Too harsh??????

[a2jacketpatches]

Being 6 months new in Vegas, and this old timer 20 years here, I'm wondering if I should just keep my mouth shut. But when I first met him at the swap meet he promised to have me look through a bag of patches that never turned up after 6 weeks. Finally, he said "I sold them to another guy at a price I couldn't refuse"

Then, last week, I picked up a small bag of so so patches for 8 bucks right in front of him just before he was to show me a couple of Avirex jackets in his car. The jackets turned out to be 80's novelty stuff but on the way to the car he complained that the guy didn't hold these patches aside for him to inspect first. Went on and on about how he's been here 20 years, and one hand washes the other, and so on. About 20 minutes later I overhear him giving the vendor a hard time about the patches.

This week he pulls me aside and says my friend Joe bid on that map as well ( a Nagasaki cloth escape map that I placed a bid on ) You guys are so much alike blah blah blah. Anyway, I took the time to write the following as a question in the completed auction. Two bids, started at 10.00, Joe wins at 10.49 because I didn't even bother.

Richard, being from the East coast I tend to say it how it is. I'm a little disheartened concerning the BS story you fed me the other day. For Joe and I to be the only two collectors in the entire world interested in that map was a little hard to believe in the first place. To see that his 30 day bid history is 5 single bids, all with you, raises another red flag. Bottom line is that Joe shill bids for you on a regular basis. If they ever do nail you guys, rest assured it's not from me and only because it's blatantly obvious. You guys are a textbook example of how to get caught shill bidding and should be careful. High dollar items? I could almost understand, Nickels and dimes like this map? just list at your bottom dollar and sell the damn thing.

I may have only been here for 6 months, but my money is green like everybody else and I play fair.

Nuff said, no hard feelings,

I did intend a strong feeling in this message but also don't want it to be uncomfortable from now on bumping into him. Thoughts? should I cool down a bit? This is confrontation that I could handle fine if in the wrong, but again, being from the East coast we say it and take it.

 

[foster]

It's not good practice (in general) to burn any bridges, but in this case, with what you shared, it doesn't sound like you were going to get any significant items from the guy.

If he deals in underhanded ways eventually people won't want to deal with him. It seems to work that way. That's possibly why he gets a little territorial.

 

[Peter Graham]

Actually, I think you were too easy on him. It's people like him and his buddy that ruin it for other folks.

 

[Silver Surfer]

yeah, not a good practice to burn bridges......however, when in doubt, fuckem. best as i can tell you have been able to operate just fine without this kinda crap. like one of the posters said, "you were too easy on him"

 

[a2jacketpatches]

yeah, not a good practice to burn bridges......however, when in doubt, fuckem. best as i can tell you have been able to operate just fine without this kinda crap. like one of the posters said, "you were too easy on him"

Gotta say Vic, you're one of my favorite dudes in the whole world, I think because weah neighbahs from the notheast and say it how it is.

 

[Jason]

You'd also have to wonder wether 'Joe' was a real person in the scheme of things too. Either way, calling him out on this was deserved and you gave the appropriate response.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

You'd also have to wonder wether 'Joe' was a real person in the scheme of things too. Either way, calling him out on this was deserved and you gave the appropriate response.

Yeah, he's for real. He was the military picker here some time back and I think these guys now view me in his shadow. Back a few weeks ago, the old timer relayed a message from Joe concerning my patch business. Joe said "The only problem is that some pickers may buy them as originals" My response was this, I'll copy and paste.

Hi Richard.
I would hate to even unintentionally contribute to any repros being passed on as original patches. I'm on a couple of forums regularly, one is all about Flight jackets and the other is original militaria for the most part. I openly advertise my product frequently on both forums and it's very well known world wide. The top manufacturers of repro jackets purchase my insignia on a regular basis in quantity and they advertise it as well. Bottom line is that there's countless guys out there globally policing the flight jacket market and it would be very risky to conduct funny business with my stuff.
I'm sure your friend Joe has a well rounded knowledge of military items in general and his concerns are legitimate to a point. But anyone who is fooled by my items as being the real deal probably hasn't done their homework on the subject. Like if I was to jump on some ROLEX thinking to make a buck when I couldn't tell real from a fake if my life depended on it. Sean


I guess the bottom line here is that I'm the new guy on the block and will have to deal with all kinds of crap. The knowledge is very limited here so I don't really feel threatened, just a little irritated that I have to keep stumping these guys. Think I'll go back into busy bee mode where a quick hello as I buzz around is all anyone will get from me.