I am astonished at the sheer amount of fakes, reproductions, and misrepresentations on ebay. So I have decieded to make an entertaining, albeit true list to help serious would be buyers and bidders. Here goes:

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

2. If something is is classified as 100 years old (Victorian, meiji), unless there are clear, undisputed indications of age, please add 50-60 years to estimated age.

3. Unless the seller is an art historian or has a degree in appraising do not take anything that is written seriously. Most sellers dont - so there you go!

4. If an item is classified as gild gilded, it probably means it has been spraypainted a golden color. Trust your eyes!

5. If you see a seller selling 100s of antiques (check feedback) and they are the same - guess what? They are all fakes (example: vienna bronzes, bronzes, art nouveau style reproductions calssified as the real McCoy). 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?!

Meissen: Any ebay anything that has blue lines is instantly classified meissen. In fact most are classified antique straighaway. In fact many similar marks are put up. 99.99% of meissen is 20th century. About 50-60% of meiseen is not meissen. And there are a huge number of both low and high quality fakes.

Royal Vienna: Anything with a beehive mark is instantly classified a at least 100 year old Royal Vienna. Royal Vienna ceased production in the 1860s. More scary, in the past year, I have only seen 3 (!!!) real royal vienna listings (and 1 was mine). Czech reproduction, and 20th century copies are not Royal Vienna. Plaques and painted porcelain charges, plates are not royal vienna. They are all 20the century, and most are not even hand painted. At best they are worth 200-250 USD. You have been warned!

Hand painted: about 70% of so called hand painted porcelain items, are in fact transfer prints that are hand colored. And that is the good news, because most are just plain trasfer prints.

Miniatures (Ivory): Again 90% of miniatures on ivory are 20th century copies. They were all photographically transfered onto ivory and hand colored, painted over. Some even look good. Maximum value in reality: Less then 100 USD.

Ivory: About 70% of items classified as ivory are either plastic (though luck), some kind of bone and plastic mix, or vegatable "ivory", walrus "ivory" as some other bone (camel). Cross hatchings on ebay are not a clear indicator if the piece is genuine or not.

KPM plaques: The mother of all fakes. About 90% of KPM plaques are mid to late 20th century reproductions. And about 70% are not hand painted. Yet people bid thousands of USD for them. Why?

Herend: 90% of all herend fishnet items are fake. With the exception of a few honest sellers, steer welll clear.

Art: This has been extensively discussed around the internet. You cannot by real artwork anywhere at 10-20% of market value. Ask the seller to provide an attest from a leading gallery (pay for it if you have to) that the piece is original. If this cannot be provided, forget bidding. You WILL be diassapointed eventually when you get around to it. Some central European-Russian artist are highly copied, do not buy those at all - only from well established sellers.

Condition reports: Beware of vague condition reports. Beware of strange photos.

BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

You can buy great antiques at below market prices on ebay, but be very carefull. Trust your eyes and instincts!

Would like to add anything, let me know.
I AM an appriasel and have a diploma. If I can I will help.