nl37

Once again, most of the news is Ebay and the ongoing problems we all face as

collectors. Our Kentucky seller has been decorating once again, this time the Clover Bud water/milk pitcher doctored in gold trim - obviously our efforts are paying off as the piece only brought $202. BUT, once again it is a long time Shawnee collector who purchased it, someone who should be well aware of this seller's shenanigans - the saddest part of this is down the road when this collector sells the items, no one will be the wiser that it came from questionable sources and is not genuine vintage gold decorated.......... here is a link to the auction.

Another situation on Ebay that many of you may have noticed is a seller of

genuine quality gold decorated vintage Shawnee pieces, BUT the seller is playing games with the auction listings - several particular auctions are for a Smiley yellow bib cookie jar with bee on it's head, a gold decorated Smiley pig with roses decals, a gold Granny Ann teapot and several Smiley gold/decaled range salt and pepper shakers. The behind the scenes action in these auctions is deplorable - first the Smiley with the bee was bought and PAID for by a collector, but relisted after payment was received, with the seller telling the buyers he wanted a higher price AND NOT REFUNDING THE BUYERS MONEY... On top of all this, the same seller set up a new bidder ID and proceeded to run the auction up on his own item - it was reported to Ebay and they censored him for shill bidding, BUT GET THIS, Ebay's safety harbor for our trust and safety, their policy is to only allow such a seller to list items with Buy It Now prices - how absurd. What they are telling all of us is their listing and final value fees mean more than protecting the buyer from an unethical seller. The seller in this case had the buyer's bid canceled. I too had bids canceled on this seller's other auctions, prompting me to contact Doug and Bill Cobb regarding the relisting and manipulating of the auction prices.

The following is a courtesy notice from eBay Trust & Safety regarding:

Item Number - 320136687090

Item Title - SHAWNEE GRANNY ANN TEA POT MINT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our records show that you bid on this listing. We have removed the listing

from eBay because it violated eBay policy. You are not required to complete

the transaction. The seller is free to relist the item in accordance with eBay's online policies. If the seller relists the item, you are free to bid on that item.

For more information on eBay policies please visit:

http://www.ebay.com/help/policies/hub.html

Bill Cobb's response via an agent of his is below-

Thank you for writing Bill in regard to a member keeps on ending their

auctions and relisting them for a higher price. My name is Hanson and

Bill asked me to address your concerns on his behalf.

I would like to thank you for your report of the Reserve Fee Violation

policy. We're concerned about violations on eBay, and we've thoroughly

investigated your report regarding "willsellitall4u". Please be assured

that we've taken appropriate action in accordance with our site policies. Our actions may include issuing a warning, temporary suspension, indefinite suspension, or terminating the membership.

Out of concern for the privacy of all members, we can't discuss the

results of our investigation of a member's account with another member.

I hope that this assures you that your account information will likewise

remain private.

If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reply to this email and let us know.

Sincerely,

Hanson on behalf of Bill Cobb

President

eBay North America

Original Message Follows:

-------------------------

eBay: SHAWNEE SMILEY COOKIE JAR with BEE ON HEAD VERY RARE!!

(item 320136608602 end time Jul-10-07 14:55:02 PDT)_

Doug,

Check out this sellers completed listings - they keep listing a rare decal

Smiley range set - have closed it twice due to listing error and then relisted

it at higher price each time - same thing with this jar - has not been relisted yet - may have been sold offline - they did the same thing with a teapot -

how does Ebay keep allowing this kind of abuse. They are manipulating

the bidding - they canceled my bid on the first auction of the range shakers. I am forwarding a copy of this to Ebay as they are abusing the auction format.

Just today (7-28-07) this seller once again listed the rare decaled range shakers for the FOURTH TIME - my bid of $135 was canceled - the same day it was relisted for a starting price of $145, no bids, relisted again with a buy it now of $245 and once again it is relisted. Obviously this seller is not happy with the prices he is getting, does not want to protect the items with the hefty reserve price protection. He also listed a Smiley with rose decal jar with minor base damage - sold it for over $300, the money was sent yet he relisted it again and sent the buyer back her money - relisted it again and got barely over a hundred dollars. As collectors we need to watch our for sellers like this and patterns. I have to admit I had not been paying as much attention as I should to who the seller is when I am bidding on auctions, had not even realized it was the same seller on a couple of items I bid on. We need to notify Ebay we do not agree with the policy of letting sellers like this remain on the web site even in limited capacity - this seller is also guilty of not honoring sales, mail fraud if money is accepted and the item not delivered - the buyers in this matter have contacted an attorney and plan to pursue the matter. In future instances, be aware, the State Atty Generals have authority over cases like this and most will pursue fraud such as this. Incidents like this ruin a fun hobby. I feel sorry for the novice collector trying to build a collection when people like this are online and duping buyers.

Pottery Festival in Zanesville:

The reports I have heard weren't very positive about this year's pottery

festival - evidently there was some confusion about scheduling events for both second and third week. The event was somewhat disorganized and none of the collectors I spoke with found anything for their collections. The general consensus was the event is waning and participation is way down. Sad as this was such a tremendous gathering years ago with fantastic pieces of pottery being discovered. I don't collect Roseville or Weller but always enjoyed seeing the displays at the Holiday Inn where both collectors and dealers would set up items for sale in their rooms. In turn, often they would display pieces they had added to their own collection. Anyone else have anything to add if they attended???

I had a rather distressing experience with the USPS this past couple of

weeks. As many of you are aware, rates have increased considerably and the post office also changed it size restrictions with most cookie jars being considered over sized now and much more expensive. I had a Smiley with hair shipped to me - the sender boxed the lid and base separately, but shipped them together with delivery confirmation - unfortunately the zip code numbers were transposed which routed the packages to Mayville, ND instead of Arizona - the base arrived within two days BUT the other box with the lid was nowhere to be found - we had checked with all three post offices involved and some of the information we received along the way was quite disturbing and lessened my confidence in the post office a lot......... We were told that all sorting is done by machine and only by zip code, much of the routing of packages is done by UPS and DHL - often packages are never sorted or handled by a person from the time they are checked in to the post office until the delivery carrier receives it. They gave us very little hope of the piece arriving - evidently return addresses are often never considered nor are items returned to the sender. I am amazed that more packages are not lost after all the details we were given. Very scary - the only mail that is tracked is registered mail - delivery confirmation does not track any package and only applies when a package is actually received by the addressee. I was so relieved when today the package DID arrive - well over two weeks later than the first - but I still have much less confidence in the postal service after going through this. To my knowledge I have only not received one package and it has been many months - the sender never received it back either - the post office shows it never left Ohio but they have no idea where it is! At any rate, Harry is home safe and sound - here is a picture of him.