[meteorite-list] meteorite the floats??

From: Martin Altmann <altmann_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:40:19 +0100
Message-ID: <007d01cb90ad$4717dfc0$d5479f40$_at_de>

Uuuh, please not!

>So, in
>that case we either put Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western
>Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and throw Tasmania in there

Or do you want to have the bevanistic meteorite Gestapo knocking at your
door, to confiscate these meteorites?
Or those crazy Argentines letting ebay block each and every Campo auction?
The Polish, the Omani...

That would only open the doors for the mettalibans, who really shouldn't be
supported in any way.

And sooner or later, the more troubles arise, ebay fully will exempt
meteorites from sale,
as it happens partially with artifacts and stuff.


Hmmm... more comfort it could be for many meteoritic ebay users to build
perhaps such categories.

- observed falls
- micromounts
- tkw >1 ton
- tektites & impactites
- unclassified
- jewelery
- OCs
(- grrr Guerlin, Dan Brown, Rolex,....)

Cause most of the offers there are "mass" meteorites - and most collectors
do have them already,
but have to click through hundreds and thousands of such offers, searching
for something else.

Micro-specks are for many also not soo intriguing

Most disturbing are these tons of black indochinites, where the sellers use
always the word "meteorite" in the title, but avoid the tag "tektite" there,
so that you can't sort them out automatically.

In the "unclassified" category could end most of these whack self-found
wrongs.


Anyway, just yesterday, after a long while, I looked into ebay.
It changed a lot.
>From the 6000+ offers only 15% were still auctions, all others were offers
with a fix price.
And from these few auctions left,
less than 150 weren't secured with a startprice.
(Even on the tiniest 2 or 3$ bogeys they use starting prices now).

Where shall be there the fun?
It's no auction platform anymore, but rather a normal warehouse.

(And if I think, that many offerers will add the 20% fees or so on the
price, they originally want...
So the collector pays more, and the neither he nor the seller has anything
from that unnecessary price premium).

Uuuuh and what for a mess! On the first results page: 4 meteowrongs. From
US-Lunars, over Martha's Vineyard, to Canyon Diablo stony achondrite and
element 155 meteorite.
Second page 8 meteowrongs - mainly from that Curry-clown.

That doesn't make ebay directly looking like a serious platform for trade.

Sentimental journey,
years ago, the sellers were much more courageous.
Starting prices or firm price were the exemptions.

Best!
Martin

-----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----
Von: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von Brian
Cox
Gesendet: Dienstag, 30. November 2010 15:48
An: Meteorite-list
Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] meteorite the floats??

Just to piggyback on what I mentioned earlier about anyone interested
enough, who has the time and the energy, (Not me!) to contact ebay about
setting up categories for meteorites, I did want to mention the old saying:
"Be Careful What You Wish For" since it "May Open a Can of Worms" in the
sense, that we may be categorized to death on something like that.

Now, not to leave out my Aussie friends, "Jeff" let's say it's a Miles
Meteorite, which has been one of my favorites. It's beautiful and I had
quite a bit of it and sold most of it. Some of you lucky blokes and lasses
may have gotten a piece of it. So, for example, if ebay says: If it's an
Australia meteorite you have to put which territory it was found in. So, in

that case we either put Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western
Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and throw Tasmania in there
also for where the meteorite was found or fell and picked up, etc. you know
what I mean. Then for Miles it would be put into the Queensland category
where it was found. Now, what if the meteorite was found on the border of 2
or 3 of the areas, then you would put it in each of those.

Now, for example in the America, it could get quite sticky. What if ebay
says you have to fill out your seller's form with the correct state. Ok,
that sounds great actually. Then what if they say, ok put the county in
also. Then we might have overlapping counties, such as the Mifflin meteorite

in Southwestern Wisconsin, which was found with pieces in Grant County near
Livingston and then across into Iowa County to Mifflin and the surrounding
area. So in this case you have two counties you need to fill out for your
ebay sale for the Mifflin meteorite.

We then in the future may be filling out the ebay auction as Mifflin
meteorite, a witnessed fall going across the sky, and since it hit a
farmer's shed and bounced and he picked it up, then it's under the fall
category and all other Mifflin meteorites would be under "fall" and not the
"Found" category. It would be put in the state of Wisconsin in Grant and
Iowa counties. It would be put in the year 2009 and then who knows ebay
might want the month and day also.

I'm just breaking this down for you folks.

So, if meteorite faker # 1 and faker # 2, and faker # 3 all say they have a
meteorite to sell, like the guy in Nevada then he's got to put it into a
category of let's say a "find" and let's say Clark County, in the state of
Nevada. Now as far as category for iron, stony iron, chondrite or pallasite,

etc. then since old faker # 1 has no idea what kind of a meteorite it is,
then he couldn't fill that out, unless ebay puts in a category called,
"Unknown" ah yes, the mysterious gray area of unknown.

Anyhow, I have to get off the computer and do some shopping, so you folks
can play around with this idea to crack down on the fakers on ebay and in
general rid the world of dishonest meteorite buyers in your free time. On
your way to the rescue all your Meteorite Super Heroes!!!!!!! I need my
Starbucks Mocha decaf!!!

Have a great day, and a great evening to those in the Eastern Hemisphere.

All the best. ;-)

Brian Cox

Imca # 6387

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Received on Tue 30 Nov 2010 11:40:19 AM PST