wrong id and color for jar listed on ebay.

[bottleboy311]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6238765082&sspagename=ADME:B:AAQ:US:1

Above you will find a listing on ebay for a jar that I feel is incorret represented.

I hate when people get a jar and look it up thinking it is a $200 to $300 jar when it only worth $25 maybe $50 at the most.

First the seller claims this is jar # 1778-9 on page 230 Red Book #9. There is a 1778 w/o the -9 on page 227, however that is a aqua jar with 4 under the arced Mason (not this jar). Second, there is a 1787-9 on page 230, (the seller could have transposed #'s), but again, I do not feel that this is the listed jar either. First of all the jar listed on ebay looks more Apple Green in the pic. Citron, which the lister claims his jar is, and is the color of Jar # 1787-9 in The Red Book, is more yellow or if it does have green in it, it tends to be more on the olive side. Second 1787-9 should have a ground lip. The pic in the ebay listing seems to be a smooth lip, however, I may be wrong cause I can't make it out fully from the pic. But either way ground or smooth lip I don't think this is what the listing seller claims it to be. It is either 1787-4 (w/ smooth lip) or 1787-5 (w/ ground lip). In my opinon, and I am just a jar collector, this jar, in Apple Green, value is 15-35 dollars. He is opening it a $24.99 bid with a reseve, with no bids as of now. If he sold it for $24.99, which he won't because it won't meet his reserve, in my oppinon again he would be getting a good price on this jar. I have emailed him with my feeling about this. Of course when a person gets the idea that they have found something very rare, no amount of logic can convince them they are wrong. What I am afraid of is some unsuspecting new collector buys this jar for a couple hundred dollars thinking he or she is getting a great deal on a Citron colored Jar and not buying an Apple Green Color jar.

Take a look at the listing and see what you think.

Lee

 

[GuntherHess]

hmm...If I was going to have an ebay name like MASONJARS I think I'd be a bit more careful listing my jars.
If you took out all the ebay listing that had mistakes we wouldnt have anything left to bid on. I get some of my best buys from people who have no idea what they are selling.

 

[capsoda]

Yeah, I gust have a good ha!ha! and press on. That jar is to obviously APPLE GREEN![sm=rolleyes.gif]

 

[jarsnstuff]

Hi Bottleboy - Sadly, I believe all the discussion about what Redbook number this jar should be is just a waste of time. This jar is a reproduction, made in India maybe last week. Why do I say this? A. The color is way too bright. B. It has a smooth lip. C. The base is all wrong. D. Of course, if I'm going to try to pass off a fake, I'll take several really lousy pictures! There have been many jars show up over the past year or so of reproduction jars in "fantasy" colors, and I believe this to be one of them. BEWARE at any price. -Tammy

 

[bottleboy311]

Tammy,

Thanks for the info. I did not know they were making repros in India? Not surprised though. With all the repro out there now, it is hard to keep up with all of them. I figured there was something fishy when the fellow that has listed the item, didn't even bother to answer to my email. If he really felt this was a old jar, he would have definded his listing. He figures he will get his money and run. These guys don't stay long on ebay or they close their screen name and open a different one. At least no one has bid on it yet. With a screen name, masonjars13, maybe people figure his jars are bad luck.

By the way Tammy, where are you from in California? Use to live in Southern Califorina and knew a lot of Jar Collectors out there. Many of them have moved away and some, like Alex Kerr, have past away. Me I moved to Florida about 3 1/2 years ago, (too many people in California). And now the whole eastern sea board and the northen mid west are wanting to move to Florida. I heard on the news last week at the rate Florida is growing it will overcome New York State's population as the third largest state in the US. Oh well at least more people helps my real estate prices.


Lee

 

[jarsnstuff]

Hi Lee - I'm just east of Sacramento, where good jar finds are few & far between! Back to this masonjars person, I checked his user id & he's been an ebay member since 2003, but changed his name in October this year. I also don't trust anyone who sells jars "as is" - most any & all of the reputable folks will give you your money back if the jar isn't what you expected. According to this guy's policy --- tough!! I don't know if you've noticed, but the reserve has been met.... I really hate to see it, but I've had some really bad experiences trying to inform sellers and/or warn buyers, so I just don't anymore.

 

[bobclay]

Tammy is absolutely correct, this green jar is a repro less than two years old. First imported from China in 2003, these are seen in 7 colors and 3 sizes and if you don't know what to look for they will fool even advanced collectors. The lip of the jar isn't a truly smooth, pressed glass lip, but is machine ground and VERY smooth. The seller had been advised this was a new repro by several collectors, then stopped the auction and then relisted it giving a Redbook number and omitting the very smooth lip part like the first listing had said. But the base is all wrong and the mould number 7 (for quarts) is also a dead givaway.

You can read about these new repros here:

http://home.earthlink.net/~raclay/1858Update.HTML

Email me if you have any questions...Bob Clay

 

[bottleboy311]

[]The sad thing about this is I just went to the listing and the jar sold. Some guy bid on it twice. The first bid was $50.01 and it didn't meet the sellers reserve. His second bid meet the reserve and he bought that jar for $80.00. He probably thinks he got a great deal. After everything said here, I feel this jar isn't worth 1/10 of that price. Oh well the old expression runs true, "Buyer Beware." The other one the rings in my ear is, "If it looks to good to be true, it probably is."

Back in the 80's a guy at the antique swap meet at the Veterans Stadium in Long Beach, CA he was selling a number of 1/2 pint lightning jars that were amber, sky blue and apple green. He said he had picked them up back east at an old wearhouse aution. Someone had made them look older by rusting up the bail. He was asking $5.00 each. My freind, who had collected jars for 25 years, and I both thought they were old. In fact some had putnum ghosted on the bottom. We thought we had ran into some old rare jars. We figured this guy didn't know what he had so we talked him down and bought all he had, over 75 in all at a $1.00 each. They of course were rall epos, made in Tiawan. I sold all of my for more than I paid for them. I did sell them as repros. I made money off of them, but not what I thought I could. I don't know what my friend did with his half. At least this guy at Long Beach wasn't asking $80.00 each which he may have been able to get if he pieced them out one at a time.

Lee

 

[bobclay]

Hi Lee and others,

Reproductions themselves are never the problem. It is a good way for collectors to add some color at a cheap price, and some repros are quite authentic looking such as the 1970s "dream color" jars. But the problems arise when unscrupulous sellers try to dupe people into thinking they are real either by misrepresentation or omission of key facts. There was a repro amber 1/2 pint Lightning on ebay just last week. And although many people tried, the seller could not be convinced the jar was not a real amber 1/2 pint, even when shown the facts. But at least they were honest enough to amend their auction to show that some people felt the jar was not authentic, so bidders needed to do their own research and bid accordingly.

Judging from the responses given a few people by the seller of the green 1858 jar, I think it was more vanity than intentional desception. You just couldn't convince him it was a reproduction. Thankfully, these new repros were reported immediately to collectors when they were first seen in Ohio in 2003 or a LOT of people might have been fooled by them.

The reason I have links to show most of the known repros on my ebay ME page is because over 30 years ago, the first nicely colored jar I bought was an amber midget in an antique shop for $250. Boy was I thrilled! At that time, plain amber midgets booked for $600 so I thought what a bargain! Until I called one of my mentors, Dick Roller, only to find out it was not authentic. Bummer! And I'll never forget the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach as I thought of that $250 and how I wasted it because I was unaware. Then when ebay came about and I kept seeing hordes of repros being sold as authentic, I had to do something. So I've published articles about repros in several places on the web and link to them on my ME page. I've received many emails of thanks since they were published beginning in 2001 and that alone makes it all worthwhile. We, as fellow jar collectors, HAVE to band together and look out for one another when it comes to repros. There are many people out there that could care less about us jar collectors, or our hobby. So it is up to us to police our own hobby and keep it as clean as we can for future collectors.

Now one of our biggest problems facing us as a collective group is the painted and/or heat stained jars. So far, they are pretty recognizable because of their wild colors but it is only a matter of time before they get smart about what they're doing. There's one on ebay right now: item #6241319124. BUYERS BEWARE at all times on ebay unless you know whom you're dealing with.

Happy collecting! )

Bob Clay

 

[card]

If it's to good to be true.........it probably is. I learned the hardway from eBay long ago.
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