Headsup re: eBay auction & seller

[Berkley]

A seller using the name pow305 , located in Miami Florida, has an auction on eBay for what appears to be a Himalayan Imports kothimoda. I have NOT provided a link to the auction, but if anyone happens to come across it and is tempted, be aware of the following facts: Although the seller is careful never to use the full name "Himalayan Imports", the entire text is a paste from the HI website description of the HI kothimoda, down to and including the use of Kami Sherpa’s name! The picture of the item allegedly being offered is in fact the copyrighted image from the HI website, including the Himalayan Imports watermarks!:thumbdn:
What, if anything, this person is attempting to sell is anyone’s guess. The “lifetime guarantee" referred to in the text would be from the seller, whoever he is, not from HI.
As the proud owner of the very first HI kothimoda, hand-carried back from Nepal by Uncle Bill (which I had to sell with great reluctance to keep from being put in Uncle Sam’s tax-debtor prison), I can attest to the beauty and value of the real thing. Whatever is being offered for sale on this auction is unknown and unknowable from the seller’s pirated description and photos. CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!
Berkley
P.S. – same seller is offering a “Himalayan Ang Khola” of uncertain size with the same pirated HI text but no HI watermark on the pic.
P.P.S. – seller is also offering a “Ten Commandments gold bracelet”. Apparently seller does not inspect his merchandise too carefully, as the Seventh of said Commandments appears to have a bearing on the auctions previously mentioned above.

 

[Josh Muller]

while it is in poor taste to use anyones images without asking permission (i dont know if such a thing has been done or not), it may be that this seller is actually selling the same model shown in the HI photo's.

i would suggest contacting him before passing immediate judgement on the validity of the auction itself.

obviously i would be careful with any such auction that copies and pastes information or images from any website without mentioning its initial source, or without nameing the actual item shown, or posting a picture of the actual item shown, or posting exact dimention of the items shown - but it is possible that the person is just very, very inept at putting up ebay auctions....

but ya, i'd be careful.

 

[Svashtar]

while it is in poor taste to use anyones images without asking permission (i dont know if such a thing has been done or not), it may be that this seller is actually selling the same model shown in the HI photo's.

i would suggest contacting him before passing immediate judgement on the validity of the auction itself.

obviously i would be careful with any such auction that copies and pastes information or images from any website without mentioning its initial source, or without nameing the actual item shown, or posting a picture of the actual item shown, or posting exact dimention of the items shown - but it is possible that the person is just very, very inept at putting up ebay auctions....

but ya, i'd be careful.

Seth, that's a good point, but the odds that this guy would have the exact same knife that was used by Uncle Bill God knows how long ago to post on the HI store site are almost impossible to calculate. It's far more likely that he just took the easy way out and bootlegged the photo. Unless he stated in his verbiage that what was for sale was the _exact_ knife as shown in the pic, then I think he's got some 'splaining to do!

Thanks & regards,

Norm

 

[Josh Muller]

i mean the model, specifically the kothimoda and the chiruwa ang khola. as in he has a new edition of those two models, and took the old standard photo off of the HI home site.

you are right though, it should be made much more clear then it is

 

[Nasty]

This post was reported to me with the suggestion that it be moved to the Good,Bad,Ugly forum. I certainly agree that many more folks than just Cantinistas need to know about such potential fraud.

However, I also believe that this topic is *fundamental* to the HI business and customer.

I will post a copy of it to TGBU as a courtesy to other BF members.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

From what I understand there really is no standard Kothimoda. These knives differ greatly from one example to the next. It is basically impossible unless the seller has that exact knife that the one that he has looks anything like the one in the photo. The scabbard is likely decorated differently as well. As far as I am concerned, that is misleading information.