EBay Rant!

[Craig]

EBay has done it again. (I know some people will be POed I had a Paul
Newman up but what can I say?) I had an in person Paul Newman signed
Butch Cassidy one sheet that I obtained in person myself up on Ebay
until this morning when I received an email from Ebay telling me it
was pulled and it was a forgery that had been confirmed by THEIR
"authenticators". They went on to basically say I could have it
authenticated for a fee by one of their people and put it back on, BUT
they would only accept authentication by one of their listed
companies. So even though I have a picture from the signing in 2004,
4-5 people/witnesses who were there and saw him sign it (which would
be silly to say in a listing, but it was part of my arguement with
them) and can provide an actual date/time, etc. it can only be
authenticated by a select few who work with EBay. It is authentic and
doesn't that make one wonder about the "authenticators" out there? I
got it signed myself and can bear witness to that fact but alas it's
not good enough. So it's obvious they do not really know their stuff
and Ebay is just looking for another way to gouge sellers. Has anyone
else had this experience? There's got to be a better place to buy/
sell on the net doesn't there?

Craig

[Gummby3]

I'll add my .02¢ in your support:

That's simply stupid. What credentials does the "whistle blower" have
that he can jeopardize your auction. Do you get your listing fees
back if you decline? To me, this simply another nail in Ebay. They
are trying so hard to push the average person away from the site as a
seller and only deal with businesses. What really irks me is that you
are willing to provide proof of the signing, but they want you to pay
the authentication company, that is probably owned in some way by
Ebay, to give you an educated?? guesstamation as to whether it's real
or not. If it's like most authentication companies, you don't get a
refund either way.

As for somewhere else to sell:

I'm still trying to find out if Ebay, in any way, owns UBid. Why?
UBid bought a smaller, but well run auction site called Bidville.
Supposedly, according to the notice that pops up when you go to
www.bidville.com, the execs at UBid tried their best to sell the
auction site, but could not find anybody. Question, why buy it at all
then? That sounds SO fishy to me. It sounds to me like Ebay is
creating a giant monopoly.

1) You want to sell items? Become a registered seller. Oh, here's
the fees, rules and restrictions.
2) You want to buy items? Register so that you can bid on items. Oh,
here's the fees, rules and restrictions.
3) You want to sell your items, but need help with the financial
transaction? Well, we used to allow checks and money orders, but no
more. Don't worry though, we have an online bank to help you. Oh,
here's the fees, rules and restrictions.
4) What? You weren't happy with your purchase? Sorry, but you can
only leave positive comments about the seller that ripped you off. We
only want money going to and fro. We don't believe in complaints.

They are now the only game in town, so this means that they can charge
what they want. Change those prices at will. Restrict how you pay,
directing you to the bank they just happen to own. If you have a
complaint about a transaction, our internal "police" will handle any
problems and make them disappear. You might get some consumer
justice... don't count on it as the dealer gets Ebay the money flow.
--
Mike
Gummby3
-= Star Collector =-
www.star-collector.net
Celebrity addresses the way they should be - free.

Post by Craig
EBay has done it again. (I know some people will be POed I had a Paul
Newman up but what can I say?) I had an in person Paul Newman
signed
Butch Cassidy one sheet that I obtained in person myself up on Ebay
until this morning when I received an email from Ebay telling me it
was pulled and it was a forgery that had been confirmed by THEIR
"authenticators". They went on to basically say I could have it
authenticated for a fee by one of their people and put it back on, BUT
they would only accept authentication by one of their listed
companies. So even though I have a picture from the signing in 2004,
4-5 people/witnesses who were there and saw him sign it (which would
be silly to say in a listing, but it was part of my arguement with
them) and can provide an actual date/time, etc. it can only be
authenticated by a select few who work with EBay. It is authentic and
doesn't that make one wonder about the "authenticators" out there?
I
got it signed myself and can bear witness to that fact but alas it's
not good enough. So it's obvious they do not really know their stuff
and Ebay is just looking for another way to gouge sellers. Has anyone
else had this experience? There's got to be a better place to buy/
sell on the net doesn't there?
Craig

[Sue H]

Their "authenticators" I know about. I can't say too much as I am
bound by ethical promises. However, for my part, I will admit I have
given input on a couple things (asked opinion) and when I said I
couldn't tell or it was good, they pulled several items anyway that I
said this on.... because one or more of the other items were bad or
because someone said "I don't know if I agree, I think that's bad".
My personal opinion is that unless it's blatantly obvious or the
person have 500 "ify" items that you are pretty confident they are all
wrong (don't be too literal; by 500 I just mean a lot which can be
subjective), then leave it alone. Or just do away with the autograph
categories all together.

In addition, I have heard that the authenticators are paid for
companies (hmm.... what ccompanies may be out there.... I won't say a
damned thing here; you think and come to your own conclusions). By
Paid for, I mean you give them money to authenticate.

We've had this conversations before. Ebay doesn't have it's own
experts. What they have is people like you and me who charge a
service that isn't making much money or wants to make more... people
who continually get caught up on lies and show they don't know one sig
from another. People who think they are experts, made themselves
experts by acting like them and inserting themselves into the arena by
making a cool site, charging and just posting places and "sounding"
like an expert. People who say in person golf flags signed in person
are fakes. Or people who sit at convention tables and for a fee
authenticate everything and say that a baseball sig which someone
forged outside the venue to "test" said was real because the player
was there signing. When I am flamed at for coming across like and
"expert" because of the way I write infuriates me. Why? Because
there's a difference between me and them. I don't take people's money.
All my musings always have the caveat that it's an OPINION. And I do
it free, which irritates some here.

Let's just say I've said this a million times... you can't be paying
people for opinions. You should get an OPINION free, and you can take
or leave it (I'd take the opinion and compare it to many others to get
a sense for myself).

Post by Craig
EBay has done it again. (I know some people will be POed I had a Paul
Newman up but what can I say?) I had an in person Paul Newman signed
Butch Cassidy one sheet that I obtained in person myself up on Ebay
until this morning when I received an email from Ebay telling me it
was pulled and it was a forgery that had been confirmed by THEIR
"authenticators". They went on to basically say I could have it
authenticated for a fee by one of their people and put it back on, BUT
they would only accept authentication by one of their listed
companies. So even though I have a picture from the signing in 2004,
4-5 people/witnesses who were there and saw him sign it (which would
be silly to say in a listing, but it was part of my arguement with
them) and can provide an actual date/time, etc. it can only be
authenticated by a select few who work with EBay. It is authentic and
doesn't that make one wonder about the "authenticators" out there? I
got it signed myself and can bear witness to that fact but alas it's
not good enough. So it's obvious they do not really know their stuff
and Ebay is just looking for another way to gouge sellers. Has anyone
else had this experience? There's got to be a better place to buy/
sell on the net doesn't there?
Craig

[Sue H]

PS these authenticators should not be allowed on Ebay if they are
pushing them to get "paid" that is a conflict of interest and is
sueable if you ask me.

Post by Sue H
Their "authenticators" I know about. I can't say too much as I am
bound by ethical promises. However, for my part, I will admit I have
given input on a couple things (asked opinion) and when I said I
couldn't tell or it was good, they pulled several items anyway that I
said this on.... because one or more of the other items were bad or
because someone said "I don't know if I agree, I think that's bad".
My personal opinion is that unless it's blatantly obvious or the
person have 500 "ify" items that you are pretty confident they are all
wrong (don't be too literal; by 500 I just mean a lot which can be
subjective), then leave it alone. Or just do away with the autograph
categories all together.
In addition, I have heard that the authenticators are paid for
companies (hmm.... what ccompanies may be out there.... I won't say a
damned thing here; you think and come to your own conclusions). By
Paid for, I mean you give them money to authenticate.
We've had this conversations before. Ebay doesn't have it's own
experts. What they have is people like you and me who charge a
service that isn't making much money or wants to make more... people
who continually get caught up on lies and show they don't know one sig
from another. People who think they are experts, made themselves
experts by acting like them and inserting themselves into the arena by
making a cool site, charging and just posting places and "sounding"
like an expert. People who say in person golf flags signed in person
are fakes. Or people who sit at convention tables and for a fee
authenticate everything and say that a baseball sig which someone
forged outside the venue to "test" said was real because the player
was there signing. When I am flamed at for coming across like and
"expert" because of the way I write infuriates me. Why? Because
there's a difference between me and them. I don't take people's money.
All my musings always have the caveat that it's an OPINION. And I do
it free, which irritates some here.
Let's just say I've said this a million times... you can't be paying
people for opinions. You should get an OPINION free, and you can take
or leave it (I'd take the opinion and compare it to many others to get
a sense for myself).

Post by Craig
EBay has done it again. (I know some people will be POed I had a Paul
Newman up but what can I say?) I had an in person Paul Newman signed
Butch Cassidy one sheet that I obtained in person myself up on Ebay
until this morning when I received an email from Ebay telling me it
was pulled and it was a forgery that had been confirmed by THEIR
"authenticators". They went on to basically say I could have it
authenticated for a fee by one of their people and put it back on, BUT
they would only accept authentication by one of their listed
companies. So even though I have a picture from the signing in 2004,
4-5 people/witnesses who were there and saw him sign it (which would
be silly to say in a listing, but it was part of my arguement with
them) and can provide an actual date/time, etc. it can only be
authenticated by a select few who work with EBay. It is authentic and
doesn't that make one wonder about the "authenticators" out there? I
got it signed myself and can bear witness to that fact but alas it's
not good enough. So it's obvious they do not really know their stuff
and Ebay is just looking for another way to gouge sellers. Has anyone
else had this experience? There's got to be a better place to buy/
sell on the net doesn't there?
Craig

[Charles Cooper]

Sounds like you need to file suit against eBay. Here is Tabberone's page.
She has filed suit against them and many other companies that have abused
the VERO program on eBay.

http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/site_index.shtml

Maybe get a warrant to disclose who the 3rd party "expert" was and then sue
them.

Post by Craig
EBay has done it again. (I know some people will be POed I had a Paul
Newman up but what can I say?) I had an in person Paul Newman signed
Butch Cassidy one sheet that I obtained in person myself up on Ebay
until this morning when I received an email from Ebay telling me it
was pulled and it was a forgery that had been confirmed by THEIR
"authenticators". They went on to basically say I could have it
authenticated for a fee by one of their people and put it back on, BUT
they would only accept authentication by one of their listed
companies. So even though I have a picture from the signing in 2004,
4-5 people/witnesses who were there and saw him sign it (which would
be silly to say in a listing, but it was part of my arguement with
them) and can provide an actual date/time, etc. it can only be
authenticated by a select few who work with EBay. It is authentic and
doesn't that make one wonder about the "authenticators" out there? I
got it signed myself and can bear witness to that fact but alas it's
not good enough. So it's obvious they do not really know their stuff
and Ebay is just looking for another way to gouge sellers. Has anyone
else had this experience? There's got to be a better place to buy/
sell on the net doesn't there?
Craig