Why do sellers misrepresent items? They are NOT Civil War Period!

[Pontiled]

I would really like to know why sellers misrepresent their items on eBay. One seller, Coddhunter, presently has 4 ink bottles that has the heading 4 Genuine USA Civil War Period Stoneware Ink Bottles. He has them listed under bottles:Inks and Civil War:Original Period Items. The lot is number 6510306610. His listing is only 1 of many that can be seen regularly advertised and most are from Britain.

These guys charge a lot for the shipping and are selling misrepresented items. I've notified eBay, but I doubt if they'll do anything except collect the fees.

This ruins the hobby, the auctions, and the spirit of collecting! []

 

[Maine Digger]

Mike I think you're really expressing your outrage about the tactics employed by unscrupulos sellers on e-bay; surely you KNOW WHY they do it.[&:] They're dishonest, and want to cheat others because of their corrupt nature and love of money.[] Gee, am I being too harsh? After all, they're only trying to make a dishonest living.......

 

[grdigger35]

I can understand your frustration Mike, but you have to read between the lines. "CIVIL WAR PERIOD", describes an era in time. But I know how you feel. It's like they're trying to sell you something that was somehow invloved in the Civil War. But they only learn their advertising tactics from the big boys.

 

[Pontiled]

Well, Civil War Period means just that, 1861-1865. If they had used Civil War type, that would represent a relic that is just like one from the period, but may be earlier or later. The one that I am referring to says U.S.A. Civil War Period but they absolutely are not. I guess some people's greed is much stronger than any desire to be honest.

 

[BRIAN S.]

Mike,
I agree I think a lot of it is greed with some sellers. But , I believe it's just lack of knowledge with some of the sellers also. Or being told by a collector or someone that they think is " in the know " on Civil War period glass , that has given them inaccurate information on the time period of there bottle.
I'd like to think that some of these seller's are misinformed and not all are greedy and dishonest. Brian

 

[Maine Digger]

Gee Mike, That e-bay auction really got your gander up didn't it![8D] I am in agreement with you 100% about intentional mis-representation of bottles perhaps with the hopes of garnering a better bid. But after reading Brian's post, maybe I was a little too harsh with my first response. [&:] In some cases, the sellers may have received bad information from others? I just need to look at the JPS malt bottle that Michael Polack listed in his book as a very rare UPS bottle; I was representing it as such until some of the good folks here set me straight. But I guess the bottom line is effort should be made to remove any doubt about the validity of the item being sold BEFORE offering it up.[8|] By the way you think it's bad with bottles on e-bay, check out the marbles up for auction. An awful lot of modern Mexican or Chinese ones are being panned off to the unknowledgeable as Christiansen's, Akro Agates etc. Keep up the good fight Mike![]

 

[Pontiled]

Yeah Norm, it got more than just a little dander up! After seeing so many (and I do mean many) of the guys and gals putting up falsely identified bottles (specifically Civil War, which is my specialty), I had had enough of it. I'll be notifying eBay whenever someone does it, and I'll probably be posting much the same on the various boards. The problem with posting on the boards is that so few people even read them. The problem with eBay is that they never do anything about it!

I know what you mean about marbles since I have a small collection of them, mainly decorated clays and some nice onionskins. But, if you think that bottles and marbles are enough, you should see the things on the Civil War relics board! It's like a plague has fallen on us. It's worse now than I've ever seen it.

 

[kumtow]

Hi Mike,
Some of the guys on the Bottledigginguk site actively pursue these sellers by notifying eBay, emailing the bidders and flooding the seller with questions. They have enjoyed considerable success in getting the seller to remove the item in question. I have seen coddhunter's name on eBay for a number of years and would suspect that he knows exactly what era the bottles are. Have seen all sorts of crap used to sell bottles recently including references to Jack the Ripper. One that gets right up my nose is sellers who tittle their auction "Codd, hamilton, ginger, potlid, ink. If one carries out a search on a particular bottle these sellers bottles always turn up as they cover all bases.[]

 

[Pontiled]

Hi Alan,

You are right. The only thing we can do is notify ther bidders, send e-mails to the seller, and tell eBay. On this particular lot, three bidders sent me thanks for letting them know. The seller never acknowledged my e-mail, and eBay just sent one of their canned e-mails.

This lot went for $20.00 or $20.50, plus $15.00 for shipping, plus $8.00 for insurance, if requested. This lot should never been allowed on eBay (they knew it and the seller knew it). Now, a bidder has definitely overpaid in auction fees only. It's sad, but I will continue to do the same thing. You know, I have written 3 editions of my book on Civil War bottles and jars, have been a consult to museums and collectors, and have been a speaker at many events. Do you think eBay would put any of this experience to good use? Nope!

Now I'll just wait for the next one to show up. [>:]

 

[grdigger35]

Mike, What company published your book? Up here, I'll need all the info possible to order it through a local bookstore.