bobtail44

People seem to keep complaining about the same sellers. You know what would be beneficial? This does not apply to every seller, but does seem to reoccur regarding the same ones. If we had names of sellers who can be proven to have done the wrong thing, a tally on a sticky post could be maintained. For instance, I have bought a many blades online and the sellers description can be quoted as being perfectly straight or has no edge damage. When the item arrives, it is a mess and photos have hidden the problems. If I can post cut and dry evidence stating that a seller said a sword was dead straight and it is bent like a banana, they should get a black mark for wasting my time and money. If a seller constantly runs auctions then refuses to sell the item because it didn't go high enough, then this is reflected in the tally, which can save people staying up late at night to bid on poor sellers. If people can prove that it obviously occurred, they should get a mark against their name. That way people can see who to stay away from. Many of these sellers have zero ethics and do more harm to the hobby than good. If its a one off, then the numbers will show that. If nothing happens for six months of a year, it could be cleared. The latest mark could have a date attached. This would NOT apply to things like shipping taking too long or they said it was shiner than it actually is or the signature was fake ,but would be chalked up at the discretion a Moderator. This should only apply to specific things and not be subjective. The blade either has rust or doesn't, it is either straight or bent, it either has a perfect edge or has edge damage to some degree People keep saying read feedback or ask around for opinions, but that is rubbish. Negative feedback is easily and readily removed from auction sites these days to promote more sales. To get negative feedback removed by eBay is very easy. Also asking random people around the world what they think of someones business ethics is hardly a reliable gauge of what they are like overall. Just some ideas, better than the current system of trial and error, with many people bagging out online auction systems as a whole due to the behaviour of a few. Trent

I won an auction on one of his blades a while ago and he straight out said that he sold it off of eBay for a higher price. He then tried to sell me some other piece of junk for the same high price. No business ethics what so ever. He doesn't care. I reported him, but evidently eBay doesn't care either. Trent

Hes the one who I bought a sword off and he admitted to overlooking the poor condition it was in due to his "high volume of sales", so I had to pay around $100 to ship it back to him for a refund. In my opinion anyone with a bit of self respect would have covered the return shipping. All he tried to do was offer me something else instead. What makes it worse was that I messaged him first to double check its condition, so he didn't even care enough to check it properly. Trent S

Use firefox then you won't have to worry. I used chrome extensively and had too many issues with it. Trent S

Yes I know, but I don't agree with that. I think to save situations like this it would help. Trent S

I'm more concerned about the "dead beat" sellers. The amount of blades that I have bought from known dealers on ebay to have to waste my money shipping it back is rediculous. If they say the edge has no chips or cracks or hesitations then that is what it should be. Perfectly straight does not equal "a slight bend" in reality. Pathetic excuses like, "oh I overlooked that one because I sell so many blades is a joke". Then when confronted about paying the return shipping price they stop contact and block your bids on future items. Im looking in Komonjo's direction.... Regardless of ebays policy, I believe that if you were careless and at fault then you should man up and pay to make it right. More people should learn to leave negative feedback for buyers and sellers. Ive spoken to people who were stuffed around by the same people I have, here in WA and they didn't even bother to leave feedback for them. Irresponsible in my opinion. I guess that if you can't afford to waste time and money, don't swim in the shark tank Trent S

I don't think that you are actually going to purchase this blade, I think that your question is designed to produce educational answers. My five cents without repeating what others have meantioned is that you need to check out the person offering the item. If they are a dealer then you have zero chance of finding a "treasure" for a cheap price. There is the exception of a couple of people that sell mass blades on ebay set to auction. You won't find the next Juyo blade but you might find a very significant discount on dealer prices on papered blades. You can get some good deals from them but also a lot of junk and these sellers rarely check for damage or even view half of what they sell on commission so it is still a gamble. This is not speculation I have email proof. If you want to hunt for treasure, learn Japanese like I am, then go to Japanese auctions or sites. You have a far better chance then paddling through ebay. That way you are more likely to get the prices that dealers do. Too many people collect these swords now and run every obscure search on ebay you can think of. I used to do it and I did get some great deals but in the last 5 years it has become really hard. I don't even bother at the moment because my Japanese is in early stages and the USD is so high compared to AUD. I also suggest that you purchase swords in a conditon and at a price that you can easily liquidate them should the need arise. Some people might disagree, but id say buy blades that you know other people would want in case you decide to get rid of them as well as obviously liking it yourself. Old blades like this one will rarely selling quickly for the price you would ask trying to recover restoration costs. Trent S

You guys are great, thanks for the info and help :D I figured it was worth checking in case it was something important. Trent S

Minamoto Ietsugu aka Tokugawa Ietsugu. As soon as I read the name I was like, I know that name. Also the papers date it to his life time the papers also place it to the area he was in. I think ill buy it. For the price that's being asked ill figure out the details later It is one that has shown up after ww2 capture but not use and the seller has no clue who's name is on it. Ill post pictures when I get it because the hamon is really something to look at but I didn't take any decent photos at the time. Trent S

I don't know I can't read it. Something to the effect of it being made at the same time as the person who has there name on the tang was alive. That is just their word though. Id have to take a photo of it if I buy it/see it. Papers are real I know that much. Trent S

Hi, I have the opportunity to buy a katana which for some reason has a shoguns name ( I think) carved artistically into the nakago. It is the full name and doesn't correspond to any swordsmith that I could find. I'm sure others here will have far more reference material than me though. My Question is why would someone carve the name there? It passed shinsa with the nbthk so why would they pass it with a random name on the tang. Any opinions are welcome. Cheers, Trent S

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19023&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a I hope this seller has learned their previous lessons about outright lying about blade condition. Id be embarrassed if I had made the "mistakes" he had in his ebay listing. He didn't care in the slightest. Cost me $100 shipping, what will it cost you. Trent S

Posts about live auctions like this are great. Completed auctions are boring, keep it up Careful if you dont buy it now its going back in the cupboard for another 60 years xD xD or at least until his estate goes up for sale Trent S

Thanks anyway steve, it would have been a big silly gamble I think Cheers, Trent S

Ive ordered mine :D Trent S

Not really, Some people are coming to see some of the swords that im selling afterwards so i might make some sales in the next few weeks. Last time all of my swords sold after the show mostly to people from the show. This time about 20 people wanted my phone number to call me after the show and have another viewing. Interest in nihonto was up a noticeably higher percentage from last year I think due to my online advertising. People knew me by name and asked if it was me. I think my display needs a lot of work because I did see quite a few people go to Nihonto Australia look or buy and not even view mine. The NA display looks very good but I think id die from stress if I had to stop people fingering my blades all day. John has a lot more patience than me . I think mine being in flat display case to protect them hindered my sales as unless you came over you couldn't see them and half of my table was militaria. Ive already got the first caller coming tomorrow afternoon so Ill see how it goes. I forgot to ask which blade he was interested in xD . I made $750 on militaria sales though so minus $50 dollars for entry the $700 profit covered me being there. Id have gone anyway though because I wanted to meet people who might collect nihonto as well. Its all just for fun anyway and im already looking at what I can buy next haha. One thing I have noticed over the last couple of years is that most but not all people in WA don't want to spend over 2k on a sword. So its a lot easier to sell a bunch of gunto than it is to sell a very nice papered blade for $3500-3800 that would easily cost 5k plus from a dealer. I just don't think there is a market here for much over $2000. I had quite a few guntos and they mostly sold to people who just wanted a "samurai sword" and didn't really care about the facts. Im happy that my hands down favourite gunto when to a great iaido practitioner who is getting it mounted. It was the one I mainly wanted to go to a good home. I didn't see any bigger name swords at the show. There is a lot of interest in the pair of yoshimichi wakizashis that im selling. I suppose that is a "bigger" name. You would have to ask John if he sold anything bigger. Cheers, Trent S

It was a fantastic weekend and I had a great time, thanks to everyone who came and said hi! I appreciate so many of you coming and introducing yourselves in person. I also appreciate the mountain of advice and information you shared especially in regard to further reading material. Thanks to Nihonto Australia for once again taking the time to fly all of their very interesting blades over from Cairns. There were some great blades and a very diverse display. Had the opportunity to look at photos from their new Japanese and sword museum and it looks fantastic. Ill definitely drop past next time im over there. Cheers guys, Trent S

Its showing make an offer to me as well..... It is sad that he blocked offers from elsewhere because he has cut the price he could potentially get. Oh well. If anyone in the US could message him for me and tell him to change it for an interested buyer in Australia id be very happy Trent S

If I buy that I can make a daisho o.O but ebay ont let me even message him to make an offer whats going on...? Trent S

It has current nbthk papers. Plus the guy who did the sayagaki is very knowledgeable so it is like it is double papered. Upload images of of yours if you like so I can compare them. If it is the same that would be very interesting. Trent S

These are the details for the fair, the link works for me, very strange: MILITARIA FAIR SEPTEMBER 6 & 7 CANNING SHOWGROUNDS ALBANY HWY, CANNINGTON (Cnr Station St) SATURDAY 10am to 5pm SUNDAY 9am to 1pm ADMISSION ADULTS: $10.00 CONCESSION: $ 7.00 Im nothing to do with the fair as far as running it, I just have a table/display there because I really enjoy going. I get to talk to loads of interesting people and buy and trade for a lot of great stuff. It s an enjoyment thing for me not a job. I started because I wanted to help my Pop sell off his militaria collection because it was huge, disorganized and took up a lot of space. Then I got into it because I had a great time so im going again. Its like my third time I think. It is up to you if you fly here but it isn't a world class sword show. Myself and nihonto Australia will probably be the only ones there selling nihonto. Some people sell other odd war swords as well but ive never seen a good one there that id buy in a store. I have traded with other collectors though. I love the forum, (except when Jean locks the fun threads too quickly) ;) because I don't really have any other time outside of the fair to talk to other collectors about nihonto. When I first started collecting a few years ago all of my swords came from ebay and mostly from the US. Ive sold most of them now. I prefer to buy from other collectors now but ill admit I did recently just buy a great tanto from a dealer on ebay with nbthk papers. It takes a very long time looking and negotiations to buy blades at a great price from people and Japan from my experience. Ive just slowly been collecting over time. I really have gotten a bit sick of how many ebay blades you need to send back because of undisclosed damage. Buying from other collectors is a lot more fun and informative, with a lot more honesty. Most of my sword are certified now, the ones that aren't are obviously good nihonto because I only buy what I like the look of and would keep. It is easy to see in hand rather than explain how good they are. If someone is interested in a blade we work out a price that we are both happy with if I want to sell it I do. All I do with the money is buy another nihonto anyway hahaha :D Its not like im a dealer trying to generate income Ill admit I won't sell for less than what I pay but I will do a great deal. My only goal is save up and buy a really nice wakizashi and tachi/katana to make a daisho. Thats the end goal. I don't have a website, Im way too busy for that. Images of the cutting test blade in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=19822&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15 None of my nihonto need restoration except one and im not selling that because its my favorite and its booked for a polish . I think ill die with that one Most have papers. Its not a gamble to buy any. I don't even care if I sell the cutting test blade. I didn't plan to, I just wanted to display it so others can see and get enjoyment from it. Im always open to trades and offers though. The temper line is amazing and very subtle. I didn't understand subtle complexity and beauty in a hamon that was obviously made to be functional until I held this one in the sunlight. Also the person that wrote on the shirasaya is very well known. I won't sell anything via paypal. Too much hassle and risk. Id love for you to come and say hello in person though. It will be obvious who I am there so I hope you can make it but aren't too disappointed by the size of it xD Cheers, Trent S

+1 and Trent S

I wish, the only difference would be id have a lot more toys and wouldn't blow my money and braincells on drugs ;D :D How does it go? He who dies with the most toys wins? ;) Trent S

I Just want to see who wins the price bet I think im out of the running . I enjoy ebay for what it is, risky treasure hunting. If you can't afford to lose the money don't risk it. When it pays off I get loads of enjoyment out of it :D Trent S

We should do this again and all take guesses what it goes for. Winner gets a prize I can't believe it went so high, someone here thinks they are getting a treasure . fyi if that blade was in perfect condition and shirasaya if it is a wakizashi it still wouldn't go for more than $2200 imo. Trent S