2 Auctions on eBay for Charity

[Brian]

All,

 

A collector has emailed me asking me to notify the forum of 2 auctions that he is running on eBay with most of the proceeds going towards the Red Cross for the benefit of the Asian disaster victims.

I am always wary of these auctions, but I have checked them and they are being done through an authorised eBay Red Cross charity feature, so they seem ok to me, and for a worthwhile cause.

The one is for an NBTHK tsuba, and the other is for a wakizashi. Please take a look if you are interested.

 

Thanks,

Brian

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0262908161

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0262230139

[Strider]

Hello all, I am watching these auctions, but do not know anything about the Red Cross connection. I am concerned about the language and phrasing used in the descriptions and the fact that the seller does not have access to his own bank account or possession of the sword. Not to be too paranoid, but is it possible that these sales are just an attempt to defraud by preying on our sympathies. Please understand that I do not want to ruin a good thing or defame a persons good name and intentions,and I do apologize if I seem to have done so. I personally have a strange "feeling" about this. Feel free to correct me and vent your wrath ha ha Regards Scott

[Brian]

Just to elabrate, this is from our previous member pleasmx who was removed after some odd posts indeed. However in spite of odd posts, there was no claims of any underhanded dealings, so I am assuming his sales are legit. However I don't know any more than http://www.nihonto.us/CHARITY%20SALE%20ON%20EBAY.htm does, so please treat this with the same caution you would any deal. He seems to be based in the USA, and gives the name of his university, so should be contactable, and payments via Paypal should be covered by paypal protection?

Anyways, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt on this one, but if someone should win, please seek further verification and custom pics of the sword when it arrives and before you pay.

Just the usual common sense

 

Brian

[sencho]

With Pleasemx's inventory of swords on ebay, looks like he has gone from a complete novice who didn't know what a Tsunagi was, to a fully fledged Nihonto dealer....

 

....from zero to hero in just a couple of months!!

 

 

cheers!

[Guest reinhard]

If I remember correctly, "pleasemx" was the whining guy, who pretended to need money for the repair of his father's sword he accidentally damaged (Once kindly called "troll" by our new mod). Since he's in charity-business now, it seems he paid his debts and turned from Saulus to Paulus. BTW I strongly believe in the world created in 6327 years; it is a plain disk and going too far out, one will fall into a bottomless abyss.

 

reinhard

[Bungo]

As an occasional e-bay seller ( now habitual due to the great economic condition set by our ever so illustrious leadership in D.C. ), I do recall E-Bay runs charitable auctions where payments are directed to one's favorite charity.

I may be running one of those and see how it works, eg. paypal payment directly sent to the Charity organisation ? or payment send to seller and up to his/her/it's honor to direct to the proper place.......

 

But in the mean time, I recall my Dad used to joke about people having more than 4 kids.

Kid # 2 assumede kid #3 took care of the ole man, while kid #4 assumed kid #2 did, so on and so forth.

In the end, the ole man was alone with no care coming from any of the kids.

One reason i have only one kid..........

 

milt

[Adrian S]

G'day all,

 

Four of his swords were previously on the JSA website and the photos are from there. The tsuba looks like Posservice's photos. Besides maybe the wak, no original photos that I can see. I would suggest to anyone considering bidding that they require original photos of the swords, beside his open passport page. I would also get his bank details, address and phone number. I would call him, ask for a reference from his University and confirm his address. I would be interested if he is willing to comply with these conditions. I think this is a scam, and a particularly low one considering using charity to gain profit.

 

Adrian S

[Bungo]

I have sent a question to the seller about examining the sword in person.

He replied that the sword is still in Japan and the auction will be over in matter of hours( as he described in the charity auction ? ) but he's willing to let me examine his other stuffs e.g. tsuba( I am a city boy from Chicago, 20 minutes drive from Evanston )........

 

so assuming in the good ole US of A ( despite the assults on our Constitutions based on homeland security sake )one is assumed innocent until proven guilty, I would rather still have certain faith and not surrender to fear.

 

that's just me.......one has the freedom of choice ( I hope ) to still believe whatever turns one on.

 

milt

[jrs]

I do have to speak up here because I bought a beautiful blade from this guy with no problems in the transaction and was very happy. I can't say anything but good things about my dealings with him, but I will admit that I feel like the charity auctions are a little "shady". Don't know why, just a gut feeling.

James

[Adrian S]

Hey, if the seller is able and willing to comply with the buyers cross checking his details then I don't have a problem either. If you check his feedback, his only previous sale of a nihonto is to a Chinese buyer romexx(9) which dosn't inspire me with confidence. Buyers have a right to be wary on Ebay. It's not a matter of "innocent until proven guilty", more "suspicious until shown to be trustworthy" . Considering the seller not being a known person in the nihonto community, his problem with his bank account, not having the sword in hand, not supplying his personal name or details on the listing, lack of verifiable feedback, use of downloaded photos.... .

 

Don't be surprised if he decided he can't accept Paypal either and asks the buyer to send the funds to a Chinese bank account.

 

Adrian S

(twice burnt, three times shy )

[Bungo]

seller sent me link to the charity tsuba. Looks like he bought the tsuba from ole po and now donate the tsuba for charity sale.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/katanachica ... ledAlbum32

p.s. I don't know the dude, never met and am not promoting anything.......use your own judgement.

 

milt

[Brian]

I've also received a few emails from Xuan, elaborating more on the auctions and asking if he could be reinstated here, and apologising for the lack of judgement in his prior posts.

I am not vouching for him, but I feel that a seller who is prepared to give his address, his contact details at the university, and allows someone to come and see the tsuba personally is probably above board. And I am sure that any custom photos of the sword when it arrives would be sent. Yes, it is all different and odd, but I would be more hesitant if he wasn't in the USA and contactable. I believe caution is advised as mentioned, but for the sake of a possible real charity donation and a good cause, perhaps we can wait and see what happens with the auctions and decide from there. He has also promised to post scans of the actual charity donation slips once they are done. As said before..odd, but possibly still genuine and with the right intentions. I think also that payments done through the charity function on eBay are automatically sent to the charity itself via the eBay system.

 

Brian