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Ebay can become an addiction.

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  • Ebay can become an addiction.

    I have always collected stuff but I have got serious about Indian artifacts in the last few years. No doubt there are fake artifacts and scammers on ebay but I find it easy enough to sort through. Over the last two years I've made some really good buys on artifacts but I'm going to ween myself off of Ebay and shop local.

    I love kicking dirt but ebay is hard to resist!

    Von

  • #2
    I went on a month long binge ha. I've broken myself but it wasn't easy. If I were rich I'd be dangerous.

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    • #3
      LOL I hear Ya!!!

      I'm going to break myself too. I picked up a nice frame at a local Antique store last week with 52 points in it. Over half show no damage and only a few had significant damage. I paid a little under $4 for each point which is a deal compared to anything on EBay.

      Von

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      • #4
        Yeah. Sounds like a pretty good deal.

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        • #5
          Here's a picture of it. There's some Kirks, Stanley's, Morrow Mountains, Guilfords, and more. It's a real shame the big Yadkin or possible Alamance is broken.

          My Avatar is a nice ebay point.

          Von
          Last edited by Von; 03-27-2017, 05:21 PM.

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          • #6
            Congrats on a great find, at least as far as I can tell in your photo. I think you are wise to wean yourself off eBay. You may be astute spotting the real from the fake, but my own finds mean more to me than any I've purchased.
            Child of the tides

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            • #7
              I feel the same way about my personal finds but in sales I work long hours and between that and family responsibilities I have little time to kick dirt. I get a little thrill out of picking up a good deal like this frame but it's really isn't the same as seeing that point and pulling it out of the ground.

              Von

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              • #8
                That sure looks like a good buy for four bucks a point. I would rather find em, but some just can't be passed up. I have a few pieces I bought and one is one of my favourite points. they are still ancient and that is cool

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                • #9
                  No doubt it's really cool to collect them realizing that some are really old and made by a guy that lived off the land. I picked up my Avatar point for a decent price on eBay. I think I paid about $8 including shipping. I just bought a Dalton but that's it for awhile. Maybe???

                  Von
                  Last edited by Von; 03-27-2017, 08:27 PM.

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                  • #10
                    Early on, long before I retired and went on a fixed income, I liked to buy artifacts that had been found locally, especially from my home, RI, but southern New England in general. Sources included local dealers, national dealers, and eBay. I bought what I felt I was not likely to find even if I had 100 years to look. Very few purchases since retirement, and I also appreciate personal finds far more then purchases designed to supplement my local/regional collection. But, every now and then, something will turn up on eBay that I just can't resist. I believe the last time was this ground slate point from RI. I believe I got it for a very good price. A ground slate point from the Northeast had always been a wish of mine, and since this one was from home, I went for it. You can get good deals on eBay, and you can find good artifacts. But, you know what? Search "Clovis" in the pre-1600 section of eBay artifacts, and you will be hard pressed to see even one single real Clovis!! They are almost 100% fake!!
                    Rhode Island

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                    • #11
                      I hear Ya and also buy artifacts that are local to me here in NC. I have a few from from surrounding states but the local stuff is what really gets my heart pumping.

                      There's lots of fakes out there and most are easy enough to spot but the Clovis fakes are a bit harder and they all seem to have a COA? I don't bother with them because Clovis point's from NC are so rare that finding one intact is odd much less a perfect one for sale.

                      Nice slate point.

                      Von

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                      • CMD
                        CMD commented
                        Editing a comment
                        Yes, they all have COA's from people who paper anything that has a check made out to themselves. One authenticator in particular. I won't put the name here, but simply point out the vast majority of fakes, and that's fake artifacts in general, not just Clovis points, will carry a COA from that particular authenticator.

                      • Kyflintguy
                        Kyflintguy commented
                        Editing a comment
                        About 4-5 authenticators on there that will get you in deep trouble.... The one Charlie refers to is the most common. They're everywhere and that person obviously culls nothing. I even noticed the authenticator started selling it themselves on there recently. A few of these "authenticators" are slightly more selective than the others but its junk all the same.

                    • #12
                      The guys turning out all those fake Clovis, and the athenticators who proclaim them real, are doing that type a great disservice and denigrating its historic significance in the peopling of the Americas. It really burns me up.
                      Child of the tides

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                      • #13
                        It's absolutely ridiculous the number of fakes being passed off as authentic. People will do anything to make a dollar. It's a real shame. I say jail these guys that are doing it. There are a couple COA names that you can almost gaurantee are fake if it has their name on the paper. Sickening.

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                        • CMD
                          CMD commented
                          Editing a comment
                          Yeah, exactly. See the name, don't even look at the artifact. Don't have to. Every COA says "opinion" and "to the best of my knowledge". Guess that makes them immune from consequences.

                      • #14
                        The prices on some of them are what blows my mind!! Many of them are thousands of dollars. There's one available now for a mere $22,000? I wouldn't pay that much if it had providence from a museum going back to the original finder. I'm sure there's people out there that will but It would have to be pure gold and weigh 22 oz for me to consider it.

                        Von

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                        • #15
                          eBay can indeed be addicting. And fun. And a good place to see what things sell for. A great resource for researching the market. Every collectable known to man, lol. And, with artifacts, maybe the best thing a beginner can learn is to deduce who the phony authenticators are. Since eBay is a huge part of the Native American artifact market, not the only venue obviously, but a major one in the wireless age, it sees a lot of stuff accompanied by COA's, and when an authenticator goes over to the dark side, yet somehow succeeds, that authenticator attracts every seller wanting their fakes to get a nice looking COA. Apparently by the looks of it in recent years. It has definitely gotten worse over the years.

                          A buyer who can't determine authenticity themselves are better off buying something with no COA and a 30 day return policy for any reason. It can then be sent to someone you trust, or shown to people, etc. I'm amazed at times by the price paid for fake Clovis points, for instance. It's never what they would be worth if real, but amounts of money that is nonetheless nuts for a working man certainly. And most times bespeaks of someone ignorant of what they're buying. Nowhere is the old adage "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is" more applicable then to perfect Clovis points on eBay. They're everywhere.

                          It is to the point where you can bypass artifacts that have certificates from authenticators who simply have no credibility remaining. And you can even deduce that just by seeing the same authenticators papering perfect artifact after perfect artifact after perfect artifact. Even to a beginner, that should raise red flags. Then, when you see perfect after perfect from the same seller, with the same authenticator's COA, that should be enough to tip a buyer off to something being not right.
                          Rhode Island

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                          • Kyflintguy
                            Kyflintguy commented
                            Editing a comment
                            Good advice Charlie!
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