Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on March 1, 2011 at 18:39

Thank you Rick, actually a good point there as I have experienced poor communication and that really would cause me not to buy.

Rick Cothren said:

1.yes

2. regularly

several per month as pocket permits.

Not much more to add most tips have already been noted by others. Pics are most important, the more the better. Also I won't buy if shipping is not disclosed up front or if seller won't respond to questons.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on March 1, 2011 at 18:41

Thank you Larry and its great to hear it from your perspective.

Larry W. Seale said:

Hi all:

 

Many thanks for the warm welcome!

 

I've never bought a knife on eBay but I have sold a few over the last 13/14 years. I do purchase quite a few items other than knives and as a buyer, ++++.  As a seller, 99.9% positive with just a couple of negatives, mostly caused by PayPal policies.  I do have a merchant account but do so little business other than PayPal that I'm going to cancel it  this year.

 

How can you protect yourself as a buyer? First & foremost, read the COMPLETE DESCRIPTION of the item but take it with a grain of salt. As stated, take a look at the pictures and if you want more - ASK! If the seller doesn't comply, then forget it - if they're too busy to take care of you, then they'll be too busy if there's a problem. Look at the seller feedback & actually read what people are saying - i.e. if there is a problem, how well did the seller handle it. 

 

As a seller, I had two negatives last year, one person claimed she didn't receive the lens for a camera (BS - it was a scam) I sold & another left a negative because the store item she purchased was  damaged so I didn't ship it. In both cases, I immediately refunded the money without question. Most sellers are honest, many are just ignorant,  and want the buyer to be happy, so communicate if there's a problem of any sort - you have plenty of time to file a Item Not Received or a Significantly Not As Described. There is no such thing as a NO RETURN policy on eBay, even when the seller (why do they still allow listings to state NO RETURN?). I'm leery of any seller that says they don't accept returns. Please, remember to  leave feedback - good or bad - it's an important tool and only about 65% of the buyers actually take the time.

 

You can get great bargains on items you can find no where else and the attempts to scam are no more prevalent than for on-line shopping in general. The things I  buy (computer related, mostly) are new and I use eBay for price and convenience. I live in a rural area and it's a 35 mile round trip to the closest small town and an 80 miles round trip from Denver.  3 bucks + for gas, if I never had to leave, I'd consider it!

 

Again, thanks for the warm welcome. -larry-

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on March 1, 2011 at 18:43

Thank you Frank, sounds like an enthusiastic yes. Good mention though about the swords, our members may not know that.

Frank yanez said:

1.Ilove to buy knives from ebay.Yes

2.As little as 12 a year and as much as 100

I will never buy antique swords from ebay there are too many fakes (I speak from experience) but new stuff I have never had a problem with in the 7years of ebaying knives.:)

Permalink Reply by Halicon on March 2, 2011 at 9:52

First of all I will right off the bat say that this post is off-topic - please bear with me though.

 

Scott wrote up a -very- good post at the end of page 2 that I know will help anyone trying to get what they want on Ebay.

They are very wise words that I myself have copied and pasted to a document myself just in case I forget about it.

But I know that a large portion of our members here are rather active on Ebay and that post would serve well as a general guideline when you're not sure if you have a good specimen or is victim of a seller trying to "hide" cosmetic defects and whatnot.

 

I just want to throw out the word that it is a post worth saving, perhaps even making it into an article for the first page.

 

edit: To my previous poster. I am a sword polisher - Ebay is THE scourge of my trade. Just for the fun of it I wrote up "Katana" at ebay and looked at the pics. The room you have for finding a real Katana from Japan (not Gunto (WW2 swords), most are made from spring steel and quenched in oil) and are thus not even legal to own in Japan.

Officers are trained in the way which they are to stomp on the sword in order to utterly destroy it.

 

To conclude, my findings was that 99,99% of everything listed was fake etched damascus from China and Pakistan. Blatantly obvious from everything on the sword. I did find two Shin-shinto's however (newly made swords), those are 100% genuine but the pricetag is from around $10000 up to well, you can literally spend any kind of amount.

The guys selling swords like that tends to be guys that fell for a trick and paid too much for a sword and thus wants it sold for the same price so he doesn't go in the red.

 

So for the masses if you are buying swords from Ebay, please make sure that you really know you thing. I as a sword polisher never acquire my swords from Ebay but rather from domestic sword fanatics inside Japan.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on March 2, 2011 at 11:31

Thank you Halicon, that was well written and may be educational for our members.

Halicon said:

First of all I will right off the bat say that this post is off-topic - please bear with me though.

 

Scott wrote up a -very- good post at the end of page 2 that I know will help anyone trying to get what they want on Ebay.

They are very wise words that I myself have copied and pasted to a document myself just in case I forget about it.

But I know that a large portion of our members here are rather active on Ebay and that post would serve well as a general guideline when you're not sure if you have a good specimen or is victim of a seller trying to "hide" cosmetic defects and whatnot.

 

I just want to throw out the word that it is a post worth saving, perhaps even making it into an article for the first page.

 

edit: To my previous poster. I am a sword polisher - Ebay is THE scourge of my trade. Just for the fun of it I wrote up "Katana" at ebay and looked at the pics. The room you have for finding a real Katana from Japan (not Gunto (WW2 swords), most are made from spring steel and quenched in oil) and are thus not even legal to own in Japan.

Officers are trained in the way which they are to stomp on the sword in order to utterly destroy it.

 

To conclude, my findings was that 99,99% of everything listed was fake etched damascus from China and Pakistan. Blatantly obvious from everything on the sword. I did find two Shin-shinto's however (newly made swords), those are 100% genuine but the pricetag is from around $10000 up to well, you can literally spend any kind of amount.

The guys selling swords like that tends to be guys that fell for a trick and paid too much for a sword and thus wants it sold for the same price so he doesn't go in the red.

 

So for the masses if you are buying swords from Ebay, please make sure that you really know you thing. I as a sword polisher never acquire my swords from Ebay but rather from domestic sword fanatics inside Japan.

Permalink Reply by Halicon on March 2, 2011 at 13:02

Glad to be able to help and that you appreciated the post Hog :)

 

I will also throw out that I will gladly help anyone interested in Asian swords to find what they want to find regardless if it's for a sword art or display. I have a long past in sword arts and the more historical irreplaceable ones made for social status (back then! not now lol).

Permalink Reply by Mark Lotz on March 2, 2011 at 19:40

1. Yes.
2. At least 1 knife a month.

I have not had any problems buying on eBay. I buy only from sellers with a 98-100% rating.

The listing must have more than one photo and a good description. Shipping and handling must be reasonable.

Permalink Reply by Carl Newton on March 2, 2011 at 22:54

No.1 Yes I do.    No.2 several times a month. I live in a small town away from any other supply. I would say I,ve had very good luck, and the few problems I've had were fairly easy to resolve.The biggest problem I find is sellers who upload blurry pictures or few pictures. Some are trying to hide something but most don't understand how important a good picture is. We know its pretty easy and cheap even with an economical digital camera. Really no excuse for a bad digital picture. 

Permalink Reply by Tyson Reynolds on March 3, 2011 at 7:45

1. Yes

2. Often

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on March 3, 2011 at 8:11

Thank you Mark for your post and buying from a seller with high approval is a great point.

Mark Lotz said:

1. Yes.
2. At least 1 knife a month.

I have not had any problems buying on eBay. I buy only from sellers with a 98-100% rating.

The listing must have more than one photo and a good description. Shipping and handling must be reasonable.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on March 3, 2011 at 8:14

Thanks Carl, I am with you on blurry pictures, , you know its on purpose, even I can take a clear picture by accident!

Carl Newton said:

No.1 Yes I do.    No.2 several times a month. I live in a small town away from any other supply. I would say I,ve had very good luck, and the few problems I've had were fairly easy to resolve.The biggest problem I find is sellers who upload blurry pictures or few pictures. Some are trying to hide something but most don't understand how important a good picture is. We know its pretty easy and cheap even with an economical digital camera. Really no excuse for a bad digital picture.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on March 3, 2011 at 8:15

Thank you Tyson, we'll put you down for a yes.

Tyson Reynolds said:

1. Yes

2. Often

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