eBay bewares

[NW Mailing List]

Good luck on getting a fake or questionable item removed or even  
action from ebay. I also subscribe to a railroadiana list and one  
topic over the last 3-4 years has been a huge discussion of fakes and  
attempts to report items to ebay. Ebay is in business to make money,  
they make money from sellers, not necessarily the buyers (short of  
paypal). Ebay does not care about fake railroad stuff, it is way to  
small a market. Now if someone is selling fake Rolex watches (which is  
common), Ebay will pay attention to that, because Rolex (and other  
companies have threatened to sue ebay for trademark infringement.

There was a huge batch of back painted glass ticket signs a few years  
ago, and the story that always accompanied them was "found in an old  
station (depot) by my (insert relative here) when it was being torn  
down. The glass signs were for almost every road imaginable, including  
the N&W and VGN. The Virginian glass sign went for well over $200, but  
it simply is a fake. You can read about some of the fakes on this  
website

http://www.railroadiana.org/fakes/pgFakes.php

Accordingly, there is also been fakes surfacing of N&W heart shaped  
locks in recent years.

The discussions on the railroadiana mailing list (which has been  
fairly quiet of late) were on the various reports of signs, and other  
fakes, how ebay did nothing about them, and the ongoing griping of why  
they won't listen. It is simple, ebay does not care about a niche  
group of collectors.

Emailing a seller is questionable, over half the time my emails were  
dismissed with basically "don't bid if you don't like it" attitude or  
"I simply don't care" as long as it sells. The seller is generally in  
it to make some money, and telling him or her that those yellow bird  
plates (for example) are not truly N&W railroad items limits their  
saleability. In addition, once an auction is bid on, the seller cannot  
change the description. Upon occasion, sellers have been grateful for  
the information, but I've found that to be rare.

One of the common mistakes (i.e. misidentified) items is the supposed  
"N&W" silverware which is actually "S&W" for the S&W cafeteria chain  
which once operated in Virginia and Tennessee. The way the letters are  
styled, it could appear to be an "N" not an "S", but close examination  
(and experience) will show you. I've seen these listed and sold for  
years.

There have been a wide variety of N&W builder's plates listed over the  
past few years, most fakes, some going for outrageous amounts of money  
(for fakes) but even with reports to ebay went unanswered, or the  
response is "we cannot be experts, ebay is just facilitating the sale"

Best
Ken Miller


On Sep 1, 2009, at 12:15 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:


> Every auction has a report item button on it. On right side under  

> "other item info"

> Tom Cosgrove

>

> NW Mailing List wrote:

>> Is there a way to notify eBay that an advertised item is not what  

>> it is made out to be or a way to warn bidders to beware?

>> Jimmy Lisle

>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>

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>

> -- 

> Tom Cosgrove

> N2VFK

> NREMT-B

> SKYWARN Spotter LME002

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