Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: Littleblackhen on September 05, 2008, 07:52:00 AM
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I have just bought a vase off ebay, and now I am worrying that I have made an expensive mistake. I have also been messaged by another ebay seller asking if I want another one to make a pair, for the same price. I thought it was quite a rare vase and am surprised someone else has one the same. Can someone advise me if I should spend more money and make a pair, or have I already been fleeced for the first one? :huh:
It is here if you would like to have a look for me please
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140262215870&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=004
Thanks
Janet
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Sorry Janet you have been conned it is either Italian or one of the copies from Eastern europe but probably the first but nothing like Powell or W/Fs .JP - PS If it is Italian the price is not too bad.
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I have to say that in my opinion the use of terms like 'conned' and 'fleeced' are a little strong. Having looked at the seller's other listings they seem genuine enough and it could well have been an innocent mistake. Not everyone is out to con and genuine errors are easily made - I know I've made mistakes in the past and will probably unwittingly do so in the future.
Personally, I think it's only fair that the seller is given a chance to rectify the situation before they're publicly villified and branded a conman.
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Yes sorry just got up still a bit grumpy, conned too stong ,check it out on the Italian section . but i do feel i have seen similar in one of the big stores. - Back again had another look it also looks a little like some Frateli Toso or Seguso vases does it have any wear on the base ,if so dont send it back you may have a good deal . sorry back to bed only had two hours sleep. :mus: :sleep:
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LOL OK - I'll let you off JP ;)
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I have just bought a vase off ebay, and now I am worrying that I have made an expensive mistake.
Hi Janet,
Before I looked at your ' Buy ' I imagined we were going to be talking 100.00 plus. I would not call 21.00 an expensive mistake but I can understand you feel cheated.
I would go with John's suggestion and keep it.......... It would look nice with floers in it some time.
Best wishes , Patrick.
A good place to look and get some idea on Harry Powell designs is here. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/ceramics/pages/subcategory.asp?subcat_id=868&subcat_name=Glass+made+during+the+management+of+Harry+Powell
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Looking at the seller's other items, many of which can be clearly attributed, because it says what they are on the back, made me think about what we did before Ebay and the internet. One would go into a little junk shop or to a market stall in Portobello, or somewhere similar, (no offence intended towards the seller) and rummage around for this sort of stuff and on a vase such as this there might be a sticker, with a description such as Powell, or Powell? or there might be nothing at all. In either case one would enter a dialogue with the seller and ask what it was and how they knew it was that and one would get a feel of whether they knew what they were talking about, from their reply and quite possibly their body language as well, and then one could take a view as to whether it was worth buying! Most dealers would agree on purchase that if you found out it wasn't as described, they would take it back within a reasonable period.
Of course there was always the chance that the stall-owner didn't know what it was and that one could use one's own knowledge to buy something rare and unattributed for less than the market value!
Now that everything gets written down on Ebay, I often think that we assume that every seller should have superb writing and descriptive skills and also a degree of expert knowledge that probably isn't there. I am not really sure whether this is a reasonable expectation, but I would agree with a viewpoint that the sellers who can describe their goods clearly and accurately are more likely to achieve sales.
I do agree with Pip that the first thing to do is to ask the seller to take it back, since it was not as described and I also think that if you are on a tight collecting budget then £21 can be an expensive mistake. It is all relative.
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I have contacted the seller and we have agreed to mutually withdraw the sale. She was very quick and ready to put matters right, so I am happy with the outcome.
I agree with the above posts that it is a lot more difficult to buy online, where people are faceless and it is easy to attribute wrong motives to their descriptions.
Patrick, I am happy for you that £26 is not a large sum for you, but unfortunately it is for me, and it would have been a blow to spend it on something of doubtful origin, so I am pleased that the sale has been mutually withdrawn.
Thanks for your quick responses.
Janet
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Hello,
This vase is post-war Czech, according to Graham Cooley. There was an identical vase in the exhibition held at Kings Lynn (see the Glass Cafe for thread on the exhibition, including my review). For a picture showing this vase go to: http://www.markhillpublishing.com/page7/page22/page22.html and scroll to the second picture down - there on the front of the display............ ;)
Oh, its by Milan Metelak. I'd keep it if I were you Janet - this is a burgeoning market and I'd say worth every penny of the £30 inc p&p that you paid.
Nigel
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Oh, Janet,
A thought - do you want to pass it on to me? For money of course :)
Cheers, Nigel
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Sorry Nigel, we have agreed to mutually withdraw from the sale now. I never received the vase, we disputed it before it was sent, so it is all done with now.
You could always contact her yourself and she will probably be re-offering it at some time soon.
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Well, this really is an "all's well that ends well" situation. The seller turns out to be extremely reputable and as a result has now got a positive id for the vase, as well as an offer on it! :)
Maybe it's in the air and the dispute our residents' association is wrestling with will be resolved as well..... :(
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Patrick, I am happy for you that £26 is not a large sum for you, but unfortunately it is for me, and it would have been a blow to spend it on something of doubtful origin, so I am pleased that the sale has been mutually withdrawn.
Janet
Hi Janet,
If you read all my post again I think you will agree that I thought that maybe you had paid the going rate for a 'Harry Powell vase' and then found out it was wrong.
I am sorry you thought that I was saying you had no reason to complain, that was not the case as far as I see it.
I hope you do find what you are looking for.
Best wishes Patrick. (http://stainedglassville.com/glassforum/Smileys/default/e2flowers.gif)
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Hi Patrick
Thanks for the flowers :)
I think I am feeling a bit frazzled by it all today, thinking I had bought a pup, then getting that resolved so I didn't have to buy it, and then wishing I had gone ahead with it anyway as it turned out to be something quite nice! :mus:
I think I will go back to bed and wake up in a better mood tomorrow ;)
Janet :hug:
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Well i did say on the second look it probably was a good buy and id it before sending it back , but the question was is it Harry powell . :cry: :sleep:
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Adam makes a very good point.
I know I've bought a couple of Chinese vases which Anita (i think it was, lots of help when I started) I.D.'d for me.
I didn't dispute it as I tend to view eBay as a second hand (junk) shop.
I really miss the old junk shops, always seem to be run buy an old boy or lady, always dark and dingy,,lubely jubely :angel:
Glad you got it all sorted out by the way :hiclp:
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I'm pleased the seller resolved the matter to the buyer's satisfaction - I knew he/she was a good egg! She made an honest mistake and has rectified the error - we all make mistakes however sellers that annoy me are the ones that are blatantly lying. For example, I recently contacted an eBayer who was selling one of those horrid tall twisted stem Chinese vases (the ones with the frosted bases that you can buy in garden centres and such like and when you pick them up they're as light as a feather). They had it described as something along the lines of super-rare vintage Murano vase - I emailed them to say that sadly it was modern Chinese production and not rare Murano - they emailed me back to say I was wrong because they bought it over 20 years ago (such a fib!). Now *that's* what I call dishonest!
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they caught me with that one when I first started collecting. I kept it as a reminder.
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At the risk of offending everybody, including used car salesmen!!
....."only one careful lady owner" is the classic that springs to mind.
By which I do not in any way mean to suggest that women drivers are not careful!! Simply that this is how used car salesmen describe
cars to imply that they will be in perfect condition, when perhaps they are not..... :)