A Little Warning - Castello On eBay

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burleyboy

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 30, 2019
862
4,473
Europe
Browsing eBay I found a pipe for sale that I knew from an earlier offer. As you can easily see, these two offerings are the same pipe:

1.


2.


As you can see in the first link, the pipe has some kind of metal pin on the outside bottom of the bowl. This indicates a repaired burnout hole.

In the second link, there is the same pipe with photos and description lacking any information about this repair spot. I guess the metal pin was replaced by some putty and overpainted. The seller even states in the specs of his offer, that there is an unmodified item for sale.

So, be warned, gentlemen. This pipe is not what it looks like.
 
Last edited:

BROBS

Lifer
Nov 13, 2019
11,765
40,026
IA
Browsing eBay I found a pipe for sale that I knew from an earlier offer. As you can easily see, these two offerings are the same pipe:

1.


2.


As you can see in the first link, the pipe has some kind of metal pin on the outside bottom of the bowl. This indicates a repaired burnout hole.

In the second link, there is the same pipe with photos and description lacking any information about this repair spot. I guess the metal pin was replaced by some putty and overpainted. The seller even states in the specs of his offer, that there is an unmodified item for sale.

So, be warned, gentlemen. This pipe is not what it looks like.
Ha. They badly puttied and rusticated over it!

the thing looks like a turd even without that issue
 

BarrelProof

Lifer
Mar 29, 2020
2,701
10,577
39
The Last Frontier
Well of course I wouldn't bid on THAT one, but I do see a lot of nice ones with double postings.

Keep reading.

It’s not the double post. It’s the first post having an issue that’s been excluded from the second post. Nothing wrong with an item being posted twice, except when an obvious flaw has been hidden on subsequent attempts.
 
Keep reading.

It’s not the double post. It’s the first post having an issue that’s been excluded from the second post. Nothing wrong with an item being posted twice, except when an obvious flaw has been hidden on subsequent attempts.
Well, I picked up on that also. But, I have seen some where it is the same exact pipe being sold by two different vendors, same pics, same descriptions. I'm never sure which one to make the deal with.
 

mingc

Lifer
Jun 20, 2019
3,976
11,065
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
Browsing eBay I found a pipe for sale that I knew from an earlier offer. As you can easily see, these two offerings are the same pipe:

1.


2.


As you can see in the first link, the pipe has some kind of metal pin on the outside bottom of the bowl. This indicates a repaired burnout hole.

In the second link, there is the same pipe with photos and description lacking any information about this repair spot. I guess the metal pin was replaced by some putty and overpainted. The seller even states in the specs of his offer, that there is an unmodified item for sale.

So, be warned, gentlemen. This pipe is not what it looks like.
Thanks for the heads up. What a scumbag.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,632
44,859
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
@cosmicfolklore see what you did? The OP's post had nothing to do with double listings! ?
There's some history and context to this. A couple of years ago a Chinese seller was posting listings on eBay, offering great deals on pipes that he didn't have. He used images from other listings to pretend that he was offering wonderful deals on some rare pipes, as many as a dozen a week.

One of the other members here, craiginthecorn, spotted the fake listings and posted about them here, asking for help in alerting eBay to the problem. I started reporting the fake listings to eBay, which they ignored. This went on for several weeks before they began to listen.

The fake seller started playing cat and mouse with us, going dormant for a few weeks before popping up under another name and beginning the same scam. I had set up and saved a search which made it relatively easy for me to spot him when he resurfaced. Then I would again report his fake listings. This cat and mouse game went on for about 8 months before he decided to stop. I continued to monitor that search for about 4 more months before finally abandoning it, though I still have it saved. For all I know he's been back at it, but I've had other things to do.

You would think that people would too smart to fall for a primo Comoy Blue Riband being offered for $20, and you would be wrong. Some people just delude themselves into thinking that they're going to take advantage of a dumb seller. Several people here got stung. Hopefuly we helped save a number of others from becoming victims.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,632
44,859
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Oh. Then what’s your recommendation?
Don't believe the ratings, for one. Some of the biggest snakes I've dealt with on eBay have had approval ratings of 100%.

I'll often ask questions of the seller, sometimes ask for extra images if I'm not satisfied with the photos. I'll check the comments and sometimes their bidding history. If a seller doesn't respond to an inquiry it's an automatic pass. I'm not going to bid. The vast majority of sellers are legit, but there are some bad actors on eBay. You can't always avoid crooks. I've had a few sales that I took to eBay for arbitration and those were settled correctly.

Repeated listings can happen for any number of reasons. Often it's because a buyer on the previous listing returned the item, or flaked out on payment. Duplicate listings for the same item by different sellers are a huge red flag.
 
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