Warning: Fraudster on eBay Selling Counterfeit Eltangs, Possibly Castellos Etc.

[sablebrush52]

Well, regardless of what Marty's anonymous source is claiming, the dealer selling fakes is still in business on ebay, is still selling Chinese made pipes and appears to have a variety of other pipes up for sale that may or may not be fakes. No consequences of any kind as far as I can tell.
Perhaps the Marty Pulver article that misterlowercase provided has its origin in an alternate universe and we're witnessing a "Fringe" event.
As for the buyer of the "Nordh", I hope that he's thrilled with his purchase. He paid a lot of money to buy a stamp. That's about all.

 

[kashmir]

Wow. Whatta thread. Don't know what to make of it all. These forgers are talented enough that they should just market their own lines. The only thing from China I've bought pipe-wise are those great little spring-clip pipe wind screens. Brings to mind that dystopian scene from Blade Runner, and echoed in the 5th Element, where the future is owned by the Chinese.

 

[laytonpipes]

I have seen unstamped copies of Handmade pipe makers pipes that some asian guys were selling. I'm pretty sure they are made on a machine in china and then sold to dealers unstamped

 

[jarit]

Just a reminder, this fraud is still around!
Besides US $6,800.00 Baldo Baldis the seller is also offering wonderfully colourful t-shirts.

 

[sablebrush52]

This thread is a classic.

 

[allan]

Since I believe that I could not possibly tell a genuine Eltang from a Chinese fake, at least by looking, anyway, I would think that I would contact Mr. Eltang or any other high end carver, and ask him if the pipe in question was his or not.
I remember that I had contacted Rad Davis on one occaision and promptly responded to me.
This really sucks. But, as always, Caveat Emptor.

 

[mso489]

Ebay doesn't seem like a good place to buy high end pipes. You might wangle a thirty percent discount and end up with an authentic pipe, but what are the probabilities? If you have the discretionary spending, it might be an interesting gamble. But for most of us, breaking for a Castello or something we consider choice, it's worth the extra expense to get exactly what you think you are buying.

 

[woodsroad]

Since I believe that I could not possibly tell a genuine Eltang from a Chinese fake...

Ditto.
Which brings up a question as to the real value of high-end pipes.

 

[sablebrush52]

Ditto.
Which brings up a question as to the real value of high-end pipes.

Are you suggesting the heresy that high end pipes ain't worth the money? Gasp, that a Nordh ain't worth selling your kids for body parts, to obtain? For shame! I suppose that one would have to actually smoke the pipe to see if there was any difference. The Danish Danish would likely be introspective and possibly suicidal. The Chinese Danish might go off like a string of firecrackers. What the hell is a Chinese Danish, anyway? I like bear claws. Would a Chinese Danish be a panda claw?
I use eBay for a very specific reason. I find items there that I can't find anywhere else. Otherwise I'd never be one it.

 

[woodsroad]

Whitewolf, If someone makes a knock-off and sells it for less than the price of the original, than clearly they have diminished the value of the original. It's why the expensive brands all devote substantial resources to ferreting out fakes. Yes, some people are duped into paying good money for fakes, but the vast majority of fakes are sold to people who either know damned well what they are buying, and aren't willing to pay full freight for the real item, or don't think that the real item is worth the asking price. While there may still be a reasonable demand for the real item, the fake item dilutes that demand and cuts into revenue for the brand owner, lowering the value of the brand and the goods sold under that brand.

 

[buroak]

This reinforces my preference for unrestored estate pipes. A counterfeiter can fake a pipe, but faking years of use and decades of storage would, I think, be much harder. They would need, among other things, Kaywoodie's old Jensen machine, or whatever was used to pre-smoke Grabows.
For reasons purely financial I also stay away from ultra high end artisan pipes. I can buy direct from Mark Tinsky, and I doubt anyone in China is eager to start cranking out fake DeJarnett pipes. Someday I will have one of Scottie Piersel's pipes, and I will most likely be able to buy that in person.
As for current production higher grade pipes of the makes I like, Maxim Engel at Pipes2Smoke has very competitive prices, and I have never heard anyone voice doubts about the authenticity of his merchandise.

 

[sablebrush52]

woodsroad, or maybe it calls into question the knowledge of buyers.

I don't think that there is a question. A lot of buyers depend on nomenclature and couldn't tell Grecian briar from Algerian, from Spain, etc, or good briar from bad. I mostly buy British estates, and I see all manner of false claims, heavy handed restoration, undisclosed issues and buyers snapping up near junk for high prices because they don't know what they're doing.
A lot of sellers on eBay are not knowledgeable about what they're selling. It's just stuff that they bought at an estate sale, or an auction. So they're not trying to pull a fast one, they're simply ignorant. And, there are also sellers whose ethics are nonexistent. Buyers need to think critically before they pull the trigger.
Was the buyer who paid $8100 for that fake Nordh knowingly paying that kind of money for a fake to get a deal? I don't think so. But either way, the buyer is a fool.
As for the seller? Still active on eBay.

 

[mso489]

I hope the $8100 big money man or woman was someone who just has that to spend and not some aspiring pipe amateur who thinks they've fulfilled their heart's desire. I can't imagine putting up that kind of money for anything I haven't seen in person, with the seller present and staking their business on the product's authenticity. I have a sort of morbid curiosity what the appraised value of the pipe they bought actually was. Just how low can it go? $110? $35? $5.75?
Could it be a sting operation with a cartel of sellers handing around the same wad of cash to "buy" each other's fake artisanal pipes to vamp in the innocent? Money wouldn't even have to change hands, if they had their sting down cold. Only the outsiders would stand to pay if they "won."

 

[okiescout]

The really bitter pill, as some one alluded to up thread, is that this is really going to pollute estate markets at some point for
years and years to come.
That is the trouble with crap like this crime, as the saying goes, the more you stir it the more it stinks.