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An auctioneer that wants to see our profession take a different turn

I am tired of reading about crooked auctioneers and how they prey on the sports hobby. I understand collector's frustrations. Auctioneers do need to take responsibility for what they sell period end of story. I appreciate all of the folks who take their time out to alert the unsuspecting buyers of these forgeries. My concern is I continue to see posts and discussions about local auction houses that mean well. I am sorry, but if you have a room full of autographs and you did not wonder about authenticity you are a fool and not a professional auctioneer and surely should stay out of the sports arena. Do these same people sell fake coins, pottery, rolex, etc. Usually not, but there is some weird sense of leave it up to the buyer and that is alright when it comes to autographs. All this being said there are many that take their jobs very seriously in the auction house world and they do a really good job.

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Comment by DB on May 16, 2012 at 3:26pm: James - post some as we could use something refreshing.... It would appear to me from what I have seen is that the auctioneers within AuctionZip/Proxi Bid seem to live by the caveat emptor. To me many of them could care less about what they are selling so long as it sells.

Comment by Bill Panagopulos on May 17, 2012 at 3:12pm: It's important that you read the terms and conditions of sale. Most reputable auctions guarantee their autograph material for life (as we do), others proclaim that since an "authenticator" has reviewed the material, they are free of liability and returns are not accepted, others have a finite return period, and others simply sell "as is". It really is the buyer's responsibility to be aware of all terms before bidding. And yes, there is a LOT of fraud in the auction world - bogus results, fake sell-through rates, consignor-auction house conspiracies, etc. etc.

Comment by James Wymer on May 17, 2012 at 10:37pm: Excellent points Bill. The only problem I see is where to draw the line on the guarantee. If I have it authenticated by PSA and the auto looks good to me also, then I do not care what ACE thinks. DB I think there are some on Auctionzip I like Fusco's. I only sell autos occasionally and truthfully they do not bring what they should do to the flood of fakes. To the normal consumer they feel like why should I buy his Ty Cobb signature for a $1000 when theirs is only $200. Of course, they find out later after it is too late.

Comment by sling on May 18, 2012 at 6:32am: Yeah, and don't forget those auction houses that you consign too, item doesn't sell, they never return items to you, you prove to them that is case, then the smile in your face, don't look at your evidence, and you never get your items back...

Comment by DB on May 18, 2012 at 6:41am: @James - it's helpful to take a stand on those auctioneers who are less than "honorable" (knowingly or unknowingly) IYO... It won't make you popular - that's for sure.

I have a thread around here on auction policies based on several stops along the way. Some good, some not so good.

It would probably be helpful if "good" auctioneers had EBAY's banned list present. Making that banned list, regardless of rhetoric, is typically due to authenticity concerns. Does that mean they don't get some right - absolutely not, but it does say "how lucky do you feel". Then again, some on that list would never get any accurate as they are forgeries or non-existent.

We also have threads here on Park West's art as well which was very informative and I'm sure you have found several other threads not necessarily related to autographs. A smorgs of information!

Comment by Charles Irion on May 23, 2012 at 10:31pm: I gotta say, I agree with you James. If you are going to host an auction you should verify the authenticity of the items.

http://www.autographhell.com/