[meteorite-list] For the record - I do not buy unsolicitedmeteorites from unknown sellers

From: Barry Hughes <bhughes_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:45:35 -0400
Message-ID: <AANLkTikh+yuCvvg7bcAYO9CXZrm4=89nZb-BUkZWBA=b_at_mail.gmail.com>

  I buy from you guys...I've learned my lesson...I have about 5 people I
  buy from with the exception of some guys in Germany who are IMCA
  guys...and of course Dean in Austrailia. I've been playing with some
  guy that says he's got like a 50 lb meteorite and would like to sell
  before he tests it. Yea, I'll wire the money right out.

On Sat, Aug 14, 2010 at 4:47 PM, al mitt <almitt at kconline.com> wrote:
> Hi Mike and all,
>
> The problem we have today in collecting is the few dishonest
> collectors/dealers who purposely sell items they know aren't the real McCoy.
> It gets sold to Tom, or Steve and they sell it or trade it and it ends up in
> another collection and then maybe a few years later, they trade for a larger
> specimen and so the fraud piece then ends up in someone else's collection,
> maybe a nice person who would never do anything wrong but not knowing they
> have a NWA and not some historical piece they thought they bought.
>
> I too buy from reliable sources (always have and always will) or have got my
> material from museum trades and so forth. I think with the unreasonable
> perception of meteorite value, we're going to have a lot of bad items
> floating around with people trying to sell them.
>
> There are some less than experienced new collectors out there that buy in
> good faith. Most deals are solid but if they don't know who the bad guys are
> then they may buy material that is misrepresented. Buy from dealers who have
> been around for a while or an IMCA dealer.
>
> Do some research on the meteorite list in the search archives spot. Type in
> misrepresented meteorite, fraud, arrrest, judgement or something like Caveat
> Emptor. You'll find out some useful information.
>
> --AL Mitterling
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Galactic Stone & Ironworks"
> <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
> To: "Meteorite List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2010 4:20 PM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] For the record - I do not buy
> unsolicitedmeteorites from unknown sellers
>
>
>> Hi ?List and Lurkers,
>>
>> For the record, let me clearly state - I do NOT buy meteorites from
>> strangers. ?I don't care how you found it, where you found it, or what
>> other people told you about it. ?I'm not interested.
>>
>> Over the last week I have received no less than 20 emails (most copy
>> pasted to several other dealers) from people with strange specimens
>> that are obviously not meteorites. ?I am not trying to be unfriendly
>> or harsh here, but please take 10 minutes to surf the web and read up
>> on the basics of meteorites. ?A few simple Google searches will tell
>> you that your vesicle-covered lava rock is not a meteorite. ?A simple
>> streak test will reveal that your specimen is hematite or magnetite.
>> If a person is not willing to do a small amount of homework before
>> bombarding me with multiple spam offers, then don't expect a reply
>> from me. ?I just don't have the time or inclination to carry on a
>> discussion with every person who finds a weird rock. ?I've tried many
>> times over the years to give thoughtful and helpful advice to people
>> who send me these emails and the majority of these people ignore what
>> I say and then contact several other dealers in the hopes that someone
>> will buy their story and rock. ?If a person doesn't trust my
>> assessment of their specimen, then why contact me in the first
>> place?......it's because they didn't do their homework on me either.
>>
>> I am a small potatoes dealer - even if your weird specimen turns out
>> to be a rare meteorite, I cannot afford to buy it, unless it's offered
>> for less than $100 with free shipping, regardless of size - this also
>> goes for basketball-sized lunars that have been verified by a
>> MS-approved lab. ?I'm just not in the market to buy such meteorites.
>>
>> I have a handful of trusted sources that I get my material from.
>> These sources are reliable with spotless reputations and I have a long
>> history of doing business with them. ?If I am going to buy a meteorite
>> from anyone, it's going to be one of my regular sources - not some guy
>> in Laos, a prison guard, or anyone else who is not a MS or IMCA
>> member.
>>
>> To anyone reading this who has found a possible meteorite - go to
>> these websites and do your homework before contacting a meteorite
>> dealer :
>>
>> http://meteorite-identification.com/index.htm
>>
>> http://meteorites.wustl.edu/meteorwrongs/meteorwrongs.htm
>>
>> http://meteorites.wustl.edu/realities.htm
>>
>> http://meteorites.wustl.edu/what_to_do.htm
>>
>> http://www.meteoritemarket.com/metid1.htm
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite
>>
>> If after reading these links, you still think you have a meteorite,
>> please contact anyone else but me - unless I win the lottery and later
>> retract this statement. ?LOL
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> MikeG
>
>
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Received on Sat 14 Aug 2010 06:45:35 PM PDT