The News from ElephantToenails.com

Many of us use eBay as one of our sources for old toenails. Overall, it is a good source, however, from my experience there are two types of sellers. The first is the seller that understands knife collecting and what needs pointed out (good and bad) so that it can be evaluated. The second kind of seller, the worst kind, is the “non-disclosure” seller. This seller just says, “Here is it. The pics tell you what you need to know. It is in good shape for its age,” nothing about the facts we need. It is not that this seller is trying to protect his feedback reputation by not wanting to misrepresent the condition of the knife. Quite the contrary, this seller is hiding the condition of the knife from us. Therefore, it is critical we learn to ask questions- the right questions. I have around 300 eBay purchases- not a ton, but enough to have learned the hard way.   Below is a list of questions we must ask. If a seller isn’t going to tell us, then we must ask and if the seller won’t answer directly, or at all, then we don’t want the knife.

• First, make sure you examine the knife and don’t hesitate to ask for additional photos and close ups.
• Look at the handles for anything that looks out of the ordinary (repairs, replaced, replaced shield, cracks, chips, enlarged holes around the pins, etc)
• Look at the bolsters/tang stamp, pins, etc., for anything out of the ordinary.
• Do the handles match in jigging, color, material? 
• Ask the seller to describe the snap (opening and closing) of both blades. Tell him/her to describe it either on a scale of 1-10, or “hardness.” Do the close by themselves, or do you have to close the blades manually? Would you describe the closings as very strong or weak? 
• Are both blades stamped on the tangs? How about the rear of the tangs, any marks? What is stamped on the tangs? Best if you can get them to send close-ups pics, if not then are the stamps very clear or worn off- or somewhere in between?
• Anything loose on the knife (handles, blade wobble, shield)?
• Any cracks or chips in the handles? If so please describe (where and how long)?
• Where did you get the knife? 
• Ask them if they are aware of any repairs or replaced parts on the knife?
• Have they cleaned it?
• Ask if you can have a 7 day notice for return without cause. Many will grant this even if they didn’t “advertise” it in the sale. 

I realize you may think this is a bit over the top, but I have learned it is not what the seller said in their description it is what did they not say….

This entry was posted on Friday, February 8th, 2008 at 5:05 pm and is filed under eBay. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.