Rick Spector of Stairway to the Stars published a “Reader Comment” to this week’s editorial about eBay “drop-off” sellers (see A Case Against eBay “Drop-Off” Vendors Selling Original Props). Given that Rick takes issue with me on a number of fronts, I took the time to respond to each of his points, and thought it would be appropriate to highlight his concerns.
As inherently problematic buying “original” props and wardrobe on eBay may be, the risks are that much higher if the seller listing the item is a “drop-off” company. Such offerings introduce additional issues that collectors should be aware of and consider. [Read more…]
I’ve noticed more and more of late that eBay users will have their accounts converted to “NARU”, or “No Longer A Registered User” (also “Not a Registered User”) status by eBay, and then later the accounts appear reactivated. [Read more…]
This is the first in a series of articles intended to discuss and build upon the tools of authentication: concepts, terminology, definitions, analysis, and more. While Certificates of Authenticity, or “COAs”, have been the topic of a number of previous articles, the scope of this feature is to define and categorize COAs by 1) their source and 2) their function. [Read more…]
UPDATE: A “Version 2.1” edition of this article has been published on 12/05/08, which includes the original article below with additional information. The new, updated version of this article is recommended:
eBay seller “stonark” (“Corner Collectibles”) was referenced in the “Classic” Film & Television Prop and Wardrobe eBay Sellers feature published in June. As noted, “stonark” is one of several companies on eBay that sell notable quantities of Hollywood-related memorabilia marketed as authentic. The “stonark” offerings are generally characterized as the personal property of Hollywood stars and notable famous figures from history. The purpose of this follow-up article is to research and examine some of the provenance attached to these pieces by “stonark” and to pose questions related to these documents and sources. [Read more…]
Mario Saricca, originally selling on eBay as “puttieface” (see eBay’s puttieface & Entertainment Movie Props), who later changed his eBay account name to “votehillary” (see …”votehillary” Update), only to have been removed from eBay less than two weeks ago (see eBay’s “puttieface”, “votehillary” No Longer a Registered User), appears to be trading under an alternate eBay account, “spadorcia”, which today was changed to “hoist73”. Also of note, the EntertainmentMovieProps.com web store has been down since March (as reported in the story Reader Comment: “The Bride’s Hero Sword from Kill Bill”, Entertainment Movie Props). [Read more…]
The eBay seller “puttieface”, who changed his username to “votehillary” following my December 2007 article (see eBay’s puttieface & Entertainment Movie Props and …”votehillary” Update) has had his account suspended on eBay, showing a status of “No longer a registered user” and “Not a registered user”. [Read more…]
News broke internationally earlier this month when eBay announced that, beginning mid-June, PayPal would be the only method of payment permitted on eBay transactions taking place in Australia.
See Associated Press story “EBay’s PayPal rule in Australia draws fire“. [Read more…]