by Yanks23 » September 12th, 2013, 10:11 am
As a new member of the forum, I wanted to chime in. First, as a new collector, I enjoy visiting the site each day, particularly the Glove of the Month section to see what cool new purchases people made and what they paid for their new finds. So as an "outsider", I move that this and subsequent conversations regarding Jared (or others) be moved to another section. It has affected my view of the community as a whole (not just Jared's actions, but the reactions to all of it), and is making my visits to this section of the forum less enjoyable. Perhaps others feel the same way? Of course, I am contributing to the issue by chiming in here, as well as my tongue-in-cheek comment that I posted yesterday. And it has been like a "train wreck", I can't not read this stuff (sort of entertaining, despite it being a tad contentious).
In terms of this and the previous purchase that Jared made, I would like to say that I am all for free enterprise. If an owner of goods chooses to sell them for a given price, and it is a great deal for the buyer...kudos to the buyer. I know that is not the popular view on this board, but I do not believe it is the responsibility of Jared (or anyone else) to educate seller's on the worth of what they are selling. If they have taken the step to sell something on eBay or otherwise, they are pricing it in a way that they are comfortable parting with it. In fact, the last go-round, one of you wrote that if you saw that fingerless tagged at a flea market for $100 (or whatever price you mentioned), you'd actually haggle to get a better price. So, I think it is evident that the problem is not with Jared. Yes, by contacting sellers and getting them to end auctions early, he is undermining the integrity of the auction process. But not HIS integrity. So let's be fair, since that is what many of you are attacking. Just because doing that is "frowned upon" by those in this forum, doesn't mean that what he is doing is unscrupulous. Stealing signs in baseball is frowned upon, but it is only made possible if the one side is able to do it. If buyers are permitted to make offers during an ongoing auction and sellers are permitted to end those auctions to make the sale, the issue is with eBay and its policies or lack thereof. Or lack of enforcement.
Now, I am not seeking to come to the defense of Jared, nor am I looking to ruffle feathers among this tight-nit community. But I don't believe Jared owed anyone on this board an explanation in the first place. Of course, where my tongue-in-cheek comment came into play yesterday was the lame explanation that he offered up. To tell this forum that you didn't even notice the fingerless glove was a bit far-fetched. And even if that was the truth (hard to believe, but I don't know you to attack your character), the issue at hand shouldn't be with you, IMO.
I did find it curious that you coincidentally pulled all of your auctions at the same time you made this second purchase. Not wanting to deal with "drama" is a bit unprofessional. You are seeking to be a businessman, and part of your business is selling on eBay. Don't let what is going on in your hobby affect the business aspect of your life. You are only hurting yourself and potential business with those knee-jerk reactions.
Following the first purchase, you pulled all of your glove auctions and stated that you "needed a break from the hobby", only to re-list some (not all) of the gloves a few days later. So, it is perhaps your actions to all of this that might have forum members believing that you feel you are doing something wrong. Your latest post indicates frustration (rightfully so), but also a lot of defensiveness to the point that I actually wonder whether or not you feel like you are doing something wrong. If you don't have any problem with how you are going about things when contacting sellers to end auctions early for a BIN, then stick to your guns. By reacting the way you do is giving this forum the fire power to keep coming back at you. And while some don't agree with how you do this, if you actually love this hobby and the friends you have made as a part of it, stay positive with those who support you and ignore those who clearly aren't going to simply agree to disagree. I am sure you have some other supporters like RBD.
Oh, by the way, RBD...just because someone is new to the forum and voicing their thoughts, doesn't mean they haven't been an active reader of the forum for a while.
Just my 2.5 cents. And while I know it isn't the popular opinion of this group, I think as a collecting community, we need to take a look at the bigger issue. For years, people criticized Steinbrenner for the huge payroll the Yankees had (have). Does it hurt the balance of the game when mostly larger market teams are the only ones making the playoffs? Yes. Is it wrong? No. Why? Because there is no salary cap -- and Steinbrenner was only operating within the rules of what he was allowed to make his situation better. Seems to me that Jared is doing the same.