This is our running thread on Suspicious RLalique Online Auctions brought to our attention by readers of RLalique.com. This is THE PLACE to post suspicious online listings by leaving a comment to this post. This thread is for items that are NOT RLalique, and we include in this thread online RLalique auctions where there is no actual RLalique item (the stolen photo auctions). We started this thread in response to reader requests. To submit a suspicious item, or comment about an item already listed in this thread, leave your comment here. We welcome comments on items that have already been posted here, concerning all the various subjects surrounding a fake listing; from the actual identify of the item, to any patterns of deception or things that can be learned from a specific listing. If an item is a real RLalique item, and you have concerns about condition or quality, this is not the place to comment. For help with real RLalique items, please check out our RLalique Consulting Services Section. Two final notes: First, you have to register to comment, by clicking the register link on the sidebar of any blog page. Your name and email address (the two main things to register) do not appear in your comments when they are published. By taking the time to identify fake RLalique appearing in online auctions, and sharing your knowledge with the greater RLalique community, you help to strengthen the entire RLalique collecting field, and you may save a fellow enthusiast from a big headache. Finally, one common sense observation from our standpoint. Not all sellers of a suspicious item are bad people. For example, someone buys an item at an estate sale or antique shop, thinking it’s a great RLalique bargain, then goes home and lists it in an online auction, not knowing the facts. That’s a different story than the seller that adds an RLalique signature to a non RLalique piece to try and increase the value, or that knowingly passes along a fake. It’s often hard or impossible to know or guess at the truth of each circumstance. What matters most is the fact of the item; whether it’s RLalique or not, and for you as a collector to be as educated as possible to know the difference between the good, the bad, and the ugly. We look forward to your contributions.
Who would have thought that several different bidders, including one rumored to be a regular buyer and seller of R Lalique items, would compete to run Ebay Item 110319076762 up to $713.47, PLUS the cost to ship from Paraguay? Talk about being “thrown for a loupe”! Seriously, we apparently have to do a better job of getting out the word that there is a place to go for information that may be helpful to purchasers of RLalique! This item was the subject of some comment in the Suspicious Online Auction Thread, and it was (and is) also listed in the RLalique Police Section. Tragic.
