[meteorite-list] Ebay M-wrong

From: Tracy Latimer <tracyl_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:04:50 2004
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.93.1020518142202.21805A-100000_at_netra.lib.state.hi.us>

Aloha all!
The collectors and dealers on this board have run into this problem
before. Ebay steadfastly refuses to police its auctions for
misrepresentations, which does make some sense, as they would have to be
authorities on everything from meteorites to collectable Scooby-Doo
lunchboxes (although after they get enough complaints about someone,
they will eventually boot them from ebay). Likewise, they won't allow
anyone to put up anything on a auction that claims someone else is selling
a fake, no matter how justified or obvious. The only cure for this is to
educate the collecting public. Many of the IMCA, in addition to the IMCA
seal on their auctions, provide links to websites that educate and explain
how to tell the real thing from the fakes, and even a few addresses of
labs that will verify suspected meteorites. YOu could accentuate the
positive on this by making a statement "As a member of IMCA, I guarantee
that all material I sell is of genuine meteorite origin, with 100% money
back if dissatisfied. Look for our seal as an assurance of quality."

Tracy Latimer
--Ignorance is curable. Stoopid is forever.--
Received on Sat 18 May 2002 08:45:38 PM PDT