Buyer Beware!!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 Feb 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Ruby7	01 Feb 2004
I was looking through the tarot section on Ebay (American site) and saw the Celtic Tarot set by Courtney Davis being advertised as rare with a starting bid of $200.00 U.S.!!! I checked on Amazon.ca just to make sure and it is still in print and selling for $38.00 CANADIAN. I e-mailed the seller (politely) to let them know. Hey, you never know, maybe the seller doesn't know any better, but at least we do. Ruby7

yve	01 Feb 2004
Not to minimize the obvious ripoff, but at least the starting bid wasn't $2.00 with shipping and handling $200!....There have been e-bay sellers overinflating the shipping and handling price and that is very sneaky!

Lady Eclipse	01 Feb 2004
Hi, I'm an eBay junkie, BIG TIME, and the warnings given are very important as well as timely. My best advice to anyone seeking to purchase tarot via eBay is to KNOW YOUR TAROT before bidding/buying and NEVER take another seller's word that a deck is rare or OOP (out of print) until you can verify through other reputable sources that it is indeed what the seller claims. Tarot Garden is a good place to start to determine if a deck really is rare or OOP. So is Amazon. Ebay is a great place to get bargains but you have to use common sense and know what you're looking for and what you'd expect to pay for it if you purchased it elsewhere. There are a lot of reputable sellers but there are also con artists too, who are all too willing to take advantage of someone's lack of knowledge. Joy to you, Maralee

inanna_tarot	01 Feb 2004
thats the really good thing about the internet is that if you come across what seems a bargin, you can open amazon, tarot garden inner bookshop etc etc and check out if it really is a good deal. If i'm bidding on something from ebay, i work out how much its going to cost me new from amazon, so thats my bidding limit is not to exceed the new price. There are some people out there who will try and rip you off, but most of them are fairly honest! All hail the internet!! Sezo x

Ruby7	01 Feb 2004
Quite right Lady Eclipse. I have learned the same thing as you---to always investigate any claim of rarity etc. I have to add that I have made a few e-Bay purchases and been very happy with every purchase that I have made, but i have never bid without fully investigating what I am bidding on. Most E-Bayers seem to be honest and will answer questions truthfully. Ruby7

HudsonGray	01 Feb 2004
Ahh, like that Moroccan Fez tarot that was up for $80 when you can still pick the thing up for $18. Yeah. It might be out of print, but some stores still carry supplies of it. And it certainly isn't 'rare'.

Gerbear	01 Feb 2004
The auction was for the original printing of the deck, I think it was 1990. This version is harder to find, than the reprint of 2003, but certainly not worth the price asked. At present, there are several buyers on ebay who are just amassing decks. One woman acquired 1100 different decks in six months, with quite a few coming from ebay. She seems to think that if it's rare it hers. The seller in question does have a few good rare decks, but since this person has come on the scene, he and other sellers have raised their prices and hyperbole to draw the money in. I've watch her go after and win decks that happened to go by more than one name, never the wiser. The new buyers are getting a little more selective in their buying and seem to be doing some (Gasp) research! So perhaps the wheel will turn and things will settle back to near normal soon.

Ruby7	01 Feb 2004
The seller did reply to my e-mail in a very courteous manner and it seems that he has been misled by "booksellers" that he checked with who didn't know that the deck is back in print. He said that he is looking into this further, Ruby7

Phoenyx*	01 Feb 2004
Thank you for the warning Ruby :)

The Buyer Beware!! thread was originally posted on 01 Feb 2004 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.