Belgium on ebay-Beware

There is a fellow on ebay selling Belgium Coutile's that may me a little shady. I put in a bid for $78.89 on the first day of the auction. All of a sudden, People who have never bought a thing on ebay -- Zero feed back - started bidding on this item, but I won the item for $78. The fellow is from France. I am not sure but I reported it to Ebay that this fellow may have straw bidders. I did not here back from ebay yet and I'm not paying until I do. Did anyone else ever buy a stone from an ebay seller from France. I would like to know.

I'll keep you posted as to what happens to me.

By the way, I went through a divorce recently and was away for awhile. I feel like the guy on Independence Day. I'm Back.

Man - I looked at the history. the guys w/ 0 feedback probing and the guy w/ 1 feedback retracting!!!

This sucks big time.

Best of luck
Ivo

This one reason I snipe.

That sure sounds hinky............. hope they do right by you.

i had that a while ago buying a dress for the bridesmaid at my wedding
my wife (fiance at the time) and i had sniped a dress for 200 (starting bid 150)
with 2 days to go it suddenly had 4 bids taking the price to 850 (about the full value of the dress in the stores)
all 4 bids were from bidders with zero feedback who had joined ebay within 1 hour of the bid ... :td
i smelled a rat so i left the snipe in (figuring if we didn't win it didn't cost anything)
all 4 bids were retracted within 2 minutes of the end of the auction
we won the snipe with the starting (and only) bid of 150! :y
got the dress ok but 2 days later the seller was banned by ebay

scary ...

Interesting, I had never heard this term and just did a little research on it. Makes sense. I have never heard a case of this on e-bay, but it makes sense that it would happen. Very interesting.

Matt

Here's another auction by the same guy - check the bid history!


Another Belgian - Same Seller

(...This stinks worse than my tennis shoes!)

-whatever

-Lou

It's real interesting that the two bidders (menynet and mirullea) were the same bidders on both auctions!!

(...curiouser and curiouser...)

-whatever

-Lou

BTW, Vince, keep us posted on eBay's response

If I recall correctly he has relisted the same stone several times.

I really don't see anything that unusual going on. You will find many of our names as bidders over and over again on every coticule or Escher that turns up along with many other of the same bidders. This fellows history shows a 100% feedback rating and it looks like all he has sold recently were various stones. He has had coticules in several sizes along with some more coarse looking stones.

The final prices look pretty fair for stones 1 1/2" x 6"

Tony

I'm not sure, but it doesn't look good to me. I paid the fellow anyway not to ruin my feedback rating and just by chance I'm wrong. I followed up with an email asking if he sent the stone. He said he sent it. As of today, ebay has not replied to my complaint.

No complaint on my part about the price. My beef is the manner in which the auction was conducted.

If and when ebay gets back to me and if and when I receive the stone, I will let everyone know.

Vince

Well,

I hope everything goes well and your get your hone intact. Did you look at Howards Prices? From what I have seen his prices are as good or better than most of the Coticules I've seen on Ebay.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by padron

Well,

..Did you look at Howards Prices? From what I have seen his prices are as good or better than most of the Coticules I've seen on Ebay.

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Howard?.....could you post a link to Howard?

-thanks:tu

-whatever

-Lou

Sure,

it's Howard from The Perfect Edge.com

http://www.theperfectedge.com/

He's a member here :)

I din't know Howard sold Belgium's. I've been looking for a good polishing hone for a long time. I bought a Kitiyama 12K last week, then this Belgium pops up on ebay, then I found out Howard sells Belgiums. I need a new Norton 4/8 and I sent Howard a PM.

From no polishing hone to some of the best in a few days.

And all I wanted was a close shave

Just to let everybody know the guy is a creep - dovebar 101. I received the stone and it had a hairline crack through the whole stone right in the center. He advertised the stone as two sharpening stones but one side was slate.

I emailed him and told him the stone was damaged and he asked me to send him a picture. I emailed him back and told him I'll send you the stone back, so I did.

Today I sent him the tracking info and he emailed back he would not replace the stone and he will not refund my money and to leave him a negative feedback he dosen't care.

OK, I got it good. Please, remember this guy. I would hate to see another out $100 for nothing. At least we have Howard and Tony, I aready emailed Howard for a stone and I'll get one from Tony when he gets his stock in.

Just a Heads UP.

Vince

sorry to hear this...

Howard immediately replaced a stone that arrived with a crack and included a courtesy slurry stone for the inconvenience. I have only great words for what I have from Tony, too. Can't go wrong with them

Cheers
Ivo

That's why dealing with trusted vendors is so important, especially when doing it over the internet, where you cannot face the seller in person.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vincebell

... he emailed back he would not replace the stone and he will not refund my money and to leave him a negative feedback he dosen't care.

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Vince,

Depending on the terms of the auction, you may be able to file a dispute and recover the money. Even if the item was sold "as-is" he didn't disclose certain obvious faults. Here's PayPal's page on how to do that... https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/we...nBuyerOverview

Many Belgians will have seams (cracks) in them and that is part of why they bond them to slate. It would however have been nice if he had admited that and stood behind a return. I owned and sold a few with seams and am sure Howard has too but it would have been disclosed to the buyer BEFORE he had to pay, just in case.

Sorry to hear he was a jerk.

Tony

I bought a coticule and a norton stone from Howard- they're beautiful, and showed up promptly- he gets all my honing business going forward. Sorry to hear about your trouble with eBay, I have a hard time finding good sellers there too.

Cliff

Thanks guys, I went the paypal route and put in a claim. But I don't think this dude really cares. I din't get nasty with the fellow, just told him that his moral make-up must be in sad condition to resort to stealing.

I told him I was down and out one time and every penny counted but I never stole.

If he needed a hundred that bad, I would lend it to him with no intrest.

The guy is just a crook.

Vince,
Stones are becoming hot on eBay and are naturally attracting a number of folks who are something less than desirable to deal with in a business transaction. A couple of things are happening that I've noticed. First, one guy has a standard photo of a nice coticule he shows but that's not the stone you get. Second, I've seen (and experienced) people sending me stones that are in a box from a different manufacturer or stone company. The box may say "Escher" but the stone isn't an Escher. Beware of dealing with folks in foreign countries as you may not be able to get your money back and getting into a pissing contest via email is somewhat less than a satisfactory way to spend your time.

Howard, this is the guy who screwed me. I am still fighting with PayPal to get my money back.. He has not responed to me nor paypal. I hope no one on this site buys a stone from DOVEBEAR1 from France. He sent me a cracked stone, which I sent back and bascially told me to go to you know where.

For those on this site. I told Howard this story and bought a stone from ThePerfectEdge.com. Not only did I get a beautiful stone but HOward sent me one that was worth far more than what I paid.

Unless you find something extraordinardy on Ebay as far as Belgiums, stay away.

Buy them from Howard if you want a Belgium. If you what something else, but it from Tony Miller. Your going to get ehat you pay for and more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Howard

Vince,
Second, I've seen (and experienced) people sending me stones that are in a box from a different manufacturer or stone company. The box may say "Escher" but the stone isn't an Escher. .

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Howard,
Been there, done that ! It's getting to be a gamble on these things lately. of course every once in a while you get a really nice Coticle or Escher in a non-Escher/Coticule box too!

Stick with real dealers guys.

Tony

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Of course every once in a while you get a really nice Coticle or Escher in a non-Escher/Coticule box too!

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Speaking of which, take a look at this. Judging at the price with a day of bidding left to go, I think some bidders are on to this.

At first I thought it was a natural, but then you can make out a straight seam down the middle, to the left of the natural seam. It looks like it might actually be an odd natural – mostly yellow – bonded to a piece of slate.

Somehow I don't think your rabbis are bidding on this one Howard. :)

If you paid by Credit card contact them and explain what has happened they will credit your account and deal with him/paypal.
When E-shopping always use your CC its your first and last line of defense.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vincebell

Just to let everybody know the guy is a creep - dovebar 101. I received the stone and it had a hairline crack through the whole stone right in the center. He advertised the stone as two sharpening stones but one side was slate.

I emailed him and told him the stone was damaged and he asked me to send him a picture. I emailed him back and told him I'll send you the stone back, so I did.

Today I sent him the tracking info and he emailed back he would not replace the stone and he will not refund my money and to leave him a negative feedback he dosen't care.

OK, I got it good. Please, remember this guy. I would hate to see another out $100 for nothing. At least we have Howard and Tony, I aready emailed Howard for a stone and I'll get one from Tony when he gets his stock in.

Just a Heads UP.

Vince

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I paid cash. Now paypal is giving me trouble because I returned the stone before I put in a claim. So the bottom line is. This seller, put an item on ebay that was defective, sold it as new, would not accept a return and would not refund the money.

I guess it pays to steal. I left a negative feedback but what good is that, and so much for the paypal buyer protection plan.

What is the difference between Howards blue and yellow stones to a norton stone...arn't they the same grit.

Are tony millers stones more of a polishing stone then Howards??