Send lawyers, guns and money

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by pwilk17

James Beckett (I think that is his name) and PSA's Joe Orlando (and employees) as part of a publicly traded company are not involved in the owning, buying and selling of sports cards as it is a HUGE conflict of interest. I have read statements from both individuals to that effect. I think the shenanigans going on between Forman and Mastro are brutal with both parties involved in questionable behavior.

Beckett's has more conflicts than you can shake a stick at. They grade cards (with competing companies, BGS, BVGS and BCCG) using differing grading scales. They sell, for profit, price guides, both for raw and graded cards. AND... They auction off cards on Ebay, for a percentage of the take (both cards they have graded and others.)

If you're looking for people as pure as the driven snow, good luck!

[Jim VB]

Took 3 minutes of searching but...

Orlando collects, although he claims his collection is "small."


http://www.sportscardforum.com/artic...t-joe-orlando/


(In fairness here, he does sound like he collects memorabilia more than cards.)

[bbeck]

In my opinion, the owner of a company investing in that company's cards is a major conflict of interest. We may never know if any perks were received unless somehow it becomes public knowledge. David Hall, the founder of PSA, was forced to sell his entire card collection when Collectors Universe went public because of a perceived conflict of interest. I believe most would wonder if an owner is given preferential treatment. I do not know how the cards were obtained, through purchase, submission or trade, but why put yourself in that position with that type of scrutiny. It is not smart business sense.