Canadian SAS cap badge

[Wyn vdSchee]

There is one of these currently on offer on e Bay 280310412841. Interesting to see them now appearing for sale after being produced as a commemorative item in the early 1980s. I was personally acquainted with the two former NCOs of the company who had them produced. They did not set out to defraud the collectors' market but neither did they loudly proclaim that they were never worn by the Canadian SAS company. The vendor acknowledges there is some controversy surrounding these badges but does not definitively state that they are bogus. He goes into a long spiel about the background and history of the SAS Company but manages to avoid the issue of whether they are genuine. Caveat emptor.
Wyn

[tynesideirish]

Surely the wrong colour. There would be no requirement for an Officers badge when they where never worn.
There's one in one of my albums which I acquired in Edmonton in about 85.
http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/for...pictureid=2001

[Bill A]

Odd. It is controversy when it may detract from the value of the auction.
Some vendors are entrepreneurs, putting business first, while others have a real interest in the goods / artefacts that they deal. Wish there were more of the latter.

[marway_Jaime]

Hi Wyn & Bill, Funny you should bring this up. I have two frames of SAS Canada items right now in the shop, without the bullion badge offered in teh listing.

I often wonder, if people put too much assumption into dealers listings that they all have to be experts on everything. Perhaps this seller disn't know they were bogus, and thats why he didn't mention anything, he didn't lie and say they were original to the 1947 period. I wouldn't know personally that it wasn't period, you just can't know everything about everything. I think that's why people have to relie on others for consultation & advice.

Wyn did you email the seller to let him that his badge was made in the 1980's?

Jaime

[Bill A]

Hi Jaime, Spot on. No one expects dealers to know everything.
But, researching the background before making statements / claims about an item is only due dilegence. How the due diligence is presented is the question here. The vendor, by his own admission is a entrepreneur, and does not have a background in militaria. He has purchased, at great expense some reference material, and spent an inordinate amount of time on research to establish the authenticty of the offerings. That certainly implies a certain authority on his part and perhaps even a bit of intolerance towards those who would question the listing. He certainly did not fraudulently mis-represent anything in the listing, but he did colour the authenticity of the listing in his favour. Neither did he credit the source from which he took the lengthy historical background.
Shouldn't internet sales be full disclosure? Everything out in the open, and let the buyer make the decision?

[marway_Jaime]

Hi Bill, I think the onus goes both ways, shouldn't the buyer be educated as to what they are buying as well?

I think full disclosure is a thing of the past for the most part. Most marriages don't have full disclosure, why should some ebay listings.....

Would the sales have been any higher for this item if the seller listed it as:
a gold wire badge to the SAS Canada and left it at that. The seller did google it and copied a website's info into the listing to give the buyer a bit more info on the Cdn SAS.

It's a tough one.