A buyer can cancel an offer before payment for almost any reason. In most cases a buyer can force a return through eBay if the item is incorrectly described. eBay has a fairly strong buyer's protection policy.

A pro would be when a seller calls it a cheap material but it is actually a very nice glass trade bead or good quality stone. If it's something I want I'll buy it without saying anything, then look at the rest of their items... just like going to a swap meet!

Sometimes I'll inform them of mistakes when I'm searching, but I try not to dispense bad news too often. Just today I told a seller their amethyst beads were garnet... not sure if that's better or worse, just different.

There is a seller who keeps trying to sell plastic beads as Venetian glass. Twice my messages have been rebuffed, each sent a year apart. Usually the response is more positive to such messages, but this guy just won't admit he is wrong.

Cons... most of the time there are not many as long as I trust my own research and knowledge and don't depend on what a seller has to say. I can usually return mistakes if they were purchased on Ebay... not necessarily so on other venues.

An Ebay education about collectibles has drawbacks. When I tried to learn about vintage glassware on Ebay there is as much mis-information as there is in the bead category. I now go to Facebook groups to learn things, or other internet groups such as this one. And books, of course.

For example, this recent auction on eBay that is described as "Vintage Antique Black Venetian Wedding Cake Art Glass Beads".

Right now I focus on asking sellers for as much information as possible on items I'm truly interested in buying. Otherwise I have received a lot of "why are you wasting my time" type responses when I offer corrections to their misrepresentations.

It's what I think of as The Galbraith Effect:

"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof."

I've come to deeply appreciate customers or observers who write me about things in my shops. Sometimes these messages are intended to correct erroneous information in my listing, sometimes to share additional information or provide context for the item. Sometimes these initial contacts lead to ongoing exchanges that help make selling on line - particularly internationally, so much fun.

For online sellers, I do not bother. I hardly buy anything online anyway.

When it is at a market or a shop, I might strike up a conversation and try to see if they are genuinely interested in what they are selling. If they are, I may let them know what they are misrepresenting. However, I will always do this without any other customers present. Nobody wants to be 'schooled' in front of (other) customers.

If they do not appear interested, or I get the idea that the deceit might be (somewhat) intentional, I ignore it. Generally not worth my energy.

Once had a high end Dutch antiques dealer with a very good reputation grossly misrepresent beads (new Indonesian repros). Started a conversation but was quickly 'put in my place'. Not wasting my time. I'm sure they will have issues with customer complaints when the customers find out.

Sometimes, the lack of knowledge of sellers comes in handy as well. Bought several items cheaply when a seller did not know what he had. Silver and saphiret necklace, Egyptian revival Czech necklace, etc.

Pros - whether on line or in person at stores/shows.....if the seller cares and is not so arrogant as to think they know everything there is to know about their item, they have learned something, and hopefully are willing to share it.

Cons - if the seller doesn't care or if their intent is simply to scam, I've wasted my time. But usually I can evaluate quickly - whether my effort is worthwhile. So the only "con" I can think of is the lack of satisfaction if my info is unappreciated.

the pro would be if the seller makes the corrections, the con would be if the seller tells you to go jump in a lake

When I come across a listing that is wrong I often tell the seller that their pretty necklace or bracelet is made up of glass beads from India/Java/China/Czechoslovakia. But I also educate them by providing examples of other correct auctions that are running. This way the sellers LEARN from their mistakes and feel good about it. Simply admonishing a seller for their mistakes puts them on the defensive and they learn nothing from the exchange. Additionally, many sellers are selling thrift store finds or estate pieces and have no real clue as to what they have. Gauging from listings on eBay an amateur seller/buyer would conclude that almost all of the glass beads/jewelry in the world are made in Venice! So far 90% of the time I get a thank you and they either change the listing or remove it. The con side is getting blocked from ever purchasing from the seller again.

Oh yes, there is a risk of being blocked by sending such messages. I used to use an alternate ID to send information messages. Maybe I should do that again.

Good job on your current auction Paige, I just noticed the activity.

After contacting a seller about a misrepresented set of beads, I had the distressing experience where the seller purchased a small item from me and then left negative feedback to "get even". I contacted eBay but they would not remove the comment. Even more disturbing was the fact that this particular seller lived in an adjacent town (what a weird coincidence, or, bad bead karma coming back to me) and thus had my home address from the shipping label. This made me paranoid for around 6 months and I started using a P.O. Box for eBay sales. After a couple of years of no further problems I went back to using my home address. Still wonder sometimes if I might not run into difficulty from this guy, but it's been over 5 years now.

However in the meantime I have contacted plenty of sellers with mis-rep's but just recently decided to stop due to the sometimes blistering replies...

I've never been blocked, though, as far as I know. But I blocked the aforementioned retaliator.

My all-time favorite mis-rep was the Venetian bead advertised as a "First Century Islamic" bead. Try to get someone to understand that Islam was not in existence until the early 7th century... let alone that the bead was late 1800s Venetian.

I have always, always kept a p.o. box wherever I live for almost all mail except family. There is just too much mail theft from home deliveries, not to mention privacy issues. Currently we live up a 100 yard driveway with the unlocked mail box by the side of the road, with plenty of room for someone to pull over and raid 15 boxes in about a minute...

My site offers hundreds of trade bead strands and singles and I KNOW there's misdescription, nonsense, and a clear demonstration that I'm not among the 50 most knowledgeable bead sellers on the internet. It's not deliberate, though, and I LOVE when someone corrects me - will usually fix it within 24 hours. Being on BCN has helped me, and a couple of present and former posters have been generous in sharing their knowledge with me. Thanks Again!

I want to offer, for what it's worth, moral support for those of you who take the risk of contacting ebay (and other) sellers to point out misdescription and fakes. A hobby without folks like you is like a body without an immune system.

I am a bead seller and have many old beads that i have to research. I do my best researching with books,online information and consulting with other sellers. Occasionally I'll get a polite correction from a knowledgeable person and i'm extremely appreciative. I'll follow up to confirm what I've been told. I'll send him;/her a thank you. I could do without the snide arrogant corrections. fortunately they're infrequent

For example - these are totally fake, right? Did they really sell for $1,000+?

Perfect example of someone should have told the seller!

http://caseantiques.com/item/lot-599-ancient-middle-eastern-glass-beads/