Overheard conversation

soolin

I was in a local junk shop that has pretensions to be an antique shop today and overheard a conversation between two of the employees, both who deal on eBay.

Basically guy number 1 was moaning he had been suspended due to stupid buyers making stupid complaints and he's lost loads of money and eBay are rubbish.....etc.

I had to hang around to Hear the whole story but basically he's been selling costume jewellery as gold and silver and could not see why buyers expected it to be gold and silver, and guy 2 was agreeing that buyers must be numpties. Their opinion was that using 'gold' and 'silver' is perfectly normal to describe colours and any buyer believing they were getting real gold and silver deserve to be ripped off . Apparently the stuff was sold just with a photo and a description like gold brooch, or silver cygnet ring- nothing else.

Unluckily for guy A all his funds were held for 21 days so he lost the lot and got back all his junk, unluckily for us buyers he has plans to open a new account in a different name and his mums address to resell the lot.

porto_bello

Unfortunately, they're far from the only ones. There are quite a few damaged, modern prints masquerading as 'original watercolours'.

There's also a seller who regularly seems to unearth lost drawings by Van Gogh, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec etc, but only the occasional buyer seems to have realised that it all seems too good to be true.

forgotmyname

I did have a quick look on ebay for a silver necklace. 1oz solid silver.

A couple of listings put the items felt light because they were hollow.

Surely 1oz is 1oz whether its hollow or not. How do you make a 1oz hollow silver necklace 22" long weigh the same as a solid one the same diameter and length?

And it feels light? Probably 0.01oz really.

Crowqueen

If those were employees in a shop, I would be worried for the shop.

soolin

Crowqueen wrote: »

If those were employees in a shop, I would be worried for the shop.

Actually the shop itself has not escaped the attention of trading standards, they have no idea what they have or what they are selling. I've seen 'antique' items that commemorate events in the late 1980s but I have also bought Whitefriars glass from them sold as 'nice vase'.

The only time i ever made a big fuss, and almost got banned was when the owner tried to sell ivory to someone wanting to start an ebay business- I reminded the buyer he needed a receipt stating categorically that the items pre dated 1947- but they told him I had watched too many TV programmes and there was no such need- and anyway they didn't 'do' receipts, all cash no cheques or cards- no questions.

Incidentally, ebay do not allow ivory to be sold, with or without a date, but they told me I was worng about that too.

porto_bello

Come to think of it, I suppose over time, the word 'antique' has lost its true meaning.

In most 'antique shops', you are hard pressed to find anything that qualifies for antique, whichever differing definition of antique you use, amongst the mountains of new and old repro.

A bookshop that didn't have any books, but tried to pass off anything else as a book would be deemed misleading, but an antique shop that doesn't have any antiques and simply tried to pass off other things as antiques is somehow expected.

Crowqueen

Antique/vintage/retro all have relatively precise definitions in the trade, but it varies so much that it's probably difficult for the layperson to distinguish. I was browsing in a market in Russia and was shocked to find some old communist posters on sale at $7 and some at $100 - but then I was shown the dates and it made sense. Sometimes little things make a huge difference to value and so it's probably difficult for anyone without an eye for detail or a knowledge of that market to tell the difference.

I love rooting around in old junk shops and so on - sadly since I left Eastern Europe pickings have been slim - but I was horrified once a few years ago to see a Sega Megadrive in a museum. I didn't have one but some of my friends did and although I was only in my mid-20s at the time I realised it's the first sign you are getting old.

I made an Ed-the-Duck reference at university a few months ago (likening Ed Miliband to said CBBC puppet) and all I got was blank stares. It's not really great for morale when the people you are talking to were babies when he was on TV. Then I had someone ask me, 'Which came first, Iraq or 9/11?' - and I was really scared. I'm only 33 in October!

JillyCornwall

I buy quite a lot of Jewelery on Ebay & always ask for details of hallmarks if not shown in photos or clearly described..after all if its real most people will be wanting the best price so will include full details. I also avoid..'not marked but tested as..9 ....18 ct gold etc', because most sellers don't know how to acid test correctly & are more often than not wrong with their results. Definitely buyer beware in the jewelery sections on Ebay.

Crowqueen

eBay in general is buyer-beware writ large.

However, it is still a very, very good place to buy interesting junk - it's more the consumer durables I'm careful about rather than the out-of-print or vintage stuff I buy - and I rarely spend more than £20 so I'm usually happy.

I got a glorious antique volume of religious magazines and a copy of an 1870s medical almanac this time last year and it was immensely useful when reading up on Victorian health practices. It really brought what I was writing at the time to life and without eBay and eBid I would have had very little time or cash to go and look for such a thing in the big wide world.

Oxford and Henley are close by and good sources of antiques and antiquarian books (persuaded my boyfriend to take me to Oxford as there is a play on there he wants to see as well ) but you can't beat not having to leave your front room to do your research properly!

shortstop

Crowqueen wrote: »

I love rooting around in old junk shops and so on - sadly since I left Eastern Europe pickings have been slim - but I was horrified once a few years ago to see a Sega Megadrive in a museum. I didn't have one but some of my friends did and although I was only in my mid-20s at the time I realised it's the first sign you are getting old.

I still have a Sega Megadrive and it was new when i got it. Yes that was a fair few years ago ( ok ok I was 5 so it was 21 years ago) but surely shouldn't be in a museum yet..... geez I'm starting to feel the age creeping on!:rotfl:

I do find the whole vinatge/retro wording can be misleading, I'm quite into the 50s style and the amount of new items people list as vintage is stupid, luckily I like to read listing very carefully and take a good look at the pictures etc

Crowqueen

It was in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum exhibition of 'Toys through the Ages'. It was some time ago even now!

The V&A have got a big exhibition of modern design too. Mind you, it's not so bad, it's not so much a 'museum' as simply an exhibition.