Ebay SAs

[JaimeH]

There were about 5 SA daggers on ebay this morning, I was bidding on one. I received an email from ebay saying the item was removed from bidding, I figured he may have shown the swaz a little to much. I just went on and all SAs have been removed. You can't sell a SA dagger on ebay even if you don't show the eagle side? What gives?

[APC]

Who Knows

I have seen EBay remove auctions even when the item, the picture, and the description was in complete agreement with there listing policies, and the item was described as a Repro !

It also seems if the seller includes the words "Waffen SS" or "SA" they will remove it.

I have also seen them leave items up to closing when they were totally in violation of the listing polices.

They especially seem to enjoy de-listing an item when it closes in a few hours after it has been up for 7 days.

If I`m interested I always EMail the seller early on for more information so when they de-list it I can try for a private purchase.

[CurtD]

The Ebay policy du jour seems to be they will delete anything "associated" with the Nazi Party -- even if it does not have a swastika (or whatever other symbols happen to upset some people).

They specifically look for the words "Nazi, HJ, SS, SA, NSDAP, Hitler"

The only auctions that are safe are for military items that are not associatated with the NSDAP and do not bear any Nazi symbols. Blocking & cropping the symbols makes no difference.

They have probably figured out that all SA daggers have the national symbol whether it is visible or not.

For some reason, books, money, stamps, and coins are exempt. I really don't understand why a picture of Hitler and a swastika on a stamp is not offensive, but a helmet with a swastika decal is.

Someone should try glueing a Hitler-head stamp to a helmet and see what Ebay does about that.

Or perhaps someone should just state that the swastika decal on the helmet is from a book, and therefore exempt.

[R. Schmitt]

Hello yall - Simply search for Black or Brown dagger on ebay. That's a pretty common disguise for the SS or SA daggers there.

[sdp]

Part of eBay's policy:

Examples of items that will generally be removed:

Items that bear symbols of the Nazis, the SS, or the KKK, including authentic German WWII memorabilia such as Olympic medals that bear such marks

Items that were owned by or affiliated with Nazi leaders

Bottom line is, you're not allowed to list these items, end of story.

[Chris Lee]

Ebay Removal

I`ve had the pleasure of dealing with Ebay and their policies several times and have learned several things. As the last thread stated, you cannot show the swastika, Hitler, SS or basically any party markings on anything except stamps,money and some publications. Mein Kampfs are now allowed as long as its stated that it will only be shipped within the USA and is a historical item. As was also stated its fairly safe to list something with the most brief description possible ie. brown dagger, black dagger, etc. with no picture and like I said shipping only within the USA. I know its harder to sell an item when you can`t view it right away and most people pass over a listing without a picture, but thats about the only way ebay will leave a listing alone.

[CurtD]

I`ve had the pleasure of dealing with Ebay and their policies several times and have learned several things. As the last thread stated, you cannot show the swastika, Hitler, SS or basically any party markings on anything except stamps,money and some publications.

This could use some clarification: the item cannot "bear the symbols" of the Nazi Party & SS. Just not showing the swastika won't cut it. I've seen people say things like, "I can't show the swastika, so email me for pics" or "I am following all Ebay regulations and not showing the offensive symbols" and their auction will be cancelled. If you list an "SS Dagger" with no pics, it is subject to deletion because you can't use Nazi terms either (and this includes "RZM" believe it or not). Photographs are OK, but I have seen authographed Hitler photos get cancelled as well.

Some idiots will even cancel anything that looks like a maltese cross (no matter when it was made, WWI, 1957, or junk biker stuff). It all depends on which minimum wage Ebay dufus happens to check the report of your "offensive" auction.

A lot of "black daggers" are cancelled as well (regardless of pictures), but I have not been able to figure out what they are basing this on since most seem to get through. Again, I guess some folks at Ebay have figured out what a "Black Dagger" is and some haven't.

And there is no rhyme or reason to whether or not you get suspended from Ebay. Some get suspended on their first offense and have all their other auctions deleted as well, and some just keep on listing again and again.

I wonder when they will catch on to "Elite"

[Chris Lee]

Ebay

Curtd,
You`re right on all counts. As far as singling people out thats very true. I once put a Wehrmacht belt buckle up on ebay. The price had gotten up to $55.00 when I got an email from some guy who said if I stopped the auction he`d give me $60.00.With 5 days left and several bids already up I wrote him back and said that would`nt be possible. 20 minutes after I hit the send key the buckle was pulled and ever since then I`ve had one problem after the other with items being pulled then relisted then pulled so on and so forth, kinda like someone is on the lookout for "offensive" items I might list.

[RUHL13]

This book I listed on ebay, with in 3 days with 1 bid it was cancelled. Ebay pulled it saying something about hatred. Ahhhhh, no offensive symbols here.
I guess it was not politicaly correct? Does Ebay even have a clue how much money they are losing due to thier f* ed up policies. Swatstika offends you, simple solution, DO NOT go to WW2 German items.
Regards,
Gary

[RevYJ]

It's all very simple. You have to figure that every other person who you come in contact with is below average intelligence. Those who determine Ebay policy reside on the left half of the bell curve.

You can't blame them. Some people are just born that way. Deal with it as best you can.

[CurtD]

One other thing to keep in mind: it is not Ebay who are out looking for offensive auctions. These are all reported by busy-bodies who have nothing better to do with their time than search for something to be offended by. With the Internet, they can be offended much more often than ever before.

There are several organizations whose sole purpose is to scan for offensive auctions. If there are this many people with this much free time, I think this shows we have way too much prosperity in this country. We need a good economic disaster to get people thinking right again and worrying about staying alive rather than being offended.

[LES Y]

Curtd,
You`re right on all counts. As far as singling people out thats very true. I once put a Wehrmacht belt buckle up on ebay. The price had gotten up to $55.00 when I got an email from some guy who said if I stopped the auction he`d give me $60.00.With 5 days left and several bids already up I wrote him back and said that would`nt be possible. 20 minutes after I hit the send key the buckle was pulled and ever since then I`ve had one problem after the other with items being pulled then relisted then pulled so on and so forth, kinda like someone is on the lookout for "offensive" items I might list.

Looks like the guy has you on his favourite sellers list, every week he gets an e-mail from Ebay informing him of any items you have listed.

Les

[steve h]

i have very much the same problem. i put on a full set of mothers crosses including miniatures, photo just showed the backs, no swastikas. at exactly the same moment another e-bayer put a gold mothers cross on, they appeared next to each other in the listings. trouble was his pic showed the front of the award, within a few hours his auction was pulled. i was going to e-mail him to tell him that i wasn`t responsible, but ...bosh!. within thirty minutes my crosses had been pulled!. i figure he thought i`d turned him in as competition, and then ratted on me. trouble is all my tr items are pulled within the hour now, i figure he`s got me on his list!.and i don`t have his e-mail , so i`ll stay off there a while and hope he loses interest , oh . and just in case he`s a forum member ( you never know!!) . IT WASN`T ME!!.

[Carson]

I have a lot more faith in the e-stand here, than I do in eBay. At least in WAF it is historical and has more ethical policies on authenticity, than eBay. The listings here allow for feedback from other members, if there is a doubt.

Best of all though, is the knowledgable and terrific members I have met here that encourage and support the hobby. You can learn the story behind the items, the history of the militaria and then share it with other members!

I have had my share of "aged repros" from eBay. An auction site I enjoyed for TR stuff is Zillion, a New Zealand auction site, without the TR restrictions. I got some awesome things from David Harcourt who stands behind his product.

http://www.zillion.co.nz/

[KNIGHTSCROSS]

The Great Irony to all this, is that Ebay themselves have become a a kind of Psuedo Nazi State in their own right, dictating to people across the World and forcing compliance with the Ebay state policy(as it suits them).

Step out of line just once, and you will forever be on the watch list at THE eBAY Fuhrer bunker ready for a visit from the Ebay state police.

Where is the logic to these politically correct over zealous morons? The 3RD Reich is of huge historical interest the World over, and do's not make anyone with an interest automatically a Nazi.

We ignore our past history at our peril and pretending that it never happened or worse still, erasing it completely from our history books, will one day cost a future generation dearly when history repeats itself.

Here in the UK, I have 2 sons at school and the subject of WW2 is is pretty much deleted from history lessons.

i do despair.