ebay UK banning "samurai" swords

[pcfarrar]

The inevitable has happened and ebay UK have now banned the sale of "samurai" swords.

 

How this will effect buying/selling for UK members I have no idea but it clearly is going to be a problem for many of us.

 

 

***Policy on sale of samurai swords***

 

02 April, 2008 | 12:52PM BST

 

The UK Government recently decided to ban the sale, manufacture, hire and import of samurai swords. While there are some exceptions to this general ban, we don’t think it’s practical to enforce a policy based on these.

 

The sale of samurai swords on eBay.co.uk will therefore be completely prohibited when the new law comes into effect on 6th April.

 

Regards,

 

The eBay Team

[Brian]

Sorry to hear that Peter. Was bound to happen. Shortly you will see Paypal banning any UK transactions that are Japanese sword related too I bet. Hopefully you can still list on eBay.com, although they might pull them when they see them.

First of the complications, 100 more to come

 

Brian

[pcfarrar]

The danger now is will it spread to ebay US etc. because this is exactly what happened with Nazi items when they found they couldn't enforce blocks on specific countries.

[Brian]

Yep...I agree with you. I saw the same thing when Kalifornia banned certain parts and accessories that you could own anywhere else in the world...and yet eBay banned them totally with the same excuse.

I know that many members here will jump for joy if Nihonto is banned from eBay but not all of us :?

 

Brian

[Stephen]

it will be a sad day indeed, just did a check in UK Ebay swords still up and selling. how do you brits say it, sticky wicket for sure.

[pcfarrar]

I know a certain UK dealer who will probably think this is the best news in 10 years :lol:

[Brian Hancock]

All I can say is thank goodness you can only kill someone with a Samurai sword. We can all sleep safer at night now! What a load of old crap. I feel better now I've got that off my chest! Cheers,Brian.

[Mark C]

 

Why should we be suprised, Its all part of living in an ever increasing toilet of a country run by people out of touch with realitey.

Off soap box.

 

I wonder if you will get away with " Japanese sword" on ebay

 

regards

 

Mark

[sencho]

.... or "Nihonto".....

 

...at least all the chinese crap will be gone!!!! :lol:

 

cheers!

[Strider]

Hello all, I ran into the eBay ban on gun parts here in the US. While there are ways around the rules if you choose your words correctly, anyone with a stick up their who watches and reports your listings will cause the listing to be removed. It seems odd that a company that makes 8%+ on millions of transactions would be politically motivated. Where is the power of the almighty dollar when you need it? Maybe it has depreciated also. VENT VENT VENT Happy April 1st anyway Scott

[pcfarrar]

From the wording its not clear if people will still be able to bid on swords. The ebay ban may just be on the listing of swords for sale within the UK. If ebay do a blanket block on certain categories for UK bidders it could cause us major problems as things like tsuba and fuchi kashira are often listed in the sword categories.

[Brian]

No, they usually only block the selling of items from a certain country.

And you are usually able to list it, but when they find it, they remove it and issue a warning. 2 Warnings and they suspend your account or terminate it.

I doubt they will police bidding. It is usually up to the bidder to make sure they comply with the relevant laws in my experience.

Of course what customs will need as proof that it doesn't fall within the ban is another matter entirely.

 

Brian

[Thierry BERNARD]

No, they usually only block the selling of items from a certain country.

And you are usually able to list it, but when they find it, they remove it and issue a warning. 2 Warnings and they suspend your account or terminate it....

 

This is exactly what happens in france, there is some category you can't see in france ( eg WWII objects )

 

so if i want to sold a sword I must use ebay.com ( not french ebay.fr ) and to see gunto swords I must use an anomyser

[Walter]

As usual the fleaBay is overzealous.

There is a ban of samurai swords imitations in UK with exemption for "more expensive samurai swords which are of interest to collectors and martial art enthusiasts".

However FleaBay.uk opted to ban ALL samurai swords which is ridiculous indeed.

 

http://www.tamebay.com/2008/04/samurai-swords-banned-on-ebay-uk.html

 

From other hand I can understand them - how on Earth they would tell the difference between so-called "practical katana" and real Nihonto sword?

Yet from other hand you can`t buy a cheap "samurai" sword, but you can walk into the same shop off Yarmouth seafront and buy a "Highlander Claymore", "Klingon Battleaxe" or "King Arthur's Excalibur" ... "Dark Lord Razorsharp Sword"? No problem.

 

I also wonder if any martial art enthusiast would use for training his $5-10-20K Nihonto or even $1K Gunto sword???

[Ford Hallam]

Seems to me there is a gap in the market here. The online community could somehow organise a listing site similar to ebay that was vetted and dealt only with legitimate items. Surely it can't be that difficult to spread the word if everyone pulled together for a common good. A specialist auction site for specialist items...why not.

 

In my experience; if you get chucked out of one club you can always go and make a newer, better one, where you get to make the rules

 

regards, Ford

 

thinking up a clever name for it would be fun at least :D

[Brian]

Ford,

 

Been done. http://specialistauctions.com/

But it will never be successful, because you just don't have access to the millions of viewers that ebay has, and no-one wants to bid on a site that only appeals to enthusiasts, because there is that false impression that the good stuff is seen by everyone, and there won't be bargains. Like it or not, valid or not, that is why people buy on eBay. Someone even tried Nihonto auctions, and it failed. Market value is not what people usually want to pay, they want something starting at $9.98 that they think will be a steal.

 

Brian

[Jean]

they think will be a steal.

 

Talking about Nihonto, you were probably meaning a "steel" (bad pun )

[Brian Hancock]

Ford has a very good point in fact a friend of mine sugested why don't the Northern and Southern Token get a site up and running doing exactly this? They could charge a minimal fee for listings which could go toward running the societies. No Chinese crap,No Ebay paranoia,No rip off artists,No problems and no inflated dealer prices (Maybe) Just a thought.Cheers,Brian

[Guest reinhard]

I agree with Ford and Brian. e-bay's sick to the bone (as far NihonTo is concerned). Why not start something new?

 

reinhard

[hybridfiat]

Try the New Zealand site Trademe

They have no problem listing AK47s that are legal in NZ.

All th einfrastructure is there already

[Brian]

The link I posted is a reasonable option. They are trying to fill the gap that eBay leaves, and the sections are moderated, so if you see a fake, they will remove it.

They are (I think) UK based.

 

Brian

[pcfarrar]

April 6th has passed and there are still hundreds of fake chinese katana on ebay UK. Looks like the "ebay ban" isn't very effective so far.

[Walter]

April 6th has passed and there are still hundreds of fake chinese katana on ebay UK. Looks like the "ebay ban" isn't very effective so far.

Peter,

That's EXACTLY what happened on eBay on January 17th 2002... or 2003 (can't remember exactly) with German stuff.

Ebay has banned all "Nazi" stuff showing the "hate" symbols (swastika).

I can fully understand that policy since the propagation of swastika may be offensive to many people who suffered enough under the Nazi repressions.

Me myself I'm Polish and I think that all neo-nazis are just the bunch of dumb freaks, but I collect the German daggers just for their outstanding Solingen craftsmanship and see nothing offensive in keeping the history alive ... Besides I have a lot of Jewish (who suffered most) friends collecting the same stuff and thinking the eBay policy is just stupid.

The guys playing the "Nazis" today (being just the stupid rednecks) simply can't afford the REAL German daggers - BUT they are eager to buy the fake, cheap stuff.

TODAY if you type on eBay search "German dagger" you may find the bunch of 3rd Reich fakes offered for sale as "original" without any restrictions - en-mass.

But if you dare to list a GENUINE dagger for sale, you are suspended or banned right away!

[w.y.chan]

Ford has a very good point in fact a friend of mine sugested why don't the Northern and Southern Token get a site up and running doing exactly this? They could charge a minimal fee for listings which could go toward running the societies. No Chinese crap,No Ebay paranoia,No rip off artists,No problems and no inflated dealer prices (Maybe) Just a thought.Cheers,Brian

 

I didnt know there was a "Southern Token"?

[Brian Hancock]

I think Ebay is having a "Selective Ban" on Nihonto. It seems that if you live outside of the UK then you can list your sword on there ie. all the Chinese crap is still getting listed. If you are a UK citizen then its a "No Go" area. As our American friends say "Its a Crock"!

[swedish-daisho]

Ford Hallam!

 

 

Have been thinking about the same thing!

 

Why not a buy/sell/exchange site for "registrated users" aka true nihonto fans!?

Could be based on a registration number from NHBTK!?

 

The name..Miyabi Nihonto maybe!?

 

Our very own stock-exchange!?

 

Inputs!?

 

Stefan

[pcfarrar]

Ebay are only pulling auctions of blades longer than 50cm in nagasa. So it looks like your still free to sell tanto and short wakizashi on ebay UK.

 

Putting your blade measurements in shaku-sun-bu could be handy

[undermilkwood]

No offence intended, but paper knives are'nt banned yet...... :D

 

It might be a stretch but a good salesman should be able to manage it.

 

Just start sending snail mail in A1 format for full effect.

 

It seems to be the way the world's going, pretty soon we'll all be brains in jars and wars will be the other side playing bad euro pop over and over again at high volume.

 

All the best, Joe

[pcfarrar]

I now have it in writing from ebay UK that it is perfectly acceptable to sell swords as long as they are less than 50cm nagasa.

 

They said you must emphasise this fact in your item description or they will pull it.

[Bugyotsuji]

A bit out of the blue, but this gang were sentenced to life imprisonment for killing someone with 'what someone described as a Samurai sword'. The blade was "up to 7 inches long".

 

Does anyone see anything logical here?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 205033.stm