Tiffany
Fakes
TIFFANY FAKES

 

Page 16

JUNE 8, 2008

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BEST OF THE WORST

ANTIQUE-FREE-FOR-ALL

The four items shown immediately below are the newest listings from ANTIQUE-FREE-FOR-ALL and they are all listed as Tiffany. As usual with this Maryland based seller, none of them are Tiffany and none of them are signed Tiffany. If it is brass, bronze, glass or a bottle of catsup, it is listed as Tiffany. If the seller does this with Tiffany, he surely is listing other items incorrectly also. Even with Ebay's new and very relaxed feedback rules, this seller stands out with 34 neutrals and 30 negatives in the past 12 months. Of course this seller hides behind the PRIVATE feature as do many of the worst sellers on Ebay. Do not believe what their listings say and carefully read their feedback before you even think of buying anything from them. This seller has been profiled several times before (see Page 14) but nothing seems to have changed. Their listings are an excellent example of deception. The items below sold for $307, $81, $89 and $118 so there were few believers in the seller's claim to Tiffany. Seller also uses the name GOODIES-FROM-GRANDMA and also calls everything Tiffany. Must have re-activated this account as the feedback is 100 percent but if you look down a few lines to a year ago, it is the same pattern of negatives, neutrals and complaints.

NAMES SHOWN IN ITALICS ARE REPEAT SELLERS

AVAN214

MORE JUNK FROM FLORIDA

The window on the left is another listing from seller AVAN214 who has a heavily modified lamp shown on Page 13 and a fake acorn lamp on Page 15. This fake and fraudulently signed window is accompanied by a story but like the window, it is a lie also. In the listing the seller says it was purchased at an estate sale but it was listed in a Florida auction within the past week and when one of the knowledgeable Tiffany buyers called the auction house and asked if the auction house would guaranteed it as Tiffany, the answer was "no guarantee". Appears to have been made in a stained glass class for novices or in a high school shop class.

SHABBY*ROSE*BUNGALOW

MELYNAN

DECORUMNYC

DANCE_THE_LIGHT

FROM TIFFANY TO QUEZEL

On page 15 you can view an vase that was first listed by ENTOURAGE1 as a genuine piece of Tiffany and it is shown on the site because it is not Tiffany. No problem, the seller relisted it as Quezel and it sold to someone who bid it up to $684. What is Quezel you ask? No idea but we think it was meant to be listed as Quezal but it is not that either. This shows what happens when a seller with no conscience meets up with a buyer with no knowledge. All the buyer had to do was to read the seller's feedback.

SLIM12345671

KBO-25

AZLADY007

SAYAUSTIN

THE MODIFIED PAPER RACK

A reader forwarded copies of e mails regarding the sale of a Zodiac paper rack (above right) currently listed on Ebay as 350071888572 and identified as a 1083. Photos sent from seller SAYAUSTIN show the number on the base to be 1030 and also show that there are many screw holes where screws are missing. Further checking found that two of the dividers are missing and have been replaced with two pieces of glass which are described as "Tiffany straw glass" whatever that is. The buyer was notified and furnished photos of a correct 1030 and has done absolutely nothing to correct the listing to show that the piece is not genuine Tiffany and conveniently did nothing to explain the missing screws. It has again been relisted with no mention of the correct number or explanation for the modifications.

ORANGECREEKANTIQUES

CIRCLEDSALES

ISOLDIT.CA0151

FAYA44

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

There are hundreds of pieces of glass offered on Ebay as "signed Tiffany" but who is this Tiffany that signed these hundreds of pieces. Only a few of them are signed by the real Louis Comfort Tiffany and the rest of them are signed by thieves who have stolen his signature. All a seller has to do is place one of these fake and fraudulently signed pieces on Ebay and list it as Tiffany signed and the bids just roll in. A perfect example is the pulpit vase shown above that was listed by CIRCLEDSALES, a frequent contributor to this site. Ten bidders, twenty one bids and $610 later, another fake is sold to someone who never thought to ask if the signature was guaranteed to be genuine Tiffany. Of course it sold for less than 10 percent of what a genuine Tiffany pulpit vase would sell for and 10 times what the piece is actually worth. Signed "Tiffany" does not mean genuine Tiffany. That is the difference.

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ARTVOGUE

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I always buy my Tiffany lamps at the Chicago Gold and Guitar Gallery, now
known as ARTVOGUE

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PUDDLEOSTUFF

FERRELLAUCTIONS01

ARTMANIA123

MEMBER64852

CIRCLEDSALES

FERRELLAUCTIONS01


MADE IN TAIWAN 

The dog on the left is a common fake of an item that was never made by Tiffany and the lion on the right is a copy of item that was made by Tiffany. The seller offers provenance that both were purchased at an auction in Pittsburgh. Very reassuring.

DESPERATELYSEEKINGTREASURE


MADE IN TAIWAN 

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?

How can this be? The first photo is of a lamp offered by JAMIECOHEN961 (see Page 3) over 14 months ago, the second photo is a lamp offered by CHARSUTHERLAND (see Page 13) in November of 2007, the third photo is a lamp offered by TTVANHORN0 in March 2008 and the lamp on the right is of a lamp offered yesterday by AMNYEHUDA0. All of these sellers have 0 feedback, live in completely different parts of the country and as you can see, they all have used the very same photo. The most recent listing lasted less than 24 hours and was removed by Ebay when they became aware that the seller does not even exist. Another similarity is that all four lamps are fake. When you buy on Ebay we suggest you do the due diligence as Ebay "is just a venue" and you will be the one writing the check.

SWOZNICK1

ZOEYGIRL44

10TMCCOY

2006BMAY

WW2JEEP

KARENDAWNPRINCESS
MADE IN TAIWAN 

C-S-A-C

FERRELLAUCTION

GOODIES-FROM-GRANDMA

THE SELLER WITH TWO NAMES

How do you get 36 neutrals and 34 negatives off your feedback? If you are ANTIQUES-FREE-FOR-ALL (see top of page) all you need to do is change your account to another name you have not used recently (GOODIES-FROM-GRANDMA) and for the past year (all that Ebay counts now) under your old name, you are now 100% positive. As soon as you check past the last month under the old name, up pops more of the same negatives and neutrals. Seems to be a trend from this seller with two names. Another trend carried to the old now new name is the bad habit of calling anything and everything Tiffany. See the lamp on the left.

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It is being reported that Ebay was fined $61 million in France for damages to the French company LVMH, makers of Louis Vuitton leather goods, Dior perfume, and more. They claimed 90% of the products sold online under its brand names were fake. They believe that Ebay does not do enough to keep fake merchandise off the site. Ebay said they will appeal. In another French case, Ebay was fined $31,400 for not protecting sales of Hermes handbags. Tiffany & Company in the United States has also sued Ebay in New York and that case is pending. Collectors have been trying to get Ebay to remove fakes quickly but have been frustrated. With Tiffany Studios fakes, only the buyer gets hurt.

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ANTIQUES_PERIOD

MBERUBE4

LEO9235

YARDLEYPLACE

SELLERS BEWARE

A fake and fraudulently signed vase shown above and offered by FAYA44 was sold for $300 and when the buyer found out that he had purchased a fake, he left the appropiate negative feedback. Check out the seller's feedback and let it be a lesson. Anybody reading that feedback will question anything that seller has to offer and anything the seller has to say.

EWCANGI

BPADGETT58

BPADGETT58

C-S-A-C

INTEGRITY905

JENKIES2007

TYRUS

GIGOLOJAKE

YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN

A federal court in New York has finally determined that "Ebay does not have a legal responsibility to actively filter counterfeit items from their auction site". Tiffany & Company filed suit years ago based on their investigation that revealed that 72 percent of those items identified on Ebay as Tiffany & Company were fakes. This ruling is somewhat contradictory to legal findings in other countries but seems to be the case for the US. None of this has any bearing on Tiffany Studios items. Be careful out there.

FETCH-N-SELL

THE NOT $500,000 DRAGONFLY LAMP

The lamp on the left was listed on Ebay with a great story about it being in a safe as the only provenance. The listing is accompanied with an appraisal and according to the seller, it is the same lamp as shown in the article. The appraisal reads like a Antique Roadshow appraisal and the appraiser uses comparables that are for 22 inch shades - the listed shade is 17 inches - and even then are cherry picked to accentuate the exception to reality, just like the Antique Roadshow. It appears that the millions of buyers on Ebay realistically priced the lamp and shade at less than $6000 which is $494,000 less that the appraisal. Size and color are very important when buying Tiffany lamps and this one gets poor marks in both categories. It pays to purchase Tiffany from knowledgeable and experienced people.

805SUMSAN

AFTEREDEN75

NITNEES_COLLECTABLES

LRUSSELLH

For more fakes click here for page 17