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Autograph Dealers Who Price for the Inexperienced Victim

The other day I was reading an article how some collectible dealers price their items so Absurdly high, that they obviously are waiting for the new or inexperienced collector or gift buyer to come along. The company History Direct out of Las Vegas (of course, where else could you get away with this) seems to be the King of this practice on eBay. Everytime I see some ridiculously priced autograph on eBay I don't even have to look and see WHO the seller is anymore, it is always History Direct. Take a look at a 5x7" Bert Lahr (8x10" consistently sell for $200-300, so a 5x7 probably about $100-150). But, History Direct?
....$2500! ......And ALL their autographs are priced like this. DO these guys have no conscience? Take a look .
http://cgi.ebay.com/BERT-LAHR-PHOTOGRAPH-SIGNED-/300257313426?pt=LH...

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 4, 2010 at 12:21am

I don't have a problem with dealers who price their inventory high...even extremely high. I just care that the item is genuine. Everyone knows that you should check prices before you buy anything you don't know much about, especially pricey items.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Miller on September 11, 2010 at 9:03pm

Come on Steve, we're not talking about just pricing high. Pricing "high" is one thing, this is just insanity:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RAY-BOLGER-INSCRIBED-PHOTOGRAPH-SIGNED-/3700851...

As someone else mentioned here these guys are clearly going after the "Collector ignornace market". Pricing high is one thing but intentionally seeking out "victims" and blatantly screwing them is just plain unethical. And it always seems like the most unethical characters are so often coming out of Las Vegas

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 29, 2010 at 9:26pm

I agree, much of their material is priced beyond belief. But customers know to check prices. Authenticity is another thing.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Duncan on September 29, 2010 at 9:46pm

Getting SNOOKERED because someone paid to much money seems to be "YOU" problem (you meaning the person who buys it). No different than buying a Hummer (its still just a vehicle).

Paying TOP DOLLAR for a bogus piece of garbage, is a crime. That is "ALL" of our problem. That is what we must fight first.