Feel free to think whatever you like. I’ve only been a vendor for 18 months; I’ve been a teahead for much longer! I also buy from some of the same vendors my buyers do. I thought about whether to post or not before I did and decided to go ahead and do so. I’m not telling anyone to buy from me on any of these threads, I’m just pointing out where people SHOULDN’T buy tea.

I got burned on fake teapots to the tune of $1,300 last year, which has spurred me on to learn more about Factory 1 Yixing pots. I’d hate for others out there in the English-speaking tea community to go through what I did, be it on tea or teapots. I can tell fake pots much easier now after my experience and from comparing fakes to the real thing. I still have a great deal to learn, of course, and I’m enjoying the process, but it certainly isn’t cheap to do so!

I wasn’t the first one to tell him his pots were fake either—I just corroborated what steanze said and added that the last one was a fake too. I’ve learned a great deal from steanze over the years as well and hope to continue to do so!

Again, your opinion is yours and feel free to think whatever you want. I will call out bs when I see it. Those of us who don’t play dirty are at a disadvantage when others DO play dirty. The market is so saturated that it just means people will go to other vendors (not necessarily me)!

As for my motivations, again, your opinion is worth whatever you think it is…to you. To me? Not so much. Merry Christmas! :)