Dear List Members, It is interesting to note that 50% of the the top ten meteorites in price listed on eBay are not meteorites at all. It is a shame that these bogus offerings interfere with genuine pieces. It is obvious that they self appraised these pieces after listening to overinflated and unrealistic values given by the media. They think meteorites are lying around like an Easter egg hunt. After watching too much TV and barely hiking around the block, they feel that meteorites are everywhere, ready to be picked anytime and any place. Any pile of rocks is now seen as a strewn field, ready to plucked and profited from. It like snagging a sucker out of a babies mouth. All of sudden, they are experts and don't need laboratory confirmation. There is no way that any of these sellers would ruin their multimillion dollar dreams by following proper protocol that is available to anyone with a google search engine and who can read.
The only confirmed piece to show up after all of the recent press was qualified by UCLA before the IMCA was even contacted. And then, the finder only contacted the IMCA to locate the best place to cut it. The fortunate individual did his homework online before contacting anyone. I guess a 1 in 10,000 ratio makes the process worth while for some. I would rather put my money into a slot machine (One Armed Bandit) and pull the handle. The odds are much greater of actually winning something substantial than a real meteorite showing up. I am not pleased with all of the false offerings allowed on eBay. This is why many dealers do not bother with it anymore. Who wants to compete in a sea of fakes? With over 4,500 meteorite listings, first class material barely stands out and is why most sellers are protecting themselves with fixed prices. First, it was the China Syndrome of iron ore. Now it is the "Who wants to be the next millionaire clan as seen on TV?" Its feels like I have been bounced around like a baby with a nasty diaper, taking a lot of the enjoyment out of selling on eBay. Sorry, just needed to vent after being contacted yet again by another crazy. It seems to be almost a daily occurrence and a complete waste of time. This is what happens when you sell on eBay. Instead of inquiring about the genuine meteorites I have for sale, these extremely rude people use eBay to ask about a meteorite wrong they have found. Best Regards, Adam ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
