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 EBay Ediquette...when it is an obvious fake what do you do?
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| Author | Topic: EBay Ediquette...when it is an obvious fake what do you do? |
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durginlover unregistered |
posted 04-29-2004 04:15 PM
 
I have been attempting to add to my Durgin collection by purchasing items on EBay. Overall, I have had some wonderful experienced, purchasing delightful items at comparative prices. But I have also has some unfortunate incidences with not so reputable sellers. My first question is am I the only one who seems to be at the bottom of the learning curve on this one? Just recently, I saw advertised by a seller ice tea spoons with a twisted neck. It was obvious (to me) that these were altered tea spoons but the auction did not reference anything about this. It frustrated me to no end that I know this but what about the poor person who is unaware of such 'new style' ice tea spoons? Does one email the seller and let them know? Do you just ignore it and feel sorry for the people who do get 'had' by this? IP: Logged |
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durginlover unregistered |
posted 04-29-2004 04:18 PM
I also forgot to add that I have seen the pattern Durgin New Art mis-identified as Iris on more than one occasion. Is it wrong to email the seller of their mistake? I did it once in the past and I got my head bit off and was politely told to mind my own business! IP: Logged |
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nihontochicken Posts: 289 |
posted 04-29-2004 05:10 PM
I've posted my eBay rant before, so I'll cut it short. eBay does not care whether the items are "real" or "fake". It does not have the inclination to referree sales contentions. If a buyer gets anything remotely resembling what was described, then eBay is satisfied that the transaction was successfully consumated. For an eye opener, do an eBay word search on "Japanese sword". Look at all the swords that are coming from China. They are nearly all fakes (I insert "nearly" only to preclude any legal actions). The fakes now outnumber the real Japanese swords by maybe five or ten to one. eBay is the ultimate "caveat emptor" market. Look out for yourself; eBay won't. As to the veracity of the seller on a misdescribed item, well, most won't welcome your corrections, even if they are honest. Look at the seller's other current and past auctions. If he/she is selling much silver, then he/she knows what's what. Take care. IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 05-06-2004 01:45 PM
I normally let things go - life is too short. The exception is when it appears from the wording in the auction and by the seller's feedback that they would care enough to make a correction and in those few cases I send the seller a nice email pointing out their error. Often they will make a change or add the information to the auction. I don't bother with emailing sellers who have little feedback or more than one or two negatives since the percentage of those that I've found who care about their reputation enough to do something with their auction has been too small. I don't contact the bidders since Ebay has set things up to favor the seller and a seller can complain about another Ebay member interfering in their auction and you can lose your Ebay registration for trying to do the right thing. The other side of that coin though is it protects you somewhat if you are selling a legitimate item and some crook decides to email your bidders to mess up your auction. The last resort I take is if something is an obvious forgery or the guy has stolen the photos from somewhere an obviously doesn't have the item they are selling, is that I email the Ebay management and report the phony auction. Sometimes they will pull the auction and sometimes they won't. It depends on how blatant the theivery is. If it is open to interpretation they usually will let the auction go forward. IP: Logged |
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nihontochicken Posts: 289 |
posted 05-06-2004 03:41 PM
Sorry, Scott. For everyone else, my post listed a link to an eBay auction originating in the Far East purporting to be selling an antique silver item that was evident in the photos to be a casting (prominent mold separation line), and which should not be a casting if indeed authentic. The seller had a positive feedback rating in the 80% range, but the actual feedback items were "private" (not available for viewing), as were the bidder IDs on this item. That particular auction aside, I believe that the "fake" producers are apparently discovering the antique silver market, just as they already have the Japanese sword market. If the maturation is the same, their first attempts will be downright laughable. However, in time the fakes will be refined, and will become increasingly difficult to discern as bogus. Let's see. IP: Logged |
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Paul S Posts: 32 |
posted 05-06-2004 10:20 PM
I'm a pretty avid ebay seller and deal mainly with silver. I get an average of 2-3 "YOU SHOULD KNOW..." emails a week. Some are helpful....some are rude and condescending. Here's a few examples: "You should know that is a rice spoon and not a berry spoon. I have the Christofle catalog" So it's still the same 9 3/4 in spoon pictured.
"The nut baskets you have listed are not Strasbourg...I don't know why everyone calls them that. I've been to the Gorham Archives and that's not what they are". Thank you. Okay they're not Strasbourg but everybody calls them that. I'm trying to attract attention to my item and sell it. If everybody calls it Strasbourg then so will I. On the second email to ask why I hadn't changed my listing I was told "You may know a little about a lot, but I know a lot about a little". You've misspelled STEIFF it should be STIEFF In short people list items on ebay to sell them. If the information you have will help facilitate the sale I think most appreciate it. Also keep in mind not only what you say but how you say it, a little comment about my item is always nice instead of just blasting me out of the water. I also buy a lot on ebay so I see the amount of made-up, recast, reworked and mis-identified items out there. Patterns are frequently mis-identified. Some people know better, most don't so try to go easy on them. This is a fairly esoteric field, where the information you hear may or may not be correct. Overall my ebay experience has been good and I really strive to make it good for my customers. Ebay is a great place where you can see, and have opportunity to buy things you would never see otherwise. Just remember to ask questions and caveat emptor. IP: Logged |
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zelda Posts: 21 |
posted 05-08-2004 03:49 PM
For the past two weeks a seller has listed a sterling pattern that I collect incorrectly - hasn't received any bids. I sent an e-mail to the seller about the error. No change was made and didn't hear back from the seller. Unfortunately for this seller, until a change is made the item probably isn't going to sell. I have also sent msgs when I thought something was plate rather than sterling, as listed, and didn't see corrections or receive a response. On the other hand, I have looked at items where the seller has revised an item descript because he/she received info from another e-bayer regarding errors in the description. If you think something is fake or misrepresented, send the seller a msg - sometimes it's helpful! IP: Logged |
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