• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

Status
Not open for further replies.
LiveAuctioneers PR Services appears to be a software platform and I guess you would have to ask if you needed to know a business license.
 
I had to go out-of-town for a week and was not able to keep up here; anything happen?

Thank you
 
We podcasted today - main connection was talking about some attorney changes. Blog post is up; YouTube to follow.
Many thanks for your support. :)
Blog post:
http://www.gandtshow.com/g-t-show-245-amish-white/
Thank you!

Well, there have been adventures in emails lately and I just wanted to point this one out from last summer. Propworx continues its auctions and people should be aware. Adam Schneider is the guy who had the original Galileo restored and donated so everyone can enjoy it.


Propworx Admits to Bidding At Its Auctions Without Disclosure - BUYER BEWARE
Sent By:
Adam Schneider
On:Aug 08/11/15 9:21 AM
Hello,

I am sending this to about 40 of my "prop" friends. I will post it at the same time in the various Trek and prop collecting forums. I'll start with facts and put my opinions at the end.

I have been a prop collector since the 2006 Christie's Trek auction. Since then I have made many collecting friends, participated in Trek conventions and become involved with the franchise. I have tried to add to the community... by dealing fairly with all, by buying, restoring, and donating Galileo, and by assisting the Smithsonian with restoring the original Starship Enterprise.

This last weekend was the Creation Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas. I was deeply disturbed by two events which challenge my perception of Propworx as an organization to do business with.

On Saturday August 8, Creation held a "no minimum bid" auction, and one piece was screen-used. The bidding stalled at $250. However, Propworx CEO Alec Peters continually bid against the winner until it reached $1,000. Alec said he had a "fiduciary obligation" to the seller.... on a "no minimum bid" auction! To say it again - Alec bid up an item because he promised a certain outcome. (By the way, unless Alec was contractually working for the seller, there is no such fiduciary obligation.)

The next day Propworx held their auction. There were about 70 people watching and bidding in person and more on the internet. Alec asked for questions. I asked two, and to the best of my recollection, this was the exchange.

I asked: Is there any reserve on any of the items? Answer: No.

I asked: Are you, or any agent of yours, or your girlfriend sitting in the corner typing on the internet, bidding against buyers on these items? Answer: Propworx makes proxy bids.

The exchange was heard by those 70 people including many prominent collectors. Yes, the Propworx CEO stated in public that they do bid against buyers.

My take: Propworx is making bids against its customers without any disclosure. Propworx is actively raising prices and in the process unjustly enriching themselves. It is like a reserve that increases if collectors are interested! It is inherently unfair to buyers.

I am not a lawyer, but this sure seems like fraud. I have checked the terms and conditions for the auction and none of this is disclosed. In fact, it seems quite clear in person that they are managing their bids versus active client bids (most from the internet) so as to maximize revenue. The cost of Propworx's bidding is being borne by its customers.

Fellow collectors:
We should ask Propworx to disclose ALL such bidding for its prior auctions.
In all cases where Propworx or its agent is the underbidder, collectors should only be asked to pay the "last good bid".
Propworx should cease this behavior and if they do not, you as the buyer stop doing business with them.


Thank you,
Adam Schneider

Also, as I recall correctly; AP formed a shipping company to ship all of the items from Propworx that charged MUCH more than every other company. When confronted about how expensive the shipping charges were; he said the shipping company was the best around, etc and it wasn't until later that it was found out that HE owned the shipping company and thus was not only ripping people off during the auctions (by shill bidding) but also by over-charging for shipping.

This guy is a real class act!
 
Propworx should have had a reserve on the item Adam was talking about. It seems amateurish not to have set one prior to the auction, but it's probably not fraud. Auction houses can and do bid on behalf of their customers all the time. That's a proxy bid.

Adam was talking about Propworx bidding on these items in Alec's words "because they have a fiduciary responsibility to the owner". So in the cases Adam was citing, Propworx was bidding for the owner on a no reserve item. This would not be the same as proxy bidding for non-owners, the case you raise.
 
Propworx should have had a reserve on the item Adam was talking about. It seems amateurish not to have set one prior to the auction, but it's probably not fraud. Auction houses can and do bid on behalf of their customers all the time. That's a proxy bid. A shill bid IS fraud and it's when the auction house itself bids against the buyer just to jack up the price, but they have no intention of winning. It's done secretly, and is probably rampant on eBay.

What Alec did at the second BSG live auction from my memory as a bidder watching the live stream was bid on items he wanted for his personal collection.

...
2. He saved the 23% buyer's premium because he was the auctioneer. So right off the bat, he has a 23% advantage over other bidders.
...

Don't forget that Alec was collecting a fee from the owner as well. So in effect he had two subsidies on any item he wanted. And if after driving the price up into his subsidized range he still lost, he collected larger buyers and sellers premiums, so win-win from his POV.

And there are even more issues. For example, a collector of a theme may have indicated to the auction house that they would pay large cash up front for certain items (the auction house should search for them). If the house gets the item into the auction and then bids on behalf of the owner up to some (fictional) reserve level, knowing the 'for sure' buying level of the collector, it puts the collector in an unfair position. The bids could even be calculated to push the item above the for sure level. The collector would not know their confidence was exploited, and they would not be bidding against a real competitor.

Reserves are minimums. It is not honest to redefine their implementation so as to provide a window of deniability and a mechanism behind which fake competition can occur.
 
Last edited:
Eek!

YouTube is up. We mention the Amish. Our apologies to Kelly McGillis.
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
Thank you for your support.

You're welcome, @feek61 :)
 
Adam was talking about Propworx bidding on these items in Alec's words "because they have a fiduciary responsibility to the owner". So in the cases Adam was citing, Propworx was bidding for the owner on a no reserve item. This would not be the same as proxy bidding for non-owners, the case you raise.
Ah, right. That's a totally different animal. How strange. Why not just set a reserve? Because otherwise it looks exactly like shill bidding.
 
Ah, right. That's a totally different animal. How strange. Why not just set a reserve? Because otherwise it looks exactly like shill bidding.
Because Alec felt it was better (IWE he'd get more bidding participants) if he claimed there was no reserve up front. Some bidders will shy away from bidding on an item with a reserve.
 
Some choice quotes from Alec four years ago, before he was swimming in his ill-spent Kickstarter millions, and when he was pontificating to everyone else over at TrekBBS and essentially revealing that he had done his damnedest to rat out Star Trek Continues to CBS:

13590229_10102887521131457_7621139210090331166_n.jpg


13600116_10102887521256207_1326928441221951534_n.jpg


13620257_10102887521321077_2932915948455483853_n.jpg


Here's where the little shit essentially admits IN THAT SAME THREAD, like the overgrown petulant man-child he is, he tattled on Continues:

13600037_10102887529359967_4796372331582123291_n.jpg
 
Because Alec felt it was better (IWE he'd get more bidding participants) if he claimed there was no reserve up front. Some bidders will shy away from bidding on an item with a reserve.

Sure, reserves can thin out the bidders a bit. But ask "how many major auction houses therefore bid for the owner in a no reserve auction?" Answer: none. It is not done. Period.
 
Correct me if I am remembering wrong but when STC first started up 3 or 4 STC Facebook pages came into being, one or two were not putting very favorible information out about STC I also assumed STC used the word Official relating to official Star Trek Continues postings.
 
Some choice quotes from Alec four years ago:

And the fight here is to prevent one group from pissing CBS off and making ALL of our lives more difficult.

.... and since we all exist at the pleasure of CBS who could shut these ventures down in a heartbeat, playing by the rules is essential, or else we all could suffer.
Oh, isn't that rich? Why the blazes did he not heed his own advice?
I have had numerous discussions with CBS on fan films ...
Wait, what? He talked with CBS about fan films? But didn't he say in the court documents that they refused to talk with him (or anyone) about fan films, forcing everyone to fly blind? And if he had already talked with CBS, why was he posting here on Trek-BBS begging for guidance and rules?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top