ebay Ebay - Are There Any Consistently Reliable Sellers?

[MWB]

This is my first post  on the Nihonto message board. My question is simple, are there any eBay sellers that have a consistently good reputation? Everyone seems to have 99% or better positive feedback with an extensive sales record (300 + sales); but I can tell from a cursory glance that their offerings are fake. I am admittedly out of the loop on current eBay vendors. I am fairly well educated on the topic, (and eBay/Paypal has made the process a lot safer, but return shipping to Japan is expensive), There must be some sellers out there that have a consistent, positive reputation. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mark 

[Fuuten]

Well, for authentic nihonto, unless you're quite experienced (and know a whole lot), eBay is not the place to be.

 

That said, from 100 to 99% feedback, regardless of amount of sales is only 1 person that wasn't happy for whatever reason.

[Alex A]

Hi Mark, the only consistent Ebay sellers I know are the ones I buy my socks from 

 

Its a case of knowing what your buying and being very very careful indeed.

[Pika007]

I don't think you'll find some amazing deals there, but for example, Hitendo (Mr Onishi) is reliable enough

http://www.ebay.com/usr/hitendo

Though recently he has a lot more gendai and shinsakuto, sometimes decent condition antiques come through, you'd do better to focus on the ones with shinsa.

 

If you ask prior to offering, usually he will also help you verify the hozon papers are legit. Again- didn't see any amazing deals there, but sometimes nice things flow through.

[SwordGuyJoe]

Steer clear until you're very knowledgeable about what you're looking at - I'm not saying you do or don't, please don't take offense. Typically, if something good comes available, the prices will reach retail values quickly. Those that are "cheap" usually have a legitimate reason and experienced collectors are shying away from it for good reason. You're better off buying from dealers with solid reputations. You'll pay retail, but what you're not likely to do is pay $1,000 for something worth $500 or worse, not worth listing on a retail site at all.

 

Just my two cents.

[Pika007]

I should have added in my previous message-

though there are some "ok" dealers on ebay, there is really no reason to risk there while there are sometimes good things, even on a budget, in reputable galleries.

 

I highly recommend frequently checking aoi-art and the dealers on the nmb complied list, searching for said post right now.

[Stephen]

Mark Dirk Ray Curran Jon Joe Nick...more NMB sellers, need i go on?

[AndyMcK]

Like pointed out in previous posts, you really need to know from whom you are buying from ebay or you take a huge risk. But there are some good ones there with quality stuff, but you usually see it in the price tag.

 

Antti

[Brian]

If you search the forum for their eBay id, you will usually find some reviews.

That said, a lot of the good eBay sellers are members here, and are in the better category. The Sale section here can often have better deals than eBay though.

[jesse]

I agree with Brian.  Look at the 'For Sale' section, as I just bought a couple of Tsuba's (from Ray Singer and Thierry Bernard) a very nice Koto Katana from Nick.  

It was a tough choice because Ray had a great Wakizashi for sale and Jamie had a nice Tanto.

 

Nothing is 100% safe in this world but the NMB is about the closest you will get to it.

[Curran]

Mark Dirk Ray Curran Jon Joe Nick...more NMB sellers, need i go on?

Thank you for the mention Stephen. We should mention you too.

 

I haven't listed anything on eBay in a long time. Given the experience I had with a shady individual buying from one country and asking me to send to an unconfirmed in another country (China), I'm hesitant to sell there.

Ebay was no help in the matter.

[Alex A]

Thank you for the mention Stephen. We should mention you too.

 

I haven't listed anything on eBay in a long time. Given the experience I had with a shady individual buying from one country and asking me to send to an unconfirmed in another country (China), I'm hesitant to sell there.

Ebay was no help in the matter.

 

I used to sell quite a bit but had a number of bad experiences, Ebay looks after the buyers. I had one guy recently open a case because he had not received an item. I posted the item recorded delivery and signed for. It arrived within three days but he was not in to sign for it. Rather than contact the post office (they left a card), he opened a case, hit me with a barrage of insults. This went on for over two weeks, yes my item was stuck in the post for two weeks. The post office tried to redeliver another three times. Drove me bananas, I cant imagine how annoyed I would have been if it was an expensive tsuba or sword. I can understand why someone might not want to sell there, especially nihonto. Ive had at least 5 annoying episodes in over 450 sales, but that's enough to put me off putting anything of value on there.

[Shamsy]

PayPal will always side with the buyer and any terms included in the listing are utterly worthless. I'd never sell through eBay, but great for buyer protection.

[Surfson]

Ebay is a bazaar, caveat emptor.  There are lots of ways that both buyers and sellers can get unfairly treated.  I both sell and buy on eBay and have used it as the main way to improve my collection (though I rarely buy any more due to the rarity that really good swords now come up).  i could list a number of medium-big name swords that I have bought on eBay and were subsequently papered.  There are many cases when a fabulous sword is viewed with suspicion by bidders and is actually quite good.  It's definitely not a place for newbies, but if you have a good sense for value and quality and can tell shoshin from gimei based on a good shot of a mei, you can do very well.  In my experience, if the mei is good, even if the photos of the rest of the sword are awful, the quality is almost always there, as long as you make sure that there has been no damage to the blade.  To answer your original question, yes there are some very good sellers, and some of them have been mentioned on this thread already.  Many of them are collectors who use eBay to move swords that they are done studying.  NMB has talked extensively about the reliability of a couple of the most active sellers - they can be relied on having swords with issues, always.  Another thing worth noting about eBay, is that if you find a good sword and seller, you can take the relationship offline and buy directly.  I have gotten to meet several great sellers this way and have bought two or three collections this way.  

[Rivkin]

I would answer for myself:

I sometimes sell nihonto on ebay. I have 100% positive feedback. However, once in a while the buyer will send an angry email - the signature is gimei (not guaranteed in the description), nakago is wielded (not in my opinion), the sword has wrong sugata due to damage (not in my opinion), retempered (I explicitly identified the issues with nakago color and hamon) etc. etc.

 

Am I a dishonest seller? I don't know. I know one thing - one time I've send tanto to a very respected polisher. He immideately mailed it back, saying the nakago is clearly not in the original shape, at best its was filed to imitate early work, and likely it was wielded on. Later it papered to a sai-jo saku koto smith.

 

Nihonto can be hard to appreciate in hard, and MUCH harder in pictures. If you think ebay is bad with Chinese fakes, Japanese auctions sometimes come with high end papers, however made for other swords/fittings and so on.

[Alex A]

I often look at at a sellers feedback, read comments left for neutrals and negatives and get an idea how any unhappy customers were dealt with. Some sellers have sword sales into their 1000,s with few negatives, in this game I find that quite surprising.

 

I would not have a problem buying from such sellers, to keep their shiny feedback they must handle complaints pretty well.

 

But.

 

I do wonder what percentage of their customers actually don't know whether they should be complaining or not

[estcrh]

This is my first post  on the Nihonto message board. My question is simple, are there any eBay sellers that have a consistently good reputation? Everyone seems to have 99% or better positive feedback with an extensive sales record (300 + sales); but I can tell from a cursory glance that their offerings are fake. I am admittedly out of the loop on current eBay vendors. I am fairly well educated on the topic, (and eBay/Paypal has made the process a lot safer, but return shipping to Japan is expensive), There must be some sellers out there that have a consistent, positive reputation. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mark 

Why not just buy directly from Japan or from some of the non Japanese dealers, members here can tell you if a dealer is reliable, much better than taking a chance on Ebay, of course you will probably pay more but then you will also probably be getting what you pay for.

[drbvac]

Nick Ricupero sells on E-bay and also on his own site Nihonto art. Part of the reason is the audience that e-bay will attract for the reputable dealers since even a Google Search may not show up the site and especially for Canadians the number of collectors would be about the same - no they would be fewer than in New York City. 99% of the blades, mounts etc that Nick sells are also papered which does give you some more faith in what they sell.

 

All other comments are certainly accurate and buyers beware as with any collectible purchase from swords to ships. It is much better as well to search for Nihonto with lots of details, antique, before a certain date, Papered, etc and then apply all the same criteria for any seller - satisfied buyers etc.

 

We all get burnt one time or another but as long as you don't lose your shirt but I would be leary paying much more than a couple thousand on E-bay