One of the auctions was cancelled.
One of the auctions was cancelled.
Life is a garden...dig it!
The only thing being alleged is that the signatures are the same signature. At least that's what I'm saying. Nothing more.
Margaret Emmie Mackey Catoe, you are, have been, and always will be my soulmate, and I love you.
Con todo mi corazon, por todo de mis dias. And I always will, in this life and into the next.
August 2, 1947 - September 24, 2010
The question was, is Flatsigned conducting two auctions for only one book? If one of the auctions was canceled, it no longer matters much.
former employee
hey guys, i am a recent former employee of tim millers, and am willing to shed light on what i saw while working there. i know last month, he sent off 95 pct of his inventory to National Book Auctions, closed his nashville office, and moved to dover or clarksville, tn. his nephew is doing auctions now, and the quality of them are very diminished. hes trying to get NBA to cut a check to him to for his books, because the inventory was getting stale.
also, i have some funny stories about him stalking stephen king.
Stephen King ordered a Zane Grey signed book from him I believe off of Abe. Funny thing is he didn't have the book at the time for some reason, so he had to go find one on his own. Then the cross country stalking started and Tim would send signed Red Sox stuff to his office, only to have it promptly returned.Originally Posted by Randall Flagg
I too wonder what book.
Thanks for the info JT. Most interesting.
Very interesting indeed!
John
Hey JT, if we could ask ... why did you leave your employment with him?
And welcome to the site!
The Man In Black Fled Across The Desert...
...And The Gunslinger Followed.
“I’m always on the Batman rule, sir.” - Kate Kane / Detective Comics 857
"It is the story, not he who tells it." Except to us collectors who have to put limits somewhere. - jhanic
Remember, Remember, The Fifth of November, The Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot.
This thread is starting to have some real potential.
Haha...that is kind of ridiculous...but on the other hand, you never can tell what will happen if you don't try. As long as he wasn't showing up knocking on SK's door, it's only absurd, not really creepy.Stephen King ordered a Zane Grey signed book from him I believe off of Abe. Funny thing is he didn't have the book at the time for some reason, so he had to go find one on his own. Then the cross country stalking started and Tim would send signed Red Sox stuff to his office, only to have it promptly returned.I too wonder what book.
Sits down next to WeDealInLead and shares the popcorn. This show is getting good!
Hey JT, if we could ask ... why did you leave your employment with him?
And welcome to the site!
Firstly, the sending of the Red Sox stuff was the least of the creepiness, he actually paid employees to follow King to Atlanta and Wisconsin to meet him at speaking events to get things signed. Specifically at the Wisconsin one, it was an event that said NO SIGNINGS on the ticket, but Tim and Co. proceeded to wait for King outside, apparently King was pretty pissed, he said he was exhausted and wouldn't sign anything. So much for the several G's spent on traveling from Nashville to Wisconsin.
Also, I do know for a fact he uses shill bidding, I actually know the user names on some of them. He tried very hard to keep it from me, but I wasn't born yesterday. But to his credit, as far as I know, when I was there he only used shill bidding if there was a mistake on the auction and thought it might be sold for less than he wanted. Still doesn't make it right.
As far as why I left, it had to do with the impending disaster I saw coming. Like I said, it was known that a majority of his inventory was very stale, so I had trouble finding things every week to list that would actually sell. For months, he would harp on the decision from the Imus was impending in May, and that Imus will have to cough up millions for the case. He didn't get a penny as far as I know.
A majority of his former employees apparently despise him, but I am just a bit indifferent, because I feel bad for him. He's an older guy, pissed off a lot of people, including every family member except the one currently doing his auctions.... and he is trying to retire but has to relieve debts to banks before that can happen. As far as I know, hes not part of the UACC anymore right? Anyway, I don't know what will happen to him, but continue to watch his auctions out of curiosity, not to buy, just to watch.
I can't get enough.
Interesting. It sounds like he's dug himself a hole he can't realistically get out of. I ALMOST feel sorry for him.
John
Well, I have every reason to hate him though, but that would just take effort. I think he's a shady guy of course. He would do crap like order a VERY high end book, like something signed by Tolkien, have pictures from the guy hes buying from, and while its being shipped, make me post an auction with this limited info. Then when people would ask questions it would be chaos. Sometimes he'd get mad at me because "I made mistakes in the listing". I got to the point where I pretty much called him a pillhead, and got pretty awkward around there. Of course, remember, he "worked from home", so luckily I only saw him when I had to pick something up. This was just a front for him to walk around in his underwear all day though.
How bizarre...so he actually has a legit product to sell, but doesn't want to wait the 3-4 days before it actually arrives to list it?
The driving-to-Wisconsin story isn't creepy so much as annoying (and pointless)...at the Harvard signing a few years back, there were a couple guys with stacks of books that were unsuccessful in getting any signed...probably same sort of thing.
Dumb question, but what do you mean by "stale?" I assume you mean the recylced inventory we would see listed on ebay again and again?
How bizarre...so he actually has a legit product to sell, but doesn't want to wait the 3-4 days before it actually arrives to list it?
The driving-to-Wisconsin story isn't creepy so much as annoying (and pointless)...at the Harvard signing a few years back, there were a couple guys with stacks of books that were unsuccessful in getting any signed...probably same sort of thing.
Dumb question, but what do you mean by "stale?" I assume you mean the recylced inventory we would see listed on ebay again and again?
By stale I mean, he flooded the market and his James Pattersons and John Grishams were only getting one bid of $20. It became a cycle because we weren't making money on these books, so he couldn't get new good stuff, and it just got worse. The only books that WOULD sell, we would post every week because thats all there was to sell, but of course the consequence of this is bids diminish in following weeks.
By the way, to his credit, his policy was if a signed item was worth over the cost of getting authenticated, then do it. There were several times I would show him a sig that was very questionable and he would agree. He may have been shady with selling fakes prior to me being there, but this is one accusation that I wouldnt be able to back up.
I'm sort of in the minority, but I never thought he sold fakes...the shill bidding I questioned, but his signed items always seemed legit.
For all his faults, the reality is it's a thin line between being a hard-edged but successful businessman and a flop. Like you said, once you get into that spiraling cycle, it's difficult to get out of.
I've sold him stuff, too...I always assumed he had a buyer, but then a few weeks would go by and the book would show up on ebay...and it's not like I was selling for garage sale prices.
I'm sort of in the minority, but I never thought he sold fakes...the shill bidding I questioned, but his signed items always seemed legit.
For all his faults, the reality is it's a thin line between being a hard-edged but successful businessman and a flop. Like you said, once you get into that spiraling cycle, it's difficult to get out of.
I've sold him stuff, too...I always assumed he had a buyer, but then a few weeks would go by and the book would show up on ebay...and it's not like I was selling for garage sale prices.
Yea, he would in some cases wait until the eBay purchase wasn't on completed auctions anymore. If it wasn't an eBay purchase, he couldn't wait 5 minutes after he paid to get the item up on eBay.
Is it the book that he claimed he exchanged for about 10 King signed books?Stephen King ordered a Zane Grey signed book from him I believe off of Abe. Funny thing is he didn't have the book at the time for some reason, so he had to go find one on his own. Then the cross country stalking started and Tim would send signed Red Sox stuff to his office, only to have it promptly returned.I too wonder what book.
True then?
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I have never bought anything from Flatsigned, but still I am glad to hear this perspective.
Oh, and welcome to the site, JTurner!
"...that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." ~ Ray Bradbury
Yes, the Zane Grey was the one he exchanged for the signed books
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