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For the future, go into your Account, Site Preferences, and Buyer Requirements where you can block buyers with various negative aspects, including having a feedback score of -1 or lower. So this could be your last one.
I’d be curious to look at their feedback and see what they did to get to -1.
Happy Birthday you two youngsters! Your heads are screwed on right – steady state is smart. Larger businesses tout quality of life to their employees but real quality of life is all about having control. The more, the better.
Sigilini, guidons are authorized by Army Regulation and are used generally at the company level and some other units throughout the entire Army. Guidons are used as a rallying point for formations and runs and there are other traditions associated with their use as well. Wikipedia has a good page on guidons here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guidon_(United_States) .
In your picture, the crossed flintlock rifles on the guidon is the branch insignia, indicating the unit as infantry. Yes, the “C” means C Company, which is part of 3rd Battalion (the “3”) which is part of the 21st Light Infantry Regiment (the “21”), which was at the time part of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, whose official patch is seen on the shoulder of the soldier at the end (maybe an officer but the collar insignia is too fuzzy for me to tell).
BigSally, you nailed it as Vietnam with the haircuts and jungle fatigues (3rd Bn was there August 1966 – November 1971). Soldiers went on liberty in Vietnam by onesies and twosies and they wouldn’t have been in grungy field uniforms at a liberty beach like Vung Tao, or in Hawaii. Note some of the guys are in just fatigue pants and boots and the shorts look like OD green issue. The group with its guidon and lack of weapons says to me this was taken within their base at Chu Lai, which they moved to a couple years into the unit’s tour. It was on the coast and had sandy areas and beaches.
It’s very cool that BigSally found the charlietigers website because it is for this exact unit, C/3/21 or “Charlie” Company as it would be commonly called, and unusual for a unit this small. Doing the math to account for rotations during their time in Vietnam is beyond me, but there were probably only 120 or so guys present in C Company at any given time. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to see the picture and may be able to pinpoint where, when, and name some names.
Fantasy in the sense that an original never existed. An antique reproduction is an item that is manufactured to look like a specific item from long ago. For example, here’s a modern copy of a specific mechanical bank that was originally manufactured in the 1920’s: https://www.ebay.com/itm/REPRODUCTION-OF-HUBLEY-MONKEY-BANK-CAST-IRON-MECHANICAL-COIN-BANK/142773811882?hash=item213dfb7aaa:g:68IAAOSwB4ha2g1u Real Hubley monkey banks can go for $500 or more.
A fantasy or fake is an item that is made to look like an antique but that particular item never existed long ago. For example, here’s an item made to look like an 1800’s lock from Alcatraz prison: https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Antique-Finish-RUSTIC-Alcatraz-Numbered-Prison-Cell-Lock-Padlock-w-Keys/312143343673?hash=item48ad317039:g:TdkAAOSwL9hZj6vt:sc:USPSFirstClass!20003!US!-1 Such locks never existed; there is no original from which this design was copied. It’s totally made up.
As you can see, it doesn’t make them worthless, but certainly not worth as much as they might be if they were really old. This place has a pretty big selection at wholesale: http://www.backintimetradingpost.com
It is a version in brass from India of the cast iron Minuteman bells, which were made in Taiwan. They were a fantasy antique of the ’70’s – ’80’s, possibly still being made, judging by how many there for sale. I used to have catalogs from importers full of this kind of stuff.
These new items would find their way into antique stores and especially auctions. The Indians produce a lot of brass items. Most of the brass nautical “antiques” you see are Indian reproductions or fantasy items. The Indians also produce a lot of swords and knives that have fake engraving and look old.
Ostap, I snipe on eBay quite often. I have a buying account different than my selling account. Even if you use the same account, I don’t think this type of seller will notice. And even if they do, so what?
The best sniping targets are the lower quality and amateur sellers; listings with bad pictures, vague or wrong descriptions, etc. So the other negatives to that strategy include the issues that arise from buying from unprofessional sellers. I have experienced very late shipping (and having to open a case just to get them to ship), items arriving damaged due to poor packaging, hidden major defects never mentioned or pictured in the listing, etc.
The other big negative is simply the time you’ve wasted sniping an item when you don’t win it. But compared to the time one takes driving around to source locally, it’s not so bad.
I don’t believe there is a single word in English to describe these plaques. Here are a couple sold examples of similar items:
and one from a Ukraine seller:
I’d have no idea on a price.
Israeli cities are a bit quirky. I’ve sent items to Ashdod, Beer-Sheva, and Shimshit, among others. Though the UK can be a close second. How’d you like to live in Newry Down, or Kidderminster?
I can’t find it without the link. Not showing on Worthpoint, either, though I think Worthpoint may not catalog items right away.
If you end up making a flat cardboard sandwich, whether a single or double, alternate the direction of the corrugation inside of the cardboard pieces when you put it together. Even though it is flat it will be very hard to bend. A great tip I learned here on SL.
It changed for me once, with an elderly widow yard sale seller who, after I bought a number of her deceased husband’s WWII souvenirs at the sale, invited me to come back the next day to see all the rest of his stuff in the basement that she hadn’t brought out. I went down in the basement with her and there were multiple closed footlockers and also WWII uniforms and wool Army overcoats hanging up. The first things she showed me were the overcoats and I said “those are nice but I can’t get much for them” (which was true at the time). She stopped up short and kicked me right out of the house, saying she thought I was buying for myself. Also there is an indy thrift shop I go to now that has big signs that say “No Reselling” and I’ve seen them confront people who are too obviously looking up prices on their phones.
So with amateur sellers and some shops there’s always a chance they’ll get offended that you might be making a dollar off them. If I get asked why I’m buying something, I say “I can use it” or “I like it”, both of which are true. If they push and ask what I’m going to use it for, I say “oh I never tell” with a big smile on my face and that has always been successful in fending off further inquiries. But I will admit it if I think it will work in my favor.
On the other side of it, if it was my yard sale or I was set up at a flea market, I would give other dealers discounts. Some, like Len, would come right out and say it, and I gave them good deals and they’d buy a lot of stuff. Sometimes if I suspected but they hadn’t said either way I would ask a browser if they were a dealer and they would deny it. Then I would say that’s too bad because I give a substantial dealer discount. The reactions were amusing as they tried to decide whether to admit their lie or what.
Congratulations on the haul! Those are some awesome hats. It’s a good lesson supporting J&R’s mantra to go all in when it feels right. Also good on you for getting to 750 listings as a side hobby. I’ve been eBaying as a hobby for over 20 years and don’t think I’ve ever gotten to more than 150. I probably don’t go high enough on my prices so my stuff sells faster than I can add listings. To your second question, I sell to low and zero feedback buyers and those remailers frequently and have never had a problem.
As to your pricing quandary, you could try auctions for some of those hats to prevent the feeling that you’re leaving too much money on the table. There is obviously so much immediate activity on them that you could do 3 day or even 1 day auctions which helps keep the attention of your immediate gratification buyers. I did that once with a cache of ungraded early silver dollars I was going through one by one and I was very happy with the resulting prices.
I have complimented others’ purchases as well, just spreading good karma. But I’ve gotten some funny looks in return. It’s often a “what are up to?” suspicious look, like I’ve got something nefarious in mind.
Ryanne is partially correct about the $750 number for eBay. For items $750 USD (or local currency equivalent) or more (based on the total amount of the sale, including the cost of the item, shipping, any other fees seller may charge, and any sales tax), proof of the recipient’s signature to confirm delivery is required to qualify for eBay Seller Protection, where such signature confirmation service is available from the shipping company. In such cases signature confirmation is supposed to be preselected when you go to ship. But eBay does not require it for the shipment, it can be deselected.
Many of us use Shipsaver to insure some shipments. Its coverage requires signature confirmation for jewelry over $500 and ALL laptops, phones, and related.
