Rogue REA employee on eBay?

[Robextend]

Looks like he is an auction director. This news is disheartening, but I guess nothing is shocking these days.

[barrysloate]

Could somebody put this in layman's terms as I am not following it. Thank you.

[Jim VB]

nm

[Griffins]

Wonder if this will make it into Michael O'Keefe's column?

[Basilone]

nevermind..

[Neal]

Originally Posted by Basilone

nevermind..

smart move

[Robert_Lifson]

I have just been made aware of the situation involving Dean Faragi, a highly regarded REA employee, that is being discussed here. I am not happy with the situation, and it is an internal matter for REA to deal with. I do appreciate that the matter has been brought to my attention but it appears that exactly what has transpired has been mischaracterized. Dean did not do anything whatsoever relating to shill bidding. What he did do, and this is not a practice condoned or tolerated at REA, is represent to a PSA registry set owner that the two A&G flag cards he was offering privately (that were actually up for auction on eBay and closing that night) were his (when in fact they were not, they were just on eBay) and soliciting an offer which he intended (and actually did) use to bid on the cards, with the intention of selling them to the PSA registry collector if his bids were successful. This is not a practice condoned or tolerated by REA. It is also the first and only time Dean Faragi has done this. It is easy to contact PSA Registry set owners via the PSA website. When he saw these cards closing, he contacted the PSA Registry set owner. It is REA’s policy to not solicit PSA Registry set owners at all via the PSA website. What Dean did was stupid, but it was not shill bidding. The fact that he represented to the PSA set owner (contacted via the PSA website) that he owned the cards combined with the fact that he bid on the cards on eBay (armed with the offer he solicited) is being misinterpreted. To be clear: He did bid on the cards. He did not own them. Anyone who has ever dealt with Dean knows that he is a great asset to REA and to the hobby. We run a tight ship at REA. This is not in keeping with what is allowed at REA. But it is a far cry from inaccurate suggestions that Dean was in any way shill bidding. His stupidity was in representing himself as the owner of cards that he did not in fact own, and soliciting an offer for these cards. Dean is well aware of the mistakes he has made in this situation, has apologized profusely, and assured me that nothing like this will ever occur again. His apology is accepted.

Sincerely,

Robert Lifson

President

Robert Edward Auctions LLC

www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com

[iggyman]

Originally Posted by Jim VB

Pretty outrageous behavior for a small payback.

Makes you wonder what he would do for a "bigger" payback??? Danit, this hobby is one long soap opera.

Lovely Day...

[barrysloate]

It would seem to me, and Rob can either agree or disagree, that since Dean is an important part of REA auctions, he really shouldn't be buying or selling at all on ebay. He is working for the auction house and getting a salary. He should not be buying or selling baseball memorabilia at all on his own while he is employed there. Now I could be wrong, but this seems to me to be the best path to take.

And I know Dean personally and like him.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Why can't Dean buy and sell under his own name? I don't see any conflict there.

[barrysloate]

Working for a company that auctions baseball cards, and selling baseball cards under one's own name, may or may not be a conflict. I am not sure and would have to give it more thought.

But REA is a powerful name brand and prides itself on having no conflicts of interest whatsoever. It's part of their business model. Wouldn't it be better to err on the safe side and not sell baseball cards while you are an employee of REA? Again, this is just my gut reaction.

[Rich Klein]

That's a tougher call; especially for REA than you realize. Unless REA develops a way for their consignors to move then $25-100 items they own, then the people who give REA may not have the same home for those items then they do for the expensive items. And if the person is friendly with a certain person at REA then they might be able to help them sell the items.

Perhaps REA needs a drop off point for their cheaper items. And didn't we once have this type of discussion with the same suggestion a while back. We need to have more places like John and Judy Burk's auction that can handle the $25-50 on up items to go with the expensive items.

Regards
Rich

[egbeachley]

I guess I should comment since I was the winner of one of the cards. But I'm not 100% sure what happened, so I will defer judgement.

That being said, I'm completely satisfied with the price and would like the card. But interestingly enough, had David not pulled back his bid I don't think I would have been the winner.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Robextend

Looks like he is an auction director. This news is disheartening, but I guess nothing is shocking these days.

I would like to apply for the new job opening. I promise not to shill my own auctions.


LOL!!!

[Kotton King]

Questions removed.....

[ChiefBenderForever]

I hope he wasn't practicing on the side to keep his skills sharp.