Opinions to katana

[takamatsu]

Hello Guys!

 

Today I got a Second Chance Offer by Ebay for the following katana:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Long-antique-ja ... true&rt=nc

 

I just made a savety-bid to watch the bidding-process, now I'm given the chance to buy it for $ 1,515. Have to decide until friday.

 

My questions:

Do you have any experience with the seller matsuri_dontaku?

What do you think about the sword?

"Late early Edo from late Momoyama period ca.1590 era made Hizen Tadayoshi school blade" - could this be true? Or is it a later blade? Hard to tell for me without signature.

 

Thank you very much for your help, I'm still learning...

[Alex A]

Michael, note the tadayoshi? in the advert, Tadayoshi 1st is a very famous smith, you would not get one of his blades for that price, id be sceptical.

 

Alex.

[Brian]

There seemed to have been at least 5 bidders above your bid. If all of them cancelled their bids, it makes me dubious about whether they were independent bidders or not. :?

That's not a Hizen hada in my opinion. Nothing outstanding about the sword, but $1500 doesn't get you much nowdays..so even as an Iai type sword it is probably an ok price.

I wouldn't buy it if you are looking for a steal. But if you want a real sword then it is probably ok. Longer nagasa adds value nowdays. An ok package that you would probably get your money back on, as long as he gave a guarantee against fatal or bad flaws.

 

Brian

[J Reid]

Beware of this seller. I purchased a wakizashi in nov 2011 and after months of me asking where it was and not receiving a response back for weeks at a time I finally had to do a charge back on my credit card as the 45 days paypal buyer protection had expired and I only had 2 days left before my credit card company would assist with recovering my money. I warned him multiple times that I felt he was being shady and that I was on the verge of a chargeback. After finally charging back my card he shipped the sword. It arrived with a cracked and broken saya. So from nov 2011-march 2012... I also believe that this seller does heavy shill bidding. Just pay by credit card and don't let the clock run out and you've got nothing to lose I guess. Overall my experience with him was terrible though..

[takamatsu]

Alex, Brian... thats the problem! I hate Second Chance Offers, they always make me sceptical. Especially because I'm not the second highest bidder.

Positive aspect is the lenght of the blade, just perfect for my body height :D

What do you think about the tsuba? Looks somehow modern?

 

Josh: thats a big warning signal, thank you very much! I also considered shill bidding when I got the offer.

 

I think I will leave ebay behind and ask for a good value katana here in the wanted-section :D

[Grey Doffin]

I also received a 2nd chance offer (on another sword) today. Like you I wasn't the runner up bidder. Turns out ebay didn't send the offer; some jerk trying to infect my computer or steal my money was behind it. If the 2nd chance offer contains an email address for the seller (mine did), then it's probably a thief.

Do nothing with the 2nd chance offer until you see it in your "My ebay buying" messages. If it isn't in the messages, delete it.

Grey

[Alex A]

,After reading Josh,s input, I would stay clear.

 

Alex

[takamatsu]

Yes, nothing for me :D

 

Thank you all!!

[Alex A]

Michael, it may be wiser to ask one of the experts on here about a sword before bidding, do you not think?

 

Alex.

[ROKUJURO]

Michael,

 

in my eyes, the TSUBA is just crap, a recent machine-made copy.