Rinker on Collectibles

RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1734

Hypocrisy Always Has Been Part of the Antiques and Collectibles Market

Blue Telusama posted an internet article entitled “ALL Kobe Bryant memorial items removed from eBay” on February 26, 2020. [https://thegrio.com/2020/02/26/all-kobe-bryant-memorial-items-removed-from-ebay/]. Blue Telusama is a writer for www.grio.com, a website offering commentary about entertainment, celebs, news, lifestyle, HBCU, and video.

Telusama’s article began: “Online market place eBay is refusing to sell “any” memorabilia from Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s public memorial due to a policy that prohibits sellers from profiting off of “human tragedy or suffering.” The article also noted: “The policy does allow traditional Kobe items not related to the end of his life such as photos, jersey, autographs, jerseys, photos, etc. to be sold. Only items directly connected to his death are prohibited. These less controversial items are still in high demand and their prices have only skyrocketed following the Los Angeles Lakers’ death.”

The dictionary website Lexico defines hypocrisy as “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform.”

[Author’s Note: If you agree with eBay’s action, my advice is to read no further. You are not going to be happy with what follows. This column will examine eBay’s response to similar past “human tragedy and suffering” events and argue that eBay was selective in its approach and that its primary purpose was to gain favor with a specific segment of the sports community.]

911 was a human tragedy and suffering that impacted not just a sport but the world as a whole. Within days, objects associated with 911 appeared for sale on eBay. eBay did not ban them. Photographs of the World Trade Center Twin Tower collapsing currently are listed on eBay. An eBay seller is offering a remnant, which appears to be a rivet of some sort from “WTC 2” with an opening bid request of $250.00 and a Buy It Now price of $500.00. Another seller is offering a “World Trade Center Recovered Steel Piece and Concrete Piece – 9/11 Ground Zero” with a required opening bid of $149.99. Numerous other eBay sellers are listing World Trade Center keys.

How does eBay justify these listings in light of their “human tragedy and suffering” policy? Is it because these are inanimate objects as opposed to something associated with a specific human being?

The Berlin Wall was a symbol of one the greatest human tragedies and suffering known. Pieces of the Berlin Wall, many in boxed or acrylic display cases, appear regularly for sale on eBay. Similar listings have appeared on eBay for decades.

Collecting objects related to human tragedies and suffering is nothing new. Think of the phrase “to the victors belong the spoils.” Tragedy fascinates some collectors. There are collections of earthquake, fire, flood, mining, railroad, and other disasters. Objects from the 1871 Great Chicago Fire to the April 14-15, 1912 sinking of the “RMS Titanic,” to the May 6, 1937, explosion of “LZ 129 Hindenburg” to the assassination of American presidents appear regularly on the secondary market. When they do, they often bring strong prices.

A majority of my readers most likely will find the concept of collecting items associated with human suffering and tragedy morbid. To each their own. Morbid or not, many collectors have material relating to human suffering and tragedy in their collections.

My collection of American canal memorabilia was a case in point. Included in the collection were numerous photographs of train wrecks whose engines and equipment ended up in a canal. When I could match a newspaper account to the event, it almost always contained the names of the individuals who died. I owned several stereographic slides of ice and flood damage done to canals. My newspaper file contained clippings recounting drownings and other deaths along canals. These were part of a greater story – life along the canal system.

I recently received a copy of a list of items for sale by a Holocaust collector. Although several years old, it was sent to me by an individual who knew of my interest in the secondary market value of things and felt it was a secondary market category to which I might not have much access. He was right. I never included a Holocaust collecting category in any of the price guides I edited. I was aware the category existed but kept it under the table. “Closet collectors,” who preferred to remain anonymous, were the principal buyers and sellers.

Time to return back to the objects from The Staples Center in Los Angeles Kobe and Gianna Bryant memorial attended by the 20,000 fans, celebrities, and pro athletes lucky enough to obtain a ticket. At no time during the ceremony or information provided with the objects was a restriction placed on those who acquired them indicating they were prevented from selling them.

Human nature is what it is. It is uncontrollable. It is logical to assume some individuals left the event with the idea that the memorabilia they obtained could be sold at a profit, even at a point well above what the ticket cost to attend the event.

eBay was a logical dispersal choice. Early sales proved them right. Bidders were willing to pay exorbitant prices for a memento from this moment in sports history. A single XL shirt sold through for $2,025.

I can only speculate on the motivation of the buyers. Ideally, it was a desire to own a piece of memorabilia associated with a player they admired. I am not that naïve. Clearly, the price level was such that buying for resale was speculative. Past experience has demonstrated that such markets peak quickly and diminish as time passes.

eBay has entered dangerous grounds trying to act as a moral arbitrator of what is right and what is wrong. eBay touts itself as a neutral auction site, immune from swaying the secondary market in one direction or another.

An auction is the best final arbiter of the value of an object at any given moment in place and time. If eBay is nothing more than an auction platform, then it should allow material to flow freely into its system regardless of origin. In fairness, I do agree with eBay’s restriction on the sale of firearms.

Further, the Staples Center memorial was not the only memorial event to honor Kobe and Gianna Bryant. Events were held throughout the National Basketball Association and at other sporting events such as the Super Bowl. eBay apparently is not banning the secondary market sale of memorabilia from these events on its website.

Sellers are well aware that eBay is only one secondary market resale venue. There are many others on the internet and in the traditional sale venues for sports memorabilia. Staples Center Bryant material will be a staple (sorry I could not resist the pun) at sports memorabilia shows for the next decade. Be cautious of those offering certificates of authenticity. Manufacturers in Asia already are hard at work creating knock-offs that will be almost impossible to distinguish from the “real” thing.

In the past, I have written extensively about the concept of the Celebrity Bounce, an artificial rise in the secondary market value of memorabilia associated with a person or event after a significant achievement, tragedy, or death occurs. This too shall end is a basic component of the Celebrity Bounce theory. Most celebrity bounces end within a few weeks or months. Few last longer than three months. Princess Diana’s 1997 death resulted in a six-month celebrity bounce. In 2020, Princess Diana memorabilia is a glut on the secondary market.

The celebrity bounce for Kobe and Gianna Bryant is nearing an end, accelerating faster than I expected because of the shift of focus to the public and sports upheaval caused by the coronavirus. Fame is fleeting. Exposure in the public limelight is even more fleeting.

It is inevitable that Kobe and Gianna Bryant Staples Center memorial memorabilia will return to eBay. It is only a matter of time. When it does, the initial high prices will seem dream-like compared to those for which it will sell. The eBay and other internet auction secondary markets reflect prices of the moment.

In summary, my advice is if that if a person has a shirt or other object from the Staples Center or other Kobe and Gianna memorial event, sell it now and make a profit. In five years, you will be able to buy it back for one-third to one-half what you received.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Selected letters will be answered in this column. Harry cannot provide personal answers. Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned. Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5955 Mill Point Court SE, Kentwood, MI 49512. You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker@aol.com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

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