I just wanted those of you that might be tempted that a well known fake seller has currently listed several sonnets on ebay.
He has 2300+ feedback and a rating of 99.9% but I have examined many pens that he sold over time (under different names) and they were all fake.
(check with our FPN members donwinn, OneRiotOneRanger and Rabbit). His ebay handle is now iamsellingmycollection. He has now switched to
private bids so that his buyers names are not disclosed. Ebay has closed several of his accounts in the past but he has a large number of them and always comes back. He is very willing to send you a refund if you challenge the authenticity of his pens just so that he does not get a negative feedback.
Be careful.

How can you see from those pictures that it is a fake? Or are the unclear pictures exactly the warning signal for you?

I have noticed this guy, and if I am thinking of the right person he will often call the pens used with no box, Probably to blame whatever imperfections the pen has to use. I could be thinking of another seller but I don't think so.

No. In many cases it takes very careful observation with a loupe to find out. (X-ray or chemical analysis helps )
But he has been using continuously the same pictures since couple of years ago, when we first found him.
Check this posting http://azfp.blogspot.com/2007/07/fake-sonnets.html for more info about
fake sonnets.

Antonio,

I have to disagree with you on this one, I respect your opinion but I have bought pens from him Stainless GT and CT Fountain and other rollerballs. I have never had an issue. They came in the heavy Grayish box with all the correct booklet. Only addition is a label outside obviously printed by them to indicate the name of the pen, was stuck on the outside of the outer box.

So, in my opinion this pesong is getting the slack of some other seller who he unfortunately got tainded by.

This in my on opinion and what I got from him.

WHat do you think ?

I unfortunetaly can testify to having recieved a fake Sonnet from him! I posted his most recent negative feedback, and forwarded all pertinent information to SANFORD USA, and have notified Ebay and PayPal by opening a claim. Here is the item number:
180207273631

He is from Raleigh NC if anyone has any information I will be in Raleigh on Wendsday and Thursday on business. Not sure if there is anything I can do other than possible talk to the local Post Master from the Post Office he uses. The money is a non-issue, I just want to see him stop stealing other peoples money.

Adrian

When I saw the familiar pics on eBay, I queried the seller via eBay as to where he was located. He replied that he was in Chicago, or somewhere else in the Midwest. Don't remember now. But a later ebay entry showed his location as NC. If he is evasive/untruthful about where his location, how reliable is he regarding truthfulness regarding what he sells?

Donnie

Adrian, you make me feel a little bit better about having been suckered by him myself! Ya gotta love the bay!

Interesting, how do you know it is not Genuine ??

I have also bought from them and sent the pens to Sanford UK and all came back with Top Grade.

Well it just didn't look right when compared to my Sterling Cesile Sonnet. The nib looked identical, though it was monotone and not 2 tone as it should be. The font was slightly larger than orginal, the stap on teh cap stsing Sonnet FRANCE was not centered in teh back but was off (this is the biggest give away)ans the cap when posted went way too far down the end of the barrel. The clip seemed slightly off color, a different shade of silver, and the fit/finish just didn't seem as tight as my genuine one. Check out this link for more info:

http://www.stylophilesonline.com/07-06/07sonn.htm

Adrian

I see, I my self have a Cisele' I got from a seller like Staples in the Netherlands, the Cisele' to my knowledge is built different than all other Sonnets. They made this pen with extra care and limited quantity due to the use of Sterling Silver thru the whole pen. When compared to any other of my sonnets it is different. I have about 45 of them. I am a nut for them.

Anyways, thanks for the info

Yani

I love my Cisele, it's my everyday use pen. Is it the only Sterling Silver Sonnet made?

A

Yes it is the only one that they made. All others are plated or lacquer

The Cisele' is going to become rarer now after the introduction of the new Sonnets in March. I was told by Sanford that at this time the Cisele will be reintroduced later this year

Sal Kaskas aka: iamsellingmycollection has turned his ebay rating to private and pulled all of his listings off. Gee I wonder why? I'm sure he won't be gone for long, but at least for now he's stopped ripping people off.

A

Hi Tony
The sonnet Fougere was also Sterling Silver
Regards
Paul

This guy from NC is a crook. I examined many pens from him using microscopes and x-ray (yes x-rays) in my lab.
All the pens that were bought from this guy and sent to me for examination were fake.
The fake Ciseles are less heavy than the true ones. The nibs are easily identified as plated.
He uses exactly the same paypal account despite the multiple ebay handles.

SonnetCollector, Sanford either has no clue or pretends that nothing happened. There were cases here at FPN were people sent a fake nib to Parker for exchange and got back a nice legit nib. Go figure...

You would think that Ebay would have suspended his Paypal account by now.

-Bruce

Ugh, well, I can verify that this seller has begun listing things once again on ebay, as I have bid on one of the Sonnets that he had listed (unfortunately, before I came upon this forum).

I'm a newbie to the world of fountain pen collecting and thought maybe that the deep discount on this item was indicative of the fact that this man is a wholesaler. After reading the posts here, I can see that I had no such luck. Well, chalk it up to experience I guess, it's not a lot of money but it really irritates me that I'm supporting someone who engages in arguably criminal practices or at the least, customer deception.

If anyone is interested, here's the link to the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...I:IT&ih=008

One small hope though, the auction isn't over yet, so he hasn't got my money... anyone have much experience with getting ebay to rescind my bid?

Thanks all for sharing your knowledge and experience!

~Nathan

I checked your action, this is an OK pen. I bought from this guy before and sent my pens (I got 6 from him all different colors, Sonnets FPs) to Sanford and exchanged the nibs to Medium (my favorite), all came back changed with no issues.

I do not see you bidding on that item at this time ???

Antonios,
How the H**L did you get your hands on an xray machine, how can get one, very cool.
You must be some Professor of Engineering.

So, a little update on the Sonnet that I mentioned in my post above. I sent an email to the seller "iamsellingmycollection" on ebay asking him or her if the pen came with the original box and paperwork. A couple hours later I got an email with a simple "yes it does". Seconds after that I received another email, informing me that my bid had been canceled by the seller. Very interesting.
Antoniosz had mentioned in an earlier posting how "iamsellingmycollection" is very averse to getting negative feedback, haha, apparently! At the first hint of my suspicion of the pen's authenticity he panicked.
Thanks again to everyone for the info here, I'm definitely going to be more cautious with any purchases in the future. It's too bad ebay doesn't do something about this person...

So, any suggestions on a reputable source for purchasing a Parker Sonnet? :-) In another forum I saw pretty positive reviews of penwa.com, any others?

Since you do not feel comfortable buying online, I suggest you stick with a B & M store. The safest for you.

I feel just fine buying online, though perhaps a little skeptical of ebay now. Don't know of any B & M's around here, can anyone recommend some good, reputable online stores?

http://www.fahrneyspens.com/ItemList--Park...en--m-801--b-31

Have you decided for sure on a Sonnet? You could get a New Old Stock Parker 75 for less money.

There are several very trustworthy pen sellers on Ebay! Two names are montgomerypens and "penseller from france". Both are recommended for Parker Sonnets.



The Sonnet is heavily discounted at several places currently, probably because a new model is coming.

Personally I prefer the size of the Sonnet, though the 75 is the more classic pen.

Hey David,

No, I'm not set on a sonnet, though the matte black and silver one looks beautiful. Another that's piqued my interest is the Lamy 2000 (hope that's not heretical to say in the Parker forum :-) ). Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check out the 75!

Thanks Jthole, I'll look up their storefronts on ebay!

One completely stupid question - what's the Phillip Benz collection and what's the fuss about it?

Well, I hate to give the smart-aleck answer of do a search - but you should. There are half a dozen threads here re the Phillip Benz collection. Short answer: it is a guy in New Jersey who uses a lot of hyberbole to describe pens he is auctioning on ebay. I bought a Parker 75 Cisele from him some months ago and was very happy with the pen.