60 Minutes Will Do Article On Philip Ryle/Cartel/Ebay

Thanks, 51Studebaker, but those are baby pictures of him under an alias not used for years; still interesting, though. Even his "framed"/"I've been framed"(?) picture on his website as "Philip Ryle" is probably somewhat out of date: http://www.philipryle.com/

My sense is that 60 Minutes is keen on this because of ebay. It will not be pretty for them. I am very curious if Ryle keeps his current listings up ( or ebay allows him to ) as the piece progresses. Somehow I think not.

Looks like one of the old arrests was in Pennsylvania.

I'm new to stamp forum, are you guys/gals referring to ebay as the cartel? Any insight as to what they're going to be laying out?

stampguy, no we are not referring to ebay. It is a bit difficult to explain from the start, but one way is to search for "the cartel" or "the British Cartel" on this forum. A button is on top of this page.
Also, one way to learn about this is to keep an eye on this post - I am sure we will be alerted when 60 minutes is going to show this.

Peter

Apologies for being naive, but I had never heard of the Cartel, but just did a quick search. ebay appears to let the criminal get away with it, sickening?? I'm still learning that there is much to learn. Rule #1 watch out for crooks/fakes/counterfeits/reproductions on ebay.

If ebay doesn't shut him down, I doubt it would make much of a dent in his operations, at least not for long. I don't follow TV ratings and am not sure where 60 Minutes comes in these days, but my guess is that at least 90% of the country won't see the segment at all, and most of those that do will have forgotten completely about it within a matter of days or weeks. ebay would be right to be concerned about any negative publicity such as this, but we'll see how far they go with it. It's easy to make a show out of a public action against a known violator, but it's an entirely different animal to put a reliable process in place to make sure it doesn't keep happening.

On another note, this segment could potentially be bad for stamp collecting as a hobby as potential collectors might be scared off, thinking there's a scam artist behind every stamp sale. Not that I would expect it to be a major impact, by any means, but it's not necessarily the kind of publicity the hobby wants. Though I'm glad they're running it, the more likely result of this segment is that all ebay sellers in the stamp category may see sales dip for awhile. On the bright side, this could actually be a buying opportunity if auctions get fewer bidders...

It's possible some members on this site have been contacted and interviewed for the segment. They would have likely agreed not to discuss it before the show aired.



I think some of the frustration is, ebay doesn't seem to want to keep it from happening.
That is why, in my opinion, they should be taken to task.

Before everyone gets too excited about this, there is no guarantee the segment will even air

He'll also be Philip Somethingelse by then.

Can we have 60 minutes pay a visit to Anthony's as well?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-3...Sw%7ECFY8CLR

I understand the enthusiasm for the 60 minutes segment, but I worry that the only real losers in this - even if 60 minutes nails the problem and holds ebay accountable - will not be the cartel or other sellers, but the stamp collecting world.

ebay used to have philatelists advising them and helping to educate/police the site. Then that stopped and allowed individuals and groups to thrive, selling whatever they wanted.

Should 60 minutes do a true story on this problem, ebay is likely to end the sale of stamps on its site as it is "too difficult" to police the site.

Not only would that severely detract from the thousands of collectors who have grown up with ebay as their primary source of new material, it would also paint a bleak image of stamp collectors and sellers as being rife for fraud and collectors being sheep awaiting the shearing.

Something to think about...

Stampman2002 gives excellent food for thought.

Altering stamps and covers is unethical but legal, and the seedy side of the hobby has been doing it for generations. The Ryles of the world buy such garbage at deep discounts, have their stamp doctors do some light surgery, and concoct a fraud pretending the material came from an old-time dealer, heiress or millionaire collector of legend. Gullible collectors buy it, and repeat mistakes of the past. Retail price guides list ridiculous high catalogue values, and blind the buyers to the true value of the material.

ebay was the evolution of the mail sale and retail store for stamp collectors. It gives the buyer so much choice and availability of material. Though I detest doctored material and consider it to have little value, I do not hold ebay responsible for facilitating the sale of altered stamps and covers. It's up to me to know what I am buying.

BUT - I very much take issue with ebay's inaction to stop the criminal shill bidding practices of Ryle, nystamps etc. It is easily detected and provable.

I am confused, is the point that knowledge about ebay is good but knowledge about shady sellers is bad?

Is it not true that hobbyists should arm themselves with the complete picture when purchasing? Complete picture = knowing about the material they are buying, knowing about seller they are buying from, knowing about the venue they are using for the transaction?
Don

This is similar to a local flea market situation. Some sellers at the flea market were selling fake brand stuff, bootleg music, etc. and the flea market owners did not try to actively police the situation. Any retail venue will attract honest and less than honest sellers. The debate is how much the venue owner should do but it still is up to the buyer.

As has been said, you do not see a lot of about it in the press or organizations because they view it bad for the hobby.