Wata co-founder accused of breaking company rules on selling graded stock Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Wata co-founder accused of breaking company rules on selling graded stock A "significant conflict of interest". News by Tom Phillips Deputy Editor Updated on 1 Sep 2021 36 comments A detailed Proof Games report into Mark Haspel, the co-founder of game grading company Wata, has brought to light worrying details of his business activities, and of Wata in general. Wata appraises and rates the quality of collectible video games, often pushing their prices into the hundreds and thousands of dollars. To avoid any conflict of interest, it has previously stated it does not allow employees to have their own games graded or sell any that have been graded by the company. But, this week, Proof Games' Seth Abramson discovered he had apparently bought several WATA-graded video games from an eBay seller that turned out to be Haspel. One of his purchases reportedly included a yellow sticky note that invited Abramson to email Haspel privately "for more games". Image credit: Proof Games/Seth Abramson. At the moment, Haspel is simply accused of breaking Wata's company promise not to own or sell stock it has graded. But after looking into the matter further, Abramson's report raises a number of concerning questions. The eBay account in question currently lists nearly $50k worth of Wata-rated games, almost all of which have been rated as 9.0 or higher, described as an "investment grade" tier. The majority are 9.6 or higher, among the highest-possible grading Wata gives. Among the questions Abramson raises - but does not have answers for - are when these games were bought and rated, and who by, and what insider knowledge Haspel has of the market, such as how many other copies of a particular game might exist of a particular quality. There's much more in the Proof Gaming report, which is well worth a read. No response from Haspel is included, but we've contacted Wata today for more. Wata has come under scrutiny this year as a number of high-profile Wata-rated video games have sold via the company's auction partner, Heritage Auctions, for increasingly eyebrow-raising amounts. Wata and Heritage Auctions are closely linked. Heritage Auctions co-founder James Halperin - who was fined $1.2m for fraud back in 2004 - was a previous Wata investor and advisory board member, and Haspel has known Halperin for a number of years. In July 2020, a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. rated 9.4 by Wata sold for $114k, a record at the time. Fast forward to this April, and a sealed 9.6 Wata-rated copy of Super Mario Bros. sold for a whopping $660k. In July, a sealed 9.0 Wata-rated copy of The Legend of Zelda sold for an even-higher $870k. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Atari will hold RollerCoaster Tycoon rights for another decade Ups and downs. 7 Lady Dimitrescu will be a tad smaller in Resident Evil Village's Mercenaries DLC Level the playing field. 1 Overwatch 2 suffers another DDoS attack and character roster bugs Mei Mei. 13 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store