Hi All
I realise that I may have - probably certainly have - been somewhat disparaging of E-Bay as a way to buy VMIPBs
( I decline to comment on the early / middle period IPBs in which area I have zero expertise)
It occurred to me just this past week that for those of you over in the West, E-Bay is your equivalent to what I do in China - hunting down bottles in prime VMIPB shops. I know a few shops like this in each major city I regularly visit ( Beijing, Shanghai, Guuangzhou, Nanjing, Xian...) and whenever I visit those cities I always seek out those shops.
I think that on the Forum only Pat has the same experience "direct" in China
But even experienced collectors like me and Pat have to be on our guard against fake/ false-signed/ whatever / Not-the-real-thing bottles when bought direct in China face-to-face with the bottle. And please believe me: I have made some huge mistakes in the past -even buying a totally photo-faked bottle from my No 1 prestige VMIPB bottle shop in SH - the bottle even fooled the shop manager !
But frankly speaking, shopping for bottles direct in China is FUN
I now understand that for most of you in the Forum, who do not/ cannot travel to China freqeuntly, E-Bay is probably your only way to search for new bottles. And there's also the FUN of the search !
So - please do continue to search on E-bay and feel free to ask opinions from experienced collectors
Half the fun of collecting is THE SEARCH !
Cheers
Peter