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Some valuable information about questionable or ignorant sellers and reproductions

Thank you for taking the time browsing our website. Below are copies of articles that we have sent out informing collectors, dealers and other potential buyers about phony Austrian Bronzes and questionable or ignorant sellers. There are numerous amounts of counterfeits in the market these days, particularly on platforms like eBay. People get scammed every day and may not even realize it. These reports are part of our effort to protect the authenticity of Vienna bronzes as well as protecting unaware buyers. If you find yourself purchasing Bronzes online, especially on websites such as eBay, please at least take a peek through these newsletters to help protect yourself from potential swindlers or ignorant sellers.

The articles will be updated ASAP. For further information, or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Article #1 about a standing and a sitting PUG

Article #2

Article #3

Article #4 about eBay user I.D. 'zero-distance'

We still collect all the evidence, however, unfortunately do no have the capacity and time to prepare more articles. We ask you to be careful and pay attention to the ebay user I.D.s mentioned below

Stay away from the following user I.D.s on eBay:

zero-distance

the-antique-hunters

pugmania62

1-stop-emporium

jane.miles

pinkjade100

e3bjb

di_1980

old-bits

janem3683

sk-c_antique

We can hardly catch up. They change and add new user I.D.s quite often.

We believe that these are different user I.D.s belonging to the same questionable seller or group in the U.K. or at least most of them. Other used I.D.s that we may find will be added. Compare the inventory they carry and you will see that it is very similar and always the same or same style. We saw already several on Chinese websites!

Be also careful when you see the following user I.D.s:

elizabethrose500

secondhandorangerose

jewellerytreasure

zarotonbaron

bertaneye

marijus-2008

cobweb92

6554.david.777

istanbull (Yes, even a Turkish seller)

kamiteh

soldthelot

huntfortreasure

ggbb99

marks-gallery

woodenhill-bears

top-banana-tetbury

peter6365

nicksyfru

navid100

step_to_the_side

hollyhouseantiquesandcollectables

beemerflymaker1958

oneminimadness

dog-o

sbsantiques

ibex8011

romas71-2012

culver

9191caz

bgj2002

alfieomeara

ruboko

millersantiques

johcondi1

Since some offer these 'Vienna Bronzes' over and over again since a long time I think they must to be aware that their items are not authentic. - In many cases we contacted these people and their reactions were as expected.

It is easily possible that some of these accounts no longer exist, after they have become so prominent on this page. Certain sellers just modify their user-name.

When you look at their feedback profiles you will find out that many of these sellers prefer 'private' = anonymous feedbacks which do not allow to see what they offered in the past thus making it impossible to find out that they sold the 'same' items over and over again. Such 'private' feedbacks are also a safe way to hide whether they blow up their feedbacks through their own secondary or other user I.D.s through which they offer the same stuff. Shill-bidding is also a safe way to increase the bids themselves in the anonymity of 'private' feedbacks without being caught. ebay is a perfect playground for fraudsters!

It is quite interesting to find out that not just 'Vienna Bronzes' but also other items are offered repeatedly. It is the same pattern.

BEWARE - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

There are other British sellers offering the same stuff; many of them are probably just ignorant. We have information that some got their bronzes from local auction houses.

That's why we suggest not to buy from the U.K. if you have the slightest doubt. The risk is too high. No need to say that we regret that all the honest sellers there are automatically also affected, however, we have no choice.

We are living in a global market and insofar you see some of these items sporadically also in other European countries and even here in the States. This has to stop. The disease behaves like metastatic cancer and needs to be rooted out. Strong words but true!

Some buyers informed us that 'bronzes' that they have purchased turned out to be just spelter or pot metal!

A big 'Thank you!' to our viewers and for the many positive feedbacks and assistance we received from you showing us that our efforts are not in vain. We could prevent many collectors and even re-sellers from getting ripped off. Apparently we stirred something up and you see now more and more offers from sellers describing their items as 'in the style of ....' or even just as 'bronzes', however, still with the counterfeit 'geschutzt' mark without the German 'Umlaut' with the two dots on the u. It encourages us to continue with our efforts and appreciate any information and further assistance from you. Again, thank you so much!

Even eBay has issued some valuable information after intervening. Click on this link:

Buyer Beware! Antiques buying guide to ebay! | eBay

These excerpts are an important essence:

You cannot buy real antiques at 10-15% of market prices. This happens in only 1% of cases.

If you see a seller selling 100s of antiques/Vienna bronzes (check feedback) and they are the same - guess what? They are all fakes (example: Vienna bronzes, bronzes...). Nobody has 100s of the same antique Vienna bronzes locked away to sell at 10-20% of market prices . In some insane cases bidders will pay more then for a real piece- what?!

Here we have a warning from RUBY LANE based on my site (see article 1):

Modern Reproductions, Fakes and Fantasies

More and more people and institutions understand the scope of the fraud we are fighting since years.

A customer informed us about a British website which offers only fake Vienna Bronzes, the same you see in the inventory of the ebay sellers that we have listed above. We also discovered a lot of other items that are also identical with these questionable sellers. Insofar we have reason to believe that the entire website is a scam.

MILLY’S MARVELS:

BERGMANN BRONZES