Caveat emptor

[KarlvonKoln]

I seriously hope this seller's karma arrives like a Japanese train running late.  Check this out:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235658965436?itmmeta=01J3748BPXJFJ02MT261HX37HR&hash=item36de5e71bc:g:Qd8AAOSwmehmmeso&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8BWqE6RMzYhTpfLa0KtiBAIAGR1C65Kw4WhS59ijxnMM2OlLOhs%2BDBViD00Bya2QqVhjIbbELHMpK%2BDyMfE6zidiDeDnOqpk0TOR%2F2HAn7G%2BXKgdM1en60j8YOSSOfk3D5CYdIfDN6htBl%2BxMpglnuigcF7wwymVzL8cYv%2FEthbuNxyXr7X5shI1lqNOwnFJb37uG1a8cNLLgoByyTUEnM%2FuSfvLzDzTiAB%2FIaG%2BsFYlzbUHFQ5%2FAo3zKnf8YmDdvv8XwtR8Y5Mfl29Ew6uKRK8wtTlghNfxCyTxCtLyLI0hM1QEGYnaVwD%2Ba9eiZWa4Kw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR8S7oeSZZA

[tomh207]

But, but, but it’s “unique “ and “rare” !

 

Tom

[KarlvonKoln]

I'll concede this much: as an Arnex goes, it is one of their nicer ones.  But the niceness has its limits though.

[oldhippy]

What a bloody nerve. You should report it. 

[JohnR725]

1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

What a bloody nerve. You should report it. 

My experience with reporting things the eBay is a waste of time. Then I suppose we give the seller the benefit of the doubt of just being extremely stupid. Notice the price is based on the appraisal price and the appraisal is for insurance purposes.

Where I work on a fairly regular basis people will find watches in the estate of and will bring them in hoping that that Rolex is and it's never real. So somebody is looking solely at the appraisal and maybe we should find another watch like that on eBay there's a lot of them typically and show it's not rare expensive I guess you could try reporting them to eBay for stupidity but usually it's a waste of time

Oh and for some amusement let's look at the other item for sale. They are definitely clueless stupid people as they are embracing the appraisal which is total rubbish. Fortunately the prices are so insanely high there be unlikely anyone would be as equally as stupid as to try to buy one of these.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235622992795

So basically you're just dealing with extremely stupid person that there really isn't much you can do with. Blood be really interesting though as to who did the appraisals and report them to is there supposed to be I think a licensed I think and obviously there is incompetent with their appraisals.

 

 

 

 

[oldhippy]

What I have done many times is message the seller explaining to them and tell them unless they remove the item within a certain time I will report it and it might fall back on the person as ebay might decide to ban them from the site.   It works every time unless its chinese in which case they ask me how can they help me

[mbwatch]

Impressive they were able to pack a minute repeater into such a small and thin movement!

Arnex pocket watches are always amusingly overvalued on ebay, assuming they were received as a graduation gift or similar in the 70's then sat in a drawer, but they don't ever sell. Once in a while you can catch one for very cheap with a basically NOS Unitas 6597 or 6498 movement inside. But this one is on another planet.

Edited July 20, 2024 by mbwatch

[KarlvonKoln]

I haven't reported the seller yet.  But I suspect more than mere stupidity.  The fact that they knowingly used the term "repeater" (which, in my experience so far, only people who are well-versed in collecting or working on time-pieces know what a repeater is) tells me the seller intended to try to use that term to justify the asking price.  Note the appraisal makes no mention of any repeating function.  He's trying to justify the price as well as attract the attention of someone looking for a complicated and expensive watch.  However, those kind of buyers usually know more than a little about what these watches are like.  The kind of oblivious fool this seller is looking for could be rather rare, I would think.
And...even if it is just ignorance, there is a willful lack of due diligence.  If I wanted to sell a watch and had no idea whatever of its worth, and some appraiser handed me an appraisal that was positively stratospheric in terms of value, I would definitely get a second opinion just to make sure, and to lend credence.  So in this case I wonder who the appraiser is also, and what he got out of whipping this up for the seller.

[mbwatch]

Today's seller offer reminded me of this thread. Apparently I "showed interest" in this actual  functional automaton minute repeater by reading the listing last week, and now the seller has offered me $25000 off the original $50000 price. In fact ebay probably recommended I read this listing after I clicked on @KarlvonKoln's overpriced Arnex.

 

[RichardHarris123]

Any bids? Hehe. 

[KarlvonKoln]

On 7/29/2024 at 4:07 PM, RichardHarris123 said:

Any bids? Hehe. 

I'm almost scared to look.