a problem I do act..
the mantle bvg card auction was emailed to me and I cancelled the bids on it....


8) That's wonderful -- but you didn't address what I asked, namely, that fraud obviously occurred in this auction and considering it was a ball which you bought in an REA auction shouldn't something be done about it?

No response


9) So do you think you should void the auction result and let the winner know that he was defrauded the difference between the bids of the second and third bids on the ball? It's fairly obvious that fraud occurred, no?

Response: I'm gonna first contact the consignor and get more info....


**This conversation was two days ago, that's the last I've heard from Rick about this auction.

[Ease]

Those responses from Rick P. are very disconcerting. Feign ignorance, change the subject, indirect answers. It's a big money train and a lot of folks are banking, some are members here. So simple, consign/shill/count profit. I want to be angry, but instead I'm just disappointed.

[Acollector]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Regarding the Probstein Mathewson signed ball auction which ended a couple days ago: http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=370937104344

I emailed Rick from the Mathewson auction listing and the following dialogue occurred:

1) Rick -- were you the owner of this ball which just sold in your auction?

Response: which ball ?


2) The Mathewson ball.

Response: consignor .....I owned the ruth ball though


3) Would you permit Rob Lifson to answer my question if you are not, in fact, the winner of that Mathewson ball from his auction?

No response


4) So are you saying that you consigned the Mathewson ball but didn't own it? How can you consign something you don't own?

Response: I'm not gonna be online, if something is pressing try me at 973 747 6304 , all our transactions are confidential...both buyers and consignors....


5) Rick,

I'm not asking for you to betray the confidence of a buyer or consignor. I'm simply asking if you bought the Mathewson ball in the REA auction. You denied that you were the owner of the ball but said you were the consignor. To me, if you consigned the ball that means you own it. Again, I don't wish to know who purchased the Mathewson ball in the REA auction unless it's you.

Jeff Lichtman

Response: jeff, your not understanding my emails....we're having email confusion..lets try again....

I bought the matty from REA , sold it privately , and the guy didn't like so it was consigned to us...
I bought the ruth ball from either REA or legendary or huggins, don't recall, and I was the owner who sold it....

the names of all my consignors are private as are the winning bidders....


6) Rick,

Are you aware that the underbidder of your Matty ball auction bids on your auctions 94% of the time? And that the bid he/she put in was almost to the dollar the amount that YOU paid for in the REA auction for that ball? Presuming you didn't sell the ball to him for exactly what you paid for it from REA, don't you find it interesting that the underbidder put in a placeholder bid 3 days before your ebay auction ended which matches what YOU paid for it on REA?

Jeff

Response: I wasn't aware of this...were u the winner of the ball ?


7) You don't know the winner of an auction of yours which ended a couple days ago?

Response: typicallyno
we currently run 20,000 auctions a month...I had 20 staff people here today...I spend the lionshare of my time keeping them busy..

when people email me or call when they see a problem I do act..
the mantle bvg card auction was emailed to me and I cancelled the bids on it....


8) That's wonderful -- but you didn't address what I asked, namely, that fraud obviously occurred in this auction and considering it was a ball which you bought in an REA auction shouldn't something be done about it?

No response


9) So do you think you should void the auction result and let the winner know that he was defrauded the difference between the bids of the second and third bids on the ball? It's fairly obvious that fraud occurred, no?

Response: I'm gonna first contact the consignor and get more info....


**This conversation was two days ago, that's the last I've heard from Rick about this auction.

He will keep ignoring the stuff that shows he may be guilty or makes it clearer that he might not be a good guy. The no response is typical of him because the honest answer might expose him so he won't incriminate himself. The 20 staff comment is trying to make himself look like a big shot and make him sound oh so important and busy. I have seen his "staff" and will elaborate in a few days. That call me you aren't understanding me BS is most likely to buy him some time to come up with a "legitimate" sounding answer or he figures you won't call him. Offering to talk on the phone gives an illusion of "I have nothing to hide". He figures that you most likely won't call him. I wouldn't be surprised if you do call him, that he claims he's too busy to talk or he is driving to get rid of you.

The we run 20,000 a month is for two reasons. The "we" is "I". It's his ID, he is not a company. He is one guy, but saying we makes it sound like a company and people are harder on an individual than a company. The 20,000 auctions is an excuse for "we are just so busy we don't have the time to look at every detail." When you don't have the time to do things right, DON'T DO THEM or hire enough people that can do things right.

"I bought the matty from REA , sold it privately , and the guy didn't like so it was consigned to us" That makes absolutely no sense. If I buy something from someone and don't like it, I ask for a refund. I don't have him consign it to risk it selling for less than what I paid.

I ask, why would a money hungry type that wants every penny he can get (as he appears to be in my opinion) stop shill bidding on his items (assuming he isn't doing it himself in some of them) from others if it has not affected his sales? Obviously an honest person or someone with ethics that isn't a thief or isn't a greedy trash bag would put a stop to it. One bid retraction ban would be what a person with integrity does, but from my experience with Problemstein is that he has no integrity in my opinion.

[ullmandds]

I'm not at all surprised by this lack of response...we've seen it before...we'll see it again. I certainly appreciate you, Jeff L, for making this effort to help clean up the hobby!

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

get married and you won't need an armed guard to make sure you don't overbid on auctions.

lol :d

[hangman62]

wow, this thread is getting hot...Im starting to get enjoy it.

Look guys, like someone just said..its all about " stuff you need" ..if its "stuff you need" ..all bets are off !..hell some guys will bid on stuff they dont need just to drive up the price, or keep arch enemys from having it...I know a guy who will bid on stuff wildly just for the power rush..and some guys get caught up in that..and then have to reach for that cancelation button !..have they no shame..dont they understand that there are big time nerds out there that cant live without a special item.

Im so upset..I intend to bid on EVERY lot that Probstein has currently running on ebay...just to prove a point.... I will then report back on the % of lots that were mis-represented, or fake, or questionable. Then I will prove once and for all that ....that...that... and then that will be it

[ALR-bishop]

If I see something I want or need, and the seller's feedback looks like he probably has the item and would deliver it, I determine how much I would be willing to pay and place a snipe. Thereafter I do not give it a thought until I get a notice from my snipe service that I won or lost. If I won, I pay by paypal and am done. Win or lose I do not bother to check out the bidding history on the item. If I got it for the price I was willing to pay, I am good.

I think the only thing I have bought from Probstein in the last year was a 1963 Topps Rookie Banquet program. I needed it to complete a run of those programs. I ended up getting it for a lot less than I expected

[the-illini]

It's a hobby - I don't need any of this. I would rather miss out on a baseball card than knowingly support someone who runs their business in a manner I find unethical. Just my opinion though.

[Acollector]

Originally Posted by hangman62

I intend to bid on EVERY lot that Probstein has currently running on ebay...just to prove a point.... I will then report back on the % of lots that were mis-represented, or fake, or questionable. Then I will prove once and for all that ....that...that... and then that will be it

The police department says thank you for the evidence they needed.

Originally Posted by GoldenAge50s

I have not posted in this thread previously, but for the record I would NOT ever bid in one of Rick's auctions after reading this thread.

I'm sure I may not be the only one who has not commented but made this decision. Perhaps it's because I've become more scrupulous as I've gotten older.

I wish this thread had been up in July before I dealt with this crack bag. I certainly would have been at least hesitant to deal with him, if not completely avoid him. His feedback is extremely misleading. He has a ton of negatives, but he has so many positives that it shows up as 100%.

Originally Posted by the-illini

It's a hobby - I don't need any of this. I would rather miss out on a baseball card than knowingly support someone who runs their business in a manner I find unethical. Just my opinion though.

My opinion is that your opinion is the correct opinion.

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

That's where the Beverly Hillbillies were from

Well I be the son of a polecat. You've been lookin the same tv that's been lookin at me. None of that fancy book Lernin' for me. I already know enough guzintas to get by so I enjoy havin that Texas tea..

[Cardboard Junkie]

Perhaps he is just a misguided yoot.

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

Perhaps he is just a misguided yoot.

Mr. Gambini, did you say yoots??