WillFalstaff

Wow! I haven't posted since August 2023. Here's my one and only gunto, with leather combat cover. I picked it up, with the horrendous condition blade, for a mere pittance. Question: How does one care for the leather. It's in great condition and I want to keep it that way.

Two in a row, with one potentially a Kamakura blade? That's it! I wanna know where this mysterious "gun" store is RIGHT NOW!

HAHAHA! Totally just realized this is a necro-post! Fun read!

This is totally worth an in-hand examination by your Togishi (as long as he's a reputable one. Sorry, I breezed through this thread so didn't read all of it.). If it is confirmed to be what it is believed to be, then spend the money and get it polished. Having a blade potentially be from the Kamakura period and in polish is a win-win.

I'm exploring this option. I want to make sure I file the right way to get the best chance to nab this a-hole. If anyone want to do some armchair sleuthing, just google the username, or "name", and some fun facts pop up.

Yes, after following the eBay process promptly, they issued back the money for the highest bids from this turd of a buyer.

Ebay profile name

Feel free to zoom in on the sender’s address. Keep in mind, this address could also be fake! Just in case the picture isn’t detailed enough: Matthew Chea 4926 Raylene Way Saint Cloud, FL, 34771-8318

Hi all, Story time! Grab your snack and bourbon and sit back. This weekend I found out that I was a victim of a unique kind of theft on eBay. Experience is a very good teacher and mistakes are the best way to learn your lesson. Or you can be a member on here and in other Facebook groups and read posts such as this, to allow you the chance to escape the fate that awaited me. I unwittingly watched as prized possessions got into the wrong hands. I had put up for bid a few of my blades, mostly in rough condition, but nothing devastating. One of them even had a partial mei, probably a Hizen blade. (See pics) I don’t usually sell on eBay, or anywhere else, and never Nihonto. Finances deemed it worthy for me to let go of some of my small collection. So, I did the deed and the bids came in. Not great as my exposure is next to nill as a seller on eBay, but I got out of the blades what I was hoping for. All but two were smooth sales and shipping process. Here’s where it got interesting, and fraudulent. The bidder on two swords was very keen on having the blades sent as combined shipping, which I had to figure out how to do, as I had to combine two items into one shipping boxes and shipping number. The package went out. The bidder even asked if I had other swords to sell. As soon as the package arrived at the buyer, they indicated on eBay that the two swords were in horrible condition and that they wanted a refund, despite clear descriptions and pictures. The refunding process in eBay has three methods: send back all the money to the buyer and they keep the product, send back some of the money and they keep the product, or the buyer sends back the product and once the seller receives the item(s), the seller refunds the bidding price to the seller, on the condition that the retuned item is as it was offered for bidding. I went through the process and received the two returned swords. In the packages were two swords, wooden and painted, with plastic habakis. It goes without saying that I immediately disputed the retuned items and googled the phone number (it is next to impossible to get a number if you look on eBay’s customer service). I let them know what happened and they emailed me two affidavits with the item numbers and indicators of what happened and why I was disputing. I printed the affidavits, signed them, and uploaded them to the designated hyperlink eBay had included in the affidavit email. 12 hours later they reviewed the affidavits and awarded me back the winning bid price for both swords. Below are pictures. Enjoy and do your damn best to avoid this fraudster (who probably already changed their profile name, and sold my swords on a different market place). Sell on this message board or on other Facebook groups that are trusted. eBay should be your last bet. If you see these swords anywhere else for sale, just know that the seller is a fraudster. Additional pics in next post.

Worth adding that religious horimono were added and not to be freshened up if dulled by subsequent polishes to the blade. They were meant to be a spiritually indelible attribute by whoever ordered the carving.

For reference. From “The Art of the Japanese Sword”, by Kapps and Yoshihara.