Ebay seller "SPORTCOLBS" ... Listing descriptions misleading

[338375]

It has been awhile since I bought a knife, but thought it may be time. My weakness is Red Bone Case knives...

A couple days ago, I did a search and one knife in particular caught my attention. The listing was for a Case 62032 Red Bone knife. When I looked at the pictures, I saw a very nice looking Case 62032 knife, however, it was NOT Red Bone.

So I sent the seller a message, and asked if the knife in the pictures, was the correct knife ? Because the listing title stated it was Red Bone, and the knife in the pictures was clearly not Red Bone...

The next day I got a reply. The seller said that the knife in the pictures was the correct one, and that it was not Red Bone. There was no mention of, I made a mistake, and will correct the listing. However, I assumed the listing would be corrected. As of today, it is still not. The knife has a few bids on it, and has over one day left on the auction...

It does not appear to be a one time thing either, because I searched the sellers other listings for Red Bone knives, and they have some listed, but even though the listing states Red Bone knife, it is very easy to see in the pictures, that it clearly is not Red Bone...

The seller has a lot of feedback, and has 99%+, but I wanted to give members a headsup, when looking at knives from this particular seller.
If they are willing to knowingly do this on these knives, I wouldn't be surprised if other knives have listing descriptions, that are not accurate as well.

 

[Cougar Allen]

I wanted to give members a headsup, when looking at knives from this particular seller.

But you forgot to give the particular seller's username....

Wait, yes you did, in the title. sportcolb

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

Did you report it to ebay? They might remove it.

 

[tleav61]

Let E-bay will look into it. Sounds like he uses Case XX "Red Bone" is a key word to draw people in. ??

 

[338375]

But you forgot to give the particular seller's username....

Wait, yes you did, in the title. sportcolb

I changed it to bold, so hopefully it will stand out better. It didn't show up very well th eway I originally did it

Did you report it to ebay? They might remove it.

Let E-bay will look into it. Sounds like he uses Case XX "Red Bone" is a key word to draw people in. ??

I'm going to report it. I kept waiting, thinking they would edit the listing, but it doesn't appear they are going to.

 

[Sword and Shield]

I would advise against dealing with him as it is. He is one of the better known reworkers and restorers who sells them as new.

 

[grybsh7]

I bought a knife from him years ago and it was a bad experience. Doesn't sound like he has changed.

 

[robbobus]

Interesting. I look at tons of listings for old Case knives, this seller included. Might be interesting to know other big sellers to be wary of if anyone has info. Always a bit of a hastle leaving neg. feedback there so people just choose to not leave any when they get ill-treated. I actually left my first non-positive this week to a seller named blue_edge_knives, I had bought and paid for a Case SBJ, the listing claimed 4 in stock and next day I get an email saying they want to refund my money because their supplier has no stock. I accepted their refund, what choice did I have, and responded about their sales ethics. No response, took a week for the Paypal refund to clear to my account, so I left a neutral. Should have been a negative.

 

[338375]

Let E-bay will look into it. Sounds like he uses Case XX "Red Bone" is a key word to draw people in. ??

Absolutely...

I would advise against dealing with him as it is. He is one of the better known reworkers and restorers who sells them as new.

I bought a knife from him years ago and it was a bad experience. Doesn't sound like he has changed.

Interesting to know. The listing for the knife in question ended, and the description was never edited. However, the seller has two Case knives currently listed as red bone, which are clearly NOT red bone.

I reported the seller for making fraudulent listings. I hope to get a response from Ebay on this, but I have a feeling, nothing will come of it.

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

You won't hear from ebay, but the listings may 'disappear'. Ebay does pull listings for fraudulent complaints, but I've seen it take several. I've seen on watch forums where 3 or 4 people may have to report a Folex to ebay before they yank it.

 

[rprocter]

I have bought about 50 knives from this seller. Contrary to what S and S posted he does not re-work knives.
This seller has been dealing in knives for many decades. He knows knives but is focused on business, not collecting.
His business ethics are reasonable relative to the range of ethic standards found on ebay. He does not have the collector orientation of "full disclosure", but does word his listings carefully. If he does not mention some aspect (e.g. snap) then there may well be a problem but if asked will give an honest answer. Once you learn how to read his listings, you can spot the good ones, and many of the knives he sells are all original and very collectible. If you are knife knowledgeable and can 'read between the lines', you can pick up some very desirable knives. Of the app. 50 i have bought from him, only 1 was not as expected. I returned it and received a full refund. Waiting a week for a refund is very common. It has to do with PP and the time it takes for banks to clear funds.
There are many knowledgeable knife sellers who are far worse. I recently contacted a completely different seller from whom i have also bought many knives, to say that i thought a recent knife was a re-work. This other seller(to be clear: Not Sportcolbs), replied rudely that i was a dork who didn't know shit about knives. No further discussion was received, no refund, and he has banned me from bidding on his listings.
Sportcolbs is head and shoulders above that seller's ethical standards.
As buyers we need to be aware that "Full Disclosure" is the exception not the 'rule'. Sportcolbs is about average on a list of best to worst knife sellers.
This seller is not a friend of mine. I simply want to give my perspective based on my experience.
roland

 

[tendy]

Just bought a knife from Sportscolb on Ebay, and he did what very few sellers do, refunded me the overage on what was already resonable shipping. That, put simply is integrity, the kind of which remains elusive with some sellers on Ebay. His communication is great, and he fully disclosed all issues with the knife before purchase. IMHO this is the kind of seller people should gravitate to. I am in no way employed or asociated with sportscolb other than being a paying customer.

 

[Cougar Allen]

That name seems familiar ... hmm ... found it:

Sportcolbs is Bill Swan, a long time seller of Parker knives, best known for selling new Parker knives with old brand names as old knives.

Click on his About Me link. Look who is shaking his... for him.

BRL...

 

[Gastonknife]

Oh, so Bernie's opinion is supposed to mean anything in the real world? Need something from a much more reliable source than that. I am not defending the seller OP noted - do not know him or anything about him. Quoting Bernie's opinions/ramblings does not bring anything completely credible to the table in my experience.

 

[Karda]

Oh, so Bernie's opinion is supposed to mean anything in the real world? Need something from a much more reliable source than that. I am not defending the seller OP noted - do not know him or anything about him. Quoting Bernie's opinions/ramblings does not bring anything completely credible to the table in my experience.

BRL's opinion is worth a whole heckuva lot more that buyers whom choose to believe what they want to believe no matter what anyone tells them. In many cases he's actually appraised, met or otherwise had dealings with these "horse traders" in question and is privy to info that most don't have access to. Just because you have a problem with bernard doe not mean his information is not credible.

 

[338375]

I have bought about 50 knives from this seller. Contrary to what S and S posted he does not re-work knives.
This seller has been dealing in knives for many decades. He knows knives but is focused on business, not collecting.
His business ethics are reasonable relative to the range of ethic standards found on ebay. He does not have the collector orientation of "full disclosure", but does word his listings carefully. If he does not mention some aspect (e.g. snap) then there may well be a problem but if asked will give an honest answer. Once you learn how to read his listings, you can spot the good ones, and many of the knives he sells are all original and very collectible. If you are knife knowledgeable and can 'read between the lines', you can pick up some very desirable knives. Of the app. 50 i have bought from him, only 1 was not as expected. I returned it and received a full refund. Waiting a week for a refund is very common. It has to do with PP and the time it takes for banks to clear funds.
There are many knowledgeable knife sellers who are far worse. I recently contacted a completely different seller from whom i have also bought many knives, to say that i thought a recent knife was a re-work. This other seller(to be clear: Not Sportcolbs), replied rudely that i was a dork who didn't know shit about knives. No further discussion was received, no refund, and he has banned me from bidding on his listings.
Sportcolbs is head and shoulders above that seller's ethical standards.
As buyers we need to be aware that "Full Disclosure" is the exception not the 'rule'. Sportcolbs is about average on a list of best to worst knife sellers.
This seller is not a friend of mine. I simply want to give my perspective based on my experience.
roland

Just bought a knife from Sportscolb on Ebay, and he did what very few sellers do, refunded me the overage on what was already resonable shipping. That, put simply is integrity, the kind of which remains elusive with some sellers on Ebay. His communication is great, and he fully disclosed all issues with the knife before purchase. IMHO this is the kind of seller people should gravitate to. I am in no way employed or asociated with sportscolb other than being a paying customer.

It is good to hear positives as well. However, the fact remains, he was notified that the knife listed was not red bone, and he didn't take the time to edit the listing.
Plus, he has two current listings that are not as described as well. It doesn't bother me if someone doesn't give a completely detailed description. It is up to the buyer to ask questions, if there are any doubts. But when the information that IS provided is incorrect, that is different IMHO.

I remember when this seller first appeared on Ebay. He has always had some very nice looking knives available, and still does. I have never bought any knives from him, and I'm sure after reporting him, I will be blocked from bidding. That is o.k though, because after this, I would never buy from him. Maybe that's is my loss, but I can live with that.

That name seems familiar ... hmm ... found it:

Hmmm... Interesting

Oh, so Bernie's opinion is supposed to mean anything in the real world? Need something from a much more reliable source than that. I am not defending the seller OP noted - do not know him or anything about him. Quoting Bernie's opinions/ramblings does not bring anything completely credible to the table in my experience.

BRL's opinion is worth a whole heckuva lot more that buyers whom choose to believe what they want to believe no matter what anyone tells them. In many cases he's actually appraised, met or otherwise had dealings with these "horse traders" in question and is privy to info that most don't have access to. Just because you have a problem with bernard doe not mean his information is not credible.

BRL can seem alittle cranky, but he has forgotten more about knives than most of us (including myself) will ever know. It doesn't mean he is correct 100% of the time, but I have also seen him step up and admit he was wrong, or that he just doesn't know. I personally think, we are very fortunate to have him here on BF's...

There are people in the knife business that are dishonest, just like in any other business. Forunately for us, we have someone who has been in the game long enough, to be able to point out people that are less than honest. If it wasn't for this info, most of us would never know. Most of us average people will never have dealings with these people, but it is nice to know who they are and where they are. It can potentially save someone from making a bad decision.

YMMV

 

[Karda]

I'm fully convinced that there is a group of counterfieters operating on ebay selling offshore made slipjoints, made to the old patterns specs, and branding them with old stamping.

Sportcolbs could be one of them.
Silverladdie and his other alias, whose name escapes me ( says he is brad-something-or-other) who is none other than James Parker jr.
There are probably others whom i've noticed but fail to recall at this moment. But they all seem to sell far to many of the same "rare?" knives.

This is just my own opinion, of course.

 

[rprocter]

Karda, do you have any proof that Bill Swan is a "counterfieter" ? If not, it is slanderous to post what you did.
Counterfeiters, i.e. people re-working, or creating copies of collectible knives long pre-dates the internet. It has been part of the knife world for a long time. As ebay is now by far the largest market for knives, it is to be expected that fake knives show up there.
Bill Swan sells knives. I doubt he has any part in making them. The worst he could be accused of is lack of full disclosure and that is a common business practice in far more than just knives.
The widespread presence of fakes makes knife collecting more intriguing and more rewarding. It demands a level of expertice and knowledge for the collector to make wise choices. If every knife was exactly what it was supposed to be then the guys with the fattest wallets would end up with all the good knives.
As things are, fakes make us examine each knife more closely and read and learn from others as much as we can.
Fakes play an important role in our hobby.
roland

 

[Karda]

Karda, do you have any proof that Bill Swan is a "counterfieter" ? If not, it is slanderous to post what you did.
Counterfeiters, i.e. people re-working, or creating copies of collectible knives long pre-dates the internet. It has been part of the knife world for a long time. As ebay is now by far the largest market for knives, it is to be expected that fake knives show up there.
Bill Swan sells knives. I doubt he has any part in making them. The worst he could be accused of is lack of full disclosure and that is a common business practice in far more than just knives.
The widespread presence of fakes makes knife collecting more intriguing and more rewarding. It demands a level of expertice and knowledge for the collector to make wise choices. If every knife was exactly what it was supposed to be then the guys with the fattest wallets would end up with all the good knives.
As things are, fakes make us examine each knife more closely and read and learn from others as much as we can.
Fakes play an important role in our hobby.
roland

Roland,
I've been watching these sellers for years now. No proof as i refuse to buy unless i can be absolutely sure an item is what it is supposed to be. The sellers mentioned here raise many alarm bells with me. It is just my opinion. One should be wary of what they are getting when buying from any of them, especially on high dollar items.
Fakes do not play an important role in our hobby, they harm it. They are only a vehicle for the unscupulous seller to gain a fat wallet on the back and names of once great businesses and to make fools of any buyer.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...produced-Jack-Knife-Ben?p=4196828#post4196828
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/290454-Rodgers-MOP-knife?p=2467597#post2467597

 

[gzb]

Karda, do you have any proof that Bill Swan is a "counterfieter" ? If not, it is slanderous to post what you did.

Actually it would be libelous, because it is written...