Emedals? Good place or bad??

[BodhiEtheridge]

Hello all, I personally dont really like buying things online but at my age and in todays world its impossible not to, the website Emedals has been somewhere Ive always looked at with a bit of hesitation, they always have rare and expensive medals sell for very cheap. Should I spend money here or just leave it alone.

Here is a link for anyone who doesnt know what Im talking about.

eMedals | Militarian & Historica | eMedals

Thanks for any help,
Bodhi

[rbminis]

All I will say is,
Do your research and know what you are buying!

They often have a lot of nice items, but not all are original.

You can probably find some other references to them here.
Ralph.

[BodhiEtheridge]

Thanks for the advice, I tend to research anything before buying so I will stick to it and stop missing on some potential bargains!

Thanks,
Bodhi

[Rakkasan187]

Bodhi,

What in particular are you looking for?

As Ralph has said, do your research... Perhaps invest in some reference books prior to purchasing any decorations.. The money you spend on reference books will pay off after time...

As an older collector who relied heavily on reference books prior to the internet, books are still my solid go to for detailed information, in addition to the knowledge here,,,

Don't get me wrong, the internet is good for many things but I still enjoy flipping through pages of books...

Smitty

[TabsTabs1964]

Totally agree with Smitty. I without my books would be lost.
Another thing is that since there is internet or forums like ours you can see more and more photos of what you are looking for and you can be more secure with other opinions.

Research and enjoy (wow, it almost sounds like Search and destroy)

[BodhiEtheridge]

Thank you guys, I will look for more reference books, I already have a few but not one specific to medals and badges.

Thanks again,
Bodhi

[Chopperman]

IMO emedals is one of the better online dealers. That being said, they can't know
everything and oce in a while a bad piece gets posted. So do your research.
My only issue with them is their prices are pretty high.

[MAP]

I've have happily bought a number of awards from eMedals and they were great to deal with. I will buy from them again if I see something I like.

But as Ralph/Greg have alluded to...you need to do your homework as they have been identified in the past as listing a number of fakes. I do not believe they do this intentionally but things slip through.

So always verify everything first here. Do you homework first however, use reference books if you have them or better yet, the forums 100's of thousands of threads packed with information.

One last thing...I think they have a higher than acceptable "miss" rate on the originality of their offerings other than awards. Not surprising given their focus. Still I don't think anything is intentional, just a lack of expertise.

As a new collector one high quality dealer that many of us know and respect for awards is John T. His old site (Germanwarbooty.com) was hard to navigate but last year he updated it. Much better now. The link is below.

Home | Original German Militaria

[Chopperman]

But as Ralph/Greg have alluded to...you need to do your homework as they have been identified in the past as listing a number of fakes. I do not believe they do this intentionally but things slip through.

I agree

[hucks216]

I can only speak of the German paperwork as that is what I collect but eMedals are one of the most expensive dealers out there with over the top prices. They also have a habit of listing something for auction and when it doesn't sell they add the commission value to the starting bid price and then list it for sale at the higher price which doesn't make sense - if it didn't sell for $xx at auction it isn't going to sell for $xxxx with a buy it now price.