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Re: The RF incident et al
Dear Walt,
I expressed VERY similar sentiments regarding the interdependance of
dealers & institutions in part of an article submitted to Voyage!
Unfortunately, it was not in the first issue, but is scheduled for the
second issue. I am currently working on extending this very theme into
an article being submitted to Meteorite! - these issues affect every
element of the meteorite community: scientists, dealers, collectors &
field gatherers.
All of the above have a very symbiotic relationship & any disruption
will be at the expense of all. Prices increase when supply decreases. In
the long run, everyone will suffer, but none greater than the scientific
community, since outside of the Antarctic, they are dependant upon
dealers.
There have been many "petty" disputes between dealers - often arizing
from "going in togeather" on some purchase or expedition & one or both
later feeling the other person got the better deal out of it. It would
be comical, were it not so tragic, to continually be made privy to this
nonsense - especially, since, as often as not - the SAME two - sometimes
3, dealers are all buddy buddy at a later date.
It would seem to me ALL dealers can & SHOULD agree that there are
certain behaviors that are acceptable to no one. Paramount among these
would obviously be theft of meteoritic material from any institution, or
obtaining such material through fraud. Another obvious one would be
knowingly & purposly misrepresenting material as something other than
what it is. I would hate to see greater & greater numbers of "rules"
added, as eventually such a situation would inevitably degenerate into
Macarthyism (sp? - sorry, my "spellcheck" is "down") Furthermore, any
such "agreement," or "unified stance" among dealers would also be in
danger of "political infighting," etc, so, should be as SIMPLE as
possible, yet would HAVE to have "teeth" - ie, what constitutes "proof"
and what the SPECIFIC consequences would be - & how do you avoid
lawsuits for "slander," etc. All this is made even more dificult by the
fact that at ANY GIVEN TIME there seem to be 2 or 3 dealers "not
talking" to one another. (ASSIDE: I have often heard expressed in this
newsletter a misconception among collectors that dealers push prices up
- with one exception (guess who) all the dealers I know HOTLY compete to
offer the LOWEST prices whenever possible)
I would like to talk to you further via private email, as "hashing out"
such a proposal would, of nessessity, be somewhat attenuated. However, I
do think input from collectors would be valuable. They are certainly
affected by the current situation, as this latest fiasco has ALREADY
begun to clog up the free exchange of material. I have personally
already had a deal fall through, with the only comment being, "Untill
this South American situation resolves itself, I'm just going to sit
tight on everything."
So, collectors - what are YOUR ideas about what, if anything, dealers
should do in attempting to maintain, or reestableish, smooth
relationships with the scientific sector of the meteorite community?
(Please be sane, rational and CONSTRUCTIVE in any suggestions - this is
NOT an issue that should be taken lightly, nore should this forum, at
least regarding this specific question, be used as a venting of outrage
or take on the form of a "Kangaroo Court" - if you want to use this
forum to do that, fine, just don't pretend to be responding to the
question of what dealers should do to facilitate restoration of trust &
cooperation between themselves & the scientific community)
Walt, let's continue this dialog. My stance is, the more dealers
directly involved, the better. Also, we have a few scientists out there
- your input would be most valuable & welcome.
Best wishes, Michael
References: