Skull Ring "from Stalingrad"

[HPL2008]

Is'nt this a Darth Vader ring??

No, actually, I think it belonged to The Red Skull.

[Wagriff]

The Red Skull is possible...but at it's current bid of $43, I would have to say that it's more than likely being purchased by The Numb Skull... William

[Wagriff]

Numb Skull turned out to be fairly accurate. Some fool just paid $124.50 plus shipping for this joke. I can just see a few years down the road, this monstrosity being brought to a dealer for sale and the indignant owner insisting that it was "found in Stalingrad an is absolutely Genuine!!". Want more "great relic rings"? Check out these 2 dealers on eBay "relichunterwwii" and "arminius17-21". These 2(if it really Is 2 people and not just one) should be in jail for this travesty... It's a shame that eBay doesn't allow you to contact bidders you see putting up good dollars for blatantly fake garbage and warn them before it's too late. William

[ToxicGas]

You'd think if someone was going to spend that much on something, they'd at least research them before, and have a basic knowledge of what one looks like to want to own one in the first place! Can't you report auctions that are misrepresentative / fraudulent?

Mat

[Wagriff]

Sadly, it always comes down to a "your word against their word" thing and eBay will not get involved in "opinion differences". Back a few years ago, you could directly email the unsuspecting bidders and try to clue them in. If you were feeling particularly nice,you could email the seller too and let them know their item was not genuine, but this didn't always result in the best responses! I remember one particular thief a number of years ago had a gold ring with a crest on it and the date 1944 on the shoulders. He was representing this piece as a "Viking Division" German wartime ring-despite the "crest" looking nothing like the Viking symbol of the shield with a notched corner and despite it clearly being stamped 10K and "Jostens" inside it! Jostens is and has been for many years a well known maker of high school class rings-which is what this silly ring actually was. I received back for my polite email an all capitals cursing and swearing email calling me all sorts of names and insults. I decided not to reply...lol The ring ended up selling for abit over $100 and no doubt today is proudly exhibited in someones collection as we speak. A future dealers headache,for sure. Got to love this hobby-the thieves have Far more rights and protections to ply their trade than the honest naive collector has to protect himself and his investments! William

[ToxicGas]

Very true, I suppose any attempt to intervene would be in vain. Ebay is useless and full of ironic contradictions in it's rules and enforcement of them in my opinion. I have previously won an auction for a Third Reich relic which was listed for 10 days... and ebay removed it and deleted all bids after I had WON it. Fortunately, me and the seller continued the deal outside of ebay and I got my item! It was a genuine item, whereas fake junk like this will probably be left alone... I see blatantly fake German militaria sell every day, so it doesn't seem like those sellers are having problems with ebay.

So... genuine historical relics are 'offensive' while fake imitations of the same symbols and imagery are ok?

Mat

[Wagriff]

Personally, I've never quite gotten the reason just why someone, say, an aging WWII Vet who Personally shot it out with an enemy soldier and won or even captured an enemy combatant should Not be allowed to sell some inoffensive relic of that encounter such as a belt buckle of a badge, but that is Ebay in a nutshell. They allow virtually Every seller from China to peddle literally millions of outrageous fake "antiques,collectables,gems,jewelry"-you name it and never a word is said. But,if someone has a 130 year old Catholic Church saint relic for sale,they will pull the auction for "selling body parts" and equate it to selling a kidney-literally. If you need a 1942 Browning Hi Power magazine's base plate retainer-not even the magazine Itself,no such luck. The auction is against their rules and will be stopped for "selling gun parts". But Polish manufactures of the most ludicrous fake TR "relics" go on complacently selling their fully intended fraudulent items and stealing money from collectors year after year after year and all without a peep. Go figure,hey? Ebay has been a boon to the collecting hobby and it's been a curse as well. William

[ToxicGas]

Nazi-like censorship to ensure no-one sells a piece of history, while allowing fraud on a large scale. Got to love that. I know of the Polish crap of which you speak, it amazes me that it goes on unchallenged. Half of them aren't fakes, but total fantasy pieces being sold as WW2 original. I like the term the seller I bought from labelled them after the legitimate item got pulled: 'The Ebay Gestapo'.

Mat

[kc1]

Allegedly, i think that covers any legal aspect, ebay started its swastika ban after a French court ruling against items being sold on another auction website. Allegedly this auction site was linked to a telecommunications company in the U.K that because of new E.U rules was trying to setup business in France which would have provided competition with the provider already established in France. The French do not like competition. Some French person linked the auction part of the telecommunications to the French law, applies in Germany and Austria i believe, that forbids the open sale of items with the swastika and or SS runes etc. The auction was taken to court and fined £80000 per count on three specimen charges, £240000, with more to follow if you couldn't take the hint. The telecoms company withdrew its efforts in France. Ebay fearful of being fined similar amounts then made the ruling which we currently have. Excepting films, don't want to take hollywood on, and books etc.
Those of you who rail against the ebay gestapo are wasting your time, there is no such thing. Ebay relys upon other ebayers to inform them of 'violations' of their rules, ebay isn't going to pay for someone to sit and look at every posting when it's done for free by halfwits.

[ToxicGas]

Kc1, I figured it was down to people reporting as opposed to ebay themselves bothering to check an auction. The auction I spoke of was removed 5 minutes after it ended, and I had won it- me and the seller guessed someone had reported it out of spite for losing it perhaps, or maybe someone who had (incorrectly) claimed the item to be fake. It seems that the system must immediately remove reported auctions before actually reviewing the claim against them... I got my item anyway, I just know now never to bother trying again with ebay.

Mat