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Buyer Beware


Fossildude19

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Here is a new one - :rolleyes: :wacko:<_<  

 

Although the seller does state in the description that they are sculptures, they are being sold under fossils, and there is no mention of the fact in the title, which advertises it as "dinosaur fossil" Combined with the ridiculous prices, it seems a bit shady to me. 


Most people will easily be able to recognize this for what it is, but, I am disturbed by the lack of info in the title. 

I hope no one is naive enough to pay the price. 

 

fakeosaurus-l1600.jpg    s-l1fake600.jpg 

 

 

 s-l1600fake.jpg    s-l1600spin.jpg

 

 

Buyer beware. 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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So, you're saying it's NOT real, then? I guess I'll put my credit card back in my wallet. :P

 

Caveat emptor

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

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Are the teeth real? I know the 'bone' part is a pretty obvious sculpture that looks like it was done in a children's introductory pottery class and I hope browsers can see this... but I wouldn't know about the teeth. If they are real, perhaps that legitimizes inclusion in the Fossil category, though I agree they should make it clearer what part is fossil and what is not.

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I saw these and thought they were hilarious. Possibly the seller could make them in chocolate and sell them at easter?

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2 hours ago, Aurelius said:

I saw these and thought they were hilarious. Possibly the seller could make them in chocolate and sell them at easter?

Easter megs? :D

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On 5/28/2017 at 6:07 PM, Wrangellian said:

Are the teeth real? I know the 'bone' part is a pretty obvious sculpture that looks like it was done in a children's introductory pottery class and I hope browsers can see this... but I wouldn't know about the teeth. If they are real, perhaps that legitimizes inclusion in the Fossil category, though I agree they should make it clearer what part is fossil and what is not.

 

The seller does say the teeth are real, and that the jaw is a sculpture in the description.

I just think it is disingenuous of the seller to not mention it in the title. 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Yes, but I guess sellers will do whatever they can to get potential buyers to look at their wares.

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What gets me is the price. It's like taking some of your kid's crayon drawings off the fridge and sticking them on eBay for $300.

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On 2017-05-29 at 6:26 PM, Aurelius said:

What gets me is the price. It's like taking some of your kid's crayon drawings off the fridge and sticking them on eBay for $300.

Yes! I hadn't noticed the price when I looked at it. People will try anything for a buck (or 300)... doesn't cost them anything to list it at that or any price. I've noticed many cases where the seller has overestimated the value of something they have, usually because they don't know the true value and I guess they don't want to risk selling it lower than it should be, so they shoot for the moon and hope for the best. Unfortunately other sellers with similar items see the price this seller is asking and they put their prices in a similar range, and the general price for that type of item inflates. That's my theory, at least.

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17 minutes ago, Wrangellian said:

. I've noticed many cases where the seller has overestimated the value of something they have, usually because they don't know the true value and I guess they don't want to risk selling it lower than it should be, so they shoot for the moon and hope for the best.

I call that "fishing for suckers".

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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If it makes anyone feel better... after free that 300$ is only about 250$ :P

 

These are pretty shady!

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On 5/30/2017 at 4:26 AM, Aurelius said:

It's like taking some of your kid's crayon drawings off the fridge and sticking them on eBay for $300.

 

Hey, if I had a kid (which I don't) her drawings wouldn't go up on that site for less than $500. Not everybody can draw a sun with a smiley face or render an artistic stick figure with circles for hands and five fingers sticking out at all angles--takes talent, real talent that..... :P

 

I hope this posting and others like it serve to inform newbies what types of things to stay away from on unvetted auction and sales sites. I suspect most new collectors get burnt at least once or twice before they learn what is real and what is too good to be true.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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In the end these type of listings don't burn collectors because the seller is pretty upfront with what was done to his offering and it looks like trash.  Auctions on dino material is all about the look.  His price is actually best offer and if someone wants to buy that junk it's his nickel.

 

What is worst and what really burns collectors are those offerings where the tooth as been composited and only seasoned collectors can see it.  In these cases the seller may not even aware of what was done.  

Here is a composited spino tooth that the seller is asking for best offer on $300.   Wow a rooted tooth that looks good to the newbie 

59306a22a11b0_s-l1600(9).thumb.jpg.fcda228a283ddd2eb082554561678b70.jpg59306a2f70169_s-l1600(8)_20170601122552184.thumb.jpg.48bcd5a640dd7db6dc3a195270a8dd40.jpg

 

Here is another giant +6" composited tooth that was listed which I cannot find any more.  In addition to the composite the tip has been fabricated and the seller is including the matrix in its length.  

 

59306af7f355d_s-l1600(6).thumb.jpg.e2036f0bff7062084a205d09508cb450.jpg59306b070d9ac_s-l1600(7).thumb.jpg.1cc02f7b34827c723a9f928f3398ba39.jpg59306b142b419_s-l1600(2).thumb.jpg.3ed9828ba47998ca111355f6cc876523.jpg

 

Composited Spinosaurid teeth unfortunately are a common practice on web sites...

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Hoo boy.. that's similar to those composited trilos they sell (Flexicalymene, Cambropallas)... but vert collecting is a mine field isn't it? At least we don't pay those prices for the Franken-Flexi's.

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