I recently had an interaction with an eBay vendor that I think should
be shared with the group.

I ran across http://tinyurl.com/7cnzd which is your standard coin
shaped puerh disc. This is a cheap tourist puerh and not to be taken
seriously for anything more than a decoration. Anyway I noticed the
"Buy it now" price of $6.99 which is about the actual street price in
Kunming. Then I spotted the shipping rate of $59.00 which seemed
extremely high since the item location was listed as Minnesota. So
thinking it was a mistake I enquired about it.

Here is what I was told: "I am not mistaken. I assume that buyer
would look at the bottom line of the purchase. In another word, the
total price for the item would be 60+. It is a great deal! Everybody
knows that the tea is worth more than $6. I listed a high shipping
cost and a very low selling price only to reduce the Ebay fee."

This particular eBay vendor
(eBay ID - reeseyy/Immune Body Supplements - email:
)
strikes me as being very unscrupulous, clearly they have no problem
defrauding eBay so I can only assume that they would treat me with the
same code of ethics. Besides, $66 for this cheap quality tourist puerh
is tantamount to highway robbery.

If anyone is seriously considering this item you would be well advised
to look at http://tinyurl.com/9el8l who has the exact same item for
$23 plus shipping. Or if you have the stomach to negotiate directly
with the Chinese then check out http://tinyurl.com/7kfal who is
listing it for $7.50, a brief search will reveal many more Chinese
sellers who list it for well below $10.

Another installment in the "Buyer Beware" series.....

Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net

Appaerently he does this with all his auctions. He has a lot of 51 saris for
99 dollars, but shipping is 100 dollars. Not going to happen!
Marlene
"Mike Petro" > wrote in message
news
>I recently had an interaction with an eBay vendor that I think should
> be shared with the group.
>
> I ran across http://tinyurl.com/7cnzd which is your standard coin
> shaped puerh disc. This is a cheap tourist puerh and not to be taken
> seriously for anything more than a decoration. Anyway I noticed the
> "Buy it now" price of $6.99 which is about the actual street price in
> Kunming. Then I spotted the shipping rate of $59.00 which seemed
> extremely high since the item location was listed as Minnesota. So
> thinking it was a mistake I enquired about it.
>
> Here is what I was told: "I am not mistaken. I assume that buyer
> would look at the bottom line of the purchase. In another word, the
> total price for the item would be 60+. It is a great deal! Everybody
> knows that the tea is worth more than $6. I listed a high shipping
> cost and a very low selling price only to reduce the Ebay fee."
>
> This particular eBay vendor
> (eBay ID - reeseyy/Immune Body Supplements - email:
> )
> strikes me as being very unscrupulous, clearly they have no problem
> defrauding eBay so I can only assume that they would treat me with the
> same code of ethics. Besides, $66 for this cheap quality tourist puerh
> is tantamount to highway robbery.
>
> If anyone is seriously considering this item you would be well advised
> to look at http://tinyurl.com/9el8l who has the exact same item for
> $23 plus shipping. Or if you have the stomach to negotiate directly
> with the Chinese then check out http://tinyurl.com/7kfal who is
> listing it for $7.50, a brief search will reveal many more Chinese
> sellers who list it for well below $10.
>
> Another installment in the "Buyer Beware" series.....
>
> Mike Petro
> http://www.pu-erh.net

Mike 11/6/05


> I recently had an interaction with an eBay vendor that I think should
> be shared with the group.

snip snip snip snippity snip snip

Good lookin' out, Mike!
Michael

>I recently had an interaction with an eBay vendor that I think should
>be shared with the group.

I want to add that if you can find out where exactly the buyer gets
their tea from, it's much better. If they get it anywhere else other
than Guangzhou, Fangcun or directly from factories in Yunnan, be
careful. The only place to get old stuff is from collectors, and you
won't find them on ebay.

I might be interested if it was something harder to get and a little
more interesting. There is another pu'er dealer on Ebay who switched
to some $1/BuyItNow plus shipping. I inquired about combined shipping
and was told NO. I'll just wait for renormalized BuyItNow and combined
shipping. I can't believe what TaoBao is charging for 2003 cooked
Xiaguan beeng and the websites for 2000 uncooked Xiaguan tuocha. I
just broke open a 5 x 250g zhuan package of 2004 cooked Xiaguan also
ridiculously priced on TaoBao which is $8 in my Chinatown. The back
had the pimple/peg pattern with no nylon press pattern making it my
first Iron Cake. The shipping from MN is still a better deal than
paying for geriatric microbes from China. You admitted you don't
police the pricing of your sponsor supported links erh public service
announcement on where to buy. There is always a fool willing to part
with his money. My local Cost Plus is selling 2.5lb black tea bricks
in wooden display boxes for $12. I stocked up.

Jim

Mike Petro wrote:
....
> Another installment in the "Buyer Beware" series.....
>
> Mike Petro

Space Cowboy wrote:

> You admitted you don't
> police the pricing of your sponsor supported links erh public service
> announcement on where to buy.

This slanderous comment is nothing more than a personal vendetta of
his. Normally I don't see his garbage but I used Google today which
doesn't support a killfile.

Just to set the record straight:
www.pu-erh.net accepts no sponsorship, advertising, donations, or any
other form of compensation. I do not sell Puerh or anything else on my
site. All Internet fees are paid for by me out of simple passion for
the genre. Any opinions offered on where to buy are in response to
someone who specifically asked and are my own honest opinions. On my
site I have employed a 4-star grading system where I grade vendors
based on the quality of the information provided by their site. I do
not grade the quality of any tea offerings or their prices. I simply
grade the completeness of the information that they provide. Pricing is
closely tied to quality, how much hand-holding you need, and what the
market will bear. I simply don't buy much puerh from US vendors so,
not having tried their offerings, I cant comment on a specific Vendor's
quality. What I do provide is straight forward honest information about
Puerh and Consumer Reports style grading of major vendors catering to
the US puerh market.


Mike Petro
Webmaster
www.pu-erh.net

If this guy did any more lying he'd need an asbestos suit and his own
fire extinguisher. The slander comes from his mouth. Here is a
previous quote from him.

"Even on my website I only comment on authenticityof the information
and tea, not pricing."

He'll call out someone on Ebay but not one of his recommended
commercial shopping cart sites. So feel free to shop the links on his
website because no matter the markup it is 'authentic' which applies in
this case to the Ebay vendor because nothing was misreprsented. If you
complain about the shipping cost then that is true for any Chinese
vendor who'll charge you more for the first kg and that $60 shipping
charge will look trivial if you order one beeng at a time. He didn't
tell you that when he said "I simply don't buy much puerh from US
vendors". In this case you order from Ebay and get the item this week.
You order from China and wait a month. I've got another late order
from China but that is the way it goes.

Jim

http://127.0.0.1/I.don't.plagiarize.because.I.don't.have.too/

Mike Petro wrote:
> Space Cowboy wrote:
>
> > You admitted you don't
> > police the pricing of your sponsor supported links erh public service
> > announcement on where to buy.
>
> This slanderous comment is nothing more than a personal vendetta of
> his. Normally I don't see his garbage but I used Google today which
> doesn't support a killfile.

> On my site I have employed a 4-star grading system where I grade vendors
> based on the quality of the information provided by their site

> Mike Petro

Huh?
"Space Cowboy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> If this guy did any more lying he'd need an asbestos suit and his own
> fire extinguisher. The slander comes from his mouth. Here is a
> previous quote from him.
>
> "Even on my website I only comment on authenticityof the information
> and tea, not pricing."
>
> He'll call out someone on Ebay but not one of his recommended
> commercial shopping cart sites. So feel free to shop the links on his
> website because no matter the markup it is 'authentic' which applies in
> this case to the Ebay vendor because nothing was misreprsented. If you
> complain about the shipping cost then that is true for any Chinese
> vendor who'll charge you more for the first kg and that $60 shipping
> charge will look trivial if you order one beeng at a time. He didn't
> tell you that when he said "I simply don't buy much puerh from US
> vendors". In this case you order from Ebay and get the item this week.
> You order from China and wait a month. I've got another late order
> from China but that is the way it goes.
>
> Jim
>
> http://127.0.0.1/I.don't.plagiarize.because.I.don't.have.too/
>
> Mike Petro wrote:
>> Space Cowboy wrote:
>>
>> > You admitted you don't
>> > police the pricing of your sponsor supported links erh public service
>> > announcement on where to buy.
>>
>> This slanderous comment is nothing more than a personal vendetta of
>> his. Normally I don't see his garbage but I used Google today which
>> doesn't support a killfile.
>
>> On my site I have employed a 4-star grading system where I grade vendors
>> based on the quality of the information provided by their site
>
>> Mike Petro
>

In article >,
"Marlene Wood" > wrote:



it's just the space cadet again, vomiting his bile all over
the place. it's all smoke and mirrors from him - he can
be safely ignored.

Space Cadet wrote:
> If this guy ....

The ravings of a Troll

Hypocrite.

Jim

Mike Petro wrote:
> Space Cadet wrote:
> > If this guy ....
>
> The ravings of a Troll

Hypocrite.

Jim

Mike Petro wrote:
> Space Cadet wrote:
> > If this guy ....
>
> The ravings of a Troll

What's his untruth here, I dont get it? You seem angry
beyond normality, and irrazionale to me! You should be angry
with the other guy.

N~
..

On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 22:44:14 GMT, Nino wrote:

> What's his untruth here, I dont get it? You seem angry
> beyond normality, and irrazionale to me! You should be angry
> with the other guy.
>
> N~
> .

It's just pixel envy.

--
Derek

"Failure is not the only punishment for laziness; there is also the
success of others." -- Jules Renard

Well, there were 8 messages but only one came through. Pretty gross,
but if that's all the sex he's watched for the last eight years, he's
practically a virgin. Toci
Nino wrote:
> What's his untruth here, I dont get it? You seem angry
> beyond normality, and irrazionale to me! You should be angry
> with the other guy.
>
> N~
> .

On 7 Nov 2005 10:42:14 -0800, Space Cowboy wrote:

> If this guy did any more lying he'd need an asbestos suit and his own
> fire extinguisher. The slander comes from his mouth. Here is a
> previous quote from him.
>
> "Even on my website I only comment on authenticityof the information
> and tea, not pricing."
>
> He'll call out someone on Ebay but not one of his recommended
> commercial shopping cart sites. So feel free to shop the links on his
> website because no matter the markup it is 'authentic' which applies in
> this case to the Ebay vendor because nothing was misreprsented. If you
> complain about the shipping cost then that is true for any Chinese
> vendor who'll charge you more for the first kg and that $60 shipping
> charge will look trivial if you order one beeng at a time. He didn't
> tell you that when he said "I simply don't buy much puerh from US
> vendors". In this case you order from Ebay and get the item this week.
> You order from China and wait a month. I've got another late order
> from China but that is the way it goes.

Obfuscate much, Jim?

How does any of the above drivel prove your accusation that Mike takes
money from vendors for "sponsored links"? Oh, that's right. It
doesn't.

Is your opinion of the rest of us really so low as to think that we'd
get lost in your stream of consciousness and not be able to see that
you've done nothing to support your original accusations?

--
Derek

It's difficult to comprehend how insane some people can be.
Especially when you're insane.

I agree that selling low and charging high shipping to get around Ebay
charges is unscrupulous.
It is interesting that this same seller sold another puerh of the same size
for $15.50. (Item# 4405606228) Shipping was calculated according to zip
code. For me the shipping would have been $20.43 by UPS.
If the current auction works will the seller then charge even more shipping
next time?
Thanks for pointing this out.
Marilyn
"Mike Petro" > wrote in message
news
>I recently had an interaction with an eBay vendor that I think should
> be shared with the group.
>
> I ran across http://tinyurl.com/7cnzd which is your standard coin
> shaped puerh disc. This is a cheap tourist puerh and not to be taken
> seriously for anything more than a decoration. Anyway I noticed the
> "Buy it now" price of $6.99 which is about the actual street price in
> Kunming. Then I spotted the shipping rate of $59.00 which seemed
> extremely high since the item location was listed as Minnesota. So
> thinking it was a mistake I enquired about it.
>
> Here is what I was told: "I am not mistaken. I assume that buyer
> would look at the bottom line of the purchase. In another word, the
> total price for the item would be 60+. It is a great deal! Everybody
> knows that the tea is worth more than $6. I listed a high shipping
> cost and a very low selling price only to reduce the Ebay fee."
>
> This particular eBay vendor
> (eBay ID - reeseyy/Immune Body Supplements - email:
> )
> strikes me as being very unscrupulous, clearly they have no problem
> defrauding eBay so I can only assume that they would treat me with the
> same code of ethics. Besides, $66 for this cheap quality tourist puerh
> is tantamount to highway robbery.
>
> If anyone is seriously considering this item you would be well advised
> to look at http://tinyurl.com/9el8l who has the exact same item for
> $23 plus shipping. Or if you have the stomach to negotiate directly
> with the Chinese then check out http://tinyurl.com/7kfal who is
> listing it for $7.50, a brief search will reveal many more Chinese
> sellers who list it for well below $10.
>
> Another installment in the "Buyer Beware" series.....
>
> Mike Petro
> http://www.pu-erh.net

>I ran across http://tinyurl.com/7cnzd which is your standard coin
>shaped puerh disc. ........


BTW, it was pointed out in another group that this eBay seller also
stole her description verbatim from the late great "Tea Man".

http://www.teatalk.com/china/puerh.htm


Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net

On Sun, 06 Nov 2005 17:17:05 -0500, Mike Petro wrote:

> I recently had an interaction with an eBay vendor that I think should
> be shared with the group.

Interesting, ebay just notified me that the auction was soon to end.
When did the "seller" change his purchase price to reflect his
previous shipping costs?

--
Derek

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it
today." -- Abraham Lincoln

Derek wrote:
> On Sun, 06 Nov 2005 17:17:05 -0500, Mike Petro wrote:
>
> > I recently had an interaction with an eBay vendor that I think should
> > be shared with the group.
>
> Interesting, ebay just notified me that the auction was soon to end.
> When did the "seller" change his purchase price to reflect his
> previous shipping costs?
>
> --
> Derek

The Seller changed the shipping terms and several other things on
Tuesday after several rounds of email with me. In the course of the
email exchange they admitted that they were attempting to defraud aBay
with their shipping terms. They also admitted selling this item
several times for less than half of the current asking price until they
"found out what it was worth". Hehe they even threatened to report me
to eBay for harrassing them, I asked them to please do so.

BTW it was also discovered on another group that they copied their
description almost word for word from the late great "Tea Man's"
website. http://www.teatalk.com/china/puerh.htm

Mike