Exciting News

Hi Gang,

Just wanted to share some news that I hope you'll all enjoy. I am a fairly
large, long-time autograph dealer (mainly sports) and we have been selling
on eBay for quite some time. As you all know, the amount of forgeries on
eBay is obsene and we get emails all the time from collectors who have been
burned by buying bad autographs on eBay.

We (myself and some other reputable sellers) have been lobbying eBay for a
long, long time to put some things in place to address this problem, but up
till now, our efforts have been mostly futile.

Well, due a string of circumstances (which I can't go into at this point)
times they are a changin' and eBay has done a complete 180. In the last two
days, eBay has suspended two of the worst offenders and has canceled the
listings of several others. This is the tip of the iceberg... there is much
more to come.

Our strategy all along has been to work with eBay on this; not shout at
them. As a result, we have developed some great relationships with some
influential people within eBay; therefore, I want to be careful what I
disclose here. Also, due to a variety of factors (I'm sure you all
understand what I mean), those of us involved in this prefer to keep our own
names, etc. private.

However, I'd like to keep the "autograph community" updated on the progress
we're making. I've asked eBay for permission to post the usernames of the
sellers who have been suspended or reprimanded by eBay. I've also asked for
permission to reveal some of the other changes that are in the works and/or
under consideration.

So far, I haven't received that permission so I'll honor that. If/When I get
it, I'll share more. In the meantime, if you guys see egregious examples of
sports autograph forgeries or forgers on eBay, please feel free to post them
and we will make sure they are forwarded on for review. We hope to
eventually convince eBay to expand some of the upcoming changes into the
entertainment autograph section as well, but for now, our focus is on the
sports category.

Thanks, Guys, and Happy Collecting!

yeah, but what is your company...where can everyone see your stuff?
where does it come from etc...you can't throw blame out there without
letting others look at your stuff too.
mike

"barefoot" wrote in message
oups.com...
yeah, but what is your company...where can everyone see your stuff?
where does it come from etc...you can't throw blame out there without
letting others look at your stuff too.
mike


Mike,

Considering that you're a former dealer who was suspended from eBay, I can
understand your concern. However, the dealers we're talking about are the
guys that, every week, sell 20 Michael Jordans, 30 Joe Montanas, 25 Sammy
Sosas, etc, etc. eBay has made a commitment to rid themselves of the most
egregious fogeries/forgers. We think it's a great first step.

Regarding our listings, sorry... we've put years of blood, sweat and tears
into this campaign at absolutely no compensation to us. We're not going to
jeopardize our businesses and livlihoods any more than we already have.
After all, we ARE dealing with criminals here. I hope you can respect that.

Suffice it to say that we were all thoroughly vetted by eBay before they'd
even speak to us, and rightfully so.

wow, so you are a willing to rip other people who don't know any better
(it's my contention that people that are dealers are stupid and most of
them buy from people they believe to be honest) but are not willing to
allow your stuff the same fortitude...you could be selling bad stuff
(ebay doesn't know the difference either, which is why it's gotten so
bad) but you aren't willing to be outed as well...so you are a coward
and are only using this ebay process to keep your (maybe seedy)
business interests intact while trying to rid yourselves of any
competition. that's pretty cowardly. you should put your stuff out
there and allow people to peruse your auctions...the only way YOU know
that you stuff is good is if you were standing right there as it was
signed.
oh yeah, we can go through this again, i am not suspended and my
accounts are completely upstanding on ebay. so try and come up with
something else...because while you MAY be doing some good, no one knows
for sure if your business is on the up and up. it's just like the
losers that lie and rip me who won't allow their names and faces to be
known..no one believes anything without proof.
mike

Barefool,

First of all... If this "Auto Cop" is actually doing what he says he
is doing with Ebay, you should be happy. You sell some amount of
sports items, NASCAR... and I would think that that would increase
your profits in the long run. That is, if you're selling the real
deal. If you aren't, you should be worried. I am not accusing you of
anything here, so don't read further into it.
Second, your account was suspended! It was
suspended for shill bidding that you, yourself, admitted to doing
multiple times on this site. Maybe you got everyhting straightened out
with Ebay and that is great if you did... But, it was suspended at one
point and you cannot argue that.
Lastly, good job autocop. It would be nice to start getting paid for
the hard sweat that it takes to go out and fight with security and get
autographs. Seeing people selling Sosa and Montana on 8x10's for 9.99
is pathetic.


barefoot wrote:
wow, so you are a willing to rip other people who don't know any better
(it's my contention that people that are dealers are stupid and most of
them buy from people they believe to be honest) but are not willing to
allow your stuff the same fortitude...you could be selling bad stuff
(ebay doesn't know the difference either, which is why it's gotten so
bad) but you aren't willing to be outed as well...so you are a coward
and are only using this ebay process to keep your (maybe seedy)
business interests intact while trying to rid yourselves of any
competition. that's pretty cowardly. you should put your stuff out
there and allow people to peruse your auctions...the only way YOU know
that you stuff is good is if you were standing right there as it was
signed.
oh yeah, we can go through this again, i am not suspended and my
accounts are completely upstanding on ebay. so try and come up with
something else...because while you MAY be doing some good, no one knows
for sure if your business is on the up and up. it's just like the
losers that lie and rip me who won't allow their names and faces to be
known..no one believes anything without proof.
mike

"barefoot" wrote in message
oups.com...
wow, so you are a willing to rip other people who don't know any better
(it's my contention that people that are dealers are stupid and most of
them buy from people they believe to be honest) but are not willing to
allow your stuff the same fortitude...you could be selling bad stuff
(ebay doesn't know the difference either, which is why it's gotten so
bad) but you aren't willing to be outed as well...so you are a coward
and are only using this ebay process to keep your (maybe seedy)
business interests intact while trying to rid yourselves of any
competition. that's pretty cowardly. you should put your stuff out
there and allow people to peruse your auctions...the only way YOU know
that you stuff is good is if you were standing right there as it was
signed.
oh yeah, we can go through this again, i am not suspended and my
accounts are completely upstanding on ebay. so try and come up with
something else...because while you MAY be doing some good, no one knows
for sure if your business is on the up and up. it's just like the
losers that lie and rip me who won't allow their names and faces to be
known..no one believes anything without proof.
mike


Mike,

O.K., so I'm a coward. Fine... your reputation precedes you so I'm really
not concerned what you think regardless of your silly, rambling screed.

If you have a problem with eBay weeding out autograph forgers then I think
it's you that has the problem. It's not me that will be making the decisions
about who is suspended or reprimanded so your attempt to make this about me
makes no sense. Unfortunately, at this point, I'm not at liberty to go into
how those decisions will be made.

Would I personally benefit from the expulsion of autograph forgers? Yes, of
course. I have a wife and three kids to support and I'm tired of having to
try to compete with forgers. And to be completely honest, that's part of my
agenda. The rest of my agenda includes the fact that I receive many, many
emails from people who have made investments in autographs only to find out
later that they were ripped off. These people range from aggravated to
distraught. I feel deeply for these people... I hate seeing anyone get
ripped off.

So Mike, you can bomb-throw all you want. I'm not going to waste my precious
time replying to any more of your nonsense. I simply came here to report
that, after much hard work, eBay has finally been convinced to tackle the
forgery problem and they want as much community input as possible regarding
who the bad sellers are. We're not talking about the hobby seller who
occassionally, unwittingly sells a bad autograph. We're talking about
ridding eBay of Vinnie who sits in the back room with a Sharpie forging
hundreds of autographs every day. Again, if you can't support that, then you
have the problem. Period. This isn't a witch hunt... it's a garbage
collection.

For those of you who think it's a good thing that eBay is finally addressing
this, we'd love to hear your comments and suggestions. If you don't think
it's a good thing, we'd love to hear from you, too. All I ask is that you
be civil.

Thanks... I appreciate that!


wrote in message
ups.com...
Barefool,

First of all... If this "Auto Cop" is actually doing what he says he
is doing with Ebay, you should be happy. You sell some amount of
sports items, NASCAR... and I would think that that would increase
your profits in the long run. That is, if you're selling the real
deal. If you aren't, you should be worried. I am not accusing you of
anything here, so don't read further into it.
Second, your account was suspended! It was
suspended for shill bidding that you, yourself, admitted to doing
multiple times on this site. Maybe you got everyhting straightened out
with Ebay and that is great if you did... But, it was suspended at one
point and you cannot argue that.
Lastly, good job autocop. It would be nice to start getting paid for
the hard sweat that it takes to go out and fight with security and get
autographs. Seeing people selling Sosa and Montana on 8x10's for 9.99
is pathetic.


barefoot wrote:
wow, so you are a willing to rip other people who don't know any better
(it's my contention that people that are dealers are stupid and most of
them buy from people they believe to be honest) but are not willing to
allow your stuff the same fortitude...you could be selling bad stuff
(ebay doesn't know the difference either, which is why it's gotten so
bad) but you aren't willing to be outed as well...so you are a coward
and are only using this ebay process to keep your (maybe seedy)
business interests intact while trying to rid yourselves of any
competition. that's pretty cowardly. you should put your stuff out
there and allow people to peruse your auctions...the only way YOU know
that you stuff is good is if you were standing right there as it was
signed.
oh yeah, we can go through this again, i am not suspended and my
accounts are completely upstanding on ebay. so try and come up with
something else...because while you MAY be doing some good, no one knows
for sure if your business is on the up and up. it's just like the
losers that lie and rip me who won't allow their names and faces to be
known..no one believes anything without proof.
mike

oh no...i'm totally for your point of view...i think something's gotten
askew in the argument...that's not what i'm doing at all...what i'm
saying is that you yourself should allow the ridicule that you yourself
has done...without allowing ANYONE to view your own auctions, you are
basically hiding the same way everyone else does...
i honestly have no reputation for anything bad...but in the same way, i
get the ridiculer because i do the exact same thing you are doing...a
few years ago, i was willing to include EVERY person on ebay that i
knew and pretty much be a tattle tale..but i got the threats and it's
where all the ill will towards me went...no one ever went on the record
here to say that my account with ebay was re instated quite some time
ago. but instead i got the rips and the lies...
so be the crusader you want to be...but do you get your autographs
yourself, or are you selling someone else's stuff...because if you are,
chances are, you are selling fakes yourself...and you don't allow any
one who's gotten the same people you sell, to judge your own stuff . as
a result, you try to keep yourself from the same ridicule that you
yourself is placing on others...so you call out bad people, that's
excellent...where can you base your opinions? do you get stuff
yourself? have you actually seen people sign...
i know you are right...there are plenty of people doing exactly what
you say...but who's to say that one of those people aren't selling to
you...
all's i'm asking is that you place your head on the chopping block
too...keep yourself off your high horse and bring yourself in to a
posistion to be counted as an expert...don't hide...put yourself right
out there...it's what separates autographworld from the countless other
people who do bad business...what they do is stick their neck outthere
and point out the bad people...they let you know that they said
it...they don't hide AND want the accolades....and that's all i'm
asking you to do...
mike

Mike,

The measures we're advocating would make all eBay sellers equally
accountable, including us. Were we to offer forgeries, our account would be
at risk like everyone else's. People who are selling bad autographs would
not be pushing for the kinds of measures that we've been pushing for for
years. Your argument that we're probably just another "seedy" seller makes
no sense. Sellers of fake merchandise don't push for policies that eliminate
bad merchandise.

If you can't support or contribute to these efforts simply because we won't
put ourselves out there, then that's certainly your prerogative. Regardless
of how many ways you ask the questions, though, you're not going to get the
answers you want. Due to many factors, including past experience, that's the
choice we've made.


"barefoot" wrote in message
oups.com...
oh no...i'm totally for your point of view...i think something's gotten
askew in the argument...that's not what i'm doing at all...what i'm
saying is that you yourself should allow the ridicule that you yourself
has done...without allowing ANYONE to view your own auctions, you are
basically hiding the same way everyone else does...
i honestly have no reputation for anything bad...but in the same way, i
get the ridiculer because i do the exact same thing you are doing...a
few years ago, i was willing to include EVERY person on ebay that i
knew and pretty much be a tattle tale..but i got the threats and it's
where all the ill will towards me went...no one ever went on the record
here to say that my account with ebay was re instated quite some time
ago. but instead i got the rips and the lies...
so be the crusader you want to be...but do you get your autographs
yourself, or are you selling someone else's stuff...because if you are,
chances are, you are selling fakes yourself...and you don't allow any
one who's gotten the same people you sell, to judge your own stuff . as
a result, you try to keep yourself from the same ridicule that you
yourself is placing on others...so you call out bad people, that's
excellent...where can you base your opinions? do you get stuff
yourself? have you actually seen people sign...
i know you are right...there are plenty of people doing exactly what
you say...but who's to say that one of those people aren't selling to
you...
all's i'm asking is that you place your head on the chopping block
too...keep yourself off your high horse and bring yourself in to a
posistion to be counted as an expert...don't hide...put yourself right
out there...it's what separates autographworld from the countless other
people who do bad business...what they do is stick their neck outthere
and point out the bad people...they let you know that they said
it...they don't hide AND want the accolades....and that's all i'm
asking you to do...
mike

Although on surface it seems a good thing (I am all for stomping out
forgers); we are treading on difficult territory. One must be CERTAIN
they are fakes and have proof. That's why Ebay is reluctant to deal
with this area in the first place. They are opening themselves up, as
are you...

Just because someone sells 30 of something doesn't mean it's fake.
Probably is but you have to PROVE it.


On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 18:59:25 GMT, "Auto Cop"
wrote:

Hi Gang,

Just wanted to share some news that I hope you'll all enjoy. I am a fairly
large, long-time autograph dealer (mainly sports) and we have been selling
on eBay for quite some time. As you all know, the amount of forgeries on
eBay is obsene and we get emails all the time from collectors who have been
burned by buying bad autographs on eBay.

We (myself and some other reputable sellers) have been lobbying eBay for a
long, long time to put some things in place to address this problem, but up
till now, our efforts have been mostly futile.

Well, due a string of circumstances (which I can't go into at this point)
times they are a changin' and eBay has done a complete 180. In the last two
days, eBay has suspended two of the worst offenders and has canceled the
listings of several others. This is the tip of the iceberg... there is much
more to come.

Our strategy all along has been to work with eBay on this; not shout at
them. As a result, we have developed some great relationships with some
influential people within eBay; therefore, I want to be careful what I
disclose here. Also, due to a variety of factors (I'm sure you all
understand what I mean), those of us involved in this prefer to keep our own
names, etc. private.

However, I'd like to keep the "autograph community" updated on the progress
we're making. I've asked eBay for permission to post the usernames of the
sellers who have been suspended or reprimanded by eBay. I've also asked for
permission to reveal some of the other changes that are in the works and/or
under consideration.

So far, I haven't received that permission so I'll honor that. If/When I get
it, I'll share more. In the meantime, if you guys see egregious examples of
sports autograph forgeries or forgers on eBay, please feel free to post them
and we will make sure they are forwarded on for review. We hope to
eventually convince eBay to expand some of the upcoming changes into the
entertainment autograph section as well, but for now, our focus is on the
sports category.

Thanks, Guys, and Happy Collecting!