The Watchdogs

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Mathewson

Y aknow, I'd do the same thing, myself, in a heartbeat. I've had sellers (who were stupid enough to commit fraud but not wily enough to use the Private Auction) threaten to report me to eBay for warning their bidders about the crap they were pulling. I simply don't care. I had one really stupid gal, who was notorius for selling trimmed cards in PRO holders even go so far as to threaten to sue me. I told her to bring it on if she wanted, but I'd stand by my ethics in warning bidders about the garbage she was trying to push off as authentic and un-altered. And I was successful in a few cases, too. it's like trying to cite someone for speeding wwhen they're rushing a heart atack victim to the hospital. You really shouldn't be throwing the book at anyone who is in the good samaratin mode. eBay just gets pissy when it ends up cutting back their profits. They apparently LOVE making money off of fraudulent crap sold on their site. We all complained about Braodway Rick's self-shill bidding...it was so obvious and blatent, it wasn't even funny. And, eBay told us all to go away. They don't want to mess with their precious "Power Smellers" and "Square Meal Deal Traders" that they have out there. Quite honestly, when those "trademarks" appear on an auction/seller's credential, I hide my checkbook. Those are the guys usually running the Private Auctions and selling altered/restored materials.