More eBay 'to avoid' items

ididjaustralia · **Posted:** Fri Nov 02, 2007 11:57 am

Take a look at these items and see if they fit into your idea of authentic items:

'Very old authentic didgeridoo from the NT'... what the? It's an Indonesian didj!

'Excellent Digiridoo with Aboriginal Art'... would you buy this for $2000?!?!

'Excellent Boomerang with Aboriginal Art'... tourist crap

It is important that Forum members contact the sellers letting them know your views. When will scams like this stop?!?

Guan

yidakimirr.com · **Posted:** Fri Nov 02, 2007 7:05 pm

I think that the problem lies in the fact that very few people are able to recognize an original instrument.
even the guy who was selling the first tube was in fact confident that was an original piece...
most of the times isn't scam ... just ignorance!

mahoran · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:37 am

Hi Guan, I suggest we create a section dedicated to disclosing these kind of guys to all IDIDJ member where they are invited to email the these dealers. gotta take action!!

M.

mahoran · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2007 5:24 am

After sending an email to dealer of the first link you have put , I got the following response from Him,
ATTENTION ALL EBAY USERS:

FRIDAY, 2 NOVEMBER 2007 - 4.24AM AEST (AUSTRALIAN EASTERN)

IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION BY ANOTHER EBAY USER (WHO SPECIALISES IN ABORIGINAL CULTURAL ARTIFACTS) THAT THIS ITEM MAY NOT BE AN AUTHENTIC ITEM AS STATED IN MY DESCRIPTION BUT RATHER A BALINEESE COPY. IT IS THEREFORE MY RESPONSIBILITY TO INFORM THE EBAY COMMUNITY OF THIS DEVELOPMENT.

THIS AUCTION WILL BE TERMINATED IN 24HRS, AND THIS ITEM WILL BE RELISTED AS A NON-GENUINE (COPY) DIDGERIDOO. I APPOLOGISE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE. ALL EXISTING BIDS WILL BE CONSIDERED NULL AND VOID.

REGARDS - BRUDDAH_T

so, it is worth taking action and responding,

IPlayDidgeridoo · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2007 8:00 am

Good work!

Søren Dahl

ididjaustralia · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2007 11:39 am

Hi Mattheus,

You're probably right, but the end result is the same in that the customer is deceived and the Aboriginal custodians lose out to the fakes and the reproductions. In cases like this, or in any situatiuon where a seller is not certain of an item's provenance/history/origins, a simple "I don't know what this is or where it comes from" would suffice, in which case it would be the buyer or potential buyer who would assess the quality and authenticity of the item before bidding/buying. In this specific instance, the seller makes some pretty wild "guesses" by claiming:

1) the didgeridoo is old, 30+ years old
2) that it is from Arnhem Land
3) that the artwork is Aboriginal

To me, making specific claims like this is no longer about being ignorant, but has an element of "let's see how much I can get for this if I dress up the description so that the instrument sounds as appealing as possible".

But it is good that the seller is willing to admit having made a mistake and has corrected it accordingly.

Guan

ididjaustralia · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2007 11:41 am

Hi Mahir,

Well, this is the dedicated section!

The 2nd seller is not so easy to work with, her email is: kathylamshed@hotmail.com

I would recommend everyone who is passionate about culture and authenticity to email the seller, in a nice way please.

Guan

mahoran wrote:

Hi Guan, I suggest we create a section dedicated to disclosing these kind of guys to all IDIDJ member where they are invited to email the these dealers. gotta take action!!

M.

mahoran · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2007 7:45 pm

Hi Guan,
What I meant by dedicated was really disclosing the emails so that we can send awful lot of emails, which is happening now. So thanks for the email.
I will send an email,
At least next time they might think twice before posting such an ad and in the long run we can reduce the number of such fake stuff at least on the net,

flyangler18 · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2007 11:57 pm

Pointing out inaccuracies and helping to educate is excellent PR, but must always be done with a little discretion. We can't assume that every Ebay seller is consciously and deliberately engaging in deception, though as Guan pointed out, the end result is the same- the customer is deceived and the Aboriginal custodians lose out to the fakes- but even the best intentions can backfire if not done sensitively and diplomatically.

mahoran · **Posted:** Sun Nov 04, 2007 12:53 am

Hi Jason,
I do not think that anybody here says that every dealer on Ebay does that purposely,
Actually this is trivial,
if the end result is the same as Guan pointed and you emphasized nicely, it is worth informing these guys that big brother is watching out. And we all are capable of being kind, polite and diplomatic enough to do that properly I believe.

Incidentally, it is normal that some of the attempts will back fire, so be it. I care about how much we can change in that I see that like the filled half of the glass, not the other half, which is empty,

M

Cheers

M

mahoran · **Posted:** Sun Nov 04, 2007 2:20 am

Hi again,
The dealer who put the 2nd and 3rd ads, Kathy says these are aboriginal products made by Kamiloroi Tribe of New South Wales. I pointed out that whether they have unbroken cultural connection to these artefacts is important as there are many Aboriginal all over Oz and suggested she could at least share this info with her customers,

However she seems bit pigheaded,

M

danielsaan · **Posted:** Sun Nov 04, 2007 3:50 am

mahoran wrote:

Incidentally, it is normal that some of the attempts will back fire,

Hahahahahah!!!!! Ain't that the truth!

Dan

teetoo · **Posted:** Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:49 pm

Hi there,

A friend asks advices on the francedidgeridoo forum about a strange didge on sale on ebay....
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... otohosting

what do you think about it? Here almost everybody thinks about a rip-off; but the graphics seems really artistic to some.

ididjaustralia · **Posted:** Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:15 pm

The didgeridoo looks nice enough. To quote from the eBay page, in order to correct some myths:

Quote:

WELL THIS IS IT THE MOST IMPORTANT IMPRESSIVE MESSAGE STICK DIDGERIDOO "YIDAKI" I BELIVE EVER MADE AND THEIR CAN NEVER BE ANOTHER LIKE THIS ONE .IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO SHOW ALL THE ART WORK THAT HAS BEEN PLACE ON THIS DIDJ AS THERE IS 3D VISIONS WITHIN THE WORK ,THIS WORK DEPICTS THE TOP END POSSIBLY ARNHEM LAND DOWN TO ALICE SPRINGS AND HAS AMUNDA THE CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN BAND ON IT AND THE SIGNATURES OF THE AMUNDA BAND FOUNDER AND SINGER PAUL AHCHEE /STANLEY/NIK THAT PLAYED THE DRUMS AND ALSO PLAYED THE DRUMS FOR NOCTURNAL AND I THINK THE OTHER IS JARRED AND NGARRAWIN AND MINE THE GUARDIANS ,LOOK UNDER AMUNDA IN GOOGLE ,THIS WORK OF ART DOSE RESEMBLE CLIFFORD POSSUM AND MAY WELL BE SOME OF HIS BEST WORK , I EXPECT THE AGE TO BE ROUGHLY 15YEARS IT IS TERMITE EATEN OUT AND HAS ALSO BEEN BURNT IN ON EITHER END THIS IS A TRULY TRADITIONAL DIDGERIDOO WITH HIDDEN MARKINGS THE MORE YOU LOOK AND STUDY THIS MASTERPIECE THE MORE YOU FIND WITHIN THE PICTURES AND DOTS ,LINES ,IT APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN DONE WITH A NOT WIRE OR SIMULAR WITH MARKINGS GOING IN ALL DIRECTIONS ,I AND EVERY ONE ELSE THAT HAVE SEEN THIS DIDGERIDOO HAVE SEEN NO BETTER THAN THIS AND IT PLAYS IN THREE DISTINCT TONES WITH A LOVELY DEEP DRONE AS THE MONTH END HAS THREE DIFFERENT LIP PLACEMENTS ,THIS WILL BE THE ONLY TIME I OFFER THIS DIDJERIDOO ,COLLECTORS ,THE DIDGERIDOO WILL BE SENT BY AIR EXPRESS OR YOU CAN PICK IT UP,IT HAS SOME SMALL MINOR SURFACE CRACKS BUT HAS BEEN TREATED WITH ANIMAL FAT AND WILL NOT CRACK THROUGH OR BRAKE ITIS A HEAVY VERY SOLID DIDJERIDOO , CAN BE FURTHER RETREATED IF NEED BE.ITS SIZE IS 131CM .THIS IS A TRUE MUSEUM PEACE AND I BELIVE SHOULD NOT LEAVE AUSTRALIA .CLICK ON ALL PICS TO SUPER SIZE AND STUDY THE ART ,THERE IS ONLY 2/3RDs OF THIS DIDJ ON DISPLAY CHEERS.

This isn't a message stick didgeridoo, whatever that might be. Message sticks are one thing, didgeridoos another, and there have never been any ethnological examples where the two have been combined to give a "message stick didgeridoo". Also, the term "yidaki" should not be used for this didgeridoo, as it clearly isn't from NE Arnhem Land, or anywhere in Arnhem Land for that matter. Is there another one like it? I don't know. Is it the most important and impressive didgeridoo ever made? Not in my opinion. It wouldn't count in my top 1000 didgeridoos but each to their own...

The artwork is NOT Clifford Possum's. It isn't a traditional instrument either, but there is some resemblance to the incised decorated didgeridoos from northern Western Australia around the Kimberley region. I don't think it is a museum piece and I certainly don't think it is that important that it shouldn't or couldn't leave Australia (some Aboriginal art and artifacts are protected by cultural heritage legislation, which means a permit is required to export from Australia). Is it worth $3000-6000? Again, not in my opinion, and I've never seen an instrument like this sell for that sort of money. They usually go for a couple of hundred dollars, certainly not into the thousands. But if anyone is going to spend $3000+ on this I won't persuade you not to if this is the sort of art you like. However, I can offer you something that IS museum-quality, that is old, fully-documented, that is aesthetically-pleasing, and that plays well... and you wouldn't have to spend that much!

Guan

AMYARKA · **Joined:** Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:03 pm **Posts:** 1

Well well so you think you know it all well mate it is clear to me as the onwer of this didj that you dont know jack shit, and all you tryed to do was to make a sale as this didj is true to form and i still have it and after looking at more of Clifford,s work and speaking to some elders it may well be CLIFFORD POSSUM,s own didj and i must thank you for discouraging others to buy my didj as i had it way to far under valued

iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

More eBay 'to avoid' items

Who is online