Post by wzinke on Apr 16, 2015 7:04:55 GMT -8
PLEASE HELP!!!!
I recently won a very high priced butterfly off ebay from a Russian seller [88dmitiry88]that was of a "blue" rare color aberration of Ornithoptera victoriae rubianus form nicklasi.... a gorgeous purple blue.[maybe some of you saw this?] When it arrived, I noticed a slightly darker color on the left wing than the ebay photo, slight but thought it would improve. It just grew worse. The guy said to give it a few weeks to dry but it just kept getting darker. He wouldn't return it and offered a partial refund, but I wanted it returned for a full refund. I relaxed and re spread it, but the whole butterfly went dark and has not regained its color! I am supposing the humidity in Florida started to darken it but the relaxing chamber really finished it....now I paid more than 10 times that I have ever paid for this 'one of a kind' specimen to display at our little museum and turned out to be a counterfeit!
I opened and lost the case against this guy and Ebay will not refund any money because it wasn't that color when arrived they said. Before I relaxed it, the guy adamantly didn't want it returned and didn't want me to relax it or clean it in acetone, saying he is not responsible for any damages if I relax it, which really threw up a red flag. Of the hundreds of butterflies I have relaxed, none have ever lost their color like this! The wings had a sticky substance on them after they were dry and are just ruined!
I am completely sick about this and hope someone could please help explain how this guy could change the color this way? Maybe chemicles or gas exposure? Perhaps a high powered UV light maybe? I saw the UV technique on an older thread here in the forum, but seems the color stays? The first three photos are of the butterfly the day of arrival [also notice the wings would curl up at the edges which was unusual], the next one is from 1 1/2 weeks after, and the last two are after it was relaxed and re spread....as you can see, it's horrible! Can't get a copy of original photo here but you can copy and paste:
www.ebay.com/itm/BLUE-ORNITHOPTERA-VICTORIAE-RUBIANUS-MF-NICLASI-MALE-SUPER-RARITY-RANONGGA-/221701898231
I have been collecting for over 25 years and never been scammed this bad, yes my greed got the better of me for sure...it was such an amazing specimen [as you know...'was too good to be true']
Please beware....I am hoping to warn you all if this happens again....but if you have ANY thoughts on this I would REALLY appreciate it! I am appealing to ebay [as you know they no nothing about 'relaxing' and the guy convinced them I was the one who damaged the butterfly] and will be sending them info on what I can about how this guy could do this....
right now I'm screwed.
Thanks, Will
I recently won a very high priced butterfly off ebay from a Russian seller [88dmitiry88]that was of a "blue" rare color aberration of Ornithoptera victoriae rubianus form nicklasi.... a gorgeous purple blue.[maybe some of you saw this?] When it arrived, I noticed a slightly darker color on the left wing than the ebay photo, slight but thought it would improve. It just grew worse. The guy said to give it a few weeks to dry but it just kept getting darker. He wouldn't return it and offered a partial refund, but I wanted it returned for a full refund. I relaxed and re spread it, but the whole butterfly went dark and has not regained its color! I am supposing the humidity in Florida started to darken it but the relaxing chamber really finished it....now I paid more than 10 times that I have ever paid for this 'one of a kind' specimen to display at our little museum and turned out to be a counterfeit!
I opened and lost the case against this guy and Ebay will not refund any money because it wasn't that color when arrived they said. Before I relaxed it, the guy adamantly didn't want it returned and didn't want me to relax it or clean it in acetone, saying he is not responsible for any damages if I relax it, which really threw up a red flag. Of the hundreds of butterflies I have relaxed, none have ever lost their color like this! The wings had a sticky substance on them after they were dry and are just ruined!
I am completely sick about this and hope someone could please help explain how this guy could change the color this way? Maybe chemicles or gas exposure? Perhaps a high powered UV light maybe? I saw the UV technique on an older thread here in the forum, but seems the color stays? The first three photos are of the butterfly the day of arrival [also notice the wings would curl up at the edges which was unusual], the next one is from 1 1/2 weeks after, and the last two are after it was relaxed and re spread....as you can see, it's horrible! Can't get a copy of original photo here but you can copy and paste:
www.ebay.com/itm/BLUE-ORNITHOPTERA-VICTORIAE-RUBIANUS-MF-NICLASI-MALE-SUPER-RARITY-RANONGGA-/221701898231
I have been collecting for over 25 years and never been scammed this bad, yes my greed got the better of me for sure...it was such an amazing specimen [as you know...'was too good to be true']
Please beware....I am hoping to warn you all if this happens again....but if you have ANY thoughts on this I would REALLY appreciate it! I am appealing to ebay [as you know they no nothing about 'relaxing' and the guy convinced them I was the one who damaged the butterfly] and will be sending them info on what I can about how this guy could do this....
right now I'm screwed.
Thanks, Will