[meteorite-list] ebay descriptions

From: Martin <Martin_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:28:24 2004
Message-ID: <006d01c38f22$733c5660$447debd9_at_9y6y40j>

I agree that categories like "huge", "museum quality" ect. are subjective
attributes.
- a 10g Tatahouine is indeed huge, a 10g Campo isn't - for a small collector
a 500g stone is huge and I found in some museum exhibitions some ugly rusted
pieces too...
And even "oriented" can be interpreted in different manners, although there
is a tendency in ebay to praise everything as "oriented" which is not round
and smooth like a bowling ball.

With "fusion crust" it's completely different, it's a specific criterion of
quality and thus of value too. I don't want to impute to those not so
experienced sellers, that they use it to cheat the buyers - in most cases
they just don't know it better and copy for example the flourish of the
"black bluish fusion crust" from the descriptions of the dealers or because
they found it in a book, although their pieces are totally cleaned down or
tumbled.
What would you say, if somebody sells you a car with air condition and it
turns out that the air condition is in fact nothing else than the
possibility to open the window?

A specific European problem in ebay is now, that by a new law a seller can
exlude all guarantees in claiming his auction as a "private sale" and many
do so.

And I'm sick and tired of telling to all those beginning collectors among my
clients, which proudly show me their recent ebay acquiries, that their
Nantans don't have regmaglyptes, that their Canyons don't have fusion crust,
that their Campos don't have flow lines, that their NWA fragments aren't
oriented...
A few were so dissapointed, that they quit collecting...

And there are a few sellers, who know exactely what they're doing. One f.e.
in german ebay, who is selling Sikhote writes: There are two different types
of Sikhote-Alin: Individuals, which show fine regmaglypts and fusion crust
and shrapnells, which don't have fusion crust. Here you're bidding on a
individual with fine regmaglypts full stop.
And piff! the picture shows an overcleaned individual.
Well he doesn't write explicitely, that his specimens do have fusion crust,
but isn't it a little bit misleading?
(uh it's an IMCA member).

Anyway, perhaps smth more interesting for those which are bored by this ebay
discussions:

There is a funny evolution going on in german ebay concerning terminology:

In German there exists no adequate single word to translate "Individual" (a
more or less whole specimen vs. "fragment", "partslice"...).
Some translate it as "Individuum", which means in german a single person or
invent a new word "Individualstück" or smth. similar. Because Sikhote is the
predominant locality in german ebay and more and more not so experienced
sellers try to make some bucks with Sikhote and you find on the english
spoken webpages Sikhote offered in most cases as "individual" and
"shrapnel", and because those inadequate translations into german sounds
totally unknown, thus like a terminus technicus, to those novice sellers,

now "individual" and "shrapnel" are used as true antonyms!

With sometimes such funny consequences, that you can read in a description,
that "this stone is not a cheap shrapnel".....

If my englich wouldn't be so poor, I would finish this message with a bon
mot of Bismarck.

"One lies never as much as before the election, during the war and after
the hunt."

...AND IN EBAY!!

Martin A.





----- Original Message -----
From: <joseph_town_at_att.net>
To: "Martin Altmann" <Altmann_at_Meteorite-Martin.de>
Cc: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2003 11:29 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] ebay descriptions


> We do have a standard for that. It's called a guarantee. We all have
> different levels of experience and expertee's, not to mention eyesight.
> Feedback and research help but they can be misleading as well. Nothing can
> replace an established reputation of honesty and quality. Labels and
> terminology are helpful but are also open to interpretation. You can't can
so
> many variables like chicken soup.
>
> Bill Kieskowski
>
>
> > Hi list, and we need urgently another standard for those, who claim
> > everything, which has as outside a different colour than inside to be
fusion
> > crusted or crusted.
> >
> > Proposal:
> >
> > "rind" vs. "(fusion) crust"
> >
> > Thanks too.
> > Martin A.
> >
> >
> > > Hello List, I have part of this figured out. We need a standard! For
> > > example;
> > >
> > > FOR IRONS and common chondrites
> > >
> > >
> > > 0g to 10g = tiny
> > > 11g to 25g = Small
> > > 26g to 50g = medium
> > > 51g to 100g = nice sized
> > > 100g to 1 kilo = big
> > >
> > > For rare stuff ;
> > >
> > > 1mg to 10th gram = small
> > > 10thg to 1g = medium
> > > 1g or more = large
> > >
> > > Thanks, Tom
> > > Peregrineflier <><
> > > The proudest member of the IMCA 6168
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________
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>
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Received on Fri 10 Oct 2003 07:34:21 AM PDT