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VIRTUALISATION eBay increases trade in fakes, reduces trade in real antiquities
VIRTUALISATION eBay increases trade in fakes, reduces trade in real antiquities | eBay increases trade in fakes, reduces trade in real antiquities |
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| by Jake Widman | |
| Wednesday, 06 May 2009 | |
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The actual outcome, he says, has been quite the opposite. Before eBay, the market for antiquities was self-limiting. By the time all the middlemen were paid to get a looted item into the hands of a collector, the total cost was high enough to keep the practice a "wealthy person's vice." The nightmare scenario for Stanish and his colleagues was that by cutting out the middlemen, sites like eBay would make the trade even more profitable for the original looter, resulting in a worldwide assault on ancient sites. Instead, though, the economic incentive has switched to making fakes rather than finding originals. And the fakes have become so good that they're even difficult for experts to identify. CONTINUED Page 2. |
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