SUBJECT: BEWARE Steve Verkman, Keith Vari, Leland’s, Clean Sweep & Paragon auctions

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by jayshum

If true, maybe he should have contacted a lawyer instead of posting on a baseball card forum.

Disgusting precedent to set.

Poor form for an auction house to reach out IMO.
Not knowing what the collection is
Details are sketchy at best
Advance was given in good faith...even if not cashed

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Disgusting precedent to set.

Poor form for an auction house to reach out IMO.
Not knowing what the collection is
Details are sketchy at best
Advance was given in good faith...even if not cashed

Everyone, including me, is speculating with a ridiculous lack of facts.

Having said that, based on the consignor's claim of receiving a surprise bill for 16% interest, I wonder if your last comment about the advance being given in good faith passes the smell test.

Again, all speculation with the facts so murky.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by Mark17

Everyone, including me, is speculating with a ridiculous lack of facts.

Having said that, based on the consignor's claim of receiving a surprise bill for 16% interest, I wonder if your last comment about the advance being given in good faith passes the smell test.

Again, all speculation with the facts so murky.

Good point on the 16% vig. Clean Sweep and Steve Verkman have a pretty good rep in the business. But business, is just that

[raulus]

Took me a couple of days to realize this thread was moved.

I guess I should thank Leon for keeping my very 1st post on the main page, in spite of it being a public shaming of an AH that also happens to be an advertiser on the forum. It's been a few years, but thanks Leon. (In case it's not clear, I promise this isn't sarcasm.)

Of course, in that situation, I provided more details and pics at the request of the other posters here, and there were plenty of people who still jumped to support the AH, in spite of the fact that the AH auctioned off a fistful of clear and painfully obvious fakes. So much so that some of the backs of the items were clearly identified as Kodak photo paper. Luckily for the AH, when they listed photos of the items in the auction, they happened to leave off the backs that were on Kodak photo paper. I suspect this means that James and I are mostly in agreement about the strong affinity for AHs among a subset of the posters here, although since almost all of my collection is in slabs, this is probably an uncomfortable position for James.

And while it might sound like I take a dim view of AHs in general, being in the professional services industry, I'm actually pretty supportive of the role that AHs play and the amount of work that it must take, particularly on high volume, relatively low-value per item, disorganized consignments.

On the other hand, I can empathize with the OP in wanting to share his experience, and by so doing hope that the collecting community can learn from it. The fact that it was his first post is probably as much a function of finally having a big enough motive to get into the game.

In terms of whether this was a bad deal for the consignor, I'll agree that it's really hard to tell without knowing more about the details. But it's certainly possible that it could be a fair deal. Or it could be highway robbery. Clear as mud, sadly.

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by raulus

Took me a couple of days to realize this thread was moved.

I guess I should thank Leon for keeping my very 1st post on the main page, in spite of it being a public shaming of an AH that also happens to be an advertiser on the forum. It's been a few years, but thanks Leon. (In case it's not clear, I promise this isn't sarcasm.)

Of course, in that situation, I provided more details and pics at the request of the other posters here, and there were plenty of people who still jumped to support the AH, in spite of the fact that the AH auctioned off a fistful of clear and painfully obvious fakes. So much so that some of the backs of the items were clearly identified as Kodak photo paper. Luckily for the AH, when they listed photos of the items in the auction, they happened to leave off the backs that were on Kodak photo paper. I suspect this means that James and I are mostly in agreement about the strong affinity for AHs among a subset of the posters here, although since almost all of my collection is in slabs, this is probably an uncomfortable position for James.

And while it might sound like I take a dim view of AHs in general, being in the professional services industry, I'm actually pretty supportive of the role that AHs play and the amount of work that it must take, particularly on high volume, relatively low-value per item, disorganized consignments.

On the other hand, I can empathize with the OP in wanting to share his experience, and by so doing hope that the collecting community can learn from it. The fact that it was his first post is probably as much a function of finally having a big enough motive to get into the game.

In terms of whether this was a bad deal for the consignor, I'll agree that it's really hard to tell without knowing more about the details. But it's certainly possible that it could be a fair deal. Or it could be highway robbery. Clear as mud, sadly.

I could not possibly agree more with what you say here, absolutely spot-on. And while you do have a collection of great cards in slabs, the way you have it so tastefully displayed is simply awesome!

[raulus]

Originally Posted by jingram058

I could not possibly agree more with what you say here, absolutely spot-on. And while you do have a collection of great cards in slabs, the way you have it so tastefully displayed is simply awesome!

Well...I never thought I'd see the day when you'd say something nice about slabbed cards! Sadly, it's not on the main forum page, so many will miss seeing it...

But maybe this will give Leon an excuse to move this thread back to the main page!



And thanks for the praise. In spite of my unhealthy penchant for graded cards, I promise that I also have a great appreciation for those who collect raw, and I have definitely enjoyed seeing pictures of your collection that you've posted on the forum.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by raulus

Took me a couple of days to realize this thread was moved.

Just hit the "New Posts" link at the top of the page! That's the first thing I do when I look at this site.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

Just hit the "New Posts" link at the top of the page! That's the first thing I do when I look at this site.

I always wondered what would happen if I hit that button.

Of course, clicking it now, it does appear that there are a lot of posts around here, most of which aren't particularly exciting to me. Almost seems like it could be as functional as a key word search these days on eBay.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by raulus

I always wondered what would happen if I hit that button.

Of course, clicking it now, it does appear that there are a lot of posts around here, most of which aren't particularly exciting to me. Almost seems like it could be as functional as a key word search these days on eBay.

It's fully functional and useful indeed. A member then just needs to quickly scan down the page to pick out the three or four threads in which he might have some interest. That's what I've been doing for twenty years on various boards.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

Just hit the "New Posts" link at the top of the page! That's the first thing I do when I look at this site.

I only use New Posts, or on Tapatalk I read "Timeline."

Originally Posted by Casey2296

-
As a working class collector that sacrifices a lot to stay in the game (by choice), that has not been my experience. Some of the nicest most helpful members have been from the high net worth group you deride.

Are there jerks here, indeed, but far fewer than in the general population.

The world is full of bastards, the number increasing rapidly the further one gets from Missoula, MT.

This is my first post on this thread. Quite a read!

There is just a complete lack of professionalism displayed. Crazy to think the AH walked away with uncatalogued truckloads. That screams liability red flags to me. Their insurer needs to read this thread.

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Disgusting precedent to set.

Poor form for an auction house to reach out IMO.
Not knowing what the collection is
Details are sketchy at best
Advance was given in good faith...even if not cashed

+1

Also, as stated above, no chance any legitimate auction house would make that commitment not having any idea of the volume or value of the collection sight unseen.