[QUOTE
I understand the desire to have a sword, and one wants one NOW. I've been there I've done that. My advice for whatever it is worth is to save your money and do some research. If one doesn't know the difference between Bugei's offerings and a 25 dollar sword more research is required.
This is probably coming off as a slap at you, but it is not intended as such, but rather as some advice to keep you from making the mistakes I have made.
Free lunch? It doesn't exist...[/QUOTE]
No, Triton, it doesn't come off as a slap...it comes off as a real answer. But, your first post didn't. Your first post appeared to be posted not because you were "just curious" ,but designed to make me out to be just another cheap, naive, dumbass, asking the same old, "tired drum" question. I'm none of those (well, maybe cheap). What I was looking for was someone with actual experience with this particular seller. One never knows when ya' might run into a real bargain, from a seller who hasn't quite gotten up to speed with his marketing expertise.
No Free Lunch? Heard that for 50 years and, clearly, it generally rings true. But not ALWAYS. In the early days of ebay, there were TONS of unbelievable buys. Too good to be true. Free lunch for the taking! That was before every 17 yr. old in the country knew about ebay. Now there are ten gadzillion potential buyers out there, and some of them aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer (no I don't put my kitchen knives in a drawer<g>) People paying more than they would spend if they bought the same item from any number of retailers, on the internet.....or at the brick and mortar store two blocks from their house!! If I had written every one of those bargains off, because I knew "there's no such thing as a free lunch"......I'd have missed out on a lot of bargains.
Having said that there are no ebay bargains anymore, in the last few months, I've benefited from numerous "too good to be true" items. There was a guy listing some Eriksson mora knives that commonly sell for $30-35. For 5-6 weeks, he consistently listed them with a very low "buy it now" price.... and, after several of them sold, (while I was asking myself, "what's wrong with this picture?"), I decided to take the plunge, figuring...what do I have to lose, at ten bucks? I bought 5 of them, one at a time, for less than 12 bucks, including shipping. I kept two and sold the others on the same ebay he was using, for $20-25 each. Why was he letting them go so cheap? Why wasn't someone else snapping them up? Surely no one is that stupid. I still have no idea what he was thinking. Maybe he was the twin brother of one of those guys who, regardless that a Hot Stuff, tactical, super steel nighthawk survival knife is selling every day for 35 bucks......he lists his for $79.95, right beside 10 identical ones, for less than half the price. <g> What.....he can't read the listings of his competition? He suffers from temporary insanity? Who knows what's in the minds of sellers.
Last month I bought a nice little used Olympus, point and shoot type camera, which retails on the net for around $75. The seller seemed straight forward, and had perfect positive feedback (tho', as it turned out, she was a lawyer which, in itself, gave me reason to hesitate). Again, I said....what the hell. The result was a like new, perfect little camera (with three new rolls of Kodak film)....for $10.25, including shipping. As an extra little suprise treat, she shipped the camera and posted my positive feedback the same day.
Just 5 days ago, I happened across two Cold steel "Spikes", which sell on ebay every day for $18-26, plus shipping. These two, brand new knives cost me $13.50 each, including shipping. (Please, no Lynn Thompson diatribes. <g>) Seller claims he was just "reducing his stock", but who knows? Maybe he's on mescaline. Regardless, I have them now, in 4 days, and I'm pleased as punch.
So, ya' see, Triton, I was doing my research...by asking the knowledgeable people here if they know anything about this guy's swords. Maybe, after all, I AM naive and a dumbass. But, who knows why he might be offering a pretty decent sword for a super bargain price? Maybe he's trying to make up for past transgressions. Maybe he feels guilty that so many of our jobs are now in China. Maybe he IS stupid!
Ya' never get anything if ya' don't ask. And, it was my impression that most forums welcome questions (even if they sometimes are of the "tired old drum" variety. And I, for one, welcome a tidbit on the forum that reveals a previously unknown bargain bin. Who knew about many of the reputable sellers until people started to discuss them on this forum, and others like it?
For the record, I own a Kris Cutlery katana, and a Hanwei Practical Plus, a Cheness Kaze, and a Showa period, handmade katana, that I paid 75 bucks for (as you know it's addictive). Not impressive to those with the bucks to afford the really good stuff, but the Showa period sword has been appraised, by a personal acquaintance (who is a genuine expert) at $2500-3000. I think that was a pretty decent bargain, tho' I had no clue, when I bought it. I'm just not one of those people who has to pay a lot for something, to feel good about it. Some people enjoy telling you how much they paid for something cool.....I enjoy telling how little I got it for. <g>
I have the bug, but I can't afford $1500, Bugei swords, on a retired, fixed income. I generally have to sell a toy, to buy another. That's why I'm always looking for that too good to be true deal. Incidently, for the record, I also have a Himalayan Imports BirGorkha Tarwar and a couple of kukuris. Guess what? I thought that these were "too good to be true" until I spent a couple months in the Cantina, and found out about our own Uncle Bill (may he rest in peace). I couldn't figure how the weekly (sometimes daily) "Pix and great buys", for admittedly, not quite perfect Himalayan Imports products, couldn't be a ripoff. Then I discovered the nature of Uncle Bill's effort, and his somewhat altruistic business practices (after many dumbass questions) and I bought one of the special deals. Uncle Bill didn't know me from a bale of hay, but he mailed out my first kukuri the day I ordered it.....a week before he received my check. I thought that pretty unusual, if not a free lunch.
So, sorry for the long winded rant but, hopefully, you now have some idea of what was going through my feeble mind, when I asked my question. And thanks, senoBDEC, for the useful post.
