Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike T on November 20, 2015 at 12:50pm

Here's a million dollar idea for free since I don't have time to build it :)

Wrap the eBay API with a comments feature so people can browse eBay like they normally would, but also leave comments on individual listings that would be visible to everyone else browsing. I think that would be super helpful for autograph collectors new and old. People could leave opinions and warn others of forgeries and we could direct all collectors who are looking to buy on eBay to use the product so they benefit from the community comments as they are browsing listings.

Then sell it to eBay for a few million dollars.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on November 20, 2015 at 1:26pm

Straighten out ebay, and put GFA and their bogus counterparts out of business

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Permalink Reply by Paul on November 20, 2015 at 1:43pm

Id like to see Tpa's that just specialize in the punk movement.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Halloran on November 20, 2015 at 4:11pm

I love reading the blog posts.I would like to read more of the experiences that people have had with getting the autograph and the history.

Maybe if we could do a weekly chat room time we could all talk about a subject or something "live"? Hosted by someone? Just a suggestion.

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Permalink Reply by Paul on November 20, 2015 at 5:34pm

Thats not a bad idea Adam.
The first interview, i nominate Pete chuka. How does one own so many autographs?

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Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on November 20, 2015 at 5:59pm

It is all about power isn't it. Without a shadow of doubt in my mind more autographs are moving thru ebay than any group of dealers or auctions combined. Unfortunately a huge percentage (vast majority) of those autographs are forgeries.

I have no idea how much pull one would need or what it would take, but getting ebay to reinstate the policing of their site, (by trusted experts in their respective fields),... now that would strengthen this hobby far more than anything else. 

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on November 21, 2015 at 9:29am

Interestingly, the EMR program is still in place in Europe. It can be spotty, but I know European EMRs can still get bad items pulled.

When it was in place in the U.S., the EMRs pulled THOUSANDS of bad autographs every week. It wasn't perfect, but it kept a lid on things to a degree. Now that the program has been terminated, eBay in the U.S. is completely out of control and overrun with fakes. Blatant forgers and corrupt forensic authenticators thumb their nose at the good guys with total impunity.

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Permalink Reply by Mike T on November 21, 2015 at 9:38am

There were a few EMR's who abused their power to leverage their own ebay sales. That was the answer I got from eBay as to why they canned the program. One instance even led to a lawsuit, so its understandable why they decided to do away with it. With great power comes great responsibility...

Unfortunately there's always someone who ruins it for the rest of us.

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on November 21, 2015 at 9:48am

Well said. Whenever money is involved their can be issues and bias. Although, I think too much is wasted on trying to redefine ebay policies. An alternative needs to be established. Also, items do not necessarily need to be instantly listed. Perhaps an item approval before going live. There are many, many dealers, sellers, and hobbyists waiting for this to happen. Buyers will follow it the right stuff is there. Win, win if done right. Won't happen overnight but it will never happen till enough people stop complaining and start doing.

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Permalink Reply by Mike T on November 21, 2015 at 10:11am

Yes I agree it would be nice, but realistically it's not going to happen.  Forgeries on ebay are not limited to our little world of autographs.. every category of collectibles has forgery problems on ebay.  They would have to police every listing in the collectibles category from coins, dolls and stamps to autographs and fine art.  The EMR program was a decent attempt at getting passionate people to police their respective fields, but it didn't work.  

The autograph hobby is plagued by the ease in which forgeries can be produced inexpensively.  All you need is a printer, google images and a sharpie.  But just search ebay for "Picasso" or "Gold Coins" and you'll see that autographs are just a small part of the problem.

But even if you limit eBay's problem to just cleaning up the autograph listings.. how do you do it?  You can't trust individual dealers/authenticators who also sell autographs (they tried), and you can't make a blanket policy that all autographs sold have to have third party COAs because everyone would be up in arms.  It's something I have thought about quite a bit and I can't come up with a viable solution. 

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Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on November 21, 2015 at 10:23am

I agree Mike, but the question was about having the power to make our hobby better. I certainly don't have that power, but you have to admit this hobby could only be better.... if ebay was wiped clean of the forgeries. 

The remainder of the problems ebay has with forgeries can be dealt with in the dreams of art & coin collectors.

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Permalink Reply by Mike T on November 21, 2015 at 10:48am

Agree 100%, but it's just a dream.  If I sat down with the CEO of eBay tomorrow and he asked me how to solve the problem, I wouldn't be able to give him a good answer.  It's hard for me to blame ebay all the way when I can't offer a better solution myself.

I don't like to deal with hypotheticals, I like to deal with solutions, and if someone has a good solution, I'll be the first to throw money and resources at it.  You may not have the power yourself, as I don't, but together with everyone I hope to some day make a tangible difference.

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