[Rockhounds] What do you do about falsely advertised eBay items?
Kris Rowe
lapidary.specialties at gmail.com
Sun Mar 8 12:41:48 PDT 2009
Dear gentlemen, let me apologize for my defensive reaction. It was based
solely in my own dedication to being the best "seller" that I possibly can,
since even though eBay's not "essential" to human existence, it is essential
to my doing business. As a person, I am "challenged" both physically
(though not in an easily seen way) and financially, and so must do with what
I am able to do.
Quite simply stated: I have found no other venue, so open and accessible,
which asks so little, while providing such great possibilities, as eBay.
Gentlemen, if you know of one, please help out and inform me of it. I am
hamstrung by life, which I generally choose not to make public, but the
slightly nasty tone of the last few replies has made me a bit feel less
circumspect than usual. I sympathize AND empathize, having received poorly
packaged and inaccurately described items from other eBay sellers, who did
not seem to care.
dave, I can only envy your good fortune, and your obviously great location.
I assume that you're lucky enough to be working on privately held territory,
otherwise your discoveries would certainly be bittersweet.
And Al, I envy you your opportunities and location, as well. Your name is
well known to me, and one which I respect.
Perhaps, rather than knocking each other about, we might inquire of
ourselves whether we're appropriately thankful for our respective
opportunities and blessings, and whether we're sharing them well enough with
our fellows. I will continue to do so, by eBay and other means, since eBay
has granted me the venue by which to touch the souls of folks worldwide, and
be touched by them, through the specimens and stones we've wrested from the
ground, and have had the fortunate chance to share with others.
As for today, I'm looking forward to slabbing out some of the humble agate
and jasper we found yesterday, east of the (now "closed") Clear Creek
"Management Area" (sic) and seeing whether any of that serpentine turns out
really to be jade!
And to my friend the Onyx Collector, yep, we sellers have en even smaller
defense, but eBay's still "the best game in town!"
Be Well, y'all!
Kris
Lapidary Specialties
Blog & Gallery: R&R
Rockhound<http://r-and-r-rockhound.blogspot.com/>
On Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 5:47 PM, <betdav97 at aol.com> wrote:
> Kris,
> You assume too much, remember the saying about assuming.
> I don't do e-bay because of several reasons, one most of the
> stuff can be had cheaper else where. Why should I spend my
> time on e-bay? I have way too much going on in my life; like
> finding 23 amphidian vertebrae in the past two days, and a
> nice partial jaw, showing large teeth for the age of the fossil.
> I'd say more, but you are probably assumng already.
> dave
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kris Rowe <lapidary.specialties at gmail.com>
> To: Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors <
> rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
> Sent: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 2:49 pm
> Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] What do you do about falsely advertised eBay
> items?
>
>
>
> Rich, as an old salesman and small businessman, I simply apply the
> salesman's question: "If it's such a great claim, why aren't they mining it
> themselves? Why sell the claim on eBay, instead of going to mining firms
> that would arrange for a royalty situation, rather than a one-time payoff?
> Why, why, why?"
> Sure, there are lots of great reasons and replies that they could give, but
> are they believable?
>
> Yes, I agree that eBay should do what it can to stop rookery such as this,
> but I do understand that they rely on bidders to show some responsibility
> in
> their listings. They cannot logically interrogate every seller, no one
> would
> list with them. At some point, the age old adage that has proven to be the
> ultimate test of native intelligence throughout the ages must be applied:
> "If it's too good to be true, it probably is."
>
> Since I've run into folks who don't seem to get this, despite diplomas and
> letters after their names, I'll elaborate, though I doubt it applies to
> anyone on this list. Succinctly, "If it's too good to be true, it's too
> good
> to be true!"
>
> So Rich, I applaud your desire to protect the innocent. But, you can't. The
> innocent, in their wide eyed gullibility, have always been with us,and will
> always be the target of the unscrupulous and crooked. And the only true way
> to bring them justice is to attempt, no matter how they resist and insist
> that the "too good" is true, to bring them down to earth. And the only sure
> way of doing that with a person who has "The Will to Believe" is to watch
> as
> their money is taken, and hold their hand when they cry. Then, when the
> tears subside, ask if you have their attention now, and repeat your
> teaching.
>
> Because, you *can't* force a "conscience" on a person who has none. You *
> can't*.
>
> Dave, I'm sorry to hear that you choose not to even visit eBay, and are
> proud of that choice. That attitude pre-assumes that *all* eBay sellers are
> crooks. I choose not to take offense, having run into a number of sellers
> who were less than scrupulous, and a few outright liars. We, as sellers who
> use eBay exclusively at this time, rely on great customers who tell us
> whether they're happy or unsatisfied. Our Feedback is 100%, our customer
> ratings an unblemished 5 stars, and we are *proud of it!* Yes, we may have
> only offered fairly common material, but we did it with humility, and put
> forth the effort to accurately explain and describe the beauty of the
> material. We've offered, in these tough times, free shipping, to make
> shopping and billing "worry free." And we would rather lose money on a
> transaction than have a blemish on our reputation.
>
> And that defines the true measure of a seller: What is their reputation
> worth to them? Can money make them lie? Do they offer detailed
> *and*believable documentation and descriptions of their items? Do they
> resort to
> effusive descriptions such as "Unique!, Rare!, World-Class!"? (We gave up
> using "Museum" in our descriptions after our first round of auctions. It
> made us uncomfortable, and our customers appreciated our honesty. Trust me,
> if it fit's any of the above descriptions, the customer will see it.)
>
> Just as with any purchase, *you* must use discretion in your shopping, and
> be diligent in demanding proper conduct from a sloppy seller. And remember,
> a good seller lives on their feedback, which defines their reputation.
> Check
> feedback *and* the full "details" of the auction *before* bidding. Bidders
> and buyers have feedback, too.
>
> So Dave, I hope you will check out our Blog & Gallery, and enjoy my amateur
> photography and "Bad Writing." You'll see humble salt and hanksite, and
> will
> find a place where the enthusiasm for our shared avocation knows no
> boundaries!
>
> Be Well, y'all!
> Kris
> Lapidary Specialties
> Blog & Gallery: R&R
> Rockhound<http://r-and-r-rockhound.blogspot.com/>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 7:36 AM, <betdav97 at aol.com> wrote:
>
> My solution is: don't visit E-Bay, and I am proud of it,
>> dave
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: RicSchager at aol.com
>> To: rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com
>> Sent: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 11:33 pm
>> Subject: [Rockhounds] What do you do about falsely advertised eBay
>>
> items?
>
>>
>>
>>
>> _Topaz Garnet Quartz Realgar Amethyst Chrysocolla Amber - eBay (item
>> 180333600754 end time Mar-13-09 08:38:43 PDT)_
>> (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180333600754)
>>
>> The above link is for a mining claim in Washington about 25 miles from
>> where
>> I live in Washington. I've prospected for gold in Money Creek, with
>>
> sparse
>
>> gold fines and flour found. And there is some quartz, mostly
>>
> leaverite.
>
>> It'
>> certainly not a "gem mine" that produces amber, topaz, etc. As an
>> example,
>> Washington's only amber producing area is several mountains to the
>>
> south,
>
>> and
>> just how many of you collectors have topaz from Money Creek? The
>>
> answer,
>
>> of
>> course, is none.
>>
>> Seller (from Texas) responded to my message by offering his
>>
> professional
>
>> services to find these gems - but I know that they would have to be
>>
> salted
>
>> in
>> order to be found there.
>>
>> There's a large number of false eBay ads. Sometimes an ad will
>>
> irritate me
>
>> enough to contact the seller - usually they just don't know any
>>
> better and
>
>> correct their ad. Sometimes they acknowledge it's incorrect, but
>>
> won't fix
>
>> their
>> ad because they want to recoup their investment, etc. because that's
>>
> how
>
>> it
>> was sold to them. And then there are ads like this one (actually he
>>
> has
>
>> two)...
>>
>> Rich.
>> **************Need a job? Find employment help in your area.
>>
>> (
> http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=employment_agencies&ncid=emlcntu
>
> syelp00000005)
>>
>>
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