genuine of fake?

pinoy · 19th January 2008, 05:51 PM

p

ariel · 19th January 2008, 11:06 PM

No matter how smart, experienced and careful we are, there will always be a forger able to fool us.
Collecting is a passion, and reason is always put on a back burner when passion is concerned ( divorce lawyers make a very nice living

).
We always dream about finding a "sleeper", and these happen just often enough to whet our appetites for yet another adventure .
No pain, no gain. I once got in a frantic e-bay negotiation with some guy selling a seemingly ugly kindjal. Got it for a sum that made him exceedingly happy. Well, it is mine, and it is something that rightfully belongs in the main collection of the Hermitage. Of course, my next adventure was less successful, to put it mildly

What are the main reasons for our failures?
- Smart seller/good forger/just a criminal ( as we speak, one very successful e-bayer fell victim to a sting; I'll post details a bit later)
- Greed ( yup, we are only humans...)
- Careless abandon of reason ( ditto)
- Self-indulgence ( " I am miserable and need a candy"
Education and self-restraint are very important in preventing most of stupid mistakes, but a risk-averse collector will end up with a bunch of boring, run-of-the-mill and cheap things.

After all, people who once actually wielded the very same swords we are currently buying took infinitely greater risks.

Addendum: as promised, here are the details:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=006
About year and a half ago, there was a similar "collection" of unbelievably good Ottoman and Indian swords offered by a seller from the Ukraine. He re-listed each sword ~1 week after sale (enough time for bank transfer), and sold each one 3 times! Needless to say, he got negative feedbacks from his "marks". Currently, he also has a great shamshir for sale, private auction. The seller's names used were all inactive for several years and had very good feedbacks.
Who is willing to bet that the buyer of this Tulwar is going to get it in the mail?
And, of course, e-bay made it impossible to contact the buyer and warn him.

19th January 2008, 11:06 PM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	No matter how smart, experienced and careful we are, there will always be a forger able to fool us. Collecting is a passion, and reason is always put on a back burner when passion is concerned ( divorce lawyers make a very nice living ). We always dream about finding a "sleeper", and these happen just often enough to whet our appetites for yet another adventure . No pain, no gain. I once got in a frantic e-bay negotiation with some guy selling a seemingly ugly kindjal. Got it for a sum that made him exceedingly happy. Well, it is mine, and it is something that rightfully belongs in the main collection of the Hermitage. Of course, my next adventure was less successful, to put it mildly What are the main reasons for our failures? - Smart seller/good forger/just a criminal ( as we speak, one very successful e-bayer fell victim to a sting; I'll post details a bit later) - Greed ( yup, we are only humans...) - Careless abandon of reason ( ditto) - Self-indulgence ( " I am miserable and need a candy" Education and self-restraint are very important in preventing most of stupid mistakes, but a risk-averse collector will end up with a bunch of boring, run-of-the-mill and cheap things. After all, people who once actually wielded the very same swords we are currently buying took infinitely greater risks. Addendum: as promised, here are the details: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=006 About year and a half ago, there was a similar "collection" of unbelievably good Ottoman and Indian swords offered by a seller from the Ukraine. He re-listed each sword ~1 week after sale (enough time for bank transfer), and sold each one 3 times! Needless to say, he got negative feedbacks from his "marks". Currently, he also has a great shamshir for sale, private auction. The seller's names used were all inactive for several years and had very good feedbacks. Who is willing to bet that the buyer of this Tulwar is going to get it in the mail? And, of course, e-bay made it impossible to contact the buyer and warn him. Last edited by ariel; 19th January 2008 at 11:22 PM.

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19th January 2008, 05:51 PM	#1
pinoy Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 14	p