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)
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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.
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CARLKCHAN
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BURCHARDGALLERIES
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GREATEXPRESSIONS
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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.
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EVERYDAYSAGIFT
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GEOFFGATOR_CLEARANCE
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ANTEEKVIE
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SYBYARD
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KOOLCATZ007
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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
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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.
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IRISMOONBEADS
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HWSHOWCASE
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SERENDIPITY9596
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HIDDEN-HILL
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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.
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DUPRIESTUFF
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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
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JOFU19
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COWGIRL-143
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FABULOUS"TREASURES
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DUEGEE
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HANDYANDY13
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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.
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MARYS-NOOK
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PLAINERK
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PAPERQUIL
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WIDOL
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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.
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MITZIDANTI
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KARABAS-BARABAS-05
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KARABAS-BARABAS-05
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JJIM1254
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IF THE NAME BELOW THE PHOTO IS IN
ITALICS,
THE SELLER IS A FREQUENT CONTRIBUTOR TO TIFFANYFAKES.COM.
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WETHERLEE1
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GRIF4180
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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.
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AGUI5931
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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.
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ANTIQUE-FREE-FOR-ALL
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SIGHMR87
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HOCKATHOME
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NAGUAL48
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MACINGEL
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MOCHIMOMMY
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MIABAYSHORE
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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
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For more fakes click
here for page 11
