Hi, everyone. As an e-Bay PowerSeller, I wanted to add my 2 cents to this discussion.
We sell pen blanks on e-Bay, as well as other items. Like some of you have stated, we wipe our blanks with a moist cloth before taking the picture. That gets rid of any sawdust and makes the colors look richer and brighter. This is not to deceive, it is to show the actual colors of the woods and what they will look like after turning and polishing. A dusty pen blanks shows no color or grain!
The best piece of advice about buying anything on e-Bay is to check feedback. We have 679 unique feedbacks, but we actually have 1238 feedback comments left for us. That means we have a <b>55%</b> repeat business rate. That says that over half of our customers liked our woods so much, they came back for more again and again!
If someone's feedback is less than 97 or 98 percent, you're better off staying away. Read the comments left by others and see what is being said about their products and their service. If no one is tooting their horn, you might be better off buying someone else's woods.
We don't have anything listed on e-Bay at the time I am writing this, but we will be posting auctions on Thursday evening if you want to take a look.
Happy Turning!
PS. We ship to Canada and other International locations with no problems or issues. Most of our auctions list the shippnig costs so you know up front what it will be.