Well this is not good, makes me rethink who benefits from the sales manipulation? Disgusting behavior is the norm nowadays. Opinions? Exposing FRAUD And DECEPTION In The Retro Video Game Market - YouTube
Must be why i get new inventory alerts from them that start at $180,000.00 ...... They may have auctions for regular guys like me....... but they're far and few on there from what I've seen. I've always felt something was off. But i have nothing to back up that claim except my common sense.
And the thing is Ebay gets a ton of criticism. Most likely warranted I'll admit from the sellers that do most of the work just to be be picked apart penny by penny. But I think its a free market place at least?
Watched the entire video...Oh my gosh, how surprising......I find it hard to believe that some people would do such a thing......oh no, not Heritage (AGAIN!!!)!!!......& then to drag poor, "innocent" Pawn Stars into the fray......it just makes eBay seem like Shirley Temple......well, now I find humanity slightly more incredulous than I previously felt...
I watched the video. It doesn’t rise to the level of fraud IMO, but they make a good case that some people could lose a lot of money. Here are some of my takeaways: 1. Heritage is only selling games graded by a single certification company that it had a hand in starting. I looked at recent auction results and only saw WATA certified games, even though there is another certification company in the market. 2. All grading is subjective, but at least coin grading standards have been in development long before the advent of TPG’s. If a wrapper is really shiny can it get a PL designation? How do I know if my cartridge is AT or NT? 3. No population reports. That’s a bit sketchy. 4. When the people investing money aren’t collectors it is definitely a bubble.
Ya,, id say i agree with you. That being said if they discover or have discovered a way to influence the coin market.... one would have to assume they will. Should they be trusted? Well thats just gonna be left up to each individual to decide.
That’s no different than anything else. There’s plenty of companies out there for everything doesn’t mean they’re good. No one seemed to have a problem with the owners having non voting ownership in NGC as reported in a book why should this be any different?
How would you view it if Heritage had a stake in NGC and that was the only TPG that they allowed in their auctions? I’m not implying that it’s illegal, and perhaps Heritage’s due diligence on the other video game grader caused them to take the path that they did. They don’t strike me as being fast and loose with business risk. At first glance it just seems like the fox is too close to the henhouse, but then again it’s not a mature market like there is for coins and other collectibles.
I could find things where people could imply that relationship such as the CCG london office. Do I care not really especially when were talking about video games. I definitely understand that its a very real market, but they make more on single paintings than they probably do on games in several months. They do billions a year, why would they risk that over something thats such a small part of their revenue? There are certain areas of collectables where there just arent that many experts which I believe this to be one. That could change in the future if the market holds up but it seems like a lot is being made out of common things here
