Dear Collectors

In the convenient and anonymous world of Internet auctions, the best defense is to educate yourself. Use more than one glance to decide if an auction is on the right path. The more questions you ask, the less likely you are to get fleeced. Here some important considerations to take into account before spending large amount of money on the internet:

Check feedback. Online auction sites, such as eBay and Yahoo! Auctions, have designed marketplaces where people earn transactional "reputations." That is, the more successful deals you've completed, the more trustworthy you are. But some online auction users are building feedback ratings just to defraud, so use a number of these different measures below before you decide to bid on a listing.

Ask for extras. When you ask for more photographs and additional details, a legitimate seller should bend over backwards to give you what you need to make an informed decision. If a seller cannot provide these extras, he might be running a phony listing.

Avoid transfers or cash. Beware of auctions that require buyers to wire money, or worse, send untraceable cash. Most reputable sellers of high-end merchandise do not operate in this manner, so in this case flags should immediately go up. Likewise, sellers who do not accept PayPal, escrow services or a certified cashier's check should be interacted with cautiously.

Verify locations. Some fraudulent online auction users do not fill out their city, state and country correctly. If you notice inconsistencies in this area, be on alert. Ask the seller from where merchandise will be shipped and where the seller is located. If those two locations differ, ask for an explanation.

Notice poor English. Expect that care and time was taken to craft listings in any high-priced collectibles category. As such, watch out for misspellings or, as Spearing puts it, "Pigeon English." Fraudulent sellers sometimes give themselves away with poor spelling, grammar and, in general, lackluster listing presentation.

Evaluate consistency. Watch out for sellers who jump from selling E-books (from which they derive much of their feedback rating) to suddenly peddling expensive Asian Art items. Trustworthy sellers usually will not make dramatic switches between categories and price points. Also, look for consistent and reliable transactional activity: Be wary if the seller has been dormant for six months and then suddenly starts up again. 

Avoid Sellers With Private feedbacks, they often use private feedbacks in order to cover up many bad comments about the authenticity of their products or the poor level of their services.

Always Ask For a Contact Phone Number, or chose an established seller which clearly state his direct phone number in all his auction listing, if phone number is not listed ask him, avoid sellers which find excuses for not providing a phone number, they certainly have something to hide, try to call them, check their level of expertise and professional services, follow your feelings if there is something not right it is probably not as good as advertised.

Alway look for detailed pictures and descriptions, avoid those sellers which showcase their items with one or two low quality pictures and poor english one-two lines description, if the item is expensive must be accurately showcased both with more than 5 detailed pictures taken at different angles and good descriptions. We always take 10 pictures to better showcase all our items.

Always Check Prices, I see the tendency of many antique collectors to buy Asian Art at ridiculous low prices, there is no way you can find an authentic Song and Ming dynasty items on sale for ridiculous prices as you often see around the net. Be very suspicious when you see such items in perfect conditions and on sale under $1000. Authentic Ming & Song are very expensive and it is impossible to find it on sale at below this price, items on sale below this price are often fakes or authentic low quality items with heavy damages, restorations, faults, defects etc.

Always Do Your Own Research before spending lots of money for antiques. There are many factors and signs which can produce evidence and bring to a conclusion an item is authentic or not, that's why I never stress enough the fact that a collector should do accurate and deep researches, the collector must be confident about the piece is going to buy and this confidence is acquired by exploring lots of reference material, handling of genuine pieces, trips to museums, and the educated opinion of more than one expert.

At Dream Art Gallery we aim to educate all our clients and virtually anyone who will contact us. We strongly believe any art and antique's collector should educate him/herself before even thinking of buying any art's work.

Please don't hesitate to contact us through Ebay if you need any help related to Asian Art.

Best regards

Dream Art Gallery