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

[woodsroad]

He's changed them all over to Silver Castle, Golden Age and Lead Balloon. Apparently, all of his buyers are happy, though.
He was also selling "vintage" sealed tins that were supposed to be 25 years old, but looked brand new. I predicted this when the eBay Sobranie prices went crazy. I was kind of kidding, but damn, this could be it.

 

[woodsroad]

Roth, you think that's scary? Have you read up on counterfeit pharmaceuticals? Or counterfeit Victoria's Secret?

 

[cigrmaster]

peck, Bradley, you guys are too funny.
When I showed that Jess to Peck last week and he told me that the guy was shipping from China, I immediately thought the pipe was probably fake. China is notorious for faking anything of value which is why I would never do business with someone from there.
I would be willing to bet that Ebay does nothing about this and continues to let this guy rob people. All they care about is their fees. Even if presented with overwhelming evidence, they will not act. This episode is a good reminder for people who buy from ebay, if you do not do your due diligence, you can be robbed. Just because a guy has 100% feedback does not mean they are a good seller. One of the easiest ways to avoid getting a fake pipe is to never buy from someone in China.

 

[fishingandpipes]

roth, that isn't comforting, but if we picked these out as obvious forgeries, my guess is the estate dealers we respect can, as well.
I'm not shocked to see this happening. I have some capital O Opinions about certain things that I should keep to myself, though.

 

[pitchfork]

Hey, another "Jess" pipe:

 

[pitchfork]

And here's a "Bo":

http://www.ebay.com/itm/B-NORDH-PIPE-SWEDEN-77-/350928496730?

 

[pruss]

That's the last time Harris gets sent out to gas up the truck... Now where's my wrinkled raincoat and crumpled up packet of smokes?
It's going to be a long flight to China, does anyone have a deck of cards and a case of bourbon?
-- Pat

 

[trailspike48]

I see he ended the auction on the two Castellos and one of the fake Eltangs, or maybe they ended without meeting reserve. Or maybe he was reported or..........

 

[jeepnewbie]

I want a real "Bo" but not gonna give up my right arm and left leg for it. Much less a forgery. BTW how did you spot the fake "Bo" pipe? Gotta go back and reread the book on him now.
EDIT: Nevermind I see its the same seller.

 

[sablebrush52]

I thought that the Nordh looked off, just because it's such a bad design. Didn't occur that these were fakes.
Eltang would do a service by contacting ebay regarding fakes. Anyone else filing a complaint is a "he said, she said".
Ebay can't possibly police all of its vast terrain. There are 32 ebay sites worldwide, all of them processing tens of millions, perhaps hundreds of millions of transactions a year.

They do respond, slowly and torturously, to complaints and arbitration. Your best defense is to stay skeptical and walk from any deal that seems suspicious.

 

[dmcmtk]

The other thing about the "Nordh" pipe, is look at the stamping, would an artist known for his meticulousness, stamp his pipe crookedly??? Please. And just like the "Jess" pipe, this scurrilous individual never represents the pipe as having been made by Bo Nordh.

 

[jarit]

Eltang would do a service by contacting ebay regarding fakes. Anyone else filing a complaint is a "he said, she said".

In his email he said he would do that:

Hey Jari.
Thank you for your e-mail and yes they are both fake pipes

we will once again contact e-bay unfortunately it is not the first fake pipes .

Thank you very much for your e-mail

Have a nice sunday

Tom & Pia.

Here's Paolo Becker's answer:

Hello Jari,
Thank you.Already I saw others fake Becker pipes in China.

I alerted importers of my pipes in US and China.
Thanks again for your cooperation.

Best regards,

Paolo Becker

 

[cigrmaster]

roth,

Selling counterfeit goods as the real thing is against the law in most countries where eBay does business and this eBay seller ships out of Arizona.

He actually ships from China and not from Arizona. Peck bought a pipe from him once and he told me this. He is obviously running a scam just by the fact that he lies about where he ships from.

 

[cigrmaster]

Mike, I for one will be very wary when I decide it is time to spring for an Eltang pipe. Do you think it would be unreasonable of me to contact Tom about a pipe I am looking at and ask him to verify it's authenticity or is it up to me to do my due diligence and verify it on my own? I wonder how many fakes pipes of his are now on the market. It honestly makes me rethink whether I want to ever bother buying an estate piece of his as trying to verify authenticity is going to be a pain in the ass.
I am sure that this is going to cost you a lot of time now seeing you have to go looking at all your pipes to determine if any are fakes. What a pain in the ass this is going to be, I feel badly for you.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Correct, when I was new to the hobby, and before I knew any better, I bought a Brian Ruthenberg pipe from this vendor. They had fantastic feedback, so I bit. Paid $195. Then after I won, the seller told me that my pipe would be coming to me directly from a client in China. I was pissed. I told them I bought from a seller based in Phoenix, not China, and if I had known the pipe was coming from China I never would have bid. I complained to ebay. The way they "resolved" the issue is that the pipe would be shipped to me from Phoenix, presumably after it was shipped from China to Phoenix. I felt like they had me by the short and curlies so I paid the 195 and chalked it up to experience. I was so pissed that I threw the pipe in a drawer and have never smoked it. Lesson learned the hard way. So when Harris told me recently that he was thinking about bidding on one of this seller's pipes I warned him.
Never occurred to me it may not have been a real Ruthenberg. I will dig it up and post some pics and maybe we can determine whether it is a real Ruthenberg or not.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

These are the best shots I could manage to take with my blackberry:

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Here's a couple of better shots:

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Well, I e-mailed the shots to Brian and he confirmed in short order that he did in fact make this pipe.

 

[wcannoy]

I don't think a Bo Nordh pipe would have a ton of small fissures in the bottom of the briar...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/B-NORDH-PIPE-SWEDEN-77-/350928496730?

 

[wcannoy]

I don't think a Bo Nordh pipe would have a ton of small fissures in the bottom of the briar...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/B-NORDH-PIPE-SWEDEN-77-/350928496730?

Also, the end of the shank would be clean finished and polished on a real Nordh. This one is unfinished with sloppy stain residue...