by briggs86 » August 15th, 2013, 4:30 pm
To Fellow Collectors/Glovers,
I have been reading this and waiting to reply for the last couple of days. First and foremost, I am a collector and have been since my dad bought me my first MM9 Triple Crown Winner at the age of 9. And most of you know me as briggs86 on here, but others may know me as Detroitbaseballclub on ebay. My name is Jared, I’m 26, and I have been collecting for about 10+ years. I as most, have always tried to buy low to perhaps one day sell high (which wasn’t what I was thinking in this case). As most of you have noticed I have been selling off a ton of my higher end mitts over the last few months, to compensate for recently resigning from a field I was not happy in whatsoever to pursue my passion in opening/running an antique store locally in Michigan, selling majority industrial, repurposed goods.
With that being said, I had contacted the seller of the mitts to see if she would sell these as a buy it now for $200. I believe I was one of 3 of the first to have seen the mitts. I had noticed the listing on the drive home from my baseball game with my father (who I was going to be buying the webber for his bday this friday), as I have saved searches on my ebay application and I first noticed the full web mitt, didn’t even know the other mitt was a pre 1900 fingerless until I had gotten home. When I had got home, less than 5 minutes later and logged into my account, and clicked refresh she had switched it to a buy it now for $200; so I clicked on it and paid. And then realized that the other mitt was indeed a fingerless mitt; knowing immediately deep down inside, this was going to happen and there was going to be an uproar within the community. I had immediately called a fellow collector/friend and asked what I should do. He said just let it play out and it’ll all be fine. In retrospect, wish I never would have asked and wish I would never clicked to buy. Now you know, I only use one account and don’t have multiple accounts on ebay as a lot of sellers do to avoid people seeing what they have bought for what price. I consider myself a collector over a dealer, as this has never been about money for me, but rather the passion and love for the business, regardless of what I am selling. I wasn’t trying to screw this seller over, or my fellow collectors, and obviously it looks/appears to be what I did, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. Had I really known that this was indeed a fingerless when I had made my offer, I would have shelled out something I could have afforded, say $2500. I have always came to this forum with a level head, looking for advice and asking questions and learning from fellow glovers, who have always been top notch with any advice. I might sell mitts/memorabilia, but that does not mean that I or my father are not collectors and enthusiasts in the hobby. I unfortunately have had to sell some mitts recently that I have loved/owned for over 10 years due to circumstance. When realizing the second mitt was a four to five figure mitt, I didn’t even know what to do. I now know… don’t ever ask to switch an auction to a buy it now at any price. I by no means want to taint my name in this hobby and have appreciated all of your comments/concerns throughout the years and especially when I had mentioned resigning and following my passion here on the forum.
I as a seller, along with other sellers (also forum members), have received several offers from forum collectors/members throughout the years who I will not name, about ending auctions early; even the other day on my Walter Johnson G40 and my D&M Rose label catchers mitt. And yes that is beside the point in this instance, but I want you ALL to know that this was not malicious attempt to steal an item from a seller or to go ahead and flip it for 5 figures. Bc I didn’t even know it was indeed a fingerless mitt at first and after realizing that it was, at that point I am not sure what I should or could have done to make this situation any better, other than writing this post 3 days ago and saying it was indeed me and I feel awful about the whole thing. This whole event transpired in a matter of 12 minutes and I wish I could take every second back. I am going to be taking a breather from the hobby for a while as I don’t want anyone at all thinking I conduct any sort of shady business, I buy and sell from the same account, I do not shill bids and I actually just enjoy the hobby as indeed that a hobby. I don’t get rich off buying/selling memorabilia and never have; if I double down as most of you agree, you’re having a good day. And when I break even, I don’t get mad, bc I probably brought the mitt back to life and put it in the right hands where it will be displayed proudly for years to come. As previously stated, this is a hobby for me, meaning it’s the hunt for the item that makes this so much fun. Whether I pay a $1 or $100 or $1000 for an item, it’s the thrill of finding it that keeps me going and motivated. I do hope indeed the seller does get taken care of with this deal, and I am sure she will given the outstanding and honest forum members.