There has been some clear misinterpretation of the intent of my earlier post of the same name today.
When writing about the auction for high priced Simplex gear, my main intent was to protect the reputation of all of the people who had placed bids on the gear. This, following Steve Neago's generalized comment that it is difficult to collect high bids on expensive items. As I wrote then, my principle goal of posting was to make clear that "With these bidders, the seller will have no problems collecting the money offered." This comment will hold true with all of the people who have bid on this item so far.
Some of you have mistakenly thought that I was warning about dealing with Ditrich Schmidt (Belrey) because I wrote: "Belrey who is the second bidder on the auction, hails from Germany (I believe from Kiel). I have heard him described by German bike collectors as being the German equivalent of Ken Denny (What does that mean?). He has 2 negatives, one describing him as almost blackmailing... the other saying no further contact after winning the auction."
While I have never had any business transactions with Dietrich, we have exchanged a number of emails and he has been very forthcoming with information and sharing of his knowledge. The comparison with Ken Denny was relayed to me by two different German collectors. I honestly do not know the exact intention of the quote made by my two sources, but I take it to likely mean that Dietrich in Germany, like Ken here in the US have among the best collections in their respective country. Furthermore, they are both very determined and dedicated in their collecting, meaning that they will almost always get the items that they truly want.
Lastly, as for the translation of one of the 2 negative ebay feedbacks (out of over 150 transactions!) given to Dietrich, where it is inferred that he 'blackmails', let me assure you all that this is a bogus negative. Dietrich has voluntarily shared with me the exchange of emails with the person who left the negative feedback and I must say that I would have handled the situation identically to Dietrich's honorable and fair way. This is one of those tit for tat exchanges that are unfortunately too common on ebay.
Hence in my books, you can't find much better possible purchasers for your ebay items than the bidders on the Simplex derailleur.
--
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ