manylittle

I see that he has changed his listing again. Here is what it says now. HERE IS A SCARCE SMALL SIZE "SAMBO" CHARACTER MARBLE COLLECTIBLE

Oops, I cut and pasted it and missed the last number. 866-558-3229

Galen...Ebay does not openly show their customer service number where you can call and talk about such issues...but here is one of the phone numbers that I have used in the past. 866-558-322 Most of the time, these guys are from the phillipines, but sometimes you get routed to Utah.!!! My friend reports that they are getting much better at both sites.

That is ok. For a moment there I thought I was going nutzo until I realized what had happened. lol

His listings are still not totally honest...he is still calling them vintage and rare and is not saying that they are reproductions. But, they are better than they used to be.

Are you sure we are talking about the same person? I read oldmarblenut's thread and that was about a different seller altogether. He was talking about chriscollectibles2012 where I am talking about sdmad33.

http://mesgmy.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewMyMessageDetails&View=MyMessageDetails&CurrentPage=MyeBayMyMessageDetails&SubmitAction.Show=x&emailUniqueId=a17e67a98d3c42718458b8015e95b5e0&sourceImagePreview=ImagePreview&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:3478 Hopefully you can now see the link to some of our past communications so that you can see for yourself what a great guy this guy is....and how kindly and eagerly he responded to my information and advice. Above is some of our last communications....I will try and find the first and post it below. There it is. The first link below is to my regular email but I'm not sure if you will be able to access it without my password so will also try and get a link to the same email from ebay messages like I did on top. http://mail.aol.com/38442-111/aol-6/en-us/suite.aspx http://mesgmy.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewMyMessageDetails&View=MyMessageDetails&CurrentPage=MyeBayMyMessageDetails&FolderID=0&SourcePage=MyeBayMyMessages&MyMessages2.Filter=&itemid=-1&SortOrder=DESCEND&SessionId=0&MoreViewFilter=NONE&GotoPage=1&MyMessages2.Period=Last122Days&Column=Received&CurrentView=all&SubmitAction.Show=x&readingPaneOpen=false&messageId=m54388187520

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-MARBLE-49-64-End-of-Day-INDIAN-CLOWN-looking-AMBER-TINTED-BASE-6-Color-/371024936609?pt=Marbles&hash=item5662cf3ea1 My new friend asked me if I would help him with id'ing this mib and I asked him if he minded if I let you guys look at it and help me and he said he would be grateful if you would. I have already started a thread in the General Marble and Glass Chat about how I misjudged sdmad33. I think that this looks contemporary to me, but being far from an expert on the handmades, I thought I should ask you guys for help. It does not have a signature that we could find. Thanks ahead of time for your help. Vicki

I finally got up the nerve to ask him why he started out so many of his marbles at such a high price. I have tried to post a link to our emails and even tried to copy and paste what we said to each other. If any of you know how to do that...to get this to accept a copied text from my emails...or to list the link to those emails, it would greatly simplify this explanation...as I want you all to see what a nice guy this guy really is....let me know how... Anyway...he said that it was due to ignorance a fear of a missed opportunity, that he priced high, considered all offers and hoped for the best...He said that he usually did not get his high prices, but sometimes...once in a few months or more, it resulted in him getting a higher than normal sale. He said that he is still learning all of the time and that as his appraising skills get better that his listings will also get better. The reason I started this thread is that through my own reluctance to contact this person...I, rather than find out what Shawn was all about...judged him and talked about him in not a very kind manner. I did not give this guy the benefit of the doubt and thus, I almost missed finding out about a very nice person. I am telling you all about this and the fact that I was very wrong, in the hopes that we all can learn from it. I don't think that we should ever hesitate to contact a seller if we feel that they have made a mistake in listing one of their marbles....if we are going to bring up that mistake here in the forum. It is just too easy to attach personality traits to that seller that we just assume to be the case due to the evidence of his listing. We might be terribly wrong and terribly mis-judging that person. Many of us don't contact a seller because we have experienced the anger of some of these guys and don't want to run into it again...but we should never anticipate that one guy will act like the last one did. Anyway....I was very wrong and should never have judged Shawn without contacting him first. I hope that I can learn from my mistakes in this case and that in posting it here, that I can open up some minds and hopefully prevent some of you from making the same mistake that I did.

I have totally misjudged an ebay seller. Many of us are familiar with his name. it has come up in many threads including some that I started. The last one I started was about a German handmade that I felt was polished. It was....terribly....the seller had several others like it and he was saying in his descriptions that they were end of cane. We know him as sdmad33. I had long had him marked on ebay as one of my favorite sellers...not because of marbles, but because of the great bottles that he gets...especially poison bottles. He is also known for his very high starting prices on many of his marbles. He seems to mark them down by about 33% until they sell. I finally decided, that rather than just talk about him, I should follow the golden rule and do what I would want someone to do for me....I sent him a message and told him...very politely and with concern that he may have been defrauded when he bought the marbles....that his marble and many others that he had listed was terribly polished. I totally expected an angry and defensive response. I was terribly wrong. I got the most polite response ever. He...Shawn.....apologized....said that he had not known that they were polished and said he would change his listings, which he did...even before he contacted me with his message. t That was the start of a growing friendship. I would give him advice when I would stumble on one of his listings, such as a mib that he called an oxblood that wasn't, etc. Each time he would respond politely, even eagerly for new information....He told me that he had only been selling lots of marbles for about 18 months and that he was basically self taught from books, etc. Many of us started out that same way.

I said that ebay would do something and I'm glad that we found out in this case that they did. My friend, a prolific utuber and entrepreneur, used to be a huge complainer about ebay and paypal. But he admits now that he had not given them a fair chance, and also says that ebay has been changing for the better lately. I think that we have all got to start with a positive attitude and try to make things better together with a united front when we encounter bad sellers. I think that we could accomplish a lot if we start out with the right attitude rather than just give up before we try. Please don't take this wrong...I am not saying this because of anyone's individual actions or posts. I am saying this because I truly believe that if we band together, we can make changes. Good Job..Oldmarblenut !!!

I have a good friend who is quite close with some of the guys at Ebay who handles the complaints. He says that ebay has to get a certain number of complaints, I think that it is 4, about the guy doing the exact same thing in a months time, and then they will step in and do something. I thought I would send this guy a really polite heads up. Here is what I said...... ......From looking at your listings, I am guessing that you are not a marble expert and may have been duped by an unscrupulous seller. I hope you did not have to pay too much for these marbles because they are not authentic, but are reproduction rip-offs. I thought I should give you a heads up. That way, you can fix your listings before some newbie buys one of these. I would rather be told that I had made a mistake in a listing rather than get a negative when I sold it and they found out that they had not bought a real 1932 Peltier Character marble. You must be honest or you would not have a 100% feedback rating. I have 25 years in buying and selling marbles and like to help out when I can. I'm sure you will want to change your discriptions on these marbles. If you want another opinion, check them out with the guys at Marble Connection or All About Marbles. Both forums are full of experts who will help you for free. Please take this in the kind spirit in which it was meant. Vicki..... I'll let you know when I hear back from him. From what you guys are saying, I am expecting a bad reply. If this guy needs to be disciplined by ebay the only way to see that this gets done is to have several of us co-ordinate together and make the same complaint in the report section. It might just work and if it does, we will have found out how to handle some of these flagrant jokers. What do you think?

Oops !!!! I put one too many zeros in, the bid starts at $50 and the auction ends on the 15th. I wonder how high it will go. Should we guess !!! We could make it a contest!!! I think that it will end up going for $669. Your turn!!!!

It looks to me like the first child is either holding an apple, or my best guess is that it's a yo-yo. I don't think that it is a marble. The girl could also be holding a snowdome but they usually have a base.

http://www.auctionzip.com/aflive.html?method=getLotInfo&lotref=C77FB7D57B&utm_source=azemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts The above is a link to an auction lot with 14 sulfide marbles...all pigs. Thought someone might be interested in it. Bidding starts at $500 which I did not think was out of line !!! Happy Collecting, Guys !!!!

He has a mib for 3 Grand and a bunch of fantasy hand painted clays for well over 1 grand. I questioned him about them and am waiting to hear what he says. I do believe that is a thread started about those. check out the one that starts OMG!

He is way high on all of his marbles.

If you bring up the sixth marble picture starting on your left and going to the right, and then hold your curser arrow over it to enlarge it you can see a long scape like looking mark that starts at the edge of the circle and goes into the center. There are also two more shorter scrapes, one on either side of the longer one and then when you look even closer the circle, starting at that long scrape and moving to the right and upwards in a counter clockwise direction it looks like the circle could be made of several very short scrapes....at least that part of the circle from about 5 o'clock through 1 o'clock or so looks that way. There are also some longer scrape marks that are to the left and lower than the circle that are longer that look like they could have been made from the same tool or blade. Thanks for your help in sending another picture. When it comes to characters that already seem shady I guess I get too suspicious and perhaps see things that may not be there?

If you bring up the sixth marble picture starting on your left and going to the right, and then hold your curser arrow over it to enlarge it you can see a long scape like looking mark that starts at the edge of the circle and goes into the center. There are also two more shorter scrapes, one on either side of the longer one and then when you look even closer the circle, starting at that long scrape and moving to the right and upwards in a counter clockwise direction it looks like the circle could be made of several very short scrapes....at least that part of the circle from about 5 o'clock through 1 o'clock or so looks that way. There are also some longer scrape marks that are to the left and lower than the circle that are longer that look like they could have been made from the same tool or blade. Thanks for your help in sending another picture. When it comes to characters that already seem shady I guess I get too suspicious and perhaps see things that may not be there?

Some of us just have no choice. We have to buy and sell with the idea of making a profit in mind because this is how we put food on the table. After I finished having surgeries (36) in the late '70's through the mid '80's I thought that I would never have money problems again. I opened up a ceramics shop in the downstairs of my home...I own an 11 room two story, two apartment brick house so had lots of room..and taught ceramics and made finished pieces to sell at art shows and consign in gift shops and then I expanded to wholesale and even had a sales rep sell in a 5 state area for me. Then I was assaulted and got permanent nerve damage in my brush holding hand so had to find a new way to make money...I had been renting a booth in a antiques and crafts mall and had to work one day each week in order to get my space cheeper. I kept seeing the prices that antiques were bringing and asked the manager if I could consign some antiques and sell some in my ceramics room and she said yes.!!!! So loaded up with lots of enthusiasm I went to my first antique auction as a budding professional!!!! I spent a whopping $12 but luckily I bought the dump out of a gentleman's junk drawer!!! I got Parker Ink pens, two watch fobs, some bullit pencils with advertising, 4 sets of cufflinks, 5 jack knives and even a few marbles. I was off to the races!!! I started researching antiques and taking antique price guides to bed with me...alas, no men to tell me to put that book down and cuddle..!!!!lol In the mid '80's antiques were selling like crazy and kitchen collectibles were all the rage. I would have an auction paid for by the time i unpacked and priced the items and got them on my shelves. One day a lady came in with a 5 gallon pickle jar full of marbles that she wanted $800 for. I talked her down to $500 if I remember right. There were over 25 popeyes in that jar, many of which were purple and yellow...there were also akro oxbloods, and oxblood lemonaides and limeaides, three akro birds...the only ones that I have ever had or held for that matter...four turkeys...several flames including an 8 finger black and rose colored Christianson flame that was to die for. There were also several micas and German hand mades. I had so much fun learning about marbles..I was already hooked on antiques and now I was even more hooked on marbles. I can spend hours sorting through marbles. It is a great remedy for relieving chronic pain because you have your total mind concentrated on the marbles. I can start at 1 pm and all of a sudden its 4:30 and I have not even had a twinge of pain. I will be forever grateful for the joy that marbles have given me...for their beauty and unending color combinations and styles. I get the same concentration levels, working with them, that I do when putting together a complicated picture puzzle, or sorting and grading coins. Oh Gosh...I'm off subject again?? !!!

Glad that your surgery was a success!!!!

I think that he thinks that he is being funny but does not realize that a little of that goes a very long way. Maybe he's on some sort of medication that messes with his inhibitions. If he continues to sell good marbles though, I guess that should be the main measuring point. This comment only pertains to the messages that you have gotten as I have not seen the sexual ones.

I'm so sick of winter!!! had another 22 degree below zero night last week and with the frost being down over 8 feet it was the final straw...My sand point, which is only 8 1/2 feet deep froze that night. Average frost depth for this part of Wisconsin is 5 feet. No one is willing to come out until the frost is out of the soil so I will be hauling in water and begging showers. Washed my hair with snowmelt last night. It was not too bad after I picked the pine needles out of it. lol Hint...stay away from the yellow stuff, though. lol !!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HAND-MADE-GERMAN-LATTICINO-SWIRL-MARBLE-1890s-2-05-or-52-44mm-/271378996388?pt=Marbles&hash=item3f2f72dca4 What do you guys think? The pontil is clear and shiny looking and smooth in the center and then there is a rough narrow circle that looks funny to me. It looks like grind marks all running in the same direction. and even looks like the grinder slipped and hit another part of the marble at one time. I might be wrong, it might just be that my old eyes are playing tricks on me. It just does not look like a normal pontil mark. I might be wrong so thought I'd run it past some of you experts on handmades.

maybe you ought to go looking for those coins in that same area with a metal detecter!!!! lol Super find!!!!!