Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

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Luke_of_Mass
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by Luke_of_Mass »

I would like to say that I've done many, many deals with Bernie for a number of years and always he was a very straight up genuinely good seller to me very reasonable prices and takes returns if you don't dig the piece - puts the customer first always.

Could the email situation be a little better? sure, but once you figure out how to reply back, it's a non-issue. Plus compared to pretty much every Italian guy in this business except maybe Angelo, it's pretty much perfect.

Also you could you know, like, call the guy. The way folks did it in the old days. Guy doesn't bite.

As far as this Lawrence character is concerned, Bernie says he never did any business with someone by that name, and I suspect he's telling the truth. There is a guy in the knife community with that last name, who mostly re-sells stuff on facebook, who can be a little combative at times. When I met him in Florida he boasted about having made some kind of threat to Mickey over a dispute in one of the facebook groups. Overall I don't think he's necessarily a bad guy, but he's very passionate and can go from 0 to 60 quickly in certain situations. Basically the way he operates is by scrolling through listings, then private messaging the person who put the listing up asking for trades instead of straight buying the item. If it's the same person I'm thinking of, my theory is that perhaps what happened was he tried to reach out to Bernie with this tactic, Bernie doesn't respond, and Lawrence complained to Bob about it. If Bob has it out for Bernie, maybe it's an excuse to ban him.

I for one know I will continue to buy from Bernie, and I suspect there's a lot more people who deal with him behind the scenes on projects and pieces separate from the auctions who will also continue to do so. I don't know Bob personally but even if Bernie did do something wrong putting a big thing about it on the banner of a website like that is sort of low in my opinion. I mean think about how many rude sellers have come and gone on sharperdeals - did they get a banner with the banhammer? probably not...
Knee-deep in the hoopla...
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thom
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by thom »

Well said Luke. I agree 100%
Maltese flatguard
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by Maltese flatguard »

If anything the privacy of their daughter and her life deserves better. Pretty shitty if you ask me. If you have a problem talk it out like men, this seems pretty low class and white trashy...

If things aren’t bad enough in this hobby things like this make me want to take my knives and go home.
portlandmike
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by portlandmike »

I agree with Luke also ... well said man.
boblees812
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by boblees812 »

Well said Luke!!!
Maltese flatguard
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by Maltese flatguard »

I guess we’ll have to wait for Bob to post his facts and why he booted Bernie.
sharpslash1
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by sharpslash1 »

I've never had a bad experience dealing with Bernie. Luke said it very well!
Maltese flatguard
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by Maltese flatguard »

And what if Bernie was doing side deals and not paying the auction owner? You guys going to take back what you’re saying?

And who cares business deals are one thing but posting tons of sad personal life business all over the Internet. Totally a low white trash dirt ball move. Makes me embarrassed to be part of this hobby.

Time for me to move on from this lifestyle...
portlandmike
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by portlandmike »

I’ve always wondered about the name sharper deals… Is it connected to the SD forums in any way ? Is the forum in any danger of going down with the website? There was also a sharper deals newsletter way back when … does anybody know the story of how the name got started and how they are connected?

Mike
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whippersnapper
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by whippersnapper »

As far as I know Bob Chopra (sharperD) still solely owns both the auction site and the knife forum. He also put out the sharperdeal newsletter/magazine until his health setback.

As far as why he chose sharperD for a name/handle, I don't know. My guess is his forum name being sharperD was short for sharper deals.
Maltese flatguard
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by Maltese flatguard »

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Luke_of_Mass
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by Luke_of_Mass »

Maltese flatguard wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:57 pm And what if Bernie was doing side deals and not paying the auction owner? You guys going to take back what you’re saying?
No, not really... lots of people have done it and continue to do it. I won't throw out any current names but I will say out of the two-dozen or so knives I bought from Rick G. about 18 of them were on the side, and no I did not meet him here or on the sharperdeal forums. every time anything like this happens people basically just let the listing expire, choose not to relist it and sell it over email or somewhere else if someone's waiting for it. This isn't a big deal in my opinion. Surely this opinion will be a little less popular, but whatever. At the end of the day we're all technically a bunch of criminals. These items aren't supposed to be stateside, they aren't supposed to cross state lines, and that's why even talking about how this happens is forbidden here, but nobody's alleging they're being driven to their destination or by carrier pigeon. Getting all worked up over arbitrary auctioneer rules when real laws are ignored is funny in my opinion.

Now my understanding was that Bob not only wanted people to not sell anything listed on his auction anywhere else, but also did not want people who met each other on his forum making any side deals either? Or am I mistaken? I hope I am.
Knee-deep in the hoopla...
Maltese flatguard
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by Maltese flatguard »

Luke_of_Mass wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 8:15 pm
Maltese flatguard wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:57 pm And what if Bernie was doing side deals and not paying the auction owner? You guys going to take back what you’re saying?
No, not really... lots of people have done it and continue to do it. I won't throw out any current names but I will say out of the two-dozen or so knives I bought from Rick G. about 18 of them were on the side, and no I did not meet him here or on the sharperdeal forums. every time anything like this happens people basically just let the listing expire, choose not to relist it and sell it over email or somewhere else if someone's waiting for it. This isn't a big deal in my opinion. Surely this opinion will be a little less popular, but whatever. At the end of the day we're all technically a bunch of criminals. These items aren't supposed to be stateside, they aren't supposed to cross state lines, and that's why even talking about how this happens is forbidden here, but nobody's alleging they're being driven to their destination or by carrier pigeon. Getting all worked up over arbitrary auctioneer rules when real laws are ignored is funny in my opinion.

Now my understanding was that Bob not only wanted people to not sell anything listed on his auction anywhere else, but also did not want people who met each other on his forum making any side deals either? Or am I mistaken? I hope I am.
It’s Bobs site, his brand, his work getting the name and traffic to his site. If you list there you should pay all fees. It’s a business. If y oh don’t like it use another site or build your own site, no one is forcing anyone to use his site.

If people want to rip off his sole source of income then go for it. But if you get caught and banned it pretty pathetic to badmouth the owner as youre trying to rip him off...
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whippersnapper
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by whippersnapper »

We still don't know for sure if that has anything to do with it. All that was posted on the auction site was about disrespect and profanity. That I can believe because I have seen it before.

Until Bob makes his side known we can only guess.

Who knows, maybe he decides the whole thing isn't worth it and shuts everything down. I wouldn't blame him a bit.

Maybe then folks might remember all the good things he has done over the years for the community.
Maltese flatguard
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Re: Lawrence -- Sharperdeals

Post by Maltese flatguard »

Bernie was the one who told me Bob booted him for doing side deals. When Bernie was confronted Bernie called his family F**king B*tch and go fo F*ck themselves etc etc. I’d kickoff my best friend if they did that too...
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