Ebay fraud alert

tom hyle · 15th April 2005, 12:53 PM

Hey, Radu, do you know of any websites of the Chinese manufacturers (other than Chen/Hanwei, who make swords, not fakes)? They may be less open; the "aging" appears to be factory-uniform on many pieces (especially the bronze/brass, for instance). In any event, though I haven't owned any of it, the new Hindoo folded/wootz (that's the stuff that was being referred to, no?) stuff seems pretty nice to me, and is certainly openly made and sold as new by the makers; what a dealer does after that can be another matter, of course. For that matter, a lot of the Chinese stuff looks fairly nice to me, too, but my sister brought me back a "chinese trouse" from China that would've looked fine in an ebay picture, but actually has an epoxy-filled tang-gap between the scales (who knows how long the real tang is?), a plastic sheath, and a blade I fear for. (mind you, a heartfelt gift though) I have just bought a Chinese almost certainly repro. mace from someone in USA who had a pile of Chinese antiques on ebay, looking like the usual fakes, but shipping for $15, instead of $65. I keep telling them to do this; now if only the'd sell 'em shiny and/or call 'em repros......There have been some sellers out of china charging realistic shipping rates, BTW. Still $20 or $30 of course, and the swords weren't $.99, but also $20 and $30. I'd probably rather buy a new Chinese practice sword or farm sword, than one made for the repro./fake market, anyway, but those aren't as readily available over here. I once worked with a person whose take on the whole antique market was that selling real antiques is for fools, and fakes are where the money's at....it was interesting in its own exasperating way.

BSMStar · 15th April 2005, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom hyle

shipping for $15, instead of $65... and the swords weren't $.99

You got to love a $0.99 sword that has a shipping cost of $249.00 (there is one on eBay now). I wonder if very many people get "hit" by the "fine print" on these? I don't even bother to look for Japanese swords there any more... you would think it is affecting eBay's business (not to mention reputation).

Conogre · 15th April 2005, 06:22 PM

I've purchased several items from the site in India, and to be fair, have to relate my own experiences with them.
All pieces that I purchased were clearly listed as newly made and were of excellent quality, and with shipping to the US faster than many sellers IN the US with one exception.
They ran two auctions on sets of armor with Muslim chiseling, one listed as about 50 years old and out of my price range, with the second being for 3 sets being newly made out of stainless steel and MUCH less expensive.....I won one of the three sets offered on the second auction and didn't hear from them for almost two months.
When I finally e-mailed them, they were extremely apologetic, said something about cleaning the rust off (stainless steel?) and that my purchase would be here ASAP, which ended up being by courrier in about 14 days.
To my delight and surprise, they'd obviously over sold the 2nd auction and had replaced it with the older (and more elaborate) set in non-stainless for exactly the same price, with a substantial reduction is shipping as well.....for $156.00, including shipping, I have no complaint at all
I HAVE seen some auctions stating that they have added khoftgari or inlaying to an older piece, but there were never any claims as to the exact age of the original piece, other than it was NOT newly made.
What buyers of their wares may do is entirely a different matter, with my suspicion being that it's probably American re-sellers that need to be watched.
Mike

15th April 2005, 12:53 PM	#1
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	Hey, Radu, do you know of any websites of the Chinese manufacturers (other than Chen/Hanwei, who make swords, not fakes)? They may be less open; the "aging" appears to be factory-uniform on many pieces (especially the bronze/brass, for instance). In any event, though I haven't owned any of it, the new Hindoo folded/wootz (that's the stuff that was being referred to, no?) stuff seems pretty nice to me, and is certainly openly made and sold as new by the makers; what a dealer does after that can be another matter, of course. For that matter, a lot of the Chinese stuff looks fairly nice to me, too, but my sister brought me back a "chinese trouse" from China that would've looked fine in an ebay picture, but actually has an epoxy-filled tang-gap between the scales (who knows how long the real tang is?), a plastic sheath, and a blade I fear for. (mind you, a heartfelt gift though) I have just bought a Chinese almost certainly repro. mace from someone in USA who had a pile of Chinese antiques on ebay, looking like the usual fakes, but shipping for $15, instead of $65. I keep telling them to do this; now if only the'd sell 'em shiny and/or call 'em repros......There have been some sellers out of china charging realistic shipping rates, BTW. Still $20 or $30 of course, and the swords weren't $.99, but also $20 and $30. I'd probably rather buy a new Chinese practice sword or farm sword, than one made for the repro./fake market, anyway, but those aren't as readily available over here. I once worked with a person whose take on the whole antique market was that selling real antiques is for fools, and fakes are where the money's at....it was interesting in its own exasperating way. Last edited by tom hyle; 15th April 2005 at 02:39 PM.

15th April 2005, 06:22 PM	#3
Conogre Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Clearwater, Florida Posts: 371	I've purchased several items from the site in India, and to be fair, have to relate my own experiences with them. All pieces that I purchased were clearly listed as newly made and were of excellent quality, and with shipping to the US faster than many sellers IN the US with one exception. They ran two auctions on sets of armor with Muslim chiseling, one listed as about 50 years old and out of my price range, with the second being for 3 sets being newly made out of stainless steel and MUCH less expensive.....I won one of the three sets offered on the second auction and didn't hear from them for almost two months. When I finally e-mailed them, they were extremely apologetic, said something about cleaning the rust off (stainless steel?) and that my purchase would be here ASAP, which ended up being by courrier in about 14 days. To my delight and surprise, they'd obviously over sold the 2nd auction and had replaced it with the older (and more elaborate) set in non-stainless for exactly the same price, with a substantial reduction is shipping as well.....for $156.00, including shipping, I have no complaint at all I HAVE seen some auctions stating that they have added khoftgari or inlaying to an older piece, but there were never any claims as to the exact age of the original piece, other than it was NOT newly made. What buyers of their wares may do is entirely a different matter, with my suspicion being that it's probably American re-sellers that need to be watched. Mike Attached Images