American Greed-CNBC

[Bkrum]

Yes I was only referring to the Evers part of the story

[Jeffrompa]

How pathetic !

[vintagerookies51]

I'm apparently in the minority in not caring what Evers paid for that box of cards. If his story is true (very well could be a lie), then he offered the guy $500 just by looking at 4 cards. The seller must've been happy with it if he accepted right away. Either way it was a deal... but a major auction house stealing some of the cards from his group and advertising it poorly so they could buy it? That's flat out fraud. And that story about the Elvis hair... wow I had never heard about that but that's just stupid. Imagine if Goldin, REA, or Heritage was doing something like that

[clydepepper]

Sounds to me like we are all both victims and victors in the world Mastro created.


I wonder if we would be as interested in the hobby if the money wasn't there.

[orly57]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

I'm apparently in the minority in not caring what Evers paid for that box of cards. If his story is true (very well could be a lie), then he offered the guy $500 just by looking at 4 cards. The seller must've been happy with it if he accepted right away. Either way it was a deal... but a major auction house stealing some of the cards from his group and advertising it poorly so they could buy it? That's flat out fraud. And that story about the Elvis hair... wow I had never heard about that but that's just stupid. Imagine if Goldin, REA, or Heritage was doing something like that

No one is saying he defrauded the guy. He just didn't paint a sympathetic figure. A guy whining about getting ripped off when he made nearly 50k by essentially ripping off someone is almost as obnoxious as his pronunciation of "Lajoie."

[vintagerookies51]

Originally Posted by orly57

No one is saying he defrauded the guy. He just didn't paint a sympathetic figure. A guy whining about getting ripped off when he made nearly 50k by essentially ripping off someone is almost as obnoxious as his pronunciation of "Lajoie."

I would be willing to bet that, if any members were in the same situation, they'd be pretty upset too. But yeah, 49K from $500 is not a bad return!

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by orly57

No one is saying he defrauded the guy. He just didn't paint a sympathetic figure. A guy whining about getting ripped off when he made nearly 50k by essentially ripping off someone is almost as obnoxious as his pronunciation of "Lajoie."

Plus he didn't sound very knowledgable about the industry and his story didn't make sense. How can he be pissed with Mastro when it was SGC who graded his cards? What cards were missing? Ryan did really well and Jeff appeared far more reserved than I perceived him.

[vintagerookies51]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

Plus he didn't sound very knowledgable about the industry and his story didn't make sense. How can he be pissed with Mastro when it was SGC who graded his cards? What cards were missing? Ryan did really well and Jeff appeared far more reserved than I perceived him.

Agreed. The guy said the Lajoie was the second rarest of all baseball cards but didn't he say that Mastro didn't even include the Lajoie and several other cards in the listing? Or were they just not shown off as much as he would have liked... he wasn't very clear on that

[bnorth]

Does anybody know if this can be seen online? Got a link?

[TakingStock]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

Agreed. The guy said the Lajoie was the second rarest of all baseball cards but didn't he say that Mastro didn't even include the Lajoie and several other cards in the listing? Or were they just not shown off as much as he would have liked... he wasn't very clear on that

My interpretation was that Mastro Auctions intentionally omitted listing out the exact cards received on the auction agreement (the cards that he brought to their offices in person) and basically stole them from him by never listing them in the auction he was a part of thereby cutting the gentlemen out of cards he consigned but were never recorded.

[Jeffrompa]

My BS meter was working overtime every time he spoke . I can't believe his garage sale story . Who knows ? Again that's what greed does to us I guess .

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

I'm apparently in the minority in not caring what Evers paid for that box of cards. If his story is true (very well could be a lie), then he offered the guy $500 just by looking at 4 cards. The seller must've been happy with it if he accepted right away. Either way it was a deal... but a major auction house stealing some of the cards from his group and advertising it poorly so they could buy it? That's flat out fraud. And that story about the Elvis hair... wow I had never heard about that but that's just stupid. Imagine if Goldin, REA, or Heritage was doing something like that

I am with you, I don't care what someone paid for cards. Isn't the Evers gentleman a member here. I remember someone posting a very similar story on here about Mastro ripping them off in the same way.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

I'm apparently in the minority in not caring what Evers paid for that box of cards. If his story is true (very well could be a lie), then he offered the guy $500 just by looking at 4 cards. The seller must've been happy with it if he accepted right away. Either way it was a deal

Agreed...I'm sure everyone here would've cut the guy a check for 50K on the spot.

[1952boyntoncollector]

I think the point about the $500 garage sale buyer is he is a victim of karma... a illegal thief stealing from a 'legal' thief is not as sympathetic... versus just a regular guy selling cards....moral judgments i guess on that guy... it is interesting that the guy did say 'i only saw 4 of the cards' when i made the offer....which is a moral justification if true...but we all know thats a lie, had to have seen more.. so its his character we have a problem with even though he appears to have been a huge victim of fraud.

I have to say it..but out of all the american greed episodes this one appeared to be one of the worst ones.....if i wasnt into baseball cards i dont know if i would of watched the whole thing...there wasnt any running from the law or big court room drama.....no fake kidnappings for fake deaths......the wagner being trimmed was already discussed a lot on tv shows like espn 30 for 30...also we dont hear any comments from the fraudsters.. we also dont hear that much about the luxurious lifestyles...no siberian tigers in the lawn etc..

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

I have to say it..but out of all the american greed episodes this one appeared to be one of the worst ones.....if i wasnt into baseball cards i dont know if i would of watched the whole thing...there wasnt any running from the law or big court room drama.....no fake kidnappings for fake deaths......the wagner being trimmed was already discussed a lot on tv shows like espn 30 for 30...also we dont hear any comments from the fraudsters.. we also dont hear that much about the luxurious lifestyles...no siberian tigers in the lawn etc..

+1.

[aconte]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

I have to say it..but out of all the american greed episodes this one appeared to be one of the worst ones.....if i wasnt into baseball cards i dont know if i would of watched the whole thing...there wasnt any running from the law or big court room drama.....no fake kidnappings for fake deaths......the wagner being trimmed was already discussed a lot on tv shows like espn 30 for 30...also we dont hear any comments from the fraudsters.. we also dont hear that much about the luxurious lifestyles...no siberian tigers in the lawn etc..

+1.

+2

I was bored and actually fell asleep with twenty minutes to go. I had to
rewind on the DVR.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

I think the point about the $500 garage sale buyer is he is a victim of karma... a illegal thief stealing from a 'legal' thief is not as sympathetic... versus just a regular guy selling cards....moral judgments i guess on that guy... it is interesting that the guy did say 'i only saw 4 of the cards' when i made the offer....which is a moral justification if true...but we all know thats a lie, had to have seen more.. so its his character we have a problem with even though he appears to have been a huge victim of fraud.

Just curious...What are the tax implications of a score like that? Turning $500 into $49K. Does the gov't get half? That story inspired me to go tag saling this weekend and I want to be prepared.

[Paul S]

Never watched American Greed before. Although I know almost all of the story and knew the ending would be anticlimactic, I assume most non-hobby viewers felt the same. I could believe much of the Evers story except I don't know any collector, even new to the hobby, who wouldn't be thumbing through that box and hence some sort of ballpark value. Is it just me or did '58 Topps get more visual airtime than any other card- even the Wagner? Must be those garish colors

[birdman42]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

Just curious...What are the tax implications of a score like that? Turning $500 into $49K. Does the gov't get half? That story inspired me to go tag saling this weekend and I want to be prepared.

Nope. Gain from the sale of collectibles is a special category of capital gains. Assuming the collectible had been held for more than one year, the gain is taxed at ordinary income rates with a cap of 28%. So if you're in the 15% marginal bracket, the tax on the gain is 15%. If you're in the 33% marginal bracket, your tax is 28%. Note that many states don't distinguish much between sources of income (like MD, where I am), so income is income and there's no special treatment for capital gains.

If the gain is from a quick flip, like Mr Evans apparently, then it's short-term and it's all at ordinary income tax rate with no cap. (Though the highest bracket is currently 39.6%, plus the 3.8% NIIT on investment income.)

Bill

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

I have to say it..but out of all the american greed episodes this one appeared to be one of the worst ones.....if i wasnt into baseball cards i dont know if i would of watched the whole thing...there wasnt any running from the law or big court room drama.....no fake kidnappings for fake deaths......the wagner being trimmed was already discussed a lot on tv shows like espn 30 for 30...also we dont hear any comments from the fraudsters.. we also dont hear that much about the luxurious lifestyles...no siberian tigers in the lawn etc..

It's funny, I actually agree with this 100%. Last week's episode, I believe, was about a couple who blew up a whole neighborhood by rigging a gas leak explosion for the insurance. If I wasn't head over heals for baseball cards, I would have found this episode devoid of relevance or sympathy for any "victims."

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by Jeffrompa

How pathetic !

Mastro should've kept the fake Elvis hair and built himself a nice toupee.