Dolls - how to detect online fraud in auctions, tips

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Dolls - how to detect misrepresentations or fraud auction, tips.

What are the signs that set off bells that a doll online auction listing is not quite right for you? This was the question we posted to the doll folks on a doll board. Below are some of their tips, thoughts - things that make them think twice when buying in a online auction. Maybe these tips will help you to have a wonderful, safe experience buying dolls at auction.

Auction tools - links - do your research, to protect yourself

Bidfraud.com	Goofbay.com
Scams on Ebay	Sellers to Watch Tiffany Fakes
Terapeak - Free Ebay research	Toolhaus.org

The esteemed Mr. H. shares - Each and every thing the seller sells is in pristine condition.

Vague wording, but makes it sound like everything's original and mint.

Private bidding.

The divine Miss W. shares these tips - Sometimes I come across incorrect descriptions that I chalk up to the seller's inexperience. I don't mind those, and tend to view the auctions with interest and bid without real concern. As long as I know what I'm bidding on in those situations, I feel comfortable.

Auctions I do avoid:

Something too good to be true -- whether in the description or the pictures.

Something perfect -- an old doll that doesn't look it -- unless I know the provenance.

Something that doesn't look right -- something (perhaps subtle) that, based on my experience, my reading, doesn't quite mesh.

Something being sold by a seller whose feedback suggests there have been problems in the past.

The Divine Miss M. shares these tips -"I AM SELLING THIS DOLL FOR SOMEBODY ELSE"

"I AM NOT A DOLL EXPERT"

Hard plastic dolls from somebody who sells dolls, but the auction description has NO COMMENT about odor. Trust me, it's probably a STINKER! For those who don't know, dolls with hard plastic disease give off a horrible odor of vomit or sour milk as some of the materials in the hard plastic break down.

If it doesn't say from a non-smoking home it's probably NOT.

ABOVE ALL KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BUYING!

IF you think a doll may have been re-wigged, it probably has been.

A doll with PERFECT hair, otherwise in played with condition ... has been re-wigged.

Perfect hair, usually means a perfect doll.

Children PLAYED with their dolls, and if something comes up on Ebay that is in unplayed with condition, all the collectors will be bidding on it. So if you see a doll going for a steal, and it's describes as PRISTINE, or RARE....ad nauseam.....it's USUALLY a HINKY AUCTION! (OK, I mean there ARE deals--but they are the exception and those are best left to me...grin)

NEVER, NEVER, EVER BUY from a person with blocked feedback, and I always suspect shilling if the Seller makes the Bidder's names PRIVATE. Shilling is really really easy to detect too. You might see multiple HIGH bids on something that is not ultra fabulous. Most people these days bid small initially, or bid what they only at the end of an auction. Again, generally, only truly fabulous dolls get multiple early HIGH bids.

The divine Miss D. shares these tips - Avoid buying dolls from sellers who are unwilling to remove antique clothing to check the shoulder plate condition of bisque, parian or china heads.

Avoid bidding on rare expensive dolls offered for sale by zero or low feedback sellers.

Avoid buying bisque dolls with sleep eyes from sellers who are unwilling to pack by stuffing the heads.

Avoid sellers with an unsavory feedback history and check for a pattern of misbehavior such as frequent complaints about poor packing, slow shipping, item not as described. . . use http://toolhaus.org.

Avoid sellers who won't answer basic questions.

The Divine Miss S. shares this - I agree with all the above. Not answering emails is a HUGE red flag.

The Divine Miss L. shares this - I agree with everything said above, I would add a few other things, such as poor or fuzzy photos, no close up of the face or markings.

No photos of inside of head if it is an expensive doll with bisque head. Multiple photos of the costume but none of the doll body. Photos so small or taken at such a distance that you cannot see what you are buying. Sellers what are not well informed about dolls, but describe every doll as being a Jumeau or a Bru and of course misspell the names of the company or the type of doll.

I am sure I will think of a few more things as soon as I post this.

The Divine Miss T. shares these tips - 'm new with doll collecting.

I don't like it when there is one picture of the doll with a dress on! I want to see her nekkid! My gosh, a lot of times the dress isn't much to look at anyway, I want to see all of the doll. Are sellers just trying to hide things? Makes me curious.

The Divine Miss G. shares these tips - Private feedback - Recent eBay rule changes now do hide bidder ID's, once selling price reaches $200. It's to prevent scams by unsavory characters who send out fake Second Chance Offers. The seller can see the bidders user ID's, just not the general public like we used to be able to do on active auctions. That leaves it up to a savvy buyer to take the time to be knowledgeable about how to check for shill bidding.

There are some categories where sellers do set up their listings to hide the bidders User ID's to protect their privacy. ie: pink leather thongs with a zipper in the crotch.

The Divine Miss M. shares - Yes, in order to make your feedback private, you block it from view....it's something the Seller DOES....

Your right about a "GOOD" reason for blocking the Bidders names.....LOL. I can see how on some auctions you might want to block a Seller's name, but why block doll bidders on ALL your auctions?

The divine Miss P. shares these tips - Some good tips here, but everybody has a different criteria. Personally, I rather like private auctions. I'd much rather keep "my business" as MY BUSINESS. And if I ever start selling, I have some 60 plus year old dolls that have never been undressed, and I won't be the first one to do so even if somebody wants a photo of the doll naked.

Old ribbons become fragile, old oilcloth shoes dry out and are easily torn, etc. I just wouldn't do it. I do think that some categories of dolls are more prone to deception than others. For example, I don't know "Barbie's", and would never buy one on line because of that.

These are great tips everyone. Fraud & deception are very difficult to detect - for a reason, lol. Even experienced collectors & yikes dealers too - can be fooled. If you can examine the doll in person - well you can see things that you are not told - but in an online auction - you are at the mercy of:

a) photo (s)
b) the sellers description

Sometimes all you can do is use your intuition & instinct - to determine something "is not quite right". If you don't have a lot of experience in dolls or any collectable for that matter - well, you won't have these to fall back on to help.

It drives me a bit crazy when a seller states "all original" - but doesn't note if tags in the clothing are present - on dolls - who are well known for having tagged their clothes. If tags aren't present - how did the seller determine it's original to the doll?? If they found it in a book - which is the only way I can think of - then mention it, maybe I have the book & can look it up too. . . . and what about shoes, socks & undies - they are usually unmarked - how can anyone determine they are original - if the doll is out of it's box.

reproductions hate them or love them?? Whether it is by a factory or an artist - it needs to be clearly disclosed!!!!

The esteemed Mr. H. shares - When it states 'tagged outfit' (this is mostly for Barbie). It's a shame when you have to ask if it's tagged REPRODUCTION or BARBIE COLLECTIBLES and not with a vintage tag. Or even tag-switching or sewing a tag into a home made outfit.

If all a seller sells is dolls and acts dumb about what they sell. They know, all right.

The divine Miss L. shares - My personal rule is if I don't think something is quite right, or am uncomfortable with any aspect of the auction. I just don't bid. I know some auctions can be tempting, and I sometimes wonder if I am letting a great deal or sleeper get away.

But after doing Ebay for several years, I know that there will always be another doll coming down the pike tomorrow, or next week or next month. And that one may even be better.

The divine Miss W. shares these tips- Alarm bells go off when an item from a doll outfit (such as jewelry because it is easier to copy and pass on) that is "rare" keeps coming up for auction again and again by the same seller or sellers.

Sellers that seem to have an inordinate amount of mint dolls always gets my cranium steaming in puzzlement.
But like others here have said instinct is the biggest reason. So the more you research and study the type of dolls you collect or want to collect, the more you become adept at spotting misrepresentation in auctions

The Divine Miss G. shares this - I have wondered about auctions with high starting bids that are only going to run for a day or two or three. Why would someone do that? I can't think of a good reason so I pass them by.

The Divine Miss J. shares this - I think people should be aware that there are an awful lot of "fixed up" (non-original) dolls out there. Beware of the fixed up, ie: perfect face paint, replaced eyes and limbs...I have lately seen many old compos with freshly painted hair and lips. Descriptions should state whether the doll has been restored, repainted, re-limbed, even if it wasn't done by the seller! I echo the statement that old dolls were played with and should show signs of age.

With the number of antique and vintage dolls available on the Ebay site, it should be required that sellers list either original or restored condition, to the extent that the seller has knowledge of.

The Divine Miss N. shares this - When the pictures don't match the description.
"Hair in original set" - No it isn't
"Pristine original outfit" - No it isn't
Pictures can be doctored but many don't even bother doing that. They just hope you will read the carefully worded, glowing description and believe it.

Dolls - how to detect misrepresentations or fraud auction, tips.

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