what would you do?

[jbmartin]

Everyone that told me that building and engraving in sterling would be better, you were absolutely on the money!
It would seem that a buckle that magically goes from being nickel to sterling certainly commands the price. If you want the short version and don’t want to look at the links, I sold the buckle on eBay for $56 as a handmade and engraved nickel buckle with a sterling border and a red brass figure. Now it has been resold as a “vintageâ€￾ “sterlingâ€￾ buckle with a 10K gold figure for $202.50, they even put my mark in the listing.
I already have a pretty good idea or how I’m going to handle the situation, just interested in comments from everyone else.

Here is the listing that I sold the buckle under: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...X:IT&item=180216738407&_trksid=p3984.m335.lVI

Here is how it was listed and resold: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...item=150222241264&_trksid=p3984.cWAT.m240.lVI

The tested at "Zales" for sterling really amused me....

Let me know what you think.

JB

 

[Haraga.com]

buckle

Please tell us what you will do in situation.

 

[Ray Cover]

Is it the same person selling it that bought it from you or has it changed hands in between you selling it and this guy?

The reason I ask is if it is the same person and they bought it then its obvious that they are trying to pull a fast one and I would contact ebay and give them a heads up.

If this is someone who bought it from the guy you sold it to he may have been sold a bill of goods. He may have been told it was gold and silver. As far as the Zales thing goes. Frankly most of the Mall type jewelry stores are probably no more reliable than the kid at the kiosk in the hallway. They may have had a kid working there who had no idea how to even read the test.

In that case I would contact the seller and make them aware of what the materials are and that you know because you are the maker.

JMHO,

Ray

 

[Powderhorn]

Jbmartin;
Did you stamp the buckle "Nickel Silver", there by your makers mark??? I learned along time ago to mark everything, as I sold a ring of Merlins Gold (brass alloy), and had a person resell it as gold, and that person came back on me. Since then I stamp, or mark everything.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi JB

An interesting one alright. There are a couple of things here worth looking at.

First..........Clearly the seller is not telling the truth weather they are the original purchaser or not. To me this is just a straight dishonesty thing that is so prevelant on these sorts of sites. Annoying but just one of those things we have to deal with from time to time.

Obviously you have a plan on how you are going to deal with it so good luck on that one.

Secondly.........And this is what I really find the most interesting, is the price jump.........From $56 to $202

Leaving aside the issue of the fact that it is only nickel and brass. If it were Sterling and 10k gold what would the materials cost and what would you have left for the engraving and fabrication time.

I guess that it shows us that what we choose to engrave on makes a big difference to the price regardless of our time and effort we put into things.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Sam]

Contact the buyer and explain the situation to him, and get his email address.
Email ebay and explain the situation to them, and copy everything to the buyer and seller.

 

[cunningham]

I think I bought an used car from that guy one time.

 

[Tim Wells]

I think you sold it too cheap. You did a good job on it and there is a good bit of labor there that you might want to pay yourself more for next time. I don't wear belts but if I did, I'd be proud to wear one of your buckles. Nice work.

 

[Mike Cirelli]

Tim did you put on that much weight since I met you last year, that your pants are that tight

I have to agree with Sam. I purchased a camera on ebay once it didn't work and could have been sent in under warranty for repair. But I chose to get my money back from the seller and wouldn't you know he stuck it right back on ebay to sell it again. My son bought some recording Mic's on Amazons auction that were Chinese fakes, looked like the real thing but not. He sent an email threatening him for a refund, he got the refund and the seller didn't even want the Mic's back.

 

[jbmartin]

Ray, I'm pretty sure the seller was the buyer from me. Same last name as the seller id begins with and the same selling town and state as where I mailed the buckle.
Powderhorn, I didn't stamp it with "nickel", don't have a stamp, guess I should have engraved that on the back.
Andrew and Tim, it really makes you think about what you engrave on and what you charge, etc.
The nickel buckles were just a way to practice a lot of engraving with low overhead, as this is just a "hobby" for me at the time being.
Sam and Mike, that is exactly what I have done. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't acting rashly.

Thanks for all the comments

JB

 

[Darren]

This guy is definitely a fraudulent seller, He has no clue to what he is selling, or does he? He also has a MontanaSilversmiths buckle that he is trying to pass of has Hand engraved, it's not, it is a silver plated buckle that was die struck. This guy needs to be turned into ebay.

 

[Weldon47]

Perhaps you should buy them back & then sue for fraud, misrepresentation, etc, etc..!

(Yes, I'm kidding!)

Weldon

 

[pappy]

That buckle is beautiful! I think you need to set a MUCH higher reserve next time!

 

[jbmartin]

Thanks for all the replies.
It looks as though the buyer has contacted the seller and may or may not work it out.

My main concern was that if I let it slide and my original listing got dumped after 30 days, which is what eBay does, the seller would make me out to be the bad guy somehow if the buyer called him on it. I don't ever want a rep like that, especially coming from some made up story from someone else.

The worst thing about the whole deal is that the buyer had already paid when I contacted him. I tried to figure out a way to contact all the bidders before it ended, but eBay has changed and you can't actually tell who is bidding until the auction is over, only then can you see the winners ID and contact them.

While on the subject of stamping a mark to signify metal composition, is there a standard way of marking things? Some examples that I should probably mark are the steel buckles with sterling overlay, steel buckles with nickel overlay, nickel buckles, sterling overlay on knives, etc.

JB

 

[Haraga.com]

ebay

Notify Ebay of the fraud. Give them your listing number and the listing number of the fraud. Then do your gravers a favor and throw out that nickel. You do too nice of work to use lesser materials. If you need to practice, practice on sterling, melt it down and start over with sterling. Take the nickel out of ebay and there will be no nickel fraud.

 

[Powderhorn]

Jbmartin;
I generally mark my items with a stamp of the main metal content. As on your buckle, I would have just marked it as nickel silver. As to your overlay buckles, I would mark them as to the content of the overlay. When I do a Nickel Silver buckle, with Brass border, and a silver bezel for a stone, I just mark it as Nickel Silver, and let it go at that.
IJS has the nickel stamps, and you can have them make a stamp that says Overlay.
IJS, & Rio has the stamps for Silver, and Gold.

 

[Ron Smith]

JB, the sad part about this is the trouble you have to go to to straighten out your rep. and you didn't do anything wrong. I would say you are never being rash when you are defending justice...............Ron S

Thank goodness you aren't letting some jerk tarnish your reputation...........right on, ride on J.B. You just earned my respect..............

 

[sdcoxx]

JB,
Nice Buckle....
In addition, to notifing the buyer and ebay, be sure to add the two ebay ID's conducting fraudulent activities to your bidder block list, preventing them from buying another of your listed items and leaving negative feedback on you....out of spite
For future reference, I'd recommend having a reserve on your items. $2.00 insertion fee for a reserve up to $199.99. Any items that do not meet the reserve, you can make second chance offer to high bidder or then list the item for sale on your own website....
Keep up the good work,
Stephen

 

[Crazy Horse]

"Cunningham," check you PM.

 

[Unkl Ian]

His description is better,and his pic a little better.
He knows how that game is played.Even if he is dishonest.

I agree,your stuff should be worth more.