Bargain or novice-trap? £500

[Beer of the Bass]

Yes, I find those perplexing. If they can turn out serviceable carved basses from small workshops in Europe at that price, surely there must be a better business model than applying fake antiquing and selling them unseen on eBay?

[Beer of the Bass]

This one looks promising at first, but then there's the soundpost crack (a costly top-off repair), the epoxy in the seams (making repairs more difficult and costly) and the fingerboard shim that you'd really want to inspect in person. Whoever bid £1080 is braver than I am...
[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Double-Bass-/201062117034?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=m8BC2WIi1c%252FoY9WpklZzLKOW7Eg%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Double-Bass-/201062117034?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=m8BC2WIi1c%252FoY9WpklZzLKOW7Eg%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc[/url]