[meteorite-list] meteorites vs meteoritic shale and Ebay Dealer wannabes.

From: Michael L Blood <mlblood_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:56:08 -0800
Message-ID: <C3F25CB8.147C3%mlblood_at_cox.net>

Sorry for the burn,
        I suggest the following:
1) If you paid via PayPal, dispute the payment.
2) No - shale is shale and iron is iron.
3) If he has an IMCA #, Complain to the organization and
Request an intervention - I believe they provide this, though
It may be called "mediation" or the like. If not, request that
His membership be questioned on the basis of your interaction.
4) If he is not an established dealer AND not an IMCA dealer,
Why did you buy from him? By now you know the old saying....
"buy only from established dealers."
        Again, sorry for the problems.
        PS: This is one of those examples of why I HATE eBay "feedback" -
If you give him a negative, he will give you one and you are screwed
For life - so the whole feedback routine on eBay is a crock for my $.
        Best wishes, Michael

on 3/3/08 11:38 PM, Mr EMan at mstreman53 at yahoo.com wrote:

> So as to not even broach a flame war should any of the parties be
> reading ergo actual identities will not be revealed.
>
> This broad issues are accuracy in descriptions and do we hold
> "self-proclaimed dealers" to a higher standard of knowledge. The narrow
> issue is when are weathered chunks of stuff meteorites and when are
> they shale.
>
> I recently bought 100+ grams of "stone meteorites" off a new dealer
> wannabe on eBay only to find what I received were the 3-6mm scraps of
> weathered material from the bottom of a meteorite shipping box.
> Three-five of perhaps 200 pieces were identifiable as meteorites--the
> rest was shale.
>
> The dealer got snide and attacked me personally when the difference
> was brought to his attention. He did not offer to make things right nor
> did he comprehend that he had not accurately described his auction.
> Like so many "dealers" that want to start at the top, he thought all he
> had to do was hang out an eBay shingle and talk a good talk to sit at
> the adult table without taking the time to learn the nuances of
> meteorite wisdom.
>
> That said, is there a consensus of right or wrong as to the selling
> meteorite shale as meteorites? This is as fundamental as asking what
> constitutes a meteorite in trade and commercial terms. Was I sold
> meteorites but shipped shards of meteorite shale? Was there fraud and
> was there a moral obligation by the seller to know the difference if he
> was a "dealer"? When one puts on the hat of dealer should they be held
> to a higher standard when it comes to mistakes?
>
> Finally, are the shards of totally weathered crumbs originally from
> meteorites legitimately "meteorites" or are they meteorite shale? Or
> is this on a continuum between pristine meteorites and weathered clay
> of extraterrestrial origin and at what point do we call them meteorites
> and at what point meteoritic shale?
>
> Elton
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Received on Tue 04 Mar 2008 04:56:08 AM PST