"A very old italian violin" - Mattio Gofrilleri

[Tuckers]

Such is the title on this Ebay fiddle.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=7302799614

It's gone up to over $5,000. The scroll is not that good, I would think such a good maker would have a better scroll (the spiral is too wavy). The back is just too flawless for the age, or it's been completely stripped and refinished. The front and overall shape is reminiscent of an early violin.

Am I totall off on this?

[Woodland]

I think the only person who is "off" is the one who paid $7300 for it. I must be doing things the hard (but ethical) way by selling violins for what they are...

[Tuckers]

So, from the little I have been learing. The back looks more like a German back. The scroll is lopsided and I can't imagine that any named maker would let something like that go out of the shop.

[Fellow]

The varnish looks like was finished yesterday.

In the listing description, the English was good, however, spelling was ridiculusly bad. What do you make out of it?

/yuen/

[Singingmaple]

Very interesting the number of retracted bids, The last minute $12,500 canceled bid by someone with 0 feedback is not suspicious at all.

[seattleslew]

Tuckers, maybe you should send the buyer this thread. It saved you from a similar fate a few weeks ago. Just a thought.

[Acyla]

Well the person who bid $7300 didn't pay for it after all. It's up for auction again. *rolls eyes*

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...=1&tc=photo

What I find most interesting although it's by a different seller the picture of the lopsided scroll is gone (seems as though someone may have tipped them about the most obvious problem or this is a scammer who knows a bit of stuff about violins). Also there's no negatives given out to the NBP (although this may be the "newbie quick to hit the enter key" in me talking").

I think I'll keep an eye on this one. It's getting to be a bit of a joke this violin and I want to see how much it goes for and if it really sells this time.

Acyla

Editted: Bummer. Looks like ebay removed it. Wonder what the offical reason was.

[maestramusica]

I commented on that very coincidence a few days ago, under Reepicheep's "Presented with No comment" thread.

yeah- right- something REALLY stinks on that one!

[jackc]

This may be a total red herring...but, a few weeks ago I replied to an ebay customer service email suggesting that they monitor this discussion board for fraud tips. Who knows, maybe they are actually being pro-active.

[maestramusica]

This is my comment from last week:

OK- this violin went through a thread recently :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...023379&rd=1

and http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=7302799614

Same fiddle- sold twice by the same seller in the last month?

I notice that although the original high bidder did not pay up, the seller did not leave any negative feedback- WHY?

[bean_fidhleir]

[quoteI notice that although the original high bidder did not pay up, the seller did not leave any negative feedback- WHY?

---

Perhaps because it's a waste of time to leave negative feedback for one's sockpuppets?

[maestramusica]

Yeah- thats kind of what I thought too!

[radiohouston2]

I thinks it's back.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...982331&rd=1

[bean_fidhleir]

This is a different instrument, unless I'm misunderstanding which one you mean.

It looks as though this one's scroll was broken at some time, doesn't it?

I'm trying to think of what that boxy sort of outline reminds me of. Also that strange looking double-purfling. Is there someone who's noted for that, or is this just someone's 19th-century kitchen-sink model?

Does the scroll look Viennese to anyone else?

That also looks like a 'scratch graft', though it's hard to tell.

[violinguy1234]

Generally there is no auction "winner" because the seller has someone to bid up the aution or they're doing it them selves with diffrent names, this is why you will commonly see names with only 0, 1 or 2 sells, or buys bidding on these items. When people browsing through ebay see an item with so many bids it attracts attention. Also if the price is high you might get inexperianced people throwing in bids, beacuse they might be suckerd in to thinking that it truly is rare, just what they want! Alot of times you will notice that these are private listings, sellers will list these items like that in order to cover up the names that are bidding the items up into the thousands (that violin did not get to 7 and 13 thousand just from true bidders plus there are quite a bit of bids total). I wouldent trust any certificate at all! I've seen some items with Hamma certificates that are sure to be fake. If you think the certificate might be real contact the person who wrote it up and ask them if the numbers line up. Only do this if the company is still around . If they're not around be suspious. Well thats pretty much what I've learned. This is just me but im always a bit weary of items comming from germany, austria, and belgium etc. Thoes are just some things to look out for!

[maestramusica]

yep- I noticed and commented on Donna Henriette's re-sale of "her mom's" fiddle on the other Gofriller1 thread Sunday or Monday.

[45violin]

RE: the comment "this is why you will commonly see names with only 0, 1 or 2 sells, or buys bidding on these items."

As an occasional seller on eBay, I wanted to mention that it is not always the case that bidders with low or 0 feedback scores are schills or fakers. I always wondered about that, but I recently sold two fairly high ticket violins (by eBay standards - about $600 and $900) and was surprised and not thrilled to see several 0 feedback bidders on each of my auctions. And I'm sure they were NOT me! :-)

The bidder who purchased the $900+ violin had 0 feedbacks and had been a member for only a couple of weeks, and worse yet, did not reply to my first two e-mails within 24 hours after the auction ended. After 1-1/2 days had passed, I clicked the button to request her contact info, and left a polite voicemail at the number listed. She called back promptly to let me know she uses a computer only at work, so hadn't seen my e-mails yet. Turned out to be a very pleasant buyer, paid promptly and said she was very happy with her purchase (I list a satisfaction guarantee; return for complete refund minus shipping if not satisfied, on high-dollar auctions.)

So please don't assume that sellers who receive bids from 0 feedback buyers are faking those bids - at least some of those bidders seem to be legit!

[violinguy1234]

That's only what I meant, not all. But thanks for that information it's good to know!

[fiddlecollector]

This was up for sale in the U.K last week as well,same photos /same description ,different seller.