"Rare" Items Up for Auction, Ignorance or a Ruse : eBay Guides

As we all know when you do a search for anything, especially antiques or collectibles, eBay listing are at the top of the search results list (unless you type in -ebay after the item you are searching for.)

I sometimes will go ahead and look at the eBay items to see what the lister has to say or look to see if there are any bids on the item. One thing that I am seeing more of is the use of the term "RARE" on many antique and collectible listings.

I have been in this business for many years and if I have learned anything at all it is that when it comes to items manufacturered from about the 1950's on.... there is no such thing as "RARE." There are hard to find items, there are items in excellent in the box condition but from this time period on, items were mass produced and therefore not rare.

When you get into the book category, art or ephemera (paper items) yes, you will find rare pieces. Some books saw only a run of a thousand or less, original art pieces can be one-of-a-kind or limited signed prints. Ephemeral items were often throw away pieces such as bank checks, bills and even photographs so I can see someone using the term "rare" for these items.

Yet when you start using the term on sculptures made by a company in the 1970's that is still in operation one of two things is happening; 1) The seller has not done their research and this is usually the case or 2) The seller things that we are all a bunch of dupes that will fall for this item based on the usage of the word "RARE."

To me usage of this word in a title or description is a red-flag that the seller has no clue and move on to the next listing or do another search and use the -ebay to eliminate ebay listings and you will find several items that you are searching for.

Maybe with all the other restrictions eBay has imposed over the recent years the use of the word "RARE" needs to be added to the list.

This is just another instance where the buyer needs to educate themselves on the items they are looking to collect or purchase.

This is more a pet peeve than an educational piece. Thanks for reading.