Relic Dealers

[NavChief]

Chuck,

Have you gotten any more responses from members on relic dealers and have you decided if you are going to post the good, the bad, and the ugly. I pm'd you with my lists and I am putting this message out for all members to read and hopefully respond to you with their experience with the different dealers. I haven't and won't post positive or negative experiences I have encountered and I ask all that have any feedback on dealers to pm Chuck and lets try to get some good reliable sources to go to for the different hard to find bullets. Again I believe everything should be run through Chuck before anyone posts pro's or con's of sellers.

Thanks,
Michael

[tomh]

Michael,

I have hesitated to add my two cents worth on this one because of my concerns with the legality of listing "bad" dealers. It is one thing for members to pm back and forth with opinions or suggestions about who to avoid, but it enters a whole new legal morass when a list is publically posted. In our excessively litigious society I would really be concerned about a percieved blacklist and the possible repercussions.

Just a humble opinion, from a former Massachusetts resident, the frivolous lawsuit capital of the known universe,
TomH

[MosbyRanger]

I think I must concur with Tom on this one. It is one thing to "talk" amongst ourselves about good and bad relic deals/experiences but to post a list of them might cross a line that could end up in a bad way. I am curious to hear some "opinions" from others that use this site and learn who is worthy of dealing with for future reference.

[NavChief]

Tom/Mosby

I totally agree with both of y'alls comments. Discretion is the better part of Valor. I have pm'd Chuck with my experiences with dealers and he was deciding how best to approach the topic. This day and age we can't afford to put out a list biased or not without possible repercussions and that is the last thing I want. I am guessing utilizing pm will be the best route to take. The chat room may even offend some of the members if they are dealers themselves and we just don't need the animosity. I guess what I was hoping for is a way to let people have access to the top notch sellers that stand behind their products. I know I have had some bad experiences as has probably everyone and it's just a lesson you learn the hard way. My sole interest is access to reasonable dealers which sell collection quality bullets, and hoping to share information with one another on who they deal with and the quality of product. I appreciate the inputs from both of y'all. That's what this site is about.

Thanks,
Michael

[paydirt]

I live in Gettysburg and my old neighbor,owned a relic shop in town here(i will not mention its name)...But i would always see him planting things in his flower beds every day...must have had a green thumb i thought. One day i got some of his mail in my box,and went over to deliver it, I almost fainted when i saw confederate buttons a plates just laying in the dirt of his flower beds!!...He was'nt home at the time but it did'nt take but a minute to put 2x2 together. He had a green thumb alright ,it was turning green from the cheap brass!!.... Be very very careful what you buy!! If they are for real dealers,they wo'nt mind if you have it checked out first,before you buy it.

[freedom013102]

I was reading your post and wondered if you had the same dealer in mind. I'll just relate my story. In July, I bought a Wisconsin button on ebay from a known dealer in Gettysburg. The Button was supposedly dug in vicinity of the Lutheran Seminary.It seemed like a special button so I bought it. After two wks that it didn't arrive, I contacted the dealer.For another month, he kept giving me the runaround and I finally contacted e-bay. When he still didn't reply, I filed a case against him for non completion of the sale. E-bay is totally useless and in fact does not even allow the buyer to know the results of their investigation. 3 months after I purchased the button, I received an e-mail from the dealer stating that he had found the button and it had mistakenly been shipped to Europe. I was excited for what I deemed an honest mistake. When the button arrived however, I found it to be a dug Michigan button and on the tag, in different ink, was written dug Gettysburg 1992. Disgusted, I wrote the dealer that I'd accept the button if he'd send me a written affirmation that the button was indeed from the Battle of Gettysburg and any info as to where it was recovered and by whom. Three times I sent an e-mail with this simple request and finally on the third try he responded that he had sent the letter. I finally had to settle for him e-mailing the letter. I still don't see how the mail he sends to me disappears when all my other mail arrives with no problem. I read the e-mail and found it to be jam packed with info about the button but extremely poorly written. For about a wk, I let the matter rest but last night, I decided to check the accuracy of the info he gave me.I knew something was wrong when he said it was found in 2004. I figured he got the year wrong but he also said it was from the area of the Lutheran Seminary on property occupied by a business called the A+ mini market. To my surprise, I found the only maket by that name is on the other side of Gettysburg and no where near the alleged location where he says the button was dug. I hope you won't mind the length of this post; I'm just pissed off that I was had by one of the larger dealers in Gettysburg. (Hint- its down the block from Judge Willis house.) What really pisses me off is to see all the business this fraud still gets every day. I wonder how many other collectors he's still ripping off. I've been collecting for over 40 years. Thanks for letting me vent-Gary