Crazy uncles

[sflayank]

Dave i have 5 lots coming from crazy uncles..I hope...they're in the mail and should arrive friday and saturday...just incase I'll have to videotape opening them..making sure everything is there
That being ssid....for the life of me...how could anyone
With your money, knowledge, and collecting enthusiasm
Possibly give a million dollars worth of historical autographs documents etc...president vice president
Declaration of independence signers to an unknown auction....I wouldn't even put that stuff in any sports auction....that's for Christie's sotheby's etc...probably who you bought them from...I'm surprised you didnt give them a Picasso....that being said.noone should get screwed over like that...but it's almost like you said ..I dont know you but heres a million dollars do what u want

[CJDave]

Originally Posted by sflayank

Dave i have 5 lots coming from crazy uncles..I hope...they're in the mail and should arrive friday and saturday...just incase I'll have to videotape opening them..making sure everything is there
That being ssid....for the life of me...how could anyone
With your money, knowledge, and collecting enthusiasm
Possibly give a million dollars worth of historical autographs documents etc...president vice president
Declaration of independence signers to an unknown auction....I wouldn't even put that stuff in any sports auction....that's for Christie's sotheby's etc...probably who you bought them from...I'm surprised you didnt give them a Picasso....that being said.noone should get screwed over like that...but it's almost like you said ..I dont know you but heres a million dollars do what u want

Hi Larry,

By no means am I saying the following to boast, that is not my style. Please note, I simultaneously gave a considerable consignment to REA (including a complete decent grade set of 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks plus other pricey items. At the same time, I gave another considerable consignment to LOTG (including a complete decent grade set of 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks plus other pricey items)….yes I had two complete sets. I also wanted to go with a third company, and when I reached out on the board with recommendations Aaron messaged me that he was a new company but could give me the one on one and dedicated personnel to help me move some excess collectibles. Now what I gave is by no means my entire collection and I have a lot of choice pieces left. As I mentioned before on this thread, I was young and hungry once and someone gave me a chance who had no reason to give me a chance. There were much much much more seasoned professionals than me, and I imagine more talented and educated than me, but I was given the chance, I ran with it, I proved myself and I kicked ass. Now today, maybe I am not as young, maybe not as hungry.....but I will never forget the opportunity I was given to shine.....and shine I did. So as many of you will call it stupid to give a startup AH this kind of a chance, I did it because I could relate. The stupid part was giving it to this specific startup...….who just ruined it for all other startups in the future as I wouldn't trust another startup again.

I hope this makes sense and people can understand where I was coming from and my intent...….again as stupid as it may sound.

[teza11]

Dave, I'm really sorry about your situation and I hope that things work out for you, but it sounds really naive (at least to me) that you gave this guy such a big first chance...and after he blew that...an even bigger second chance to blow it again. I'm all for supporting the new guy, but to trust someone that you don't know really (really...) well with a $1M collection including irreplaceable U.S. historical items is outright irresponsible in my opinion. Regardless, that does not let him off the hook for all his mis-doings and I hope that the legal system supports you 110%.

I just had my first visit to the Crazy Uncle auctions site. Just for kicks I googled his business address. I know he's just starting out, but this would have been another red flag for me on where my priceless collection was headed. Second pic is from Apt's dot com. Hopefully the place is not this empty today.

Jeff

[bobbyw8469]

I totally get giving a guy a chance to prove himself. TOTALLY. But to give a small startup who has NEVER proved himself close to a million dollars worth of valuables is unheard of. Couldn't you have given him $5,000-$10,000 just to see how he did with that first, before giving him a seven figure consignment?

[CJDave]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

I totally get giving a guy a chance to prove himself. TOTALLY. But to give a small startup who has NEVER proved himself close to a million dollars worth of valuables is unheard of. Couldn't you have given him $5,000-$10,000 just to see how he did with that first, before giving him a seven figure consignment?

I did give him a smaller consignment in the first auction. The auction didn't have too much traffic and he said he would focus on marketing better for the second auction. It was the second auction that I have him more and more per his begging and promise he would spotlight my stuff and "Market the Sh*t out of it".

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by teza11

.

Just for kicks I googled his business address. I know he's just starting out, but this would have been another red flag for me on where my priceless collection was headed. Second pic is from Apt's dot com. Hopefully the place is not this empty today.

Jeff

The office at least has a window air conditioner unit installed, though it has been cleverly disguised in the interior shot by a pulled down window blind.

Brian

[sflayank]

Thsts all well and good
REA is the place for baseball stuff
But historical documents and coins are not for a sports auction.....if you gave him playball sets , something in that range for a test run...ok you gave it a shot
Lesson learned
Hopefully you'll get all your stuff and whatever money is due

[Snapolit1]

Your desire to give a break to an upstart and pay forward a good break you got years ago is extraordinary and I tip my hat to you. You are wise enough to know how the entire trajectory of one's life can be changed by someone reaching down and trying to pull someone up. And when someone does it for no other reason than that its one of the very rewarding things to do in one's life.

Hoping you are made whole from this. I don't know anything about you but the high quality of your character is crystal clear to anyone who has read this thread.


QUOTE=CJDave;1999594]Hi Larry,

By no means am I saying the following to boast, that is not my style. Please note, I simultaneously gave a considerable consignment to REA (including a complete decent grade set of 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks plus other pricey items. At the same time, I gave another considerable consignment to LOTG (including a complete decent grade set of 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks plus other pricey items)….yes I had two complete sets. I also wanted to go with a third company, and when I reached out on the board with recommendations Aaron messaged me that he was a new company but could give me the one on one and dedicated personnel to help me move some excess collectibles. Now what I gave is by no means my entire collection and I have a lot of choice pieces left. As I mentioned before on this thread, I was young and hungry once and someone gave me a chance who had no reason to give me a chance. There were much much much more seasoned professionals than me, and I imagine more talented and educated than me, but I was given the chance, I ran with it, I proved myself and I kicked ass. Now today, maybe I am not as young, maybe not as hungry.....but I will never forget the opportunity I was given to shine.....and shine I did. So as many of you will call it stupid to give a startup AH this kind of a chance, I did it because I could relate. The stupid part was giving it to this specific startup...….who just ruined it for all other startups in the future as I wouldn't trust another startup again.

I hope this makes sense and people can understand where I was coming from and my intent...….again as stupid as it may sound.[/QUOTE]

[CJDave]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Your desire to give a break to an upstart and pay forward a good break you got years ago is extraordinary and I tip my hat to you. You are wise enough to know how the entire trajectory of one's life can be changed by someone reaching down and trying to pull someone up. And when someone does it for no other reason than that its one of the very rewarding things to do in one's life.

Hoping you are made whole from this. I don't know anything about you but the high quality of your character is crystal clear to anyone who has read this thread.


QUOTE=CJDave;1999594]Hi Larry,

By no means am I saying the following to boast, that is not my style. Please note, I simultaneously gave a considerable consignment to REA (including a complete decent grade set of 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks plus other pricey items. At the same time, I gave another considerable consignment to LOTG (including a complete decent grade set of 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks plus other pricey items)….yes I had two complete sets. I also wanted to go with a third company, and when I reached out on the board with recommendations Aaron messaged me that he was a new company but could give me the one on one and dedicated personnel to help me move some excess collectibles. Now what I gave is by no means my entire collection and I have a lot of choice pieces left. As I mentioned before on this thread, I was young and hungry once and someone gave me a chance who had no reason to give me a chance. There were much much much more seasoned professionals than me, and I imagine more talented and educated than me, but I was given the chance, I ran with it, I proved myself and I kicked ass. Now today, maybe I am not as young, maybe not as hungry.....but I will never forget the opportunity I was given to shine.....and shine I did. So as many of you will call it stupid to give a startup AH this kind of a chance, I did it because I could relate. The stupid part was giving it to this specific startup...….who just ruined it for all other startups in the future as I wouldn't trust another startup again.

I hope this makes sense and people can understand where I was coming from and my intent...….again as stupid as it may sound.

[/QUOTE]


Thanks Steve. Again, I'm not perfect but I believe in doing the right thing and doing right by people !!!

[LOUCARDFAN]

Dave,

So sorry to read about the horrid details of the mess this guy caused. You are a much better person than me because I would have tracked him down and lets just say, worked out things a much different way.

[Bicem]

I can understand why Dave went with Crazy Uncle on such a large consignment. They offered him reserves on seemingly every single lot including lower priced commons, something no other AH is going to do. It was obviously important to Dave to protect his investment at the values he perceived his collection to be worth, so really Crazy Uncle was his ONLY choice. I don't think it's unreasonable for Dave to have expected Crazy Uncle to not blatantly lie to him and fail to actually implement the reserves. If all the above details of what occurred are true, 100% of the blame lies with Crazy Uncle and not Dave in my opinion.

[CJDave]

Originally Posted by Bicem

I can understand why Dave went with Crazy Uncle on such a large consignment. They offered him reserves on seemingly every single lot including lower priced commons, something no other AH is going to do. It was obviously important to Dave to protect his investment at the values he perceived his collection to be worth, so really Crazy Uncle was his ONLY choice. I don't think it's unreasonable for Dave to have expected Crazy Uncle to not blatantly lie to him and fail to actually implement the reserves. If all the above details of what occurred are true, 100% of the blame lies with Crazy Uncle and not Dave in my opinion.

Hi Jeff. Thank you. You hit the nail on the head. No offense to the bigger AHs because I have consigned with them and they have been absolutely professional.....but sometimes the little guys can give you more of that 1 on 1 attention. Kinda like going to the doctor, you can go to a large established medical building or you can go to that "one man shop" where they know you and your needs because they have fewer clients. Just my thought !!!

[CJDave]

Originally Posted by LOUCARDFAN

Dave,

So sorry to read about the horrid details of the mess this guy caused. You are a much better person than me because I would have tracked him down and lets just say, worked out things a much different way.

A few years ago I would have done that exactly.....have too much to lose now (not to say the thought didn't cross my mind though !!!)

[buymycards]

He was on Net54 yesterday at 5:40 PM. I can guess which thread he was reading. So, he appears to be following along every couple of days.

[sportscomicfantasy]

First, no offense to those of you criticizing Dave, but how many of you have collections likely as good as Dave does. No one gets a collection like that unless they inherit it, win the lottery, or have done well in their lives to be able to acquire such a collection. It seems that Dave did the later, working his way through life to save such a great collection. So I think Dave is allowed to make a mistake here and there. I wish I was in a position to have made such a mistake. I am really sorry that this happened to him and know the rest of you do too, and sure those of you criticizing him wouldn't have done such a thing, but how many of you criticizing him have anywhere near the collection he does to even think about that, not happening???

Dave, I have been thinking about this for the last few days and thinking back to when I was thinking about this auction the first time I got an email about it. And I feel that I have to THANK YOU! I think I saw a lot of your expensive items on the auction site and thought I should stay on more affordable auctions sites.

I also understand your wanting to help out the new guy, heard your report of how someone gave you a chance and you ran with it hard, made something of yourself, and never looked back it seems. I know you said he ruined it for other future startups, but I stress you to re-think that.

Guessing you're a bit older than me, not too much but my point is that things were different years ago. I remember my parents opening up businesses with no money when I was a kid and they made something of themselves. They went bankrupt one time but paid all the little guys and let the big companies go into the bankruptcy. I too was given chances, though I didn't do as well as my parents did, I was happy to be given a chance which I did do good. But like most things in my life, bad timing, it was just before 9-11. You can't do that anymore, you need credit, you need money like never before and you still need a little luck.


A bit long-winded but my point is that you should give those chances to the next guy but along the lines of others who suggested a smaller first submission, which I know you said you did, but then just a little more each time until they really prove consistently that they are doing really good by you.