Official Luthiers Forum!

Any red flags? I didn't respond.

Hello!

Warm greetings from Los Angeles, California!

I have been tasked by a longtime supplier and friend in Southern California who is looking to liquidate his premium quality diospyros crassiflora (ebony) supply.

I am not sure of your current needs with regard to ebony, but if you are interested in any details regarding the stock he has, I would be glad to have a conversation.

There is quite a large inventory available for liquidation. To that end, for a relatively small operation like your own, it may be of interest as a personal wopd source as well as a wholesale supply.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. Feel free to call, text or email any time.

All the best,

Jesse Hargrove

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

You did well to ignore it.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

In this age of scam artists it is hard to distinguish the sheep from the wolves. There is a Jessie Hargrove in Los Angeles (a few in fact - and some of them are even alive ) but it would take some detective work to see if this was who you were actually dealing with, and if they had a legitimate offer (assuming you were in the market for ebony). Dealing with strangers always requires some degree of faith and circumspection. As one of our past fearless leaders said -Trust but Verify.
Recently on the MIMF a person posted they were dismantling an old square grand piano, cased in rosewood, that had a solid BRW top, (the likelihood of which is very very very near zero) and was anyone interested in the wood. Finally, after much convincing, they determined it was veneered. For a while I was beginning to doubt their motives. Every day I get scam emails and phone calls so I am wary of what may be a real offer. I am lucky that having been in this hobby as long as I have, I have enough "stuff", so the temptation is more to unload some of it rather than to acquire more.

Years ago, I got a phone call at my day job from a fellow who said he had a bunch of Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard blanks, banjo sized, that he'd sell cheap. How he got my work number I will never know, but he did at least know that I built banjos so I figured it was probably legit. I bought what he had for a very reasonable price, and received them about a week later. Varying quality (which he said was the case up front), all of them useable but some were superb and others just pretty good. I use ebony boards on banjos, but these narrower-than-guitar blanks make great guitar bridges.

Some times it turns out to be the real deal, but it's always a case as Clay says of Trust but Verify. And I'd add "keep your fingers crossed."

Dave

That is not the type of email that gives me red flags. Scams almost always involve having you give a way personal information or sending money. No scam artist is going to go to the trouble to defraud woodworkers -- no money in that.

Proceed with caution as you would any transaction. Require photos and make sure you are protected if making a transaction. Some good advice would be to never place a large order with a "new" contact. Place a smaller order that you can use to verify if the seller is trustworthy.