Mears authentication

[WindyCityGameUsed]

IMO overstated authenticity and/or outright created/fake is the biggest issue industry wide stifling new blood into the hobby while hurting values for legitimate items across the board. The existing shill bidding problem is a pimple on the hobby’s backside in comparison.

Unfortunately this is a losing battle on all fronts with the biggest being $$$ = influence and speaking out about scams is somehow viewed as worse than the actual scam within the industry cause IMO it breaks the code of silence which will not be tolerated.

[bnorth]

From personal experience. I recently bought a bat from Mears. When I seen the listing and when I placed my bid the auction description was "game used professional model". Then once the auction ended the description changed and "game used" was no longer included in the item description or on the LOA that came with the bat, now it is a "professional Model".

I was going to take before and after pictures of several listings in their current auction to see if it was an isolated incident but decided against it because nobody would care anyway.

The really sad and pathetic part is it was not even a high end item that being "game used" would have mattered that much in the final price like it does on most items.

It was my one and only time bidding with an auction house and probably my last.

[mickeymao34]

Originally Posted by bnorth

From personal experience. I recently bought a bat from Mears. When I seen the listing and when I placed my bid the auction description was "game used professional model". Then once the auction ended the description changed and "game used" was no longer included in the item description or on the LOA that came with the bat, now it is a "professional Model".

I was going to take before and after pictures of several listings in their current auction to see if it was an isolated incident but decided against it because nobody would care anyway.

The really sad and pathetic part is it was not even a high end item that being "game used" would have mattered that much in the final price like it does on most items.

It was my one and only time bidding with an auction house and probably my last.

Ben, thanks for posting this. I think it holds merit whether its a small valued lot or not! Speaks volumes about the integrity and honesty of a company. If a company is wiling to go this far for a lower value item, think about what they would do to justify a high dollar item.

[mickeymao34]

Originally Posted by WindyCityGameUsed

IMO overstated authenticity and/or outright created/fake is the biggest issue industry wide stifling new blood into the hobby while hurting values for legitimate items across the board. The existing shill bidding problem is a pimple on the hobby’s backside in comparison.

Unfortunately this is a losing battle on all fronts with the biggest being $$$ = influence and speaking out about scams is somehow viewed as worse than the actual scam within the industry cause IMO it breaks the code of silence which will not be tolerated.

Ron, Excellent point.A true Open forums should be ABOUT these things that SHOULD not be discussed. IMO speaking out puts a target on your back to be discredited. All these AHs love to preach about transparency and honesty but I believe the opposite is true. They don't like it and they follow they're saltiness with threats of law suits. They will go out of they're way to make you look like the BAD guy that is harboring ill feelings for the AH in question. I don't see why an item cannot be discussed, after all it is out for the public to view and to be deemed worthy to bid or not to bid. An open forum about memorabilia should be just that-a forum to discuss one's opinion of any item without the backlash.

[mickeymao34]

Originally Posted by WindyCityGameUsed

IMO overstated authenticity and/or outright created/fake is the biggest issue industry wide stifling new blood into the hobby while hurting values for legitimate items across the board. The existing shill bidding problem is a pimple on the hobby’s backside in comparison.

Unfortunately this is a losing battle on all fronts with the biggest being $$$ = influence and speaking out about scams is somehow viewed as worse than the actual scam within the industry cause IMO it breaks the code of silence which will not be tolerated.

Ron, one more thing. I'm sure these AHs put a lot of pressure on forum site owners. Place yourself in forum site owners, how would you like to get 20-30 calls a day to take action? Not defending these guys but you got to feel for these forum site owners. I'm sure it takes a toll on them. And I think that suspensions and banning for speaking on pertinent topics are really uncalled for. But it does happen on other sites.