Too good to be true

usually is...

Any new Trollbeads collector surfing the web to find (online) Trollbeads retailers usually at least once ends up seeing, buying beads from eBay, another local marketplace or in this case the Dutch Marktplaats. Currently there's again a seller active offering beads at approx. wholesale prices: http://verkopers.marktplaats.nl/7407381

I myself being new to Trollbeads a few years ago and not knowing any retailers in the vicinity ordered from such a 'retailer' as well ending up with horrific examples of Trollbeads that flagged 'fakes' immediately.
Unless a Trollbeads retailer goes out of business and sells off stock -which doesn't happen in NL as stock is returned to TB NL as far as we know of- these prices promise only one thing: a hopefully good looking fake Trollbead. Buyer beware!

A very unfortunate side effect of these fakes is they may end up with collectors through swapping/sales. So always be sure to check any bead you are forwarding to another Trollie, it is your responsibility. When you acquired beads at unrealistic discount prices from unofficial retailers you could be forwarding fake beads. Perhaps you don't mind, but another collector most likely does.

I hope trollbeads will close this site soon if they can.

Does trollbeads only have one style of 925s LAA stamp. So it will be easy to tell some fakes.

So far, I only bought one bead from my LD, 5 from trollbeads baden baden, one from bead sensation (german clover), bought my tulip and book through a website another trollie sent me (and it is most def real), one from the japan website that sells the manga bead, and 2 from ebay (silver smile faces and a grey smiley bead from find a bead, both seem to be real). (only have 11 beads, so not many)

But I dread fakes. Im paying a lot to start my collection, and wouldnt spend what I spent if it wasnt "the real thing".

thank you for sharing the website, hope trollbeads puts it down soon and like this avoids unaware buyers to be fooled

In the UK and US official retailers are not allowed to sell on ebay. I gather some of the fakes are very good and often silver plate so the plate takes a few months to wear off.

I am glad this has been brought up as I am concerned that many new people are unwittingly buying fakes and as collectors we all have concerns that these can end up in our collections through swaps.

Just because it has the LAA 925 stamp does not mean it is a genuine Trollbead .

You need to be very very wary of ebay and to be honest unless it's such a bargain ( and you'll take the risk ) or a hard to get retired ( in which case do your homework very carefully ) then buy from an authorized seller. There are too many fakes out there on ebay and anyone with high volumes of sales would equal warning signs. The only way to completely guarantee a bead's authenticity in my opinion is to buy from an authorized seller.

Thank you BT for this information !!

Michelle wrote:I hope trollbeads will close this site soon if they can.

Does trollbeads only have one style of 925s LAA stamp. So it will be easy to tell some fakes.

NO, THEY DON'T!

A few months ago , I also bought an Angles Tip from a seller on eBay and ,after I bought another one shortly from D4E , I was able to compare them. The one I suspected it was a fake (eBay) has a stamp (radial) from the middle to the core with the letters and numbers more thicker and deeper . And even the shape seemed to me different.
So,I confronted the seller,although I knew it was to late to do something (the bead arrived after 7 days,in order to return and I missed even the 45 days eBay claim) . He told me that it is original and that I can check,as I told him, with TB,and that I wasn't the first to do that.
So, I send TB pictures with the AT beads I have, three with the stamps from the core to the middle with the letters and numbers thinner , and the one I suspected to be fake.Also ,all the links with the sellers beads ,seller page on eBay.
The pictures on eBay were the pictures (one for each bead) were of the actual bead and with the stamp visible.

I waited for the answer (and like that ,the 45 days reclaim passed) and ,the answer came finally .
They told me the is their stamp on ALL the beads!

The problem for me wasn't the money I payed , but much more about copyright and fakes, and I happen to know a lot about this stuff from my previous(now) line of work.

Even now , I not convinced that I have an original bead.And it scares me that they (TB) have diffent type of stamp.

P.S. Most, if not all, of that seller beads had ,in pictures the same type of stamp.

Michelle wrote:I hope trollbeads will close this site soon if they can.

Does trollbeads only have one style of 925s LAA stamp. So it will be easy to tell some fakes.

It isn't that easy I'm afraid

I have purchased several beads from the exact same authorised dealer and most of the stamps vary...some a little & some a lot.

I think it depends on the person who cored it or stamped it? I don't know the process.....or are different beads made in different places even? I have no idea.

But just looking through my box I can pick out 3 I purchased in the sale at steffans just last week, one has thicker lettering, one is closer to the rim and the other stamp is not as deep or easy to read.

I don't like ebay for the simple reason fakes are so good that I wouldn't trust my judgment as to whether they were real or fake!
I like to think it's safe here and I can trust other collectors is that me being naive? lol

spiderpixie wrote:
I like to think it's safe here and I can trust other collectors is that me being naive? lol

Spiderpixie

I am not going to say that you are naive but it is always good to know where the seller purchased the bead, if possible. It is troubling to me that, on one of the FB groups, someone raised a question about Brunobeads - remember him? I believe we had a long thread here about his beads being fake and his changing his eBay username multiple times. Anyway, while most everybody chimed in to say that he is a known seller of fake TB's, one member said that she had bought from him before and had no issues. Now, it might be that she bought early on, when he may have been mixing the genuine in with the fakes to build some positive feedback, or it could be that she has fakes and doesn't realize it. As far as this membership is concerned, I am not worried that a member would knowingly pass on a fake bead - I am more concerned that they could do so unknowingly, as any one of us could be fooled by a good fake!

retiredk9racer wrote:I am not going to say that you are naive but it is always good to know where the seller purchased the bead, if possible. It is troubling to me that, on one of the FB groups, someone raised a question about Brunobeads - remember him? I believe we had a long thread here about his beads being fake and his changing his eBay username multiple times. Anyway, while most everybody chimed in to say that he is a known seller of fake TB's, one member said that she had bought from him before and had no issues. Now, it might be that she bought early on, when he may have been mixing the genuine in with the fakes to build some positive feedback, or it could be that she has fakes and doesn't realize it. As far as this membership is concerned, I am not worried that a member would knowingly pass on a fake bead - I am more concerned that they could do so unknowingly, as any one of us could be fooled by a good fake!

Michelle wrote:...
Does trollbeads only have one style of 925s LAA stamp. So it will be easy to tell some fakes.

The TB stamp is absolutely no indication anymore, they changed it many times, even the place where they put it! Look at these two fairies, both original TBs, bought at the same trustworthy LD, the right one in 2006, the left one in 2011! The new one has a very faint 925 S stamp where the other has a big LAA! And no stamp on the back at all!

I look to your beads MMP and I see that there is stamps that change. It will be so hard to now what is real.

I'm afraid hardly anyone can know for sure. I've seen different stamps over the years. And especially the stamps on the tulip beads because of having shipped so many. Stamps on beads sold in the USA also seem at times different from European sold beads.

I usually pick my beads based on the finishing. Older beads usually have those matte oxidized accents. Newer beads commonly have the shinier grayish accents.

retiredk9racer wrote:I am not going to say that you are naive but it is always good to know where the seller purchased the bead, if possible. It is troubling to me that, on one of the FB groups, someone raised a question about Brunobeads - remember him? I believe we had a long thread here about his beads being fake and his changing his eBay username multiple times. Anyway, while most everybody chimed in to say that he is a known seller of fake TB's, one member said that she had bought from him before and had no issues. Now, it might be that she bought early on, when he may have been mixing the genuine in with the fakes to build some positive feedback, or it could be that she has fakes and doesn't realize it. As far as this membership is concerned, I am not worried that a member would knowingly pass on a fake bead - I am more concerned that they could do so unknowingly, as any one of us could be fooled by a good fake!

in the future maybe we should state the source where we got our beads from, if we want to sell them here? (local LD, name of online shop, ebay. swap, gift, etc.) so the buyer will be given the same rights we were given when we purchased the bead, to decide if the original source is trustable enough

Next trip to my LD I am going to take in my Ebay purchases and have them determine. My favorite (and most candid,knowlegable and honest IMO) told me that she sees a lot of fakes. I decided awhile ago that I will not buy anymore on Ebay, because really, the prices are not that much better than from an authorized dealer. For five or ten bucks I am going to risk a fake? If it is really that good, I guess I wouldn't be that upset because I would never know, but I might want to swap one day and I would hate to pass off a fake! I think I will just swap beads I get at an authorized dealer. Lucky for me I am still in buying mode, and right now, rest mode and I only have three ebay beads. It is kind of a shame, because I bet a lot of people sell beads that are 100% genuine and they lose sales due to these CREEPS.

You know I often fear I'm going to accidentally get a traded fake because it's so unclear as to which ones are real from fake. For example, TB says they stamp all their gold beads with 750 LAA; however, I have a gold lady bug from a LD and it is stamped 18k LAA. The LD is a Gold trusted dealer so why would I think it's fake? But why is it not stamped with the 750 LAA as TB says they would stamp it?

I thought there were some authorized dealers on ebay....collecatroll? Isn't he an authorized retailer? And he is in the U.S. right?

I, unfortunately, have bought a lot of beads on ebay, when I first started out, I found a lot of rare ones on ebay for better prices.

These days, I can't bring myself to buy even tho the price is a bit better:(

retiredk9racer wrote:I am not going to say that you are naive but it is always good to know where the seller purchased the bead, if possible. It is troubling to me that, on one of the FB groups, someone raised a question about Brunobeads - remember him? I believe we had a long thread here about his beads being fake and his changing his eBay username multiple times. Anyway, while most everybody chimed in to say that he is a known seller of fake TB's, one member said that she had bought from him before and had no issues. Now, it might be that she bought early on, when he may have been mixing the genuine in with the fakes to build some positive feedback, or it could be that she has fakes and doesn't realize it. As far as this membership is concerned, I am not worried that a member would knowingly pass on a fake bead - I am more concerned that they could do so unknowingly, as any one of us could be fooled by a good fake!

When I read that comment I knew why I usually don´t swap silver beads
I found out that a lot of people have bought from Brun. and former fake sellers.

It´s a good idea that when doing a swap you tell your swap partner where you´ve got that bead.


@ Baykakes : Gold Trollbeads in the US are always stamped 18K ! The 750 stamp is the European stamp only

There are even jewellers who offer to take back a bead that is not bought from them and without a receipt. In that way fakes can end up in his store.

I've experienced this twice and I avoid those jewellers since. It looks like a nice gesture of the jeweller, if he let you change a bead. But if every customer is allowed to change an item, than I can't trust him anymore for selling the genuine Trollbeads.

I have never swapped and never bought from ebay. I once bought a silver bead from the Dutch marketplace, and its weight was lower than it should be. So I threw it away, I don't want fakes.

when I buy a bead I always keep the receipt (on a bulldog clip in a Trollbead carrier bag), handy for insurance purposes if I ever lost my bracelet, and also for if I ever decide to try and sell or swap a bead.

a seller that sells a lot with stock images is "not" te be trusted..I think

purpletibet wrote:I thought there were some authorized dealers on ebay....collecatroll? Isn't he an authorized retailer? And he is in the U.S. right?

I, unfortunately, have bought a lot of beads on ebay, when I first started out, I found a lot of rare ones on ebay for better prices.

These days, I can't bring myself to buy even tho the price is a bit better:(

No! I have heard otherwise! No US dealer can sell on eBay.

Collectatroll is also discussed here:
http://www.beadthrilled.com/t5160-are-sellers-collectatroll-and-hallobebo_shop-legit

collectatroll's a he. Authentic goods, I've bought a few things from him. Decent service, no problems. His shipping charge is not bad for Canada. Not the most communicative person on the planet.
I don't know how he skirts around TB's taboo on US retailers selling on ebay, maybe he was somehow grandfathered. I'm not sure if he claims to be an authorized dealer, not that I know of. Other people who've been into Trollbeads longer than I have, say there seems to be some connection between him and a dealer in NYC.
And he sells retireds for about twice their retail price, usually. As soon as he knows an item has been discontinued or retired, he bumps the price.
(He also sells Chamilia, under a different seller name. Same business model, higher prices for retireds. Maybe Pandora, too, for all I know.)

Trollbeads, Chamilia, Pandora----they all seem to turn a blind eye toward the practices of a few, favoured dealers who sell online or through ebay.

snowy wrote:
@ Baykakes : Gold Trollbeads in the US are always stamped 18K ! The 750 stamp is the European stamp only

Thanks for answering... they should add that to their website because it confused the crap out of me LOL....

Dealers selling Troll on Ebay are not authorized sellers, as it isn't allowed, from any country.