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New York Daily News Coverage Updates Ongoing FBI Sports Memorabilia Fraud Investigation

August 5, 2010 by Jason DeBord · Leave a Comment 

New York Daily News sports writer Michael O’Keefe has been publishing an ongoing series of articles about an FBI investigation into the sports memorabilia industry (see Mastro Auctions Closes In Midst Of FBI Investigation Into Shill Bidding & Fraud Allegations).  Two updates have been published this week by the Daily News. Read more

Update on New York State Assembly Bill A01730/S4313B: Seeks More Transparency For Auction Houses

March 14, 2010 by Jason DeBord · Leave a Comment 

This article serves as an update to a feature published one year ago (see Latest Version of New York State Assembly Bill A01730: Seeks Prohibition of Auction House “Sham” Bids Without Disclosure).  Read more

Latest Version of New York State Assembly Bill A01730: Seeks Prohibition of Auction House “Sham” Bids Without Disclosure

March 16, 2009 by Jason DeBord · Leave a Comment 

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An article published in 2007 (see Auction House Buying Considerations, Part II: Chandelier Bid (“Sham Bidding”) Legislation) discussed proposed legislation related to “sham” or “chandelier” bids, described by a New York legislator as “chicanery perpetrated by auction houses,” with auction house Sotheby’s opposed to the legislation. Read more

Anthony Shkutnick’s *stoneark* eBay Account NARU (Not A Registered User) Suspended Status

January 14, 2009 by Jason DeBord · Leave a Comment 

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Today, Anthony Shkutnick’s *stoneark* eBay account (AKA stonark, AKA Corner Collectibles, AKA Cornner Collectibles) was changed to a suspended or “NARU” status (Not A Registered User – or – No Longer A Registered User).  This dealer has been the focus of an ongoing investigation into the provenance of items offered for sale to the public that were “guaranteed authentic” wardrobe and other personal items attributed to various classic Hollywood stars and other celebrities. Read more

Charge of “FRAUD” Over Letter of Authenticity From eBay’s *stoneark*

January 6, 2009 by Jason DeBord · Leave a Comment 

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Today, professional wrestler Lanny Poffo has declared that a Letter of Authenticity bearing his (misspelled) name and signature, included as proof of authenticity in a recent *stoneark* auction, is fraudulent.

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eBay’s *stoneark*: “Buyer/Bidder Network” Analysis – Part 2

January 3, 2009 by Jason DeBord · 1 Comment 

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An article published earlier this week (see eBay’s *stoneark*: “Buyer/Bidder Network” Analysis, Part 1) included analysis of a select set of eBay accounts and their bidding activities with eBay seller *stoneark* (AKA stonark, AKA Corner Collectibles, AKA Cornner Collectibles).  Anthony Shkutnick, partnered with eBay, offers for public sale “guaranteed authentic” wardrobe attributed to various classic Hollywood stars.

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eBay’s *stoneark*: “Buyer/Bidder Network” Analysis – Part 1

December 31, 2008 by Jason DeBord · Leave a Comment 

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30 days ago, I began performing an analysis of eBay seller *stoneark* (AKA stonark, AKA Corner Collectibles, AKA Cornner Collectibles) and bid participation patterns on his listings of “guaranteed authentic” wardrobe attributed to various classic Hollywood stars.  As a result, I identified 8 accounts that share not only some remarkable coincidences, but nearly each one has transacted with all of the rest, in addition to buying from *stoneark*.

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eBay Announces More “Progress”, Less Transparency

November 16, 2008 by Jason DeBord · Leave a Comment 

eBay has published an “Important Security Announcement”, which equates to more “progress” and less transparency.  The latest announced change will result in the privatization of bidders identities not only during bidding, but following the close of the auction. Read more

Auction House Buying Considerations, Part II: Chandelier Bid (“Sham Bidding”) Legislation

July 16, 2007 by Jason DeBord · Leave a Comment 

Rick Spector of Stairway to the Stars forwarded a link to an interesting article, given the discussion initiated in Part I of this series.

This is an interesting development in how it relates to certain auction house policies (see Odyssey Auctions Terms and Conditions in prior article). Read more

Auction House Buying Considerations, Part I: Overview

July 10, 2007 by Jason DeBord · Leave a Comment 

I have had very limited experiences in buying direct from auction houses, but there are terms and conditions of sale, unique to each company/event, that can differ from other buying experiences. I would highly recommend that any collector, before participating in such an auction, carefully review the terms and conditions of the sale, typically outlined in the catalog. Even with the same company, these are prone to change catalog to catalog, sale to sale. Read more

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