31 Dec 2010, 04:23
The "owner" is the real scammer here, but the seller is on the hot seat, too, for not verifying the item is actually in the posession of the consigner, especially on a higher-ticket item like this (and regardless of the "bailee" statement in the legal section, if they are claiming to hold the merchanside in question, that is an outright lie, since they cannot possibly be holding the watch pictured, since it is here, in my posession, where it has been for the last two years). This watch was held in a San Diego pawn shop for nearly a year, before I saw it, waiting for a buyer. A friend of the pawnshop owner brought it to the 2008 Del Mar NAWCC show, where I picked it up for $3200 (gold at under $900/ounce then). If I hadn't bought it, it had been decided to to scrap it (too much money sitting doing nothing, and the owner was running a business, not a museum; I had the opportunity to speak to him directly, so I'm not making-up the melting-down part). I'm guessing these pics were taken at the pawnshop, which raises a whole new set of questions. In any event, the pic showing the 338 serial number is clear and un-ambiguous, so somebody is trying to pull a fast one. I called the seller today...so far, no response. The relatively low positive feedback (95.2%) would still be a red flag on something like this (I mean, that would imply nearly 900 bad transactions, and this one is a real ticking time-bomb, ready to go off in somebody's face).
And, while it might be true that this is a bottom-end item in comparison to some (hey, the nicest P1 on earth wouldn't buy a $20,000 Rolex President; though some might doubt it, I know my place in the Universe), this sort of thing strays deep into criminal territory, and casts a shadow on all our reputations as collectors and sellers.
They're reaping what they've sewn by driving away the reputable small sellers, to be a Buy It Now Amazon for junk produced in China. 