There’s been plenty of chatter about controversial hobby topics in the past week or so on different industry message boards and in the news.
For instance, in Monday's issue of
Trade Fax, it reported that due to eBay's recent changes in its selling fee structure many users are plotting to strike against the popular Internet auction giant:
Several thousand eBay sellers are threatening to boycott offering items on the site from Feb. 18-25 as a way to protest the company's new policies. At issue are higher commissions
paid by sellers and the fact sellers can no longer leave negative feedback for their buyers. There is also a 21-day hold for accessing some PayPal payments. The new fees and policies go into effect Feb. 20. eBay has lowered listing fees
upfront, but the company has increased the percentage of commission it takes on an item's final listing value. For many sellers, the end result is an increase in what they will pay to sell an item. Sellers have threatened similar boycotts in
the past when eBay has raised its listing fees. *************
Some very odd stuff has been going on with a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card and the story involves the grading companies SGC and GAI. I just left a voice mail with the
Vice President of Operations for Sportscard Guaranty,
Sean Skeffington, and will report anything I find out.
National media has been giving it some attention and SGC and vintage card collectors are concerned.
Check out this thread from the Network 54 Message Board.If anyone has any comments on these topics, feel free to share them with us.
To be honest, the
New York Post article on the Mantle card made my head hurt and the story was way too vague for me to chime in with my thoughts on what was actually going on here.
Hopefully I can talk to someone who knows the exact details.
A lot of times when National media attempts to take a crack at a memorabilia hobby story, a topic they know so little about, they screw up the facts and make it more confusing than it actually is.
I've seen HBO's "Real Sports" do this and this
Post article may be another case of some vague reporting.
UPDATE: I just talk to
Sean Skeffington and I will post what he said tomorrow on Gavel Chat. I also am going to try to get a hold of the owner of the Mantle card, as I would like to get his side of the story as well.