Kevin Keating responds to shill bidding allegations

[autograf]

Well.....they set up together at the National, so they are intertwined to some extent. I think the explanation by Kevin is entirely plausible and think it's quite possible a similar situation exists for other people on that list. I know some people on that list have similar non-sports collections that I do/did and bid on some of those items. The problem exists where ANY employee of ANY auction house bids on ANY item in their own auction. It could always be thought of as somewhat fishy since it could truly be shilling or could be that employee just wanting to further their collection. Would need a deep-dive, forensic accounting of each lot and bidders to truly know what was shilling. And that won't likely happen for this narrow group of years.............

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by autograf

Well.....they set up together at the National, so they are intertwined to some extent.

I think Hank sincerely has the utmost respect for Kevin's integrity and skills.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Runscott

I think Hank sincerely has the utmost respect for Kevin's integrity and skills.

I've been around this hobby a long time, and I don't know anyone who doesn't. You can argue all you want about his business strategies (pricing, not selling autographs with TPA, etc.) and I can't tell you how many discussions he and I have had over the years about every aspect of the hobby. But there's two things nobody can argue with: he always has the best autographs in the room, and he never cuts corners with ethics and certainly not with legalities. If there's a shadow of a doubt about whether something is good or not, or about any aspect of a transaction, he will close the book on it, even if it costs him a lot of money. I've seen it happen more than once.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

I've been around this hobby a long time, and I don't know anyone who doesn't. You can argue all you want about his business strategies (pricing, not selling autographs with TPA, etc.) and I can't tell you how many discussions he and I have had over the years about every aspect of the hobby. But there's two things nobody can argue with: he always has the best autographs in the room, and he never cuts corners with ethics and certainly not with legalities. If there's a shadow of a doubt about whether something is good or not, or about any aspect of a transaction, he will close the book on it, even if it costs him a lot of money. I've seen it happen more than once.

Hank, I just didn't want anyone thinking that you defended Kevin purely because of business interests. If another questionable autograph pops up, the people with autograph skills can discuss it once again. As this thread shows, and as past threads have shown, no one gets a free pass in this forum, and I believe that's the way it should be.

[drmondobueno]

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