Wheatstone Aeola By Scholer?

[Spinningwoman]

There's an auction on Ebay at the moment where someone is describing what looks like a Scholer Anglo as a Wheatstone Aeola, and including a Wheatstone leaflet in the pictures despite the fact that the concertina looks nothing like the one pictured in the leaflet. I am charitably assuming that the leaflet was in the box with the instrument when the seller acquired it and he assuming they went together.

[John Adey]

Assuming this is the listing,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Accordian-Concertina-Aeola-/221442406017?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Keyboard_RL&hash=item338efef681

it's a misleading description and presentation.

I've reported it to eBay.

[Wolf Molkentin]

I could imagine that the seller is just of the opinion that "Aeola" is another word for "concertina". It's more or less obvious that he's selling a Scholer, isn't it? OTOH there are lots of auctions with the title saying "Lachenal Wheatstone Crabb" or so albeit none of these are on sale...

 

Not that I'm happy with this kind of advertising, just saying...

[Stephen Chambers]

To be fair to the seller, I don't see the slightest intention to deceive in their description. I think they're just describing it to the best of their ability, with the information they've got.

 

Nowhere is the word Wheatstone mentioned or claimed by them, and it's surely pretty apparent that they don't really know what the instrument is actually called (in the wider world, why should they?), seeing that they've listed it as a "Vintage Accordian / Concertina / Aeola" - the latter being names that they'll have found used in the accompanying leaflet.

 

And though the concertina appears (to those of us who know them) to have been made by Scholer, theirs were also sold under various other brand names, or with none at all - so how's the poor seller to know? It's just something they've got and want to get rid of, like so much else on eBay...

Edited May 19, 2014 by Stephen Chambers

[John Adey]

And I think naming something is rather important when you're selling, no matter if an inaccuracy is intentional or not.

[Stephen Chambers]

You'll have your work cut out on eBay John, never mind in the catalogues of professional auctioneering firms and the small ads in local newspapers...

[John Adey]

No fear; I wont be bothering again.

Edited May 19, 2014 by John Adey

[Spinningwoman]

I did message the seller to let him know that the leaflet wasn't describing the instrument he actually had - didn't get any response.

[Stephen Chambers]

Some people are glad of any better information that they can get, and others feel they're being criticised and don't want it - in fact I've seen them get very angry about it (there was a case like that on melodeon.net a few months ago!) - and how are they to know if you're right or wrong anyway? I've noticed the comments of one particular concertina enthusiast, who seems to regularly message eBay sellers and gets quoted by them, that make me wince because they're usually badly wrong...

 

And I don't think eBay lets you change the heading once you've got a bid on your item, so they wouldn't be able to remove the word aeola even if they did want to...

Edited May 20, 2014 by Stephen Chambers