beware of this ebay seller!

[patnor1011]

I stand corrected. I must take back what I have said.

 

[rusty]

I am wearing a Crossman copperhead belt buckle that is marked German Silver, and it is not magnetic.
Even with a hard drive magnet.

Jim

Then it's not German Silver.

Nickel is a ferromagnetic material and magnetic. So, German silver (called also: nickel silver, argentan) is magnetic.

Sorry Rusty, but I have to disagree again. I have a number of items that are nickel silver, and none of them are magnetic. I understand that nickel is ferromagnetic. Many items that are gold plated will give themselves away because the nickel layer between the base metal and the gold is, indeed, magnetic. But in an alloy, depending on the amount of nickel present, it may not show any magnetism. You can prove this easily with a US 5 cent coin - the nickel. It's 75% copper and 25% nickel, yet it shows no attraction to a strong magnet.

Personally, I think you owe chaseonbane an apology. You called him ignorant and told him to "pack up and go home or educate" himself, when it was you who misinterpreted what he wrote, then defended your position with faulty information.

I thought the idea on this forum was to help each other, not to hurl insults.

Dave

The magnets that scrap yards give out as a courtesy usually come on a chain, most people think the chain is to affix the magnet to your keychain which is wrong. The chain is used as a pendulum while holding the magnet over metals which are only slightly magnetic.

I'm not going to give a 101 on the proper use of a magnet for testing metals.

We as a collective group chastise " Shore " for giving proprietary names to common chemicals, some of our forum members have taken the time to unveil the Shore mystery names putting common names to these chemicals in layman's terms.

To refer to Schwerter's Solution as simply an acid is absurd, there are 6 strong acids with perhaps hundreds of weak acids. I myself am ignorant to what their names are and what every acid is used for or how many reside in my home or shop in disguise.

Hokes companion book, " Testing Precious Metals" was purchased through forum donations the book was made public. Had our poster read the book there would not have been any confusion, for the silver testing solution would have been referred to by its proper name.

There is no shame to admitting ones ignorance or lack of education.

In the past I've publicly given my apologies where they were rightfully due.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

To refer to Schwerter's Solution as simply an acid is absurd, there are 6 strong acids with perhaps hundreds of weak acids. I myself am ignorant to what their names are and what every acid is used for or how many reside in my home or shop in disguise.

Hokes companion book, " Testing Precious Metals" was purchased through forum donations the book was made public. Had our poster read the book there would not have been any confusion, for the silver testing solution would have been referred to by its proper name.

He's only been a member for about 3 weeks. I guess he hasn't learned the "proper name" yet. Frankly, I have rarely seen the name Schwerter's used outside this forum. It's usually sold as "silver testing solution" or "silver testing acid". That does not make his post absurd.

In the past I've publicly given my apologies where they were rightfully due.

Just not this time I guess. :|

Dave

 

[goldsilverpro]

I don't know how German silver would work with a hard drive magnet but, with a standard weaker magnet, German silver is not attracted to it.

 

[AndyWilliams]

Those Germans sure are crafty! They probably hide their silver by marking it German Silver!!

:lol: :lol: :lol: Now, you have discovered the secret of our richness. But where do you guys hide our german gold reserves, then? Marking it federal reserve?!

Hey! The Fed needs gold too!! They are more than aware of their insane policies!

 

[rusty]

I don't know how German silver would work with a hard drive magnet but, with a standard weaker magnet, German silver is not attracted to it.

Nickle alloys such as German Silver which are not strongly attracted to a ,magnet still react to magnetism.

Just as the Earth's North pole is not discernible to the human touch its direction is easily detected by passing a sewing needle over a magnet then placing the needle onto a cork floating in a bowl of water.

You can build a cheap slide using the magnet strip removed from a refrigerator.

This youtube video gives a good demonstration using a magnetic slide along with a magnet hanging from a pendulum.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlzLXKFW-Tg[/youtube]

 

[rickbb]

Assuming the nickel was solid it would be magnetic, not as attraced as iron howver, now if it's just plated over a non magnetic core, then I can see a magnet not even being the slightest bit attracted.

 

[chaseonbase]

I do admit. I did lack detail and as well made the assumption that people initially thought I was using a silver testing solution. I currently use a tablet to visit the forums and hate typing on this thing, but love reading on it.
Which explains my poor grammar and run on sentences. I appreciate you frugal for sticking up for me. I do agree with rusty on the ignorance part. In my opinion ingorance is a lack of education that can be fixed. Stupidity on the other hand cant be fixed. No matter how many ways you try to convoy the same message. It just never sinks in. I was just really hoping I found an item below spot actually on ebay that I could share. So we can all purchase it and refine.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Chase,

I hope you found some useful information despite the noise on this thread. If you got a similar reaction to what I showed with the photos of the nickel, your necklace is most likely a nickel silver type alloy. German silver, nickel silver, etc. are misnomers, as they contain no silver at all. I didn't include a photo of the nickel after testing, but the area where it was tested is now a dull gray color, showing no copper color at all. This type of alloy has been widely used as the base metal for silver plated flatwear because as the silver plating wears away the underlying metal is still silver in color.

It has become increasingly difficult to find a good deal on precious metals on FeePay. When I was buying, I would scan through hundreds of listings each day, adding items of interest to my watch list. On a busy day, I might find a hundred items to watch. At the end of the day, I would consider myself lucky to buy one or two. There are simply too many people buying these days, and many pay over market, either because they don't know what they're buying or because they expect the value to go up and they don't mind paying a premium. I have gotten some very good deals, but I've also gotten a few stinkers. I have only had one experience where I was not able to get a refund, and that was my own fault for not studying the seller's description carefully enough. As TomVader suggested, if the description said it was sterling silver, you should be able to get a refund. Unfortunately, it may cost you as much to return the item as you will get in the refund. At least this wasn't a very expensive lesson for you.

Dave

 

[chaseonbase]

Yeap. My solution did just that. Im glad im not the only one experiencing the same issue. I personally dont know anywhere else to buy.ive been having really good luck at garage sales on saturday morning, but trying to find items online to refine is just plan exhausting. People are paying so much over cost. I know at my local flea market theres a few dealers charging 20 dollars for silver quarters and people pay it. It just blows me a way.

 

[kane333]

Unfortunately, it may cost you as much to return the item as you will get in the refund. At least this wasn't a very expensive lesson for you.

Dave

That's not always the case, Dave. This is a story that happened to me this week. This ebay user (beware this one, his user name is dcolsondave out of Fair Oaks, California) listed scrap computer parts 8lbs for gold recovery. When I received the package, I didn't open it, I put it directly on my digital scale. It weighed in at 5.8 pounds. Still in the package. So I wrote the seller that "the Item doesn't match the seller's description" which causes Ebay to automatically open a case. The following responses are how this transpired:

June 06, 2013 3:36pm (Me) - "The description said 8 pounds. I recieved the package today and weighed it. It weighs less than 6 pounds. I've taken pictures and the package is unopened. If I send it back, I lose more than $10 for a medium flat rate package. What are we going to do about this?"

June 06, 2013 6:07pm(dcolsondave) - "I HAD IT WEIGHED AT THE UNITED STATE POST OFFICE .MAYBE YOUR SCALE IS NOT TARED." (Why are you yelling at me?)

June 06, 2013 6:42pm (Me) - "The box is unopened. If you want, I can send you pictures. I took pictures as the box was received today and put it directly on the scale. I also received a box from another seller on Ebay today. His weighed the exact 8.5 pounds as he described it. Yours only weighed 5.8 pounds. Yours is still in the unopened box. Now what do we do about that? I will not lose $11.50 to ship this box back to you. You send me a copy of the Post Office receipt showing me the exact weight if you had it weighed at the Post Office. It doesn't appear as if anything came out of the box. Definitely not over 2 pounds of items. Like I said. The box is unopened. And I have pictures. My scale is accurate."

June 07, 2013 1:05am (dcolsondave) - "I WILL SEND YOU 5 POUNDS OF COMPUTER SCRAP .SORRY I AM NOT SURE WHAT HAPPEND ,I WOULD RATHER DO THAT THAN HAVE YOU BE UNHAPPY .IT WILL TAKE ME 2or3 DAYS TO SEND IT .WILL THAT BE OK" (Still screaming at me, and at 1:00 in the morning at that)

June 07, 2013 6:24pm (Me) - "Just got home from work. Saw your message. That would be fine but you really don't have to send me 5 pounds. The package was only 2 pounds light. Do what you feel is right, but please don't send me junk. I buy scrap electronics for gold recovery and always purchase by the pound so sending me some broken hard drives or cd roms won't help me. "

June 08, 2013 12:30am (dcolsondave) - "OK THANK YOU.i will send some good scrap thank you" (I think his neighbor started yelling at him about this time "It's 12:30 in the $%#$ Morning, :evil: STOP SHOUTING!)

June 18, 2013 2:46pm (Me) - "OK it's been 10 days since our last conversation. I have 2 days and if I don't see anything in the mail, I'll have to Escalate the Case to Ebay Customer Support."

(I gave him more than 2 days to escalate the case)

June 26, 2013 4:08pm (Me to Ebay Customer Support) - "It's been 18 days and the seller has not responded after my last communication. The seller stated he would make up the difference by sending the remainder but I have not seen anything in the mail from this seller. I purchased the item according to the weight as described and it was over 2 pounds light. The package is still unopened. For me to have to send it back and get a refund would mean I'd have to spend another $11.50 which I would not get a refund for."

Within 3 hours, I had a Message in my InBox....

June 26, 2013 7:09pm (From Ebay Customer Support) -

Refund information:
We've initiated a refund of $28.50 back to the PayPal funding source that you used to purchase the item. Please allow 48 hours for the refund to process.

Final decision:
The case has been closed in your favor.

eBay Customer Support comments:
"You have been issued a courtesy refund by eBay."


I received the bid price plus shipping and I now have a box of almost 6lbs of slot processors and finger cards free.
Ebay's not always bad.


Joe

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Joe,

I agree, sometimes things go your way. That's why I said "it may cost you as much to return the item as you will get in the refund." I have had situations where a seller agrees to pay the return shipping. I have also had an instance where eBay sent me a prepaid UPS shipping label to return an item.

But eBay policy states that return shipping is not required to be paid by the seller. If you can get them to pay it, that's great. If you have to open a case, you may or may not get the shipping paid.

In this case, Chase has nothing to lose by first contacting the seller to request a refund as the item was not as described. If the seller refuses, he can open a case with eBay. There's nothing to lose but a little time, and when the total cost is so low, it's easy for eBay to find in his favor.

Dave

 

[joem]

I received the bid price plus shipping and I now have a box of almost 6lbs of slot processors and finger cards free.
Ebay's not always bad.

But are you now going to return something that is not yours

 

[patnor1011]

This is it.
It is in our nature. We fight when we feel somebody is trying to steal from us and then what? We excuse ourselves that it was his fault as he tried to steal and consider it as good deal when we can keep stuff. :mrgreen:
I am not priest and will not tell you what to do, everyone is different and responsible for his own actions. He deserved what he got as he started it but there will still be that but...

 

[jimdoc]

I had a package that contained a few grams of Alfa Aesar platinum get lost on its way to me. The seller refunded the money to do the right thing, even though it was apparently the post office's fault. Then about 3 to 4 weeks later the package showed up here. So I contacted the seller and asked him to resend a Paypal bill so I could pay for it. It wouldn't have been fair for me to keep it, even though there was no tracking number to tell I got it. I bought a similar gold item from him the week before so I knew he was an honest seller and it was a postal issue.

Jim

 

[kane333]

This is it.
It is in our nature. We fight when we feel somebody is trying to steal from us and then what? We excuse ourselves that it was his fault as he tried to steal and consider it as good deal when we can keep stuff.
I am not priest and will not tell you what to do, everyone is responsible for his own actions.

Now that I've created a unique issue, what would you do, Pat? Ebay refunded ALL of the money, not the seller. I did not ask for a refund. I asked that the seller send me what was owed. Nothing more. He even offered to send extra but I didn't want him to send more than what he owed me. I WILL NOT send his mistake back to him which will cost me $11.50 and leave myself with nothing. Would you do that? Would anyone here do that? I'd like to hear some opinions on this one, please.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Now that I've created a unique issue, what would you do, Pat? Ebay refunded ALL of the money, not the seller.

Joe, where do you suppose eBay gets the money to make that refund? They will take it from the seller on his next sale.

I can't answer your other questions. You have to decide what to do for yourself.

Dave

 

[jimdoc]

"You have been issued a courtesy refund by eBay."

This usually means that Ebay paid the refund.
I had them do that after I proved they messed up.
I can't say for sure if they pulled the funds back from the seller also.

Jim

 

[modtheworld44]

kane333

This is how I would handle the situation.

Since he gave you the indication that he would fix his mistake, and ebay fully refunded your money, I would have recontacted him and gave him the same amount of time it took to resolve your case, to send the money to ship his stuff back. If he refused then and only then would I have kept the materials. This way he has a chance to resell , but at the same time you make him work harder at not making mistakes that can become very costly to his business.



modtheworld44

 

[kane333]

OK. I'm on my way to Virginia Beach for the weekend from West Virginia. A 4.5 hour drive. We got a room on the beach so I'm going to wait till Monday to contact the seller. I'll give him an opportunity to mail me a shipping label if he wants the package back. That way he doesn't lose out completely. I don't like scammers, scoundrels, or rip-offs either. That's the only way I can think of to remedy this mess. The package is still unopened and I'll send it back as I received it.