Sales Site, good, bad or otherwise

[Chaindog13]

Has anyone here brought pieces from www.german-militaria.co.uk. If so what is their reputation like, I am looking to start my collection and saw of couple of EK2s their that I thought would be a good start.

I would also like to thank the members for the warm welcome I recieved and the helpfull replies I got to my first post.


Cheers Matt

[dkelley]

Hello Matt.

I too am a collector/dealer and know many of our member colleagues who have webs site as well. You will learn this forum can be quite helpful in authenticating a piece you may be uncertain about, just post it and ask. A consensus will evolve shortly there after. This is better in my opinion rather than being judged by the forum, although I know this dealer to be of good character and so forth.

My web site can be found at http://www.dkelley.net

Please also check out our sponsors. They are excellent sources as well. Then there is a forum site where members places items for sale. Again an excellent source for different items.

I hope this has been helpful to you, and welcome aboard!

Cheers,

Dan.

[Adrian]

Hello Matt,

I`ve bought a couple of items from this site in the past and have had no problems with them. My e-mails were replied to promptly and my purchases arrived well packaged.
The only drawback is that because I pay by cheque (coz its easier) I have to wait until it clears for my goods to arrive.
Hope this helps!

Best regards,
Adrian.

[keifer kahn]

I purchased a russian front medal from mark sansom of german militaria in the UK which is the above sight first mentioned.
I purchased it as an original medal with an original ribbon.And paid the price for what i thought was an original combination.

2 years later I obtained a black light,i tested all my stuff including medal ribbons.The russian front ribbon glowed.Further investigation revealed the ribbon was a repro.

2 years was way over the inspection period,but i still wanted an explanation.I didnt expect a refund nor a replacement ribbon.(a decent dealer may have replaced this automatically regardless of inspection period).I just simply wanted him to acknowlege the fact and to say "my error,im sorry".
I emailed him 3 times from my ISP email address,3 times from my yahoo account,and 2 times from a friends email.All emails explained exactly the transaction,the fake ribbon,all details.
I wasnt rude ,nor threatening,nor aggressive.In fact i was quite pleasant and the mails were all along the line"hey buddy,i just noticed......"

8 emails ,not one reply.
No email got returned with delivery failure notices
The guy is ignoring me(i thought).

I made up a hotmail account with a bogus name,and made 4 seperate sales enquiries.
Mark Sansom replied to all 4 emails,including a reply with updated shipping costs for 1 of the emails.

After establishing that i had made regular contact with mark sansom with out a problem,I sent him another email using the hotmail account,Titled "sales enquiry".But i put the outstanding question about the ribbon to him.
Guess what?
No reply.
Sent him another email.
No reply.

What does this tell you?



I would stick to Shea,niemann,and the rest of the sponsors on here.


Regards keifer

[dkelley]

Hi Keifer.

That doesn't sound like the Mark Sansom I know. But your story certainly answers the question.

I bought from Mark about 3 years ago and never had a problem. As a fellow "dealer," responsibility begins at the sale and your remarks are well taken. I feel any person who engages in the sale of collectibles has a responsibility to take care of his customer, doing whatever may be necessary to remedy a concern, problem or situation.

What would anyone have to gain by dodging a customer inquiry to make a simple exchange except to draw negative publicity (case in point) and lose their business for good?

I say do your damnedest to serve those you solicit and go the extra mile every time. I can say from experience it takes lots of work and lots of time to gain the loyalty and trust of a repeat buyer and very, very easy to burn one off.....intentionally or not.

Dan.

[Robert P.]

Serving the People

I have bought quite a few items from Mark over the last 3 years. In fact I believe he was the first dealer I ever bought anything from on line. I have never had any sort of 'problem' with Mark. To the contrary, he has always shown that his foundation was to serve the people. I like his products, speedy delivery and 'no-questions-asked' policy on any sort of return. I purchased a 7-place ribbon bar from him about 6 months ago. I found out that it was not an original. I e-mailed him and explained the problem. He wrote back saying that the WWl ribbon bars were not really his expertice and encouraged me to return it for a refund or credit on a new piece. I really believe that he had no idea that it wasn't authentic. I like working with him. We have talked on the phone a few times and I have found him to be very polite and honest in his dealings. He is currently trying to sell his website with all of it's products to pursue a higher degree in airplane engineering. He regrets having to do it but, he just doesn't have the time needed to do both. He himself is a collector and historian who prizes all of these things just like we do. I can say from experience that working with Mark will be a good experience for you. Robert

[keifer kahn]

I never understood myself why he did ignore me.I never asked at any time for an exchange,refund or anything other than an explanation.just a simple acknowledgement would of done.

To protect each other as collectors its vital we pass on transaction details.This is all ive done.Its up to the next guy what course he follows.

In regards to marks business,I simply never went back.

regards keifer

[Chaindog13]

dealers

Being this will be my first purchase I wanted it to be a memorable one and as such I have decided to go with Niemann. Thanks for all of the feedback I recieved.

Cheers Matt

[Pascal H.]

Wise choice Matt, if you ask me. Five years ago I bought online one of my first German medals from Mark. It was a Iron Cross First Class in case. One of the specialities of German Militaria Collectibles.
It was one of the star pieces of my collection for many years (being the first Iron Cross I bought, etc.).
About 4 months ago I asked on this forum for the opinion about this Iron Cross. The case was good but the Cross was a definite fake. The Cross was marked L11 (and not L/11) and was marked in the wrong place. A fake that a dealer should have spotted from a mile off.
You can read about it in thread: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...threadid=11080
I looked up Mark’s site and could read that he was planning to sell the site. I never bothered to email him about the Cross, it was almost five years after I bought the Cross.
This was my (only) experience with Mark from German Militaria Collectibles.

Pascal

[keifer kahn]

Good choice matt.
Detlev Niemanns expertise in german militaria is well recognised on here.And so is the level of professionalism in his dealing with collectors.Im sure your first purchase will be a good one.
regards keifer

[hi-revr]

1

Fellow newby,

As a 25 year piddler in militaria who has decided to get back in the fold seriously I can tell you anybody that has a couple of "questionable transactions" like mentioned above is enough for me to stay away from. I spent many weeks on this site reading before I spent a penny. Between this site's sale section, Detlev, Bill Shea, and Gailen David, you have four sources, three of which guarentee for life. I think That says it all. If a guy won't make good on something weeks or months later I have no time for him. Let's face it, this stuff is getting way expensive. Do you really want to take a chance when spending say $1000 for a high end badge?

I get the shakes when I see something on Ebay, or one of these other guys sites, But what I do is either not look or do mucho research and make sure I know it's real. I don't question whether or not he was being dishonest, but if he made a mistake two years ago he should make good on it. Just think of how many guys are going to read this thread and not buy stuff from him anymore or at least be very careful. And over a $10 ribbon, It does tell me one thing.....he's not a very smart business man.

[hawksy]

I think that is what's wrong, he's an ''airplane engineer''and collector last, not a militaria dealer who has gained his experiance through years of handling items that we collect.
These so called dealers are cropping up all the time, trying to make money out of fellow collectors.

Who look here's away of making a few buck's.

lee.

[Hauptmann]

I just dealt with Bill shea (Ruptured Duck). He is fantastic to say the least. "A lifetime guarantee"...it cannot be beat. He is fast, very friendly, and willing to assist....regardless of your level of experience in the hobby. If he says something is real..99.99% of the time you can be sure it is. We all make mistakes, but I have no doubt that he will NOT let you make a BIG or high dollar mistake. Just my two cents. He goes over high end VERY carefully before he even lists an item.

[Michel]

Hi Matt,

Go to the Detlev's site for starting your EK collection, you will be sure to have a good pieces.

Regards

Michel

[Neil Howes]

HI Matt

Wise choice, I have bought alot from Detlev. Any problems or issues are sorted quickly & I have had all postage refunded. I have even received an unsolicited refund from him. You cannot ask for better service. However getting to the the item you want first can sometimes be another issue!

I am not criticising any of the other sponsors or telling you not to use them, just passing on my own experience of Herr Niemann.

The other place I would reccommend is the estand.

Good luck,

Neil