Good for him, but...

I know it's a free market and all, but don't you almost want to say something to these people?

e-bay auction

actual item?

Since the seller's description seems to be accurate, I don't have any problem with an auction such as this. I do have a problem with unscrupulous ebay sellers who pass off new items as vintage. For example, when the seller AntiqueCove sold a Tiki Farm replica Suffering Bastard as vintage and got $130. details here.

Yeah I'd say to the potential buyer, go watch the Brady Bunch episode where Greg buys and then tries to sell a used car and Peter says to Mr Brady "Greg is going to Covet his Emptor" ... or something like that.

And to the seller I'd say good job and thank you for NOT adding VINTAGE, SHAG-A-DELIC, RETRO, EAMES-LIKE...blah, blah, blah in your title. :D

But YOU get points for the Real Genius quote, CornTiki.

I wasn't questioning the ethics of the auction (sorry if it seemed like I was). He is representing them accurately. The bargain hunter in me just wants to scream, though.

Real Genius - Val's finest work. :D

I hate when people back load an auction with shipping.

I know it doesn't cost 10 bucks to send a 5 dollar Tiki mug!

Actually, it was Oriental Trading Co that had misleading descriptions in the links CornTiki provided in his post.

OT states that the mugs are 'porcelain' and they're obviously not.

I'm Confused... Why are they obviously not porcelain? I didn't see anything in the description which leads me to think that they are not. Porcelain is easily slip-cast. Not being rude, just curious....

I agree shipping is a tad high... even for two mugs. But if I were to buy just the two mugs directly from OT, thier shipping would be $6.95. Maybe that's what they are basing it on.

BTW, the Columbo in me noticed the sellers eBay name is madnyer.... it got me thinking, if you rearrange the letters... nedyahr? Hhhmmmmm, well almost. and who was THAT again? :wink:

On 2003-08-14 09:49, Saint-Thomas wrote:
I'm Confused... Why are they obviously not porcelain? I didn't see anything in the description which leads me to think that they are not. Porcelain is easily slip-cast. Not being rude, just curious....

I could be wrong (though not usually), but it's my layman's understanding that porcelain, besides being typically translucent and white, consists primarily of koalin, quartz, and feldspar and is fired at high temperatures. This process is more expensive and as such, would more than likely not be used in low-end slip cast tiki mugs.

You are absolutely right on all accounts, TikiBong. The firing proccess is about the only thing that is more expensive vs. other ceramics. However, porcelain can be made to vitrify at the same temperature as stoneware or earthenware by adjusting the feldspar. It is common for large production facilites to use porcelain in their molds to make dinnerware for pennies. Then they put the word "Porcelain" on it somewhere and jack up the price.
A good way to tell what your cups are made from is to give it a ring. Providing that it has no cracks or glaze defects, a "DING" indicates high fire (a bell - like sound for porcelain), and a "TINK" indicates low fire. A "THUNK" indicates that it is cracked or very thick.
So you are probably right about the materials because of the cost of firing, but I just wanted to say that it can be done easily and inexpensively.
Cheers!