I WOULD NOT BUY FROM EBAY DEALERS FROM CHINA AS IT IS ILLEGAL TO SELL ANYTHING 100 YEARS OR OLDER. THE PENALTYS FOR GETTING CAUGHT SELLING REAL 100 YEAR OLD THINGS IN CHINA IS FATAL OR WORSE, SO IT IS VERY UNLIKELY THEY WOULD TAKE THE RISK. THE SALE OF REPLICAS AS OLD ANTIQUES IS ENCOURAGED AND COMMON SO THE CHANCE OF GETTING A GOOD OLD SWORD ARE ALMOST AS GOOD AS WINNING THE LOTTERY. SOME OF THE REPLICAS ARE WORTH HAVING DUE TO GOOD WORKMANSHIP BUT OTHER MORE RECENT ONES ARE VERY POORLY MADE. I USED TO BUY SOME THINGS FROM CHINA AS THEIR ART AND CRAFTSMANSHIP IS OF GOOD QUALITY AND WAS A GOOD VALUE ON EBAY A FEW YEARS AGO. BUT THEY STARTED CHARGEING A VERY HIGH SHIPPING AND HANDELING FEE ON EVERYTHING MAKEING THEM TOO EXPENSIVE SO I STOPPED BUYING ANYTHING FROM CHINA ON EBAY.
I WOULD FIND A GOOD DEALER OR ONLY BID ON EBAY ITEMS FROM CHINA COMING FROM COUNTRIES OTHER THAN CHINA. BUT BEWARE AS SOME DEALERS FROM OTHER COUNTRYS BUY IT FROM CHINA AND RESELL IT ON EBAY AND YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY SHIPPING FROM CHINA. . SO LOOK AT THE SELLERS FEEDBACK MAKE SURE THE PICTURES ARE GOOD ENOUGH TO SEE AND IF THEY LOOK LIKE THE SAME TYPE OF STUFF COMING OUT OF CHINA AVOID THEM. THE SAFEST WAY TO GET SOMETHING YOU LIKE IS TO BUY FROM A REPUTABLE DEALER. GOOD LUCK
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