I was thinking you might want to be aware of something that is going on with some internet sites with the sales of guns and ammo…maybe it has been going on for some time, but I seem to see it more often lately. Some sellers are posting pictures on their sales that are not a true picture of the item being sold. They just find a picture from a Google site or whatever and post it, not mentioning what they have done. I recently looked at a pistol and 3 boxes of Remington, 32-20 ammo from GB, different sellers, that turned out not to be as described. I was the high bidder/winner on the ammo as the price seemed right and the ammo looked NIB according to the pictures. I was just a little suspecious and asked the seller about the condition and was then told the boxes of the "real" ammo were beat up a bit and roughed up. He didn’t think there was any problem with that…we had words and I did not end up purchasing the ammo. The pistol was the same thing except I never bid. His pictures looked to good so I asked him if they were of the item being purchased and he said no, he had no way to photo and post pictures so he got one off of a web site. He thought it was pretty close "except the grips were different and there was a scuff/scratch on the barrel about 2" long, and some rust on the frame". My goodness! Be aware!
That has been going on for a while especially on ebay. I had someone steal my pictures for his auction on Ebay for his listing. I asked him to remove them and use his own pictures but he refused so I notified Ebay, they sent him a warning and he complied. On Ebay you can’t use another persons photos.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
I had a guy link to my photos of a high end vintage stereo preamp I sold him. He turned right around and put it on eBay using my photos from my web hosting service. So I set up the digital camera just right spun around dropped my pants and took a nice close up photo of my butt hole. And swapped it in place of the photo of the preamp. Using the same URL.
Worked a treat he took down the auction pretty quick LOL
One of the tricks Camera guys will use to make sure something is what they are actually bidding on is to ask the seller for a photo of a specific view of the item. Something not in the original gallery and a not usual.
Works real good at ferreting out guys using stock photos and stealing other peoples photos. Also stops the goobers that walk into an antique store and take photos of inventory then put it on eBay.
My two cents
I have caught several people on Ebay using others photos and report them. Also I have notified people of incorrect descriptions and if they don’t change them I notify Ebay. Its a waste of my time and there’s if something is not described right. I recently told one guy he was selling a Marlin part and not a Winchester. He was hesitant to change his description. Claiming he couldn’t change it once someone had bid on it, which is baloney!
I once caught a guy reusing another guys picture of a very rare bullet mold. I found awfully strange that the same bullet mold had just sold on Ebay for $1200.00 and then a week later was for sale again. With a starting price of $1.00. I notified Ebay and they took the auction down. Not before reaching a whooping $10 bucks.
One trend to watch for also is the general description of the item. Some dumb sellers will mark and item as being for a certain model and then post other models on the description because they think it will make it easier to be found. When in reality it doesn’t make a bit of difference, because most people that are buying know how to look for what they want. . i.e. Winchester Buttplate 1873, 1876, 1885, 1886, 1892, 1894, 1895. And the buttplate will actually be for a model 1876 which will not fit all of the other models.
Photos of stuff aren’t always as good when the real thing arrives. Lots of lighting and pains taken to hide details from detection are common place. This is why I always will prefer face to face buying. Its harder for someone to rip you off when they are looking you in the eyes.
Sincerely,
Maverick
WACA #8783 - Checkout my Reloading Tool Survey!
https://winchestercollector.org/forum/winchester-research-surveys/winchester-reloading-tool-survey/
twobit said
Mark wrote:So I set up the digital camera just right spun around dropped my pants and took a nice close up photo of my butt hole.
Don’t ever ask Mark for a photo of the "bore"!!! Could get a bit ugly!
Michael
I’ve seen some pretty awful bores, but THAT one would take the cake! 😀
Even if the photos are real, I have found them most of the time to be inadequate and many times to be no help at all (too distant, poorly lit, out of focus, etc). There is no substitute for having the gun in your hands.
Worst case–an 80% gun’s photos make it appear to be 95% or better. I’ve seen it happen way too often.
twobit said
Mark wrote:So I set up the digital camera just right spun around dropped my pants and took a nice close up photo of my butt hole.
Don’t ever ask Mark for a photo of the "bore"!!! Could get a bit ugly!
Michael
I’ve seen some pretty awful bores, but THAT one would take the cake! 😀
Hopefully, the rifling was intact…
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