Some of you wrote and said (to summarize), “Wow. I’m surprised that you would write a negative piece about other dealers.”

The piece wasn’t meant to be negative. It was meant to be truthful. The truth is that there are a few dealers in the hobby who are less than respectable. Even someone like me, a fellow stamp dealer, can have problems. I don’t care what the business is: stamps, coins, artwork, or sports cards. There may be a few bad apples in the mix.

Unfortunately, it detracts from the hobby. The best thing you can do is move on. Don’t look back. That’s what I did. Will I ever go back to either of those dealers again? Not if I can help it.

I am not politically correct. I am truthful and I write from the heart. I think that comes through in my writing style.

I struggled a little bit with the piece about the troublesome dealers. I didn’t use anyone’s name. I didn’t call anyone a crook. I did say that they weren’t being very professional and what they did was not ethical. That’s the truth. I have the correspondence to back up my claims.

The point of the piece was: You don’t have to put up with this. If you have a problem with a dealer, move on to someone else. I did. There are lots of great dealers out there. Find one that you like. Don’t settle on the first dealer you run into if you’re unhappy with them.