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Ebay Representatives Audrey Zwibelman & Gordon Cheng Meet With Dealers/Sellers At 2018 National Sports Collectors Convention

Below is a link to Rich Mueller's "Sports Collectors Daily" from August 5th, 2018.

Rich, by the way, does a great job of posting hobby-related news and I highly recommend subscribing (doesn't cost a penny) to his daily column.

I want to thank Rich for posting the below.

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/ebay-reps-meeting-collectors-...

Quoting Ebay representative Audrey Zwibelman "“Authentication at eBay in general,  and not just this category, is near and dear to our hearts,” she said. “It’s a huge priority for us.” 

Is that why, Audrey, you and Ebay, in my opinion, have allowed and enabled the "Florida" forgeries and other obvious garbage to flood Ebay over the last twenty years, which in turn makes it difficult for dealers/collectors to sell their authentic items!!!

As a matter of fact, from my observations over the last few years, Ebay no longer enforces their own "Banned COA List."

Then you go on to say that you want collectors/dealers on Ebay to take advantage of the "Report A Listing" option.

And according to Audrey, "Ebay has a security team which reviews (and in my opinion ignores) those reports on a daily basis."

Is she (Audrey Zwibelman) serious!!!

Since the EMR Team was terminated years ago, I must have "Reported" hundreds upon hundreds of auctions (forgeries) and they simply get ignored.

And to top it off, I would have at least a half-dozen of my collector friends "Report" the same auctions and not one has ever been removed!!!

Not one!!!

So what she (Audrey Zwibelman) says is bogus, in my opinion.

Topic 2:

I'm not sure which (Audrey Zwibelman or Gordon Cheng) genius said this, but they commented on giving "tips for sellers."

They said "One of those that seems basic but often results in missed opportunities for sellers is making sure you’re ahead of the curve when it comes to selling items of specific players and hot teams.  The resulting interest on eBay often comes from beyond the realm of avid collectors. It’s true of any collectibles market.  The most important things are stay on top of pop culture and by that I mean current trends and events,” Cheng suggested.  “If a player is really hot, like Shohei Ohtani this year or Aaron Judge last year, just make sure you stock up on their items and have plenty of them to sell."

Talk about genius.  Geez.

If we all knew next year's hot player(s) or item,  we would all be rich buying them low and selling high.

The irony being, Ebay wants all us to be "ahead of the curve" on "loading up on next year's hot items," while Ebay "remains behind the curve when it comes to "Authentication at Ebay in general."

I'll be polite when I write "Ebay's facade is transparent."

Views: 1826

Comment by wascher on August 12, 2018 at 6:19am

eBay reporting system is a joke.  I actually called (numerous times about one seller) - and showed them he was shilling his own items.  And buying feedback as well.  They actually agreed with me, and counted out 17 other accounts (information I didn't have) on this seller (they didn't give me the names - I gave them about 5 account names and they just counted out more for me on the phone).  With this information - the person in customer service planned on elevating the complaint up to the highest level to take this person off of eBay. 

As you know Chris, he's still there.  Every time someone dies he pumps out new forgeries from that person.  And he still shills his own accounts regularly (every item).  I too have had others (including yourself Chris) report this guy.  Nothing happens.  eBay is a scam company who makes money off of forgeries with KNOWLEDGE of those forgeries.  They are in my opinion, fully involved in criminal forgery selling. 

Comment by CJCollector on August 12, 2018 at 6:31am

Well written, Wascher!!!!

Ebay is well aware that they are profiting from the sales of forgeries, and that is why, in my opinion, the EMR Team was removed.  Ebay was simply losing too much by having forgeries removed from their site.

They are two-faced liars when they spew "Authentication at eBay in general,  and not just this category, is near and dear to our hearts,” she said. “It’s a huge priority for us.” 

Comment by CJCollector on August 12, 2018 at 6:46am

Steve Zarelli is right!!!

The forgeries listed and sold on Ebay are decimating the autograph hobby!!!

But I wouldn't expect Ebay to care even though they claim "that authentication is near and dear to their hearts."

In my opinion, that's an outright lie!!! 

Comment by terrier8HOF on August 12, 2018 at 7:22am

I believe ebay is selective with regards to who they boot, and what items they pull.  Based on Wascher's experience, it would appear that the big time sellers are immune, as they represent a large amount of profit for Ebay.  but if the little guy gets reported, perhaps there is a better chance of that item being pulled.

Comment by John Spillane on August 12, 2018 at 7:51am

Wascher, For a while I was pointing out Mantle Forgeries to the sellers. Some couldn't and wouldn't believe it. Some told me to go to hell. Some reported me and eBay told me to behave or they'd suspend my account. What the hell did I do?  They're selling forgeries. When I told them they were selling forgeries, they said they'd look into it. Nothing! Still up and running.That's when I stopped. What's the use? 

Comment by Richard S. Simon on August 12, 2018 at 7:59am

John, there is no use. The only thing ebay will listen to is if a government agency puts a stop to it.

Years ago, when the Marino family was flooding ebay with forgeries, I contacted a particular attorney at the NYC Dept of Consumer Affairs. He had been the driving force behind stopping the hyping of autographs on Home Shopping or one of those shows. The company was fined. Johnny Bench, who hyped his autograph value on the air, was fined. 

That attorney then set up an ebay sting. At my direction, the Dept bought a couple of forgeries. The items were then submitted to the NYC Police Dept forensic lab (there are honest forensics). They reported that those items were forgeries. As a result of that a number of sellers on ebay were removed.

The unfortunate thing now is that this attorney is no longer with the Dept of Consumer Affairs.

Comment by terrier8HOF on August 12, 2018 at 8:00am

I think all of these criminals are taking the legal route, putting the burden of proof on the people questioning their crap, to PROVE that they are forgeries.  Its just an opinion, right?  Just like authenticity is just an opinion (unless you get the auto in person).  I do not subscribe to this, as I believe you can authenticate a signature with a high degree of accuracy, but i can't see anything else that would keep this boat full of scumbag crooks afloat for all these years, and in fact only getting worse.  As Steve Z said, forgers used to hide in the shadows, now they are feeling empowered and ebay only encourages it.

Comment by Brian on August 13, 2018 at 12:41pm

Heres an Idea. Ebay should only let autgraphs be posted that have only James Spencer, PSDNA or Beckett back their product or you cant sell it on EBAY. Have those companies back their stamp on it that they charge. They may not always be right but it will force them to do a better job if they become liable and we can weed a lot of the forgeries out of here for good! Theses three companies can hire the top talent expertise in the business and profit more because people will be forced to do this in order to sell their graphs.

Comment by Anthony Bautista on August 13, 2018 at 12:49pm

Didnt they try that already ? 

Comment by Richard S. Simon on August 13, 2018 at 12:56pm

Brian,

I don't want to give my money to TPA's. They are making enough money already without getting money from honest sellers who do not use their services.

Ebay has to put a police force in place. Period.

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