I really would like to express my unedited thoughts on Bryan Kennert with this matter…I really don’t want to be barred or kicked off the forum here; so I’ll play nice…
Although it would be pretty cool to have Bryan Kennert as my cell mate…Oh we’d have a lot of fun in the yard…
How about all the fake 1986 Fleers on ebay. So So many. I would guess million$ have sold every year.
That pic of the fake packs looked pretty damn good! Was he printing wrappers as well??? Those all looked mint. The Penny packs looked odd as if they were just printed as well. But article says resealed. But also Glue. I would guess glue if they were not wax paper.
It’s says he has been selling fakes for the last 30 years. It seems like the grading companies should be more involved if it is that easy to get away with.
“When interviewed, Kennert admitted to making around $100,000 a year selling fake cards and packs, according to Totten.”
Would love for someone to go after the facebook sellers who have hundreds of different fakes and will insert the letters "rp" somewhere in the listing, as if it absolves them of counterfeiting
@vols1 said:
It’s says he has been selling fakes for the last 30 years. It seems like the grading companies should be more involved if it is that easy to get away with.
“When interviewed, Kennert admitted to making around $100,000 a year selling fake cards and packs, according to Totten.”
How does eBay stop the fake pack guy? It’s much easier to stop fake cards and even fake graded cards with the guarantee but packs would be difficult.. I’m mean bbce can’t review every pack sold.. maybe a buyer beware message on every raw pack sold with a long return window if it fails psa?
Yes - it’s amazing at any given time there are ‘86 fleer packs raw for sale with many bids, all end up selling for between 500 and 1200. (Depending on who they say the sticker is).
Who keeps bidding on these? Are they valid at all?
@nendee said:
Yes - it’s amazing at any given time there are ‘86 fleer packs raw for sale with many bids, all end up selling for between 500 and 1200. (Depending on who they say the sticker is).
Who keeps bidding on these? Are they valid at all?
There is a never-ending line of buyers for these packs. At times over the last decade or so I have tracked the sales of sellers who had bogus 86 fleer basketball packs listed and what I found always leaves me astonished. One very notable seller on eBay that has been selling on eBay for at least 10+ years (names change but locations do not) had sold nearly 100k worth of 1986 fleer packs in a 3-month period. He also sold nearly 20k in 1979-80 hockey packs. If you do the math he most likely is bringing in a half of a million dollars a year selling bogus packs.
The scary thing isn't even that the line of people waiting to buy these never ends, it's the fact that many of these ignorant buyers are honest people being scammed who no doubt will put these packs back on the market not realizing they are resealed to even more unsuspecting buyers.
The only way to buy raw is through Frisch, BBCE, or some of the well-known trusted people in the community.
For the sake of the hobby it's good to know the feds/police are actually looking into (and prosecuting) people doing this, however, 30 years is way too long to go before getting caught.
@ArtVandelay said:
There is a never-ending line of buyers for these packs. At times over the last decade or so I have tracked the sales of sellers who had bogus 86 fleer basketball packs listed and what I found always leaves me astonished. One very notable seller on eBay that has been selling on eBay for at least 10+ years (names change but locations do not) had sold nearly 100k worth of 1986 fleer packs in a 3-month period. He also sold nearly 20k in 1979-80 hockey packs. If you do the math he most likely is bringing in a half of a million dollars a year selling bogus packs.
Hey Art, thank you for doing the work and tracking the criminal activity. Can you pls share some of the product of your work? Like ebay names and perhaps the indicative activity / sales? I’m sure some of us here would not only appreciate the heads up but also maybe go the extra mile in raising awareness to a greater segment of the collecting population.
John
Conundrum - Loving my unopened baseball card collection....but really like ripping too
@ArtVandelay said:
There is a never-ending line of buyers for these packs. At times over the last decade or so I have tracked the sales of sellers who had bogus 86 fleer basketball packs listed and what I found always leaves me astonished. One very notable seller on eBay that has been selling on eBay for at least 10+ years (names change but locations do not) had sold nearly 100k worth of 1986 fleer packs in a 3-month period. He also sold nearly 20k in 1979-80 hockey packs. If you do the math he most likely is bringing in a half of a million dollars a year selling bogus packs.
Where are they getting all of the wrappers?
Good question. I'm not sure exactly but it might be as simple as making them. If someone can make reprints of cards that look near identical to cards I do not see any reason why they could not make reprints of pack wrappers too. Given how long this scam has been going on and the sheer amount of fake packs sold on a yearly basis the logical conclusion is that the wrappers are fake too. It would be much easier to reprint the wrappers than it would be to track down used ones and buy them.
@NJ80sBBC said:
Hey Art, thank you for doing the work and tracking the criminal activity. Can you pls share some of the product of your work? Like ebay names and perhaps the indicative activity / sales? I’m sure some of us here would not only appreciate the heads up but also maybe go the extra mile in raising awareness to a greater segment of the collecting population.
John
The easiest way to see the activity is to just search for 1986 fleer basketball packs and then click on the sold ebay listings. That is where you see just how much activity there is with these packs and nearly every single pack sold is listed as "It is being sold as-is, tampered, altered, searched, repacked. NO RETURNS" to cover the sellers fraud. Many pop-up selling their packs and then disappear only to create another account to do the same thing. It's very effective as they tend to make 20k+ each time. Once you find the seller simply search his sold listings and you can see a breakdown of what they have sold. It almost always is 20K+ which seems to be the sweet spot for these scammers.
eBay names do not matter too much as many of these sellers pop up and are gone within 3 months. If you pay close enough attention you will see that there are probably 5 or so individuals who do this and while they change their location on their eBay accounts it is generally just a city nearby their previous location.
With regards to awareness I am not sure anything can be done. This scam has been going on for 10+ years and is just as strong if not stronger than it was 10 years ago. No matter how much some of us warn the community it seems like it falls upon deaf ear to most.
Comments
I really would like to express my unedited thoughts on Bryan Kennert with this matter…I really don’t want to be barred or kicked off the forum here; so I’ll play nice…
Although it would be pretty cool to have Bryan Kennert as my cell mate…Oh we’d have a lot of fun in the yard…
How about all the fake 1986 Fleers on ebay. So So many. I would guess million$ have sold every year.
That pic of the fake packs looked pretty damn good! Was he printing wrappers as well??? Those all looked mint. The Penny packs looked odd as if they were just printed as well. But article says resealed. But also Glue. I would guess glue if they were not wax paper.
Did he sell on ebay? What was his seller name if so?
PC Walter Payton - Bear Down!
whenever money is involved, scammers will follow. gad they put this guy away
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
It’s says he has been selling fakes for the last 30 years. It seems like the grading companies should be more involved if it is that easy to get away with.
“When interviewed, Kennert admitted to making around $100,000 a year selling fake cards and packs, according to Totten.”
https://kennerstartinglineup.blogspot.com/
Would love for someone to go after the facebook sellers who have hundreds of different fakes and will insert the letters "rp" somewhere in the listing, as if it absolves them of counterfeiting
"Make". Sigh.
How does eBay stop the fake pack guy? It’s much easier to stop fake cards and even fake graded cards with the guarantee but packs would be difficult.. I’m mean bbce can’t review every pack sold.. maybe a buyer beware message on every raw pack sold with a long return window if it fails psa?
The wheels of justice move slowly and don't always give us what we want, but they appear to be working.
Yes - it’s amazing at any given time there are ‘86 fleer packs raw for sale with many bids, all end up selling for between 500 and 1200. (Depending on who they say the sticker is).
Who keeps bidding on these? Are they valid at all?
My collecting blog: http://ctcard.wordpress.com
I know that my racks are all good...
So the buyer spent $43K on packs from a flea market stand thinking they were a great deal?
Sometimes if it is too good to be true......
There is a never-ending line of buyers for these packs. At times over the last decade or so I have tracked the sales of sellers who had bogus 86 fleer basketball packs listed and what I found always leaves me astonished. One very notable seller on eBay that has been selling on eBay for at least 10+ years (names change but locations do not) had sold nearly 100k worth of 1986 fleer packs in a 3-month period. He also sold nearly 20k in 1979-80 hockey packs. If you do the math he most likely is bringing in a half of a million dollars a year selling bogus packs.
The scary thing isn't even that the line of people waiting to buy these never ends, it's the fact that many of these ignorant buyers are honest people being scammed who no doubt will put these packs back on the market not realizing they are resealed to even more unsuspecting buyers.
The only way to buy raw is through Frisch, BBCE, or some of the well-known trusted people in the community.
For the sake of the hobby it's good to know the feds/police are actually looking into (and prosecuting) people doing this, however, 30 years is way too long to go before getting caught.
Where are they getting all of the wrappers?
I cant believe people spend that kind of money on unauthenticated packs. Its just too risky.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
Hey Art, thank you for doing the work and tracking the criminal activity. Can you pls share some of the product of your work? Like ebay names and perhaps the indicative activity / sales? I’m sure some of us here would not only appreciate the heads up but also maybe go the extra mile in raising awareness to a greater segment of the collecting population.
John
Good question. I'm not sure exactly but it might be as simple as making them. If someone can make reprints of cards that look near identical to cards I do not see any reason why they could not make reprints of pack wrappers too. Given how long this scam has been going on and the sheer amount of fake packs sold on a yearly basis the logical conclusion is that the wrappers are fake too. It would be much easier to reprint the wrappers than it would be to track down used ones and buy them.
The easiest way to see the activity is to just search for 1986 fleer basketball packs and then click on the sold ebay listings. That is where you see just how much activity there is with these packs and nearly every single pack sold is listed as "It is being sold as-is, tampered, altered, searched, repacked. NO RETURNS" to cover the sellers fraud. Many pop-up selling their packs and then disappear only to create another account to do the same thing. It's very effective as they tend to make 20k+ each time. Once you find the seller simply search his sold listings and you can see a breakdown of what they have sold. It almost always is 20K+ which seems to be the sweet spot for these scammers.
eBay names do not matter too much as many of these sellers pop up and are gone within 3 months. If you pay close enough attention you will see that there are probably 5 or so individuals who do this and while they change their location on their eBay accounts it is generally just a city nearby their previous location.
With regards to awareness I am not sure anything can be done. This scam has been going on for 10+ years and is just as strong if not stronger than it was 10 years ago. No matter how much some of us warn the community it seems like it falls upon deaf ear to most.
I wonder what % Steve sees and rejects?
How many are sent to him for authentication (via PSA)
How many are legit?
How many are blatantly bad?
My collecting blog: http://ctcard.wordpress.com
hey nendee,
That would be worth a road trip to the Exchange just to see Steve's reactions on those illegitimate packs & racks..