By KEVIN NELSON
March 11, 2010
Do forgers and fraud artists sell their fake goods at charity auctions? I was asked this question by a reader who had bought a signed 1932 Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig baseball at a charity auction and was appalled at the idea that it could be bogus.
“I bought this in good faith (it was a charity auction after all),” she wrote me in an email. “I had no reason to even question it.” Then she sold it to an auction house, which did indeed have reason to question it. The auction house submitted the ball to an authenticator and “it failed,” she told me gloomily.
Now the auction house has returned the ball to her and wants its money back. The woman is perplexed and now, suddenly, suspicious. She is not a collector and knew little about the authentication process before getting tangled up in this mess.
Without even seeing a picture of it, I told her that almost certainly the ball was bad. But how could that be-she bought it at a …charity auction! I suppose it is of little consolation to her to realize that she is hardly alone. Unsuspecting, well-intentioned Americans buy fake-signed merchandise at charity auctions all the time, all across this great and benevolent land.
Do the charities and nonprofit organizations know what they are peddling? No, likely they do not. Like this woman, the good-hearted people who put on these auctions are typically not collectors and innocent of the wolfish ways of counterfeit dealers. So, too, are the equally good-hearted souls who bid on these fakes, often paying an above-market price because they wish to support the good cause being funded by the auction. They likely think the autographs are legitimate as well.
And they may be. Not every signed piece of merchandise sold at a charity auction is a fraud, of course. But these auctions are a time-honored method for counterfeit dealers to move merchandise, and lots of it. The dealers may receive a percentage of the price of the items sold. They may receive tax deductions for their donations. They may get a tax deduction and make money. Through their gifts they may also come to be viewed by the charity as community benefactors, noble and selfless givers, although in reality they may only be crooks.
Kevin Nelson is the author of Operation Bullpen: The Inside Story of the Biggest Forgery Scam in American History. Contact him here.
Cruise ships are horrible for fakes. Lots of muhammad ali and other fakes on cruise ships. its unbelievable.
Maybe you ought to take a look at the firm that supplied American Royal Arts with the “doctored” photos used to promote items on their website. Although the name escapes me, Steve certainly knows it. As I recall, that company was dedicated to supplying charities with items to sell at auction. Also know that a huge amount of items sold on cruise ships are fake – Dali prints, baseball items, etc. They FAR outweigh sales done on the mainland.
Actually not all charities are like crooks and I know I work for a great charity that helps comic book creators in need. We actually do sell autographs but they have been seen and usually graded and authenticated by more than one person. But we sell mostly original artwork and signed books which we get directly from the creators themselves. But mainly we deal with most creators in person.
But even the big auction houses are not without fault because you would think that if you are buying million dollar paintings they have everything authenticated, well not really. Take the fact that one of the aution houses recently had a huge Star Trek prop auction and you would hope to believe an auction house of this size (Sotheby’s or Christies) would have a reputation to uphold. Well that is why in the auction contract to the buyers it reads “SOLD AS IS” so they are not and cannot be held responsible. The reason I bring this up is a person bought said Star Trek outfits and took them to a show to seethe actor in person and the actor said that isn’t anything I wore or anyone else it’s all wrong and not even close. The guy was devastated and when he went to the auction house they said everything is sold as is and that is why they don’t really care.
I do a lot of through the mail autographs and I would hope that when someone donates something to a charity that it would be real and as a matter of fact I always include a note that reads if the person asked is not actually signing please do not bother to send a donation because I could get in trouble for selling fake autographs. Now some of the celebrities have actually sent me donations or there helpers and attached the note to the donation to let me know this is authentic.
Good Luck,
Chris
But I plan on putting together an entire portfolio for auction and I will see if I can get someone associated with the autograph magazine world to possibly donate some time to look over the autographs I plan on having auctioned and get some sort of feedback on them and I will do everything possible to make sure what I am selling is legit.
Tons of muhammad ali fakes move through charity auctions. i cant believe how many i see where the seller says he got it at a charity auction. it’s bad most of the time.
Fantastic article–and it needs to be said. The charity auction scam has been pervasive for years. Good job, Kevin.