Page 10
JUNE 10, 2007
AUCTION NEWS
More and more live auctions are
showing up on Ebay now and it just might be the season or they might
have figured out something. Remember you are going to be paying 20 to
25 percent buyers fee on top of the selling price and this is a lot
of money. We are seeing Tiffany all over the place in these auctions
and most of these auction houses fail to offer any guarantee of
authenticity and they show only one picture. For a fee in excess of
20 percent, you should get several pictures including very clear and
detailed pictures of the signature and close ups of the finish. Read
the conditions of sale which will wake you up. Most say they offer no
warranty and most do not allow any returns. All this and a 20 to 25
percent add on commission plus some of the most outlandish shipping
charges ever imagined.
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NEW YORK STATE - JUNE 10, 2007
The state attorney general's
office is warning consumers to be cautious when bidding on items
offered by online auction houses after a recently uncovered
nationwide scheme on Ebay. EMH Group of New York City placed more
than 232,000 bids, worth more than $5 million, that inflated the
prices of their online auctions. Ebay brought the scheme to the
attention of authorities and assisted in the investigation. EMH will
pay more than $400,000 in restiution and penalities. Is that all they
get for 232,000 bids and $5 million in fraudulent bids?
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|
PRINCESSS35 (BASE GENUINE) |
The lamp on the left is listed on
Ebay as "Antique Bronze Tiffany "Lily" lamp and is
referenced to an appraisal which says Antique Tiffany-Style
"Lily" lamp. Must not have been enough room for the word
Style on the listing. Ebay
260128432613. |
CARLKCHAN |
BURCHARDGALLERIES |
|
GREATEXPRESSIONS |
The fake vase on the left is listed by
GREATEXPRESSIONS who has never used the PRIVATE bidder function in 7
years on Ebay. Now, with a fake piece of Tiffany, it is being used. Interesting. |
EVERYDAYSAGIFT |
GEOFFGATOR_CLEARANCE |
|
ANTEEKVIE |
SYBYARD |
KOOLCATZ007 |
DESERTKOOL |
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THEY ARE BACK
Just when you thought it might be over, they show
up again with 4 new offerings. First is a glass bowl (320128124966)
signed clockwise on what appears to be the side of the bowl instead
of counter clockwise and on the bottom like most Tiffany. It is
guaranteed to be 100% old and original but it is not guaranteed to be
Tiffany although it is listed as Tiffany. The next piece of interest
is a peony border shade (320127003894) that if real would be worth
approximately $200,000 so all of you bargain seekers look out.
Surprise of sunrises is that the seller saw that the shade is
numbered but failed to notice the Tiffany signature tag next to the
number until some Ebayer notified them of it. Sure, we all miss these
little things. The seller says he will leave it up to the experts to
determine if it is real. No Papal accepted for over $2500 and the
starting bid is $3000 so for those who are confused, it means there
will be no Papal which means no protection. The remaining two items
are not of concern as they are not being offered as Tiffany although
Ebay 320126994836 shows a photo of a Tiffany signature but there is
no mention in the listing that it is signed Tiffany. The sellers name
is CIRCA1897 which changed from ARTGAL97 on June 13, 2007. Otherwise,
the rest is typical - vague address of Southeast which is the same
location JAMIECOHEN961 and the others detailed most recently on page
9 used but the money was sent to an address in Atlanta. Of course the
bidders names are hidden so you have no ideal if they are real
bidders or real shills.
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|
DOUNIAL |
The seller on the left has a hard time listing his
items correctly. Read the listings very carefully as the title is not
always what the listing says. Deceptive seller. |
IRISMOONBEADS |
HWSHOWCASE |
|
SERENDIPITY9596 |
HIDDEN-HILL |
The fake on the right is listed again and it is
still a fake and will be a fake everytime that it is listed. The
offering of this as Tiffany is an insult to the intelligence of even
the least knowledgeable Tiffany collector. |
DUPRIESTUFF |
NAMES IN ITALICS ARE REPEAT OFFENDERS
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AND THEY ARE BACK YET AGAIN
This time they use the location of the item as
Route 66 and they are a brand new seller on Ebay from June 29, 2007.
Why would a seller use such a vague address as Route 66? 0 feedback.
No guarantee and no Paypal so do not fall into the same trap as
others who deal with sellers like this have done. The Ebay item is
numbered as 110147057578 and if they do as usual, the bidders or
shills names will be hidden by the PRIVATE feature.
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|
STUDIOGOODSTUFF |
JOFU19 |
COWGIRL-143 |
FABULOUS"TREASURES |
|
DUEGEE |
HANDYANDY13 |
Check out the 2 fakes just offered by ANTIQUE-SELLER1
who is known to TiffanyFakes.Com from before. 320137656740 and
320137674692. A pair of bogus candlesticks which sold |
for less than $500 when Tiffany candlesticks
usually sell for $1200 each and then the tea screen OR picture frame
OR piece of junk that did not even get a bid. It just gets more
difficult to sell fakes on Ebay. |
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|
COWGIRL-143
Page 486, photo 1905 shows 979
Ashtray and 803 Stamp Box |
On the left is Ebay 260142524511 which is listed as
a 979 Tiffany Studios ashtray and if you read the listing, this
seller runs on about how TiffanyFakes.Com is in error and his ashtray
is the real thing. The real 979 is listed below the fake in a photo
from page 486 of Tiffany Lamps and Metalware (2007) by
Alastair Duncan author of numerous books about Tiffany including Tiffany
At Auction, Art Nouveau and Tiffany Windows. This
seller has contributed to TiffanyFakes.Com before and that is why
his/her Ebay name is in italics. The seller also knows where the
"matching floor ashtray and matching floor lamp with tray are
located in upstate New York" and even knows that these pieces
were made for an "old wealthy family in the early 1900s".
Cannot wait to see those beauties. If you buy this piece and return
it within three (3) days with a "signed sworn affadivit with
proof" - probably means affidavit - your money will be refunded.
Remember three days. Great guarantee that is good for 3 days. If you
cannot find the listing, e mail us and we will e mail a copy to you.
We believe the seller will remove the listing very soon. NEW NEWS-
Seller cancelled the listing. |
|
The above appears to be a joke but it is a very
serious attempt to sell a fake ashtray for a minimum of $400 and with
a close examination of the photo, it is obvious that it is junk. Who
stamped the Tiffany signature and number on it and why is there so
much of this type of thievery? Where did the number come from?
Someone took one of the old books that show Tiffany numbers, looked
under ashtrays and found a number where there is no corresponding
picture and they are in business. Who would know? The problem is that
there are books now that show more numbers than the old books and
then it becomes easy to see what is happening. If you just take a few
minutes to look at the listing you can see the first problem where it
indicates that the item location is Midwest, USA. That is clearly an
attempt to hide something and it is a ploy used by the group offering
most all of the fake Tiffany lamps. Read these listing carefully and
it will save you the fate of the many people who have lost thousands
and thousands of dollars in these types of scams. Most sellers
believe if it is signed, it is real. This is not true and buyers and
bidders need to be aware that there is a group of thieves out there
who sole function in life is to sell these fakes to you. You can read
about them on this page and the other pages on this site.
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THEY ARE BACK AGAIN - $100.00 REWARD
A brand new offering from a brand new seller, this
time from Texas. The Ebay number is 280135883206 and the seller is
JORUSSY56 who has been registered less than 30 days - surprise -, has
a 0 rating - surprise - and is using the PRIVATE feature - surprise.
TiffanyFakes.Com is offering a ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR prize to the first
person who can find in this listing any of the following words that
should absolutely accompany any Tiffany Studios piece offered for
sale on the internet. The words to locate are GUARANTEED as in
guaranteed to be genuine Tiffany Studios, ESCROW as in seller will
accept escrow or PAYPAL as in seller will accept payment by Paypal.
Who would possibly bid on this piece without the use of these
"reward words"? Only the shills and the fools. One winner
only. Void if seller revises listing. There will be more to follow
regarding this lamp and this seller.
The reward goes uncollected. Just when you think
you know everything there is to know about this group operating out
of Atlanta, they up and surprise you. The lamp has been removed and
any record of it is nowhere to be found. This usually indicates the
hand of Ebay. However, there is an identical lamp now listed with the
same pictures as the one above, the same seller with the same 0
rating as the one above and the same PRIVATE listing as the one
mentioned above. What has changed you ask? Now, there is no mention
of Tiffany and just overnight it has moved from Texas to Southeast,
United States which is the location address used for most all of the
other fakes listed by all of the sellers who are now NO LONGER A
REGISTERED USER on Ebay. The new listing is 280136860525 and there is
a very subtle reference to Dr. Egon Neustadt's book which is strange
because Neustadt wrote about Tiffany. These scammers are dumber than
a bag of rocks if they think this new ploy will get them any money.
|
MARYS-NOOK |
PLAINERK |
PAPERQUIL |
WIDOL |
DO NOT BID If you are looking
at a piece of Tiffany that is for sale and the base is not shown, you
are buying in the dark. The finish of the base and the signature are
very important and any seller offering a piece of Tiffany without a
base picture is hiding something from you. Demand that the base be
shown in the listing.
|
MITZIDANTI |
KARABAS-BARABAS-05 |
KARABAS-BARABAS-05 |
JJIM1254 |
IF THE NAME BELOW THE PHOTO IS IN ITALICS,
THE SELLER IS A FREQUENT CONTRIBUTOR TO TIFFANYFAKES.COM.
|
WETHERLEE1 |
GRIF4180 |
The box on the left is a fake but
the story about coming from the "high rollers" room at
Tiffany & Company is a better fake and a bigger lie. That story
is not an example of provenance. |
AGUI5931 |
|
The seller on the right is a frequent contributor
to this site and they always call it Tiffany but in the listing it is
guaranteed only to be "100% old and original". Read their feedback. |
ANTIQUE-FREE-FOR-ALL |
SIGHMR87 |
HOCKATHOME |
|
NAGUAL48 |
MACINGEL |
MOCHIMOMMY |
MIABAYSHORE |
|
WARNING FROM ANOTHER SOURCE For a long time
we have preached about buying Tiffany from those who do not accept
Paypal. Some absolutely will not accept it and then there are those
who offer a Tiffany lamp which should sell in the tens of thousands
of dollars but refuse to accept Paypal for any item over $1000 but
the starting price is $3000. Normally they accept Paypal and you have
got to wonder why they quit taking it for this item. See that scam
coming? If you find an Tiffany item listed this way, run. In the
latest edition (on line) of Maine Antique Digest, there is an article
about a seller who offered an Indian relic which sold. The buyer paid
with Paypal and then found that the item was not believed to be
genuine. He contacted Paypal and the money was refunded but that is
not the end of the story. The seller continues to believe that the
item is genuine and he wants it back. No way says Paypal. They do not
return these items. This is a wonderful way to rid the world of so
many of these fake Tiffany pieces especially those same old lamps
that continue to be offered for sale by the same old group with new
names and low feedback and no guarantee. If the reason they do not
accept Paypal is because of the fee, offer to pay the fee as it is
very cheep insurance. Of course, none of this matters if the buyers
do not have the piece verified by someone with Tiffany knowledge.
Remember that just because it is signed, that does not make it
Tiffany. Most of these fakes are guaranteed to be signed but not
guaranteed as to who signed it A link to this informative article is
listed below. Read it and learn. http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=172 |
For more fakes click here for page
11
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