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eBay Fakes Devalue the Craft of Tomb Robbing

Posted by kdawson on from the disintermediation-of-the-illicit dept.

James McP writes "According to an article on Archaeology, fake artifacts being sold on eBay have caused the bottom to drop out of the low-end artifact market. This outcome is exactly opposite to what archeologists feared would happen when eBay came on the scene. A side effect of more and more forgers getting in on the act has been a dramatic increase in high-quality fakes that can fool experts and illicit collectors alike, lowering the price for high-end artifacts as well. It's a lot less cost-effective to go tomb raiding than to make your own fakes, especially since selling fake artifacts isn't really illegal."

7 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. fake or not? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    So wait. Are you telling me that Lara Croft's are fake?

    1. Re:fake or not? by UnknowingFool · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well her guns are USP 9mm, and the variants of the USP are used by the German military. However, the extended barrels and weighted match are only used in competition shooting and never . . . oh you mean her other guns. Definitely fake.

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  2. I'm sure I'm not the only one who saw by Dachannien · · Score: 4, Funny

    "eBay Fakes Devalue Lara Croft of Tomb Raiding"

  3. Re:Disagree in part! by AvitarX · · Score: 5, Funny

    But it is not "really" illegal.

    Just as stealing $5.00 out of your girlfriends wallet may be illegal, but selling drugs to schoolchildren is "really illegal".

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  4. My fake auctions suffer by SnarfQuest · · Score: 4, Funny

    I sell fake artifacts for the fake ebay artifact auctions, and have noticed this. I used to get three times as much for my fake artifacts (with aged certificate of authenticy). Because of this, I now write "This Artifact is Fake, Hoser" in the appropriate runes on each one I produce. They still sell well, and noone has caught on yet.

    --
    Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
  5. Well, my Egyptian Mummy is authentic . . . by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Funny

    I know, because he often rises from the dead in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping. He then proceeds to drink my beer, eat my chips and generally make a mess of the apartment.

    He seems to have a penchant for microwave burritos as well. I can't remember any references to burritos in the Bible's chapter of "Exodus."

    And he has been downloading porn on my computer, as well. Mummies seem to be into some weird kink. I'm kind of glad that I can't read Hieroglyphics . . . that's probably some nasty stuff that scholars have mistranslated.

    If he was not such a valuable archeological artifact, I probably would have tossed the bastard.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  6. Failed oportunity by pavon · · Score: 4, Funny

    This headline totally should have been:
    eBay Fakes Lower Craft of Tomb Raiding.