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Contacting sellers of fake fossils/wrong listing is a better solution sometimes
-Andy- posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Today in online shops and auction sites, we see listings that are outright fake or with wrong IDs. Often, the first thing that comes is anger. "Why would he sell theropod indet. as raptor?" "That Keichosaurus is obviously fake!" "That's horn coral, not a T-Rex tooth..." etc. And in our anger, or need to prevent others from falling into the trap, we might post on the forum or spread it all over FB to warn others of this seller. Yet have we given the seller the benefit of the doubt? What if he/she made a genuine mistake? Recently I posted a thread filled with sarcasm and rage-humor on how a coral was marketed as an expensive sea bird fossil. It was too easy to ID the seller from my title and pictures. The mods thankfully closed the thread. Fossildude19 then contacted the seller, and reported the listing on the auction site. In 2 hours time, the listing was taken down, and the seller apologized for his mistake. The problem was solved quick and clean. I do not deny there are plenty of sellers out to scam. I do not advocate mercy for them, but I wish to tell you guys(and to remind myself) that some sellers are guilty of ignorance, not malice, and we should give them(and the auction site) a chance to remove their listing first. I know some of you are thinking - dealers have an even bigger responsibility to do their due research, and their laziness or mistakes causing buyers to lose $$$ isn't to be taken lightly. I agree. But we don't need to start witch hunts for them. All in all, I used to think reporting listings on eBay didn't work, but Fossildude19 proved it does. So give it a try guys; you can refer to this thread on how to do it >