Don't pay double with 'Bladetique' and similar.

[When Necessary]

I just won a signed and dated shinshinto katana on Yahoo for its lowest asking price of about eighteen hundred dollars. Whoopee.

Details for the curious:

Mei 筑前国住源信国美直　Minamoto Nobukuni Yoshinao

Dated 慶應二年八月吉日 August 1866

Nagasa 70.7cm 

 

 

At the same time, 'Bladetique' in Japan had copied the auction and were hawking it to unwary foreigners for nearly double the price. This is rather ironic as 'Bladetique' (who has 100% feedback), states the following in their eBay profile: 

"However, I believe that the key to acquiring a good blades is to pay a reasonable price from the beginning and then rely on your own sensitivity and the opinions of people you can trust to help you make the best purchase."

 
Noble words but ignoble actions - new collectors please be warned. 

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

The banner image of that 100 million dollar wall hanger inspires complete confidence. 

[nulldevice]

10 minutes ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

The banner image of that 100 million dollar wall hanger inspires complete confidence. 

My first thought as well

[When Necessary]

I noticed that the NMB has several new people who are really champing at the bit to buy their first Nihonto and I didn't want them getting scammed by individuals like 'Bladetique' (I never get tired of typing that name; it sounds like a 1970s kung fu disco).

[Geraint]

Dear Deanna.

 

Good idea to point this out.  Looking forward to seeing the Yoshinao when it arrives.

 

All the best.

[Rawa]

Yeah but still you bought on yahoo Japan using middleman? It's blocked directly in EU.

[Brano]

17 minutes ago, Rawa said:

Yeah but still you bought on yahoo Japan using middleman? It's blocked directly in EU.

Japanese Yahoo is inaccessible for European IP addresses
You can find an identical offer on Buyee - enter the item ID in the search if you know it
Or use a VPN for Yahoo
I think Yahoo.co.jp is accessible for the US market

[Hoshi]

Hi, 

 

"Based in Japan" - very unlikely. You are probably dealing here with an associate of the infamous '100M $ tachi' swindler which you can look up on this board. 

 

No Japanese dealer in his right mind would put such a banner as visual identity for a sword shop. 

 

Even if you got it at the auction hammer price, trust me - you dodged a bullet. 

 

Avoid Ebay, avoid YJP. You will get burned. 

 

Your best bet to find a decent entry level sword is to buy from a reputable dealer on this board.

 

Best,

 

Hoshi 

 

 

[When Necessary]

6 hours ago, Hoshi said:

Hi, 

 

"Based in Japan" - very unlikely. You are probably dealing here with an associate of the infamous '100M $ tachi' swindler which you can look up on this board. 

 

No Japanese dealer in his right mind would put such a banner as visual identity for a sword shop. 

 

Even if you got it at the auction hammer price, trust me - you dodged a bullet. 

 

Avoid Ebay, avoid YJP. You will get burned. 

 

Your best bet to find a decent entry level sword is to buy from a reputable dealer on this board.

 

Best,

 

Hoshi 

 

 

Hello Hoshi,

 

In retrospect, you are probably right and this person is outside Japan, hoping to take advantage of those without easy access to the Japanese auction sites. If so, they are at least clever enough to word their statement of 'integrity and philosophy' with a smattering of grammatical errors and odd syntax,  similar what you would expect from a native Japanese.

 

Regarding buying from YJP, I will sometimes take a chance, especially with tsuba - but never eBay.

Yes, I've been burned a couple of times but I've also had success; the Suruga no Kami Kunimasa blade of mine which just passed Tokuho was from Yahoo Auctions. It had an old NBTHK green paper, which is also a widely perceived warning sign but I trusted my own judgement and, on this occasion, it paid off. 
One word of advice about Japanese auctions, avoid the dealers with dozens of swords each week. Go for private individuals who might be selling off grandpa's 'old stuff' or the 'Ma and Pa' antique shops out in the sticks. They usually don't mess about with swords to make them look 'more saleable' and only look to make a fair profit.
 

Thanks again, for pitching in on the conversation!

[When Necessary]

14 hours ago, Geraint said:

Dear Deanna.

 

Good idea to point this out.  Looking forward to seeing the Yoshinao when it arrives.

 

All the best.

Dear Geraint,

 

Thank you.

 

For what they're worth, these are the photos from the auction. (And yes, that weird, 'woven', sageo is coming straight off!)

Personally, I prefer blades in shirasaya but I can get one made for this easily enough. The koshirae looks modern but the habaki is very good quality; two piece and gold foil wrapped.