Eti-Tiki-quette question

The topic of "Tiki" items on eBay that are completely devoid of anything remotely Tiki was tossed about many months ago. Today I saw yet another "Tiki" item which wasn't even tropical (a set of glassware). I almost sent the seller a question...

"Hi! I saw your Tiki item on eBay and maybe it's my computer but I didn't see the Tikis. Are the Tikis on the other side of the glasses? Are they in the glasses? Were the glasses made by some company named Tiki? Why are they Tiki? Thanks, and happy selling!"

I didn't send the question because it occured to me that it might be the something a jerk would do (and believe it or no such concerns have stayed my hand in the past). I know the seller is most likely just taking advantage of morons, or maybe the seller is a moron and incapable of telling a Tiki from a Frisbee.
So I ask: Would it be mean/rude to ask such questions of such sellers? Of course any amusing explanations for their use of the word "Tiki" would be posted here...If they answered at all (I'd do my best to sound like a gullible rube ripe for the fleecing).

I say play dumb and ask the seller. maybe we will learn something about what others consider thhe word tiki to encompass.

I'm for asking too...enquiring minds need to know!

Hey, I absolutely think it is essential to an e-bay buyer to know what they are getting into, and I agree, what constitutes this as "tiki"?

Let us know what kinda reply you get.

Thanks!
:sheckymug:

I say let's nail those liars! If I would be an e-bay customer (or even browser), I'd be so annoyed by now by this rampant kind of mis-representation that I would have no quarrels playing Tiki police. These people are stealing one of your most precious commodities: TIME, by getting you to check their boring wares.
Let's tell them that Tiki Central is putting them on a "Cry Tiki" list a la "Cry Wolf", which will get them boycotted by Tiki collectors because they will NOT click on their items anymore at all, even if they really ARE Tiki. Let's compose a standard e-mail like that, one that everyone can copy and send to the offenders.

I like the Cry Tiki idea and in any case I would have sent the vendor the mail anyway. It's a buyer market out there and your absolute right to question or bring into question any ambiguity of a products claim to name. Tiki's aint Tiki's just like Oils aint Oils! Go for it! :D

Syd

I think you should ask too. Hell, I think we should all ask!! Make the seller think twice about abusing the word "tiki" again!

Actually, it's against Ebay rules to falsely promote your item. If you put key words in there that do not pertain, you can have the item pulled by Ebay.

This happens a lot.

For example: If you use the term "Blythe" for a doll that is simply got a big head, the Blythe sellers will have your item yanked because you are geting their buyers.

The big offense I've seen lately is in looking for a lot of old Hawaii posters on eBay (like Pan Am posters and such), the title always (and I mean always... it's the same sellers selling the same prints over and over again) says: "Vintage Hawaii poster etc."
Then in the description, it tells you that you are bidding on a "vintage reproduction" poster, and how vintage posters always go for so much more, so here's your chance to own one at a fraction of the cost.

And so on.

Brilliant arguments, especially bigbrotiki pointing out that these folks are stealing our time (I actaully got pissed when I realized that was true!). So I sent my first question and put it under the topic "The Seller Who Cried Tiki" (bigbrotiki's idea). I hope others ask questions of misleading sellers and turn them in to the eBay cops, as swanky suggested.

(It occured to me after posting the "Cry Tiki" topic that it may be better suited for the "Hunting" forum. I was thinking sociologically, or some similar BS. hanford-lemoore can do whatever voodoo needed to put it in with the shopping stuff if that is its rightful place.)

[ Edited by: woofmutt on 2002-06-10 23:25 ]

I feel all your pain. But as a buyer and seller for years (way more of a buyer) I sometimes will use words in my descriptions that pertain to items of similar iterest. For example when listing say a vintage swimsuit may say "check my other items listed this week for tiki mugs, pin-up clothing, and Danish modern lamps" I have bought several very different items from the same seller before to save shipping and often check their other auctions. Sorry but I have to say this too-when looking at tikis and you see a, say underwear, add you click on it just to see what it's all about and why it's "tiki" A very sneaky way to get you to look at their auction!
What I have found to work is not to check the item description box. If the word is not in the title it will not show it. This also helps weed out those CD sellers which I can't stand and should be the ones kicked off ebay! yuck!

I also pretty much search with "-tattoo". I find that any tiki item with "tattoo" in it is crap I will never buy.

Aloha's CenTikites,
If I start selling on e-bay like portable tiki bars, but they don't have a tiki on them am I gonna piss everyone off? Or, do I have enough "Tiki Blood" to get away with it.

Hey Ben- What a conundrum! You are right, the "Tiki Bar" might be one of the few items, just like the Tiki torch, that does not actually have to bear the likeness of Tiki to be named such...
Also, what was the name of the place on Catalina that you helped refurbish? Please post it under "HMS Bounty".

Bamboo Ben said: "portable tiki bars, but they don't have a tiki on them am I gonna piss everyone off?"

ONLY IF TIKI CENTRALITES DO NOT GET DISCOUNT!

No. Very different in my personal perspective. I mean, you're selling an item "a tiki bar" as it were. And that is what it is in name and association. That is what they were called. Right?

And, yeah, I'd think the "tiki blood" in our veins has some unity. I wouldn't complain.

Good luck.

As for a Tiki bar sans Tiki...It's the tacking on of "Tiki" to the title of an item that has nothing to do with Tikis or a Tiki environment that is so irritating. If a shirt is described as "Tiki bar/lounge wear" that's fine, who can say what one can wear to a Tiki bar (although I'm sure we all have an opinion on propire Tiki bar attire). I'll ignore such an item as I can tell it's probably not Tiki. Items one might find in a Tiki environment (rattan lamps, glass fish floats, bamboo bars) being described as "Tiki" isn't so annoying as it is a style (with a Tiki Central approved color palette). Of course one person's Tiki environment might be another's Tiki Hell (examining photos one can see a lot of seriously non Tiki stuff made it into the trader/beachcomber type Tiki bars). The big sin is a completely non Tiki item being described as "Tiki". In the case of the mints in aloha wrappers I looked at the item because I thought they might be some novelty mints in the shape of a Tiki. That was misleading and I hope the seller gets a big cavity from eating their damned "Tiki" mints.

How bout' " Portable thatched bamboo bars to showcse your favorite tiki mug." Is that to long of a tittle?

Ben:

I know this post is a long way back to answer this question, but since you played in role in developing the old bar at the "Reef Bar" in Palm Springs, is the current bar and lounge are at the back of the restaurant "Tiki"?

I don't know if Ben has seen it, but I would say it is still evolving, wanting to be "Tiki" when it's grown up. :)

Speaking of evolving (and since I did start this thread)...

My feelings about what constitutes Tiki have changed. I no longer believe that it has to have a tiki in order to be considered Tiki.

In the Woofmutt Style Guide to Internet Ranting and Time Wasting...

tiki (small t) is a representation of a Polynesian "god" whether anthropologically correct or completely made up. (This would also include a Party City rainbow faced and feather covered tiki in all its awfulness.)

Tiki (large T) refers to the Polynesian Pop style and includes all the elements typically associated with it.Tiki is a broad generalization and the term Polynesian Pop might be a better blanket phrase except it's five syllables long and pert near always requires a complex explanation when using it.

A Tiki bar is probably my one major exception to my highly personal rule that something can be Tiki and not involve a tiki. A Tiki bar should at the very least have one damned tiki in it if it's going to be called a Tiki bar.

However, among the Ordinaries it's completely understandable as to why the term Tiki would be applied to a bar covered in bamboo and thatch and decorated with some Pacific and nautical elements. If the so called "Tiki" bar is really swell I'm not going to bother trying to correct the misnomer. (If it's a really awful "Tiki" bar I'm not going to stay and will of course bitch about it here on Tiki Central.)

Then I hope it grows up soon and gets a consistent clientele so it doesn't go out of business.

The menu at the front of the diner is quite reasonably priced.

I've yet to order a drink from the back bar and actually pay for it. So far the ones I've had have all been free, including the ones with Huell Howser. However, they were all god awful.

I'm planning on going by on a weekend night to check out the quality being served.

Don't get me wrong, I need this place to succeed so that I don't have to drive 90 minutes at warp speed to get to either Tiki Ti or Don the Beachcombers.

By the way Woofmutt, both of the latter places succeed at being "tiki".

The Reef Bar, aka, The Tropics, has tiki mugs in display cases as well as a few faux tiki atriums.

The place is really a meth driven spin on Palm Springs Mid-Century Pop with a little tiki thrown in infused with the Rat Pack Room.

The whole racing motorcycle thing on the wall still is beyond me.

Can you explain the motorcycles bigbro?