Daily Bow: “Rare” Violin Becomes Victim of PayPal Policy

Dispute over Violin’s Authenticity Results in its Destruction

These days, you can buy almost anything on the Internet. As a college student who isn’t very picky about what he eats, I buy most of my groceries on Amazon; Netflix has replaced video stores; and I can almost always find a better deal on strings and rosin online than in a local store. There are, however, some items that you shouldn’t buy on the Internet. A rare violin is one of them.

For those who think eBay is a great place to find a deal on a Strad, consider this tragic story: a women who sold an allegedly old French violin using PayPal recently lost the instrument forever after a dispute over the label’s authenticity. The Canadian buyer claimed that the instrument was a fake and thus “counterfeit.” In order to receive a refund, however, the buyer had to, in accordance with PayPal’s terms and conditions, completely destroy the product. Since mailing a counterfeit item back to the original seller is a criminal offense, the law exists to protect the buyer. The woman who sold the violin, however, is now out $2,500 and a violin.

Instruments, unfortunately, can be very expensive. The Internet may seem like a great place to pick up a high quality instrument for far less that you would normally pay. But in reality the string instrument trade is a very complicated business that, when left unregulated, can get pretty ugly. Whether this instrument was legitimately valuable or not, it’s sad to see that this woman can’t even play this violin anymore. The Internet is great for buying textbooks and Cap’n Crunch, but it is not the place to deal instruments. Besides, what would the luthiers who dedicate their lives to collecting and crafting instruments do without our patronage? What would we do without their expertise? So if you’re looking for a new instrument, do your local luthier a favor and pop in their shop.