Mislabeled Items or Calling a Spade a Diamond

[Jim Koepke]

I usually have a few searches active on ebay. Some just for fun, others because often there is something that comes by that I am looking to buy.

Here is one that showed up in my Stanley Parts search:

Picture 16.jpg

Item #370368916045 is listed as a Stanley 45. It looks more like a Millers Patent, but is not as ornate. I am not even sure if it is Stanley or some other item that may be more rare.

When I look for blades, I notice they are often called an iron or cutter. Searches can be set up so that any one of the words will trigger a hit. Also do not search for blades, blade will get more hits. Blade will return a find on blades or blade. Blades will only find blades.

Anyone else find anything that is labeled incorrectly?

Any tips on common mislabeling trends?

jim

[Johnny Kleso]

I have not been buying much lately but I would see items all the time listed as Mint or Type this or that and where very wrong..

I think that plane you posted a pic of is a Sigley my old boss collected them..

[Eric Brown]

I found that about half the sellers can't give a very accurate description and sometimes it is best to use a generalized searce word. For instance when looking for "auger bit" it is usually better to just use the word "bit" instead because many sellers only know enought to think of augers as drill bits.

Many times I've found that sellers that just group a bunch of like things together don't know about certain items that are valuable in the group. Of course you get more junk too if you win. The sellers that list accurate descriptions and have good photo's of critical areas usually give honest responses to questions.

One more thing helps. Books (or Internet). Learn the history of what you are looking for. Many very old items were made by what is now an uncommon maker. I got a Tyzack router plane for a lot less than it's worth because it just seemed like another pattern makers knockoff. It actually pre-dates the Stanley 71 & 71 1/2 and even the Prestons. (sorry I'm gloating).

Bottom line is to learn as much as you can before bidding so you have a better chance of determining if something is broke or missing. (Stanley Bull-Nose bench planes come to mind)

Eric

[Walter Plummer]

Search the bay for protractor and find out how many people do not know the difference between a protractor and a compass.

[Jim Koepke]

Search the bay for protractor and find out how many people do not know the difference between a protractor and a compass.

Then there are those that think a protractor is what the big farmers use.

jim

[Andrew Gibson]

Then there are those that think a protractor is what the big farmers use.

jim

If it's green does that make it a John Deere Protractor?

[David Keller NC]

Jim - The item in question is most definitely a Seigley plow plane, or what's left of it. Such an example should have almost zero value, since it's usually the fence, screws, blades and other removable spare parts that are the scarce items, not the body.

[Zach England]

Then there are those that think a protractor is what the big farmers use.

jim

That is like while driving through Nebraska my mother commented how there were a lot of concubines.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Jim:

While a bit off topic ( wood wise anyway ) I saw an interview a few years ago with a woman who was on e-bay all the time - she was a jewellery specialist - she would specifically search DIMOND ( vs Diamond ) and legitimately scoop real diamond pieces as there were very few people who searched DIMOND.

You are onto something to be sure ----

Dave Beauchesne

[James Taglienti]

This is a portion of my plane search on thebay. Chisels, braces, saws, etc all have different "hotwords" but im only sharing planes

"Prefixes:"
stanely, stanly, stnley, stanley
vintage, old, rusty, antique, primitive, carpenter, hand
unique, odd, strange, ornate, decorative, mechanical
wood, woodworkers, carpenters, carpentry
iron, brass, steel, metal, wooden, woden, wood, paint (yes really)

"Suffixes:"
plain, planer, palne, plaine, plane, plan
scraper, scrapper, shaver, cutter, slicer
lot, group, bunch

There are three major categories to find planes on that website. Here is where they generally are though i don't know the exact location
Home & Garden > Tools > Hand Tools > Planes
Collectibles > Tools Hardware & Locks > Tools ? Carpentry & Woodworking > Planes
Antiques > Primitives

There you go I probably either completely gave away my secrets or aren't telling you anything new.

FWIW I usually just type "Plane" into the main search box and sort through all the garbage.

Typing plane -air -model will give you all the listings without "air" in the title, or the word model. this goes for any words.

[David Christopher]

Then there are those that think a protractor is what the big farmers use.

jim

this is a "pro tractor"

[Russell Sansom]

Lie-NielsOn is pretty common, but I'm not the only person to think of it, since the bidding is often just as heavy as for Lie-NielsEn. But this kind of misspelling is common for just about everything.

[James Taglienti]

yeah. i was eyeing a nice LN #66 hand beader that was listed as a "Great Stanley copy" which is essentially true. In the last 24 hrs the thing blew up and went for as much as a new one.

Has anyone noticed that the things that ARE mislabebeld tend to command a higher premium than things that are listed correctly? It's as if people think they've "found something." It's a strange phenomenon that i have seen more than half the time.

[Jim Koepke]

yeah. i was eyeing a nice LN #66 hand beader that was listed as a "Great Stanley copy" which is essentially true. In the last 24 hrs the thing blew up and went for as much as a new one.

Has anyone noticed that the things that ARE mislabebeld tend to command a higher premium than things that are listed correctly? It's as if people think they've "found something." It's a strange phenomenon that i have seen more than half the time.

I have seen that a few times. I think some sellers purposely mislabel on some items hoping to hook a fish.

Like all things, know what you are buying.

jim

[Dan Andrews]

I see mislabeling of drills all the time. There appears to be more confusion over drill types than there is over brands or model numbers. Brace, hand drill, push drill and especially breast drills are misidentified all the time. It actually appears that in a society which has few inhabitions, that there is resistance in using the word breast. Breast drills are commonly called chest, shoulder, body and even knee drills. Go figger