Fraud alert!

[Prof. Moriarty]

It has been confirmed on several forums, Facebook groups, and by several makers themselves that this guy is a fraud.
http://www.ebay.com/usr/benandci
Beware of his listings, the Eltang pipes have been confirmed by the maker to be fakes!

 

[Luke49783]

The engraving on the Peterson 06 that he has listed definitely looks fake. Good catch, thanks for the heads up!

 

[Hunter]

Also be very careful buying Meerschaums in Ebay, there have been many that have been bought and are actually plastic theatre props.

Mods, Maybe an Ebay fraud thread would make a good sticky?

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

Also be very careful buying Meerschaums in Ebay, there have been many that have been bought and are actually plastic theatre props.

Mods, Maybe an Ebay fraud thread would make a good sticky?

Elaborate your idea please? Like an eBay fraud thread for the BL? Or for the wetshaving?

 

[Hunter]

Well my original thought was for the BL but for the whole of the B&B might get good with tags for which Acquisition Disorder it deals with.

 

[the_edski]

I have an alert....don't use eBay.

 

[Hunter]

I have an alert....don't use eBay.

Crazy talk, though I do prefer to get my estate pipes from B&M and online dealers like SP

 

[john parker]

Interesting in that toolhaus.org shows only excellent ebay ratings for the last year. One would think someone would have complained on the record to ebay about this.

 

[mwhitcraft]

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Hirsute]

I don't know about this. I can respect that some folks have concluded he sold some counterfeit pipes. The leap to "the seller is a fraud" instead of just an unknowing victim reselling a pipe he thought was legit it a far one. Granted, I haven't seen these particular posts and "confirmations," but I have seen the ol internet mob spun up before and I'm always skeptical of this kind of thing. If the dude is a fraud, how does he sell on eBay with so much positive feedback? Wouldn't someone who actually bought a pipe have said something?

Then there's his offerings. I don't know anything about Bo Nordh pipes, but the one he's selling seems to be convincing enough folks that the price is headed where a real Nordh should go. Also, those Cavicchis look legit. I haven't gone over every pipe he's selling, but I just question this kind of thing when a seller with lots of feedback is decried by folks on the internet claiming to be people who know about such things, when it's much easier to fake a user profile in a forum and pretend to be knowledgeable, than to fake 5 years of selling history and positive feedback on eBay.

Of course, caveat emptor is always the rule and people need to decide for themselves.

 

[rickcharles606]

Thanks for the heads up. Whether he was "knowingly" or "unknowingly" selling fakes...it's good for our members to know about it.

 

[PugslyCat]

Crazy talk, though I do prefer to get my estate pipes from B&M and online dealers like SP

+1 - I seem to avoid the AD's unless I can handle the item, then I'm out of luck.

 

[john parker]

Did read a number of "beware" comments on Pipes Magazine Form about benandci. Maybe a little less confounded about no mention of it on toolhaus and on ebay; some pipes ship from China (?). Perhaps a feedback collusion of buyers and seller? But I actually have no idea in the world what is going on!

 

[the_edski]

Thanks for the heads up. Whether he was "knowingly" or "unknowingly" selling fakes...it's good for our members to know about it.

I agree...it's not a judgement on the eBay member. Just a heads up for us.

 

[Blade Boy]

I did see a couple listed as "unsmoked" that looked like they had rim staining, as far as counterfeit Peterson's, maybe high end models, I can't see there being much money to be made on faking lower end models.

 

[Argonaut]

Of course, caveat emptor is always the rule and people need to decide for themselves.

This, in regards to any seller anywhere.

 

[Commander Quan]

While it is certainly possible to counterfeit a Peterson, why would someone? The shapes and nomenclature are so well known and the prices is so low for the amount of work that would go into it it would hardly be worth it unless it's an injection molded fake.

It would be way easier to pass something off as a off a one of a kind Butera or another carver who makes less fewer pipes in their lifetime than Peterson or Savinelli makes in a day.

 

[john parker]

I did see a couple listed as "unsmoked" that looked like they had rim staining, as far as counterfeit Peterson's, maybe high end models, I can't see there being much money to be made on faking lower end models.

But razor blades have been counterfeited, and it seems to me they are pretty cheap. So if one apparently can make money counterfeiting razor blades, why not cheap pipes?

 

[jiminyshiznit]

The seller still has perfect feedback, for what it's worth.. 1318 transactions in 4 1/2 years is a pretty good clip. I saw an Eltang in the closed auctions that sold twice, so the seller obviously took it back. It sold for much less the second time around ($287 vs $345).. not sure what all that adds up to, but if I spent $345 on a a pipe that I could prove was counterfeit, I'd probably be able to shut the seller down fairly easily, and I would. And I'm assuming most of us would, just to protect the community. This seller was buying a ton of pipes from reputable dealers, starting in '09.. lots of repeat purchases from the same sellers. Again, not sure that means anything, but it doesn't seem likely that someone who is that visible in a relatively small community would be intentionally screwing people over.. with that same account, especially.

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

The seller still has perfect feedback, for what it's worth.. 1318 transactions in 4 1/2 years is a pretty good clip. I saw an Eltang in the closed auctions that sold twice, so the seller obviously took it back. It sold for much less the second time around ($287 vs $345).. not sure what all that adds up to, but if I spent $345 on a a pipe that I could prove was counterfeit, I'd probably be able to shut the seller down fairly easily, and I would. And I'm assuming most of us would, just to protect the community. This seller was buying a ton of pipes from reputable dealers, starting in '09.. lots of repeat purchases from the same sellers. Again, not sure that means anything, but it doesn't seem likely that someone who is that visible in a relatively small community would be intentionally screwing people over.. with that same account, especially.

One interesting thing is that the seller claims to ship from the US, but supposedly actually ships from China. At least that was the experience of one person, and for me that sets off alarm-bells.