They Are At It Again.... I'm Not Going To Quit Publicizing This Deception Until It Stops!

I'm sorry folks, but I'm not going to sit idle and watch this firm continue to swindle and defraud new and naive collectors. We can excuse their behavior in any number of ways, however the reality is, we will not have a hobby if we allow this deception to continue:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-...AOSwEUdafQJc

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-...AOSwe6ZafQHp

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-...AOSwiqFafQL3

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-...AOSw07VafQI9

I will throw the gauntlet out there one more time to Anthony's.....and I'm certain that they are aware of my and other's posts.... I will pay the PF certification fees for any or all of these 4 above-referenced items. For each one that comes back authentic, I will reimburse Anthony's three times their certification fee. If any one of these four certify as authentic, I will "call it a day" and I am done sounding my horn....however, if all four (or whatever items Anthony's chooses to submit) come back as some other catalog number than what Anthony's attest them to be, then Anthony's agrees to cease advertising U.S. stamps on ebay altogether. I will pay ALL the upfront PF fees, so Anthony's has no out of pocket expense whatsoever, and I ask for absolutely NO REIMBURSEMENT of my fees, regardless of the outcome. Given the years of experience that Anthony's has in the philatelic hobby (which are FAR more than mine), and the fact that they are an "upstanding" ASDA member, this challenge should be a no-brainer! I anxiously await their reply!!

Just to make things interesting....same rules-but if this one comes back from PF as a Scott #388, I will pay 10 times the certification costs!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-...AOSwoLpafQJt

I think you mean #315 and not #388 but your point is well made and taken. I think you will be safe in saving your money to work on your want list via the Gross sales later this year as I do not believe your challenge will be acknowledged, much less accepted! Whatever you do, DO NOT HOLD YOUR BREATH waiting on a reply!

"They are at it again.... I'm Not going to quit publicizing this deception until it stops!"

Reedededge,

What makes you think it will ever stop?

Jack Kelley

Or put another way: When did treating the symptom ever cure the disease?

As long as there is demand for this crap there will be a supplier. Blowing hot air, not matter how voluminous, will not change that fact.

I agree some of Anthony's listing are pretty bad but I looked at the numbers and in the last 3 months Anthony has sold 1364 US items. This is 1/4 of 1% of the US stamps sold on ebay, and not all Anthony's listing are bad! There have been pages and pages written about Anthonys and I think it can give readers the impression that these improper listings are a much larger portion of ebay sales than they really are.

Reedededge,

It sickens me as well, and you are to be commended, however I wonder if a concerted action by alarmed collectors might help.

Here's what I am thinking about (comments pease?):

Alarmed concerned collectors who read these posts about shady ebay sellers palming off VERY questionable (actually quite fraudulent, except hard to prove) might take it upon themselves to BID on said questionable items. High enough bid to win it.

Item is reviewed by the high bidder (me) BEFORE payment is sent and shown why, to seller, it is highly suspect. A firm note explaining that the seller has way too many questionable items to be merely an oversight, and will be reported--again--to the ASDA, APS, ebay, whoever, by the winning bidder and links provided to sites and threads such as this one.

I realize as a "bidder" Anthony's--or any other shady seller--can just block me or any such "bidder" but we can use ebay's lax oversight to our advantage.

New user name, presto! Maybe even designed to be a "throwaway" ebay username, as they are easy to set up.

ebay would likely not respond but at least a few shady sellers will be a bit more reticent on such listings, especially if they get detailed NEUTRAL feedback AVOIDING name-calling or insinuating deceitful intent on the part of the seller, which ebay SHOULD not reject.

Would ebay automatically delete the details of the sale as the seller might "pull" the listing, or cancel the sale? How could the "sale" consummate so as the "winner" could enter a neutral (or negative, but that implies intent to deceive) feedback which would remain, as a feeble but possibly effective countermeasure for future wary buyers who do their due diligence and DO READ the feedbacks.

Just some ideas, or are we all just blowing our breath at windmills......

--Jim Wentzell
stampguyaps177-681

Based upon history nothing will change to the positive so long as ebay does not care. ebay is the problem since without it Anthony's, Philip Ryle, NYStamps and all of the other shysters would not have nearly the amount of access and phony stamp dealer gravitas that they do. Add in the ASDA not caring what their logo is slapped on so long as the check clears and the APS doing nothing apparently and you have the status quo. The cherry on top is having no consensus from veteran collectors that should know better and yet hunt for "finds" from these folks and shift the blame for scamming onto buyers. Don't hold your breath that anytthing will change. Truth be told though some of these veterans have a vested interest because they derive income from ebay. Where ones bread is buttered will always inform ones view.

Ken,
True enough but... In my opinion, the most 'at risk' listings are those which target the intermediate collector. If one were to calculate the bad listings for the less common stamps the percentage of bad listing would rise significantly.

Reedededge,
Of course you are welcome to post what you want regarding bad listings; but in the interest of full disclosure, your coin company is a direct competitor with Anthony's. While the food on your table is at stake for you, for many folks here this is a hobby.
Don

Don I'm sure you're correct but my point was that for a Big Blue collector or a person starting a country collection ebay is a great source of material. IMO if you are buying intermediate material US #500 or coils or blue papers on ebay and you don't have the expertise to identify it from the ebay picture you are just asking for trouble. Personally I wouldn't buy a stamp on ebay over $100 that doesn't have a cert.

After you're comment I looked at US 19th Unused sold on ebay in the last 90 days. I sorted "highest first". The results are amazing. Billsbargain had 2 items, Noblespirit had 2 and I believe the other 46 were cartel. I did the same search for US Used and the results were better, Anthony had 1 group lot, there were several other legit sellers and the cartel was around 50%. This is why I stopped doing my quarterly analysis.

Jim I think you'd get ebay's attention. It's sad but they are more strict with someone buying without intention to close the deal than they are about inaccurate listings or the cartel. You'd probably get suspended or banned.

In the interest of "full disclosure", yes I do run a full-time rare coin firm. But, there are no coins that I am aware of that I compete against Anthony's with, as we handle higher end certified coins, and not raw, "trap" coins, like Anthony's. The stamps that I sell are primarily my personal duplicates, so I really don't concern myself when or if they sell; Most assuredly, my "bread is not buttered" by selling stamps. I sell my coins for a living, not stamps. I am a hard-core stamp COLLECTOR, so my interests and opinions are purely from the viewpoint of a collector. Now, if I started posting rants about Anthony's coins, I can see where your argument could be made. But the fact of the matter is, I have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in my stamp collection, and I am concerned first-and-foremost about the future of the hobby. Without a hobby, I have merely albums of worthless paper.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Switzerlan...382360013257

A $22,500 Swiss counterfeit, and not a good one, that somebody forked over $127.58 for. The buyer left feedback that the stamp was "verified" and that he was sooooo happy to have been swindled that he would be back! I am being facetious but he was indeed pleased at his good fortune at scoring this philatelic treasure. Did he not look around for other bidders and wonder why he was relatively lonely? Did he not know how to at the very least Google Swiss counterfeits to have a look see? The ebay circus is endlessly entertaining and not always in a good way.

Reedededge,
Understood, but the you named the topic "They are at it again.... i'm Not going to quit publicizing this deception until it stops!" which sounds very close to a vendetta. As Ken mentions above, there are many other egregious sellers and listings and all of these are potentially damaging the hobby. But so far you are railing against one bad seller, Anthony's.

This is a great community but having competitors come in and flame each other is a pretty slippery slope.
Don

While I would like to see ebay enforce some standards of truth, I feel the bigger problem is the buyer who thinks he can buy a $22,500 stamp for $127.58. Chances are he suspects it is counterfeit, but it fills a space and he has a tale to tell of the great bargain he found on ebay. Unfortunately, as long as these buyers exist, someone will supply them with reworked or counterfeit material.

Don, I know hobbyist boards are a little incestual, and for the time being, I am an unproven newbie. But, at the risk of being repetitious, Anthony's is NOT a competitor. They are a cancer to a hobby that I am probably as vested in (as a collector), as most people in this group. When they give the impression that rare stamps trade for 5 cents on the dollar, they harm me, my investment and the hobby as a whole. Some time in the next week, I will post some pics of some of my collection highlights, and you will see that I am no different or any less passionate than others on this board. Rob L.

I don't recall who it was that said that you can't win a war without winning a battle at a time. Yes, there are numerous problem children in our hobby, but Anthony's stand out as one of the worst IMHO. So, I'm starting there.

Yes, I started this thread, but I did not start this conversation. Bear in mind, I was not the OP who originally opened the Anthony's "can of worms".....