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New Handmade Pontil?


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Some of these are so pathetically obviously contrived. Maybe the marble won't go anywhere; it really doesn't have much to commend it.

I tried to find a place at this eBay Auction where you could contact the seller but couldn't figure it out. Wound up at some site that was asking me if I wanted to configure my 'something.'

And then when I put in my in my User Name in parenthesis after it it said (Not you?). What's up with that? I mean like it came up immediately. Does this woman have my number as a trouble maker?

DAVID

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The not you thingy is normal for everyone. It used to confuse me a little before my third cup o' joe.

Ebay is keeping better records of some of these crooks. Finally! Such as wanting to know who you are and why you are contacting the seller and so forth before they give you the contact seller page. When they see a lot of people wanting to contact certain sellers on their watch list more red flags go up in their files. I've even seen sellers BEGGING you not to leave neg feedback..."cause if I get one more negative I'll get booted off ebay"...type of language.

If everyone would not be afraid to slam them a negative if they deserve it, they would be kicked off. But it is the newbie's who don't know any better and don't want to look like they made a mistake by leaving anything but good feedback.

Most of us know to stay away from this type seller but maybe we should all pitch in (gang up) and buy a few of these so we can set them straight.

:jumping-1020:

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Good grief! Have you checked completed sales for this seller? Two observations - a) "Vintage marbles" from Tammy have been bringing exceptional prices for what look like new Chinese products that retail for between fifty cents and a few dollars. -- and -- B) Those new Chinese marbles are quite diverse, inexpensive and well made. (Alan sold some in the past for very reasonable prices)

Not everyone seems to be well informed ...

Knowledge is power

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For some strange reason I do not have that "Ask Question" under her name in that area but I scrolled down to the very bottom of the page and did find a "Question Not Listed" or something like that box and was able to successfully send her a message letting her know that she might consider listing some of her marbles that she wasn't sure about(as stated in her description) at Marble Connection in the ID section as people were generally very helpful there whereas presently her current listing and past marble sales were receiving ridicule. I also emphasized that if she continued with such obviously misidentified marbles that more and more people would be reporting her to the Dept. of eBay concerned with fraudulent offerings. I also provided a few personal credentials to let her know that I didn't just fall off the potato cart. And I pointedly let her know that her marble was new but refrained from saying anything about the "pontil." David

P.S. What else could I have done?

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David, I think you did the perfect thing... Being aggressively nasty or accusing in these situations never works out...

I don't keep too much track of the sellers we've had issues with, here... It seems to me Tammy has been one.

She has her auctions down to a fine science... "Less said, more insinuated." Other than calling it a "Vintage" marble and having it listed in the Pre-1970 handmade category, she's left all other assumptions to the buyer.

If we were to take on any campaign to correct her, we should begin by consistantly requesting that she change categories... "Vintage" is subjective as a word. And, her title cannot be changed once there are bids... So, that's moot... She can change categories.

If she doesn't change when requested (especially by many people...) I would think that would be grounds to report her...

Bidding, winning and leaving negs??? If the "nice way" doesn't work, it's an option....

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She knows exactly what she is doing. Using her listing name to rip off newbies. Here is her answer

Hello..I use my id name in the listings...So people can find me. I asked ebay if that is o.k. and they said it was fine. My id is tammysvintagemarbles. I'm not saying they are vintage. And even in the listing I never say that...Because I don't know. So it's best not to say that. If there is anything else I can do please feel frre to ask...Your friend Tammy

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Hi Sue,

I have heard from Tammy and I have responded to her again but I didn't touch on the "Vintage" problem. I'm sure I will hear from her again and I will bring it up then. Twice now I have told her that it would enhance her sales if she were to run by the Marble Connection ID Board doubtful marbles. I also let her know that in the field of marbles we are not immune to jerks who straight out of the shoot shower abuse rather than attempt to reach an understanding. I'm hardly immune to it myself at times particularly where the example is so blatant. I told her frankly that her current 1" marble is blatantly misidentified, that it is clearly a contemporary hand made and that what she is pointing out at a pontil is rather pathetic damage conveniently right where a pontil might occur if the marble ever had one which is hasn't. I did not pull any punches. Oh, I also pointed out that numerous of her marbles shown as previous sales are riven with difficulties for most people with a modicum of marble knowledge. So, we will see.....David

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Just got another message from Tammy and she intends to eliminate the word "Vintage" in her titles. She also told me that the truly rude and abusive messages continue to be received by her, in fact, she got one within the past hour. I'm afraid that some of us are incapable of half measures. David

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This used to be her spiel:

WELCOME TO MY AUCTION!!!! MY STUPIDITY CAN BE YOUR GAIN....YOU ARE LOOKING AT A VINTAGE MARBLE 2 1/2 INCH...PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT MARBLES BUT THIS ONE IS REALLY DIFFERENT..I LIVE IN A 150 YEAR OLD HOME..WELL I FINALLY FOUND THE TIME TO CLEAN MY BASEMENT...AND I HAVE FOUND HUNDREDS OF MARLBES. THEY HAVE BEEN IN OLD CANS IN THE DIRT AND IN OLD JARS...I SELL ON EBAY TO HELP MY FAMILY MAKE THAT LITTLE EXTRA. WELL IN LOOKING UP MARBLES I FOUND THAT THEY WHERE VERY COLLECTABLE. NOW YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND I COLLECT EVERYTHING AND JUST HAVE RUN OUT OF ROOM TO COLLECT ANYTHING ELSE..SO I OFFER THEM TO THE FINE PEOPLE ON EBAY..EACH MARBLE IS LIKE A LITTLE PIECE OF ART AND NONE OF THEM ARE THE SAME.. I MEASURED IT WITH A RULER TO TRY TO GET THE SIZE. IT DOES HOW EVER HAVE A BEAUTIFUL COLOR TO MANY TO LIST..SOME OF THE PICTURES ARE WITH A LIGHT UNDERNEATH IT SO YOU CAN SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS.......IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK........I DO COMBINE SHIPPING AND HANDLING AND ONLY CHARGE 3.95 FOR THE FIRST MARBLE AND ANYTHING THING AFTER THAT IS FREE ON ME. SO THE MORE MARBLES YOU BUY THE BETTER ON YOU..PLEASE REMEMBER THAT SOME OF THESE MARBLES MIGHT BE NEWER I'M NOT A EXPERT...THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LOOKING AT MY AUCTIONS HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!!PLEASE REMEMBER THE MORE YOU BUY THE CHEAPER THE SHIPPING BECOMES, BECAUSE I ONLY CHARGE ONE FEE FOR SHIPPING WHETHER IT IS ONE MARBLE OR A HUNDRED 3.95 IS IT NO MORE!!!!!!!!!!

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Ahhh, memories:

I just sent her this message:

Dear tammysvintagemarbles,

I finally figured out where you've been getting all those 3/4" mineral marbles that you've been pretending you found in the basement of your 150-year-old house:

http://www.landofmar...al-spheres.html

Let's see if she still calls herself "your friend", if she replies at all...

Hi m!b$,

Thought I'd get Tammy really paranoid and just sent her a message via eBay: "You and your basement marbles have been had!" That might not bring it to a halt buy maybe it will slow her down. Next time they'll be from the back yard! David

Her reply:

Well I'm sorry your wrong...I do not buy them. I really did find them in my basement. Sorry to burst your bubble. And I really do live in a 150 old home. If you don't want buy them then don't. I would hope you have better things to do then harrass me. And have a great weekend..Your friend Tammy

- tammysvintagemarbles

That was part of May's campaign to get her to be accountable. Might be interesting to check in a month or so to see if she's listing them in the 1970-to-now category. My bet is that she will still list them in the pre-1970 category. Her present listing is completely pared down in comparison to the one M!b$ quoted. This dislaimer probably protects her from any eBay actions no matter what category she lists in: "PLEASE REMEMBER THAT SOME OF THESE MARBLES MIGHT BE NEWER I'M NOT A EXPERT".

The question I have is how does one get all the new marbles she has http://shop.ebay.com/tammysvintagemarbles/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1 without knowing that they are new? How long can she go with that disclaimer? It could be mildly interesting to follow. As an academic exercise.

Has she been selling before with a different but similar sounding ID? The name sounds familiar, but according to eBay, she didn't change from "mythisorthat" to "tammysvintagemarbles" until March of this year.

All these sellers of antique Vacors and Jabos start running together after awhile.

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We shall see if she eliminates the word Vintage. And if she does will she continue to list Vacors and new Chinese marbles in the vintage catagory. She bought all those marbles from distributors and knows exactly what she has.

Ok now, she did confirm with me later that a troll in her basement pointed exactly where to dig. Matter of fact she said he was holding a shovel so he helped her dig. They also unearthed some rare and exotic gem stone she'll be listing at a later date under her other name tammysraregems.....im sorry i was bored...lol

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O.K. I've got the full picture. Conveniently she currently finds me as an ally. I believe this will give me all the more leverage when she fails to come straight with her and with my own personal report to eBay.

Obviously I've been a little naive by not being a regular on eBay and observing her every move.

Out of here for a couple days.....Santa Fe Opera (Madame Butterfly and The Magic Flute) Thurs. and Fri. ngts. David

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