[meteorite-list] An open message to all list members

From: Dave Freeman mjwy <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun Aug 27 20:58:06 2006
Message-ID: <44F23FA5.1040403_at_fascination.com>

Dear Stan;
Your response is well taken. Maybe at this point, the issue of petty
crooks ISN'T as important as we think and a rotten apple or two in the
cellar is not enough to get the pastry chefs to want to clean out the
stinky mess. It is also quite true in this market place that money
talks (and we know what walks), and funny how your named individuals
that are not members are probably the first in the supply chain to take
his money in exchange for meteorites. Maybe the answer is a robust
meteorite sales market where sellers can pick and choose to whom they
sell to. At that point maybe he could be pushed away for a better
character of individuals. Maybe the cow did jump over the moon. It
may boil down to the old adage of let the buyer beware. Used car
dealers, politicians, and snake oil salesmen for the most part have to
be regulated by an informed consuming public, and we cannot legislate
society no how much (I) we would like to.
Ssteve's issues have been a delightful topic for a number of years and I
predict this issue will cycle in and out quarterly for the next decade.
I do agree with Dave C. and note that if every new collector that comes
to us for education understands that some sellers tend to "forget",
"accidentally omit", "didn't mean to imply" "sorry for trhe poor quality
photos", "my wife made me do it", "just one trade", "will never trade
this new piece away", "it really did come from a famous dealer", "it is
the only one left"....frequently in their auctions that the new
collector would be wiser to spend their money with more reputable
sellers (even if they are BIG enough not to need the IMCA seal on their
auctions).
Sometimes there are no answers.
Dave F.


stan . wrote:

>
>> That being said, is Ssteve an IMCA member, and why would anyone buy
>> from anyone who is not a member?
>
>
> checking the membership list quick i see that Bob Haag, Mike Farmer,
> Blaine Reed, Adam Hupe, Al Lang, all of the morrocain sources I know,
> as well as several major collectors ARENT members - to name just a few.
>
>
>
Received on Sun 27 Aug 2006 08:58:13 PM PDT