The Berkbridge Foundation - Questions Regarding Legitimacy 8 8

[ygogolak]

21 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

Does anyone know what handle the seller used on ebay for 15+ years prior to changing it to Berkbridge?

https://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserIdHistory&requested=berkbridge

Sorry, not very helpful.

[Catwomancomics]

2 hours ago, revat said:

Not to say there aren't plenty of charity scams, or that I don't want the donated money to go to the people really in need, or to defend people in the 1%, but in some cases that high salary feels pretty justified, especially for larger charities, or charities that bring in tons of donations.

For example, the Red Cross is huge with operations and administration in every corner of the world, managing healthcare and construction and donation/tax laws (both giving and receiving), with thousands and thousands of employees and volunteers (volunteers require management too), with all of the legal and insurance and payroll and issues of any other major company, and is often staffed by people who mean well but don't always have an eye on efficiency or resource management or volunteers who might be experts but have other jobs that are priorities.  Plus they have to deal with the fundraising and volunteer/employee recruitment for the organization.  How much would you pay for someone who could effectively manage all of that?  What would someone with those skills be worth on the open market?

Now it does raise suspicions when the FOUNDER of the charity/non-profit ends up being rich.  But if you hire qualified officers/employees/board members out of the market and pay them a lot, its fine.  But yes its also a function of revenue (donations generated).

 

Another example would be someone who might be a great fundraiser.  Lets say you have the opportunity to hire some instagram model to do fundraising for your charity to help cancer kids.  But you have to pay her $1M per year.  Seems ridiculous right?  But every year her 10M followers donate $2-3 per person on avg?  Yes that $1M would be better spent on kids, but if it nets you $20M, paying $1M to a 20's pretty blonde showing people how to put make-up on seems worth it.  Would you rather have someone else who works for free but nets you $5M per year?  What's ultimately better for the kids?

 

Again, I know there's plenty of room for abuse and corruption and fraud in charities, and that sucks and those people should be jailed HARD.  I'm just saying a lot of times people judge without context (this goes for a lot of things, including judgments about when people are "getting paid too much".   

As soon as you said Instagram model, I was ready to donate $2-3  

Edited September 11, 2019 by Catwomancomics

[Krismusic]

I think the key to this thread is to do research into the charity and find out where the donations go how much and what would be a justifiable amount like I mentioned before finding out the #'s justifies how much and how often I would donate to a charity and what kind of charity.

This thread is important as it is bringing up the information that the public needs to make a decision when "buying" comics from a seller where the proceeds go to a charity. We just need clarity and that is not a bad thing specially for these situations. 

[NoMan]

4 hours ago, icefires said:

Look at the bright side - If you itemize deductions, you can include the total price of all books purchased from Berkbridge in your charitable contributions (according to them).

this might actually get the IRS into looking at Berkbridge.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

6 minutes ago, kav said:

Once the IRS gets wind of something they become a heat seeking relentless guided money missile.  They have an agent that watches Judge Judy every day to see when people admit to being paid under the table, which happens quite frequently on the show.

Source please. 

[icefires]

The IRS has way more on their plate than they can handle. There are thousands of tax loopholes that the wealthy legally take advantage of every year.Has Berkbridge checked enough boxes to make their charitable organization legal? Possibly. At the end of the day it is my belief that Berkbridge could give a rat's a**  about helping single mothers. It's all about how to make money and to hell with ethics or morals.

Edited September 11, 2019 by icefires

[revat]

 

Just now, kav said:

5 minutes ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:

Source please. 

Judge Judy mentioned it herself on one of the shows to the defendant.

This has been an 'idea' of mine for a long time. If the IRS and every State Income Tax agency had an agent/representative in every District Attorney's Office in the country with a certain population threshholds (maybe the 400 biggest counties in USA?), the amount of collectible tax related to crimes or under the table payments would be enough to cover the deficit and start chipping away the national debt.  People forget, but ALL income is taxable, including income (stuff too, not just cash) gained illegally.  And IF one fails to file or pay those owed taxes, they owe interest and fines on those taxes*.  Not only that, but deductions OTHER than COST OF GOODS SOLD are not allowed on those revenues/incomes.  You could have one dedicated staff officer in each DA's office just assess taxes to suspects (and probably victims too), issuing invoices based on evidence.  Don't even have to go after them criminally (another issue).  They'd certainly make enough back to justify the cost of these officers/agents (don't even have to be sworn peace officers IMO). 

*There's probably a few more legal hoops to jump through, please consult a licensed CPA or lawyer for more info.

[icefires]

This thread is being beaten to death. 

 

[James J Johnson]

1 hour ago, Krishosein said:

I think the key to this thread is to do research into the charity and find out where the donations go how much and what would be a justifiable amount like I mentioned before finding out the #'s justifies how much and how often I would donate to a charity and what kind of charity.

This thread is important as it is bringing up the information that the public needs to make a decision when "buying" comics from a seller where the proceeds go to a charity. We just need clarity and that is not a bad thing specially for these situations. 

These aren't charitable contributions being made by the buyers of Berk's ebay listings. Not in the sense that you're dropping money into a Salvation Army pail with a Santa standing beside it ringing a bell.

This is a case where compensation is being received for a buyer's money. A tangible item.

There's really not much difference between a buyer sending Berkbridge (the seller, not the charity) money for a won item or any other ebay seller. You bid on an item, and if you win, you pay, Berk sends you the item, you're satisfied, case closed, just like any other purchase..

Problems should only arise if a seller is misrepresenting donations to a charity that is no longer active, as Cat's posted link appears to indicate as the case. And if items are being heavily shilled, not only wrong on a consumer level, but also causing GP, a pricing index that many of us rely on as Gospel to assist us with our evaluations and bids

Edited September 11, 2019 by James J Johnson

[James J Johnson]

4 minutes ago, kav said:

Like Lefty (Al Pacino) said in Donnie Brasco, "who are we? We're only spokes on the wheel"  And when push comes to shove, we're not even the spokes. We're more like the spoke's nipples.

 

 

[Krismusic]

4 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

These aren't charitable contributions being made by the buyers of Berk's ebay listings. Not in the sense that you're dropping money into a Salvation Army pail with a Santa standing beside it ringing a bell.

This is a case where compensation is being received for a buyer's money. A tangible item.

There's really not much difference between a buyer sending Berkbridge (the seller, not the charity) money for a won item or any other ebay seller. You bid on an item, and if you win, you pay, Berk sends you the item, you're satisfied, case closed, just like any other purchase..

Problems should only arise if a seller is misrepresenting donations to a charity that is no longer active, as Cat's posted link appears to indicate as the case. And if items are being heavily shilled, not only wrong on a consumer level, but also causing GP, a pricing index that many of us rely on as Gospel to assist us with our evaluations and bids

I agree that from a buyer or donator perspective its different as you are buying a good and not giving a donation where your would be able to claim the donation on tax refund or whatever... this is more of getting higher prices realized on a book because some people feel the extra price is justifiable because the money is going to a good cause and if its not, that's not right, as its taking advantage of good peoples trust in the organization to be doing good will. Hence the need to research which we as a community are trying to do by asking the seller to clear up some things.

[James J Johnson]

Just now, Krishosein said:

I agree that from a buyer or donator perspective its different as you are buying a good and not giving a donation where your would be able to claim the donation on tax refund or whatever... this is more of getting higher prices realized on a book because some people feel the extra price is justifiable because the money is going to a good cause and if its not, that's not right, as its taking advantage of good peoples trust in the organization to be doing good will. Hence the need to research which we as a community are trying to do by asking the seller to clear up some things.

See, that would not affect my bid in the least. Think that the money is going for a good cause. Whether I think that or not, buying is buying. I'm going to realize my bid and post it based solely on the item alone. When it comes to charitably donating, I pick my own to divert funds to. Make a Wish, Shriner's, Wounded Warriors, ASPCA, Victim's funds for catastrophes, etc., My choices have nothing to do with buying or selling. I donate based on the cause and who needs the most help ASAP.

[Jaylam]

4 hours ago, revat said:

Not to say there aren't plenty of charity scams, or that I don't want the donated money to go to the people really in need, or to defend people in the 1%, but in some cases that high salary feels pretty justified, especially for larger charities, or charities that bring in tons of donations.

For example, the Red Cross is huge with operations and administration in every corner of the world, managing healthcare and construction and donation/tax laws (both giving and receiving), with thousands and thousands of employees and volunteers (volunteers require management too), with all of the legal and insurance and payroll and issues of any other major company, and is often staffed by people who mean well but don't always have an eye on efficiency or resource management or volunteers who might be experts but have other jobs that are priorities.  Plus they have to deal with the fundraising and volunteer/employee recruitment for the organization.  How much would you pay for someone who could effectively manage all of that?  What would someone with those skills be worth on the open market?

Now it does raise suspicions when the FOUNDER of the charity/non-profit ends up being rich.  But if you hire qualified officers/employees/board members out of the market and pay them a lot, its fine.  But yes its also a function of revenue (donations generated).

 

Another example would be someone who might be a great fundraiser.  Lets say you have the opportunity to hire some instagram model to do fundraising for your charity to help cancer kids.  But you have to pay her $1M per year.  Seems ridiculous right?  But every year her 10M followers donate $2-3 per person on avg?  Yes that $1M would be better spent on kids, but if it nets you $20M, paying $1M to a 20's pretty blonde showing people how to put make-up on seems worth it.  Would you rather have someone else who works for free but nets you $5M per year?  What's ultimately better for the kids?

 

Again, I know there's plenty of room for abuse and corruption and fraud in charities, and that sucks and those people should be jailed HARD.  I'm just saying a lot of times people judge without context (this goes for a lot of things, including judgments about when people are "getting paid too much".   

In the case of the Red Cross, it's a HUGE organization, and yes the CEO makes around $670,000 a year (at least according to some of the sources I found), but the difference is around 90% of the proceeds go to what they say they are raising the money for, not the other way around (10% or less for some of these other outfits) as I was referring to in my post. 

[James J Johnson]

1 minute ago, kav said:

Thats why i'm not a big fan of charities.

Neither am I. Which is why I pick and choose carefully. And it's purely a donation. Not an auction or sales venue, where merchandise is exchanged. That's not a donation or contribution. It's a purchase.

[Jaylam]

Wherever there is money involved, there will be corruption, either by accident or on purpose or both.

[James J Johnson]

1 hour ago, kav said:

Even picking and choosing carefully tho the red cross has top ratings and, well, the articles I posted-

But the Red Cross is a charity, corruption to one degree or another, if present, notwithstanding. Now, if the Red Cross stopped being a charity, yet continued to falsely represent themselves as a charity, then that's a problem in and of itself..

Edited September 11, 2019 by James J Johnson

[James J Johnson]

2 hours ago, kav said:

We're not even the nipples.  We're that little tool that tightens the nipples.

Well, if there are no little tools like us, to tighten those nipples and keep them tight, then there's no spokes and we'd all be riding around on these, instead of bicycles, perish the thought.

 

[Naphtha]

19 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

But the Red Cross is a charity, corruption to one degree or another, if present, notwithstanding. Now, if the Red Cross stopped being a charity, yet continued to falsely represent themselves as a charity, then that's a problem in and of itself..

Imagine if the red cross was trading stocks and using that power to set prices.

Berkbridge sold the 8.0 181 for 5.3k in the summer of 2018. Last sale was 2200. This price was unheard of and set the stage for the bronze age spike of the last two years.

Real people losing real money because they think its a game. And small dealers will be hit hardest because they will be stuck with the inventory.

[James J Johnson]

4 minutes ago, Naphtha said:

Imagine if the red cross was trading stocks and using that power to set prices.

Berkbridge sold the 8.0 181 for 5.3k in the summer of 2018. Last sale was 2200. This price was unheard of and set the stage for the bronze age spike of the last two years.

Real people losing real money because they think its a game. And small dealers will be hit hardest because they will be stuck with the inventory.

That's what I meant writing about skewing GP's charts. I'm sometimes see a crazy price, a complete outlier. An 8.0 selling the same month for more than the record price for a 9.2, and typically, if I do the research and those results still visible, that What the heck? price can be attributed to a Berkbridge auction.

[BerkbridgeFoundation]

1 hour ago, Naphtha said:

Imagine if the red cross was trading stocks and using that power to set prices.

Berkbridge sold the 8.0 181 for 5.3k in the summer of 2018. Last sale was 2200. This price was unheard of and set the stage for the bronze age spike of the last two years.

Real people losing real money because they think its a game. And small dealers will be hit hardest because they will be stuck with the inventory.

Dear Forum members, we consider these blatant lies and false accusations defamatory and damaging to our reputation.

We have never sold a Hulk 181 CGC 8.0 anywhere on the comic book marketplace.

We assume the copy referenced in @Naphtha's post is the one shown below (screenshot from GPA's web site) that sold on September 22, 2018, since it's the only copy sold in 2018 for $5300. From the previous and subsequent sales of $4800 and $4900 respectively, it appears that the $5300 sale was within 10% of market price at that time. By matching the CGC Certification numbers, it seems that the same copy sold on August 26th for $4,080 through Heritage Auctions. Blue colored prices on GPA hyperlink over to Heritage's web site where a picture of the book can be viewed. If you log in to your account, the Sold Price is visible. and the item was purchased by you, the text: "You won this lot for..." appears above the Sold for box. (example in photo)

For those members that have questions regarding the legitimacy of Berkbridge Foundation, the status of Berkbridge or any Exempt Organization (EO) is available on IRS' website here: Tax Exempt Organization Search . Berkbridge Foundation is active and in compliance with all IRS and State of Nevada requirements. Any document required by Berkbridge Foundation to be made public, for viewing and inspection, under the provisions of IRS' "Exempt Organization Public Disclosure and Availability Requirements" can be accessed digitally on the aforementioned web site or by written request directly to: info@berkbridge.org

Berkbridge Foundation's Ebay account has not manipulated the comic book market through any methods including "Fake Sales" or "Shill Bidding" . Any and all previous or future false allegations that are found to be defamatory, libelous or damaging to the reputation of Berkbridge Foundation or its officers and staff will result in legal action. Please consider this post as our last one on this thread and feel free to contact us directly using the email address provided above.