My 5000friend experience

[tingjunkie]

All psychology aside, you guys do realize that Yixing pots aren't supposed to be grimey, smelly, and gross from regular tea use, and that real zhuni pots from the '60's-'80's simply don't sell for a buy it now price of $24, right? We can agree on these facts, yeah?

[achyle]

I agree with Tingjunkie, even modern pots are hard to find at that price, at least for westerners.

[Chip]

Reading this topic ... mystifies me. Well, when I read this and then view an ebay seller's 100% positive feedback score such as 5000friend.

Should we reward a vendor who we suspect is knowingly misrepresenting age, etc. of items sold, especially given the credibility issue that already exists with Yixing and related teawares?

Should we reward vendors selling Yixing possibly with agents added to misrepresent age? Even if they are not adding agents themselves, surely they can recognize when this has taken place.

That may even pose a health hazard to the more unsuspecting and naive buyer who might use these items?

We have the power to say no. Especially ebay stores where we can leave negative feedback. TBH, I know nothing about this seller except what I read on TeaChat ... and the seller's "100% positive feedback." If I did not have TC, all I might have is that score.

So, I ask myself, why is there no negative feedback on ebay? A few negatives would send a loud message to this seller. A few more can literally shut down an unscrupulous seller on ebay ... this is very true ... I have seen it and I have been a part of it.

Even posting the seller's name with your post can often boost the google rating of TeaChat topics to garner a page one on google searches.

Eh, what do I know ... I am just a country teaman who knows nada about Yixing.

[tingjunkie]

Good point Chip. I received my 5000 pot second hand, and it didn't require much cleaning by then. Hearing horror stories from other does make me wonder how a 100% positive score is possible though.

[achyle]

I’m sure that seller is offering credit for unhappy customers ready to click on the negative feedback, that’s maybe the reason why he has no negative feedbacks.

Returns are not in questions since his shipping fees are more than the pot itself, it’s not worth it.

I haven’t put my feedbacks yet on the two that I bought, I will tell him that I am not happy about the condition’s product, smells, my doubts on possible adding agents and I’ll let you know once I have a reply from him.

But can I put a negative feedback just based on “doubts”?

[hopeofdawn]

Just my two cents worth, having never bought a yixing off of Ebay--but if a vendor advertised a clean, well-made (if not antique) pot ready to use for making tea, and what I received was nothing of the kind ... then yeah, I'd definitely be leaving negative feedback, even if I'd managed to bring the pot to a usable state after the fact.

[Chip]

+1

I always make contact with the seller first. Some people who posted on TC in the past used negative feedback as a first strike weapon. I do not feel that is fair, advisable ... and actually somewhat violates ebay rules on feedback.

However, just because a vendor apologizes and credits money back does not obligate anyone to post positive feedback ... quite the contrary. Paying a buyer off after the offense is meaningless if the offense is apparently on purpose and there is a clear pattern.

Did they care about you when they sold you the product(s)? Were they watching out for your best interests when they sold you a potentially toxic product?

[achyle]

For sure, I will contact him first, I want to know what he has to say and it may be interesting, I'll post his reply later.

[tingjunkie]

Just for giggles, I'd be very tempted to send him a message to the effect of, "Dear Sir, please inform me as to why your teapots smell like 200 year old turtle ass, and look as though they were used as a soy sauce container in a Vietnamese restaurant of ill-repute?" and let Google translate it to Mandarin for me just to confuse him further.

Would it be productive? No, but probably quite funny!
__________________________________________________________________
親愛的主席先生，請告訴我為什麼你的茶壺，聞起來像200歲的烏龜屁股，並期待，雖然他們作為醬油容器中的不良聲譽的越南餐廳？

[achyle]

I'm not expecting a truthful answer from him.
but this guy needs to stop putting stuff in his pots that may be harmful to people.
as per his item description: Teapot has been cleaned in hot water,can use it directly

[AdamMY]

Teapot has been cleaned in hot water

Hmmm Yixing Autoclave? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoclave)

Though from the description of the pots from you and several others, it may not be bacteria that people are worried about but rather toxic elements in what ever the heck the coatings are.

[BioHorn]

Hello,
I have been meaning to write about this seller for over a year.

I purchased a total of about 8-9 pots. All are 80-125 ml or so. They came relatively clean. The photos of them most likely will speak the best. I curious about any comments or questions readers may have about these pieces. My experience with teapots insofar as collecting is nil. I just bought these because of their small size and shapes. Hopefully the writing is oriented correctly. (Not so sure about #5.?)
#1:
My favorite pot of them all. It is quite solid and pours very quick and smoothly. I tend to use it for Phoenix DC's.
a.

b.

c.



#2:
a.

b.

c.


#3:
a.

b.

c.

#4:
My favorite looking pot. Unfortunately the lid fell and broke.
The break however is clean and will hopefully mend well. To my untrained eye and hand, this seems to have the most refined clay. Any recommendations for best style of tea to brew in this pot? Maybe something with long leaf?
a.

b.

c.

d.

#5.
One that did not survive...
This was a beautiful pot that did not work worth a damn. If you are still reading, I was about to take a dremel to it to improve the flow. It would have not helped. In the photo of the spout you can see how clogged it was. I still cannot tell if that is clay or dirt or what

In the third picture you can make out two different tones. It looks as if the pot had been dipped in some sort of slip? Maybe someone can elaborate?
a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

g.

h.

i.

Thanks again for taking a look at my long post!

[gingkoseto]

#1:
My favorite pot of them all. It is quite solid and pours very quick and smoothly. I tend to use it for Phoenix DC's.
a.

Yeah this looks quite nice and born for dan cong. Is it red clay or brown clay? Yixing or Chaozhou?
(I ask about the color because it seems the other red pot looks somewhat brown in the photos.)

[gingkoseto]

The wrinkles on the third one looks a little unnatural and somewhat like what people call "paper towel wrinkle". Usually the artificial type of wrinkle is made on red clay (is yours brown or red, again? ). But the clay itself can still be good.

[TIM]

Bio - are you really using these to brew tea?