Comments on: Israeli art student scam in Melbourne?

By: Tina

Tina — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 04:40:51 +0000

In China, scammers approach tourists at popular attractions such as the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.[20] The scammer speaks English well enough to get into a conversation with the foreigner. The scammer claims to be an art student whose works are on display at a nearby exhibition which is part of the scam and sells mass-produced art reproductions at exorbitant prices. There are warnings about this scam in tourist guides. Tina from canvas oil paintings

By: ISRAELI GUY

ISRAELI GUY — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:09:03 +0000

HELLO EVERYONE! I WAS WORK THIS DOOR 2 DOOR SALE SOME PLACES IN THE WORLD !
MANY PEOPLE HERE FEEL THAT THEY SCAMED AND I THINK IT’S NOT SO TRUE.
1. U ALL DO KNOW WHAT U PAY FOR U KNOW IT’S A PAINTINGS ,U DIDN’T GOT SOMETHING IN A BOX AND DISCOVER OTHER THING! U TOUCHED THEM SMELL THEM.
2. THE PAINTINGS ARE FROM CHAINA…SO WHAT? IT’S STILL BEAUTIFUL. IT’S STILL SOMETHING U LIKE AND SOMEONE TALENTED PAINT THEM. WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH CHAINA ? YOUR CLOTHES SHOES OR TV AREN’T? THOSE PAINTINGS ARE REALY HAND MADE AND I WAS CHECK IT BY PUT THE “SAME” PAINTINGS NEAR BY AND U CAN SEE THE DIFFRENT
THEY ARE REPRODUCTIONS BUT NOT A COPY OF ANY MACHINES! THIS PRODUCT STAY FOREVER I’VE ONE IN MY ROOM FOR YEARS AND IT’S LOOK 100% SAME AS I GET IT!
3. THIS WAY MANY PEOPLE CAN AFFORD THEMSELF ART IN THEM HOUSE AND NOT PRICES OF GALLERY.
4. EVERY COUNTRY IS DIFFRENT PRICES
WHEN U BUY COFFEE IT’S COST U 4-6 DOLLARS. WHY U PAY SO MUCH FOR THE OWNER OF THE COFFEE SHOP IT’S COST SOME CENTS IS THAT A SCAM???? NO!!!!
IT’S BUISNESS LIKE ANY OTHER BUISNESS EVERYONE WANT TO EARN THAT’S THE WAY IT GO!

THE PEOPLE WHO SELL IT IT’S NOT A STUDENTS OF COURSE. STUDENTS ARE STUDY THEY DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS
THOSE PEOPLE ARE A SELLS MAN OR BACKPACERS WHO ACTING AS SELLS MAN!
AND THAT’S THE WAY U SHOULD TREAT THAT. WHO CARES IF THEY ARE A GROUP OF 75 / 95 OR 1 MILLION!!!! AT HE END IT’S JUST ONE OR TWO GUYS KNOCK YOUR DOOR AND TRY SELL U SOMETHING .

THIS WAY MANY PEOPLE CAN TRAVELL YOUR COUNTRY SO MANY PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD CAN’T TRAVELL IN AUSTRALIA FOR EXAMPLE U R REALY HELP THAT WAY AND THE MONEY BACK TO U SOMEHOW AND STAY IN YOUR COUNTRY ! MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO DOING THAT ARE REALY OK AND GREAT PEOPLE OPEN MIND AND I’M SURE SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT THIS PAINTINGS LIKE THE SELLS MAN AND TALK WITH HIM NICE CONVESATION!!

IM NOT AGREE WITH LIES ON THE PRODUCT! IT’S ALL NEED TO HAVE GOOD VIBES FOR MY OPINION THIS IS REALY GREAT THING 4 EVERYONE !!!!
BE POSITIVE!!!!

By: John

John — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 10:33:25 +0000

Its not really a scam when you CHOOSE to hand your hard earned money over.

By: Mel

Mel — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 10:23:02 +0000

Ok I have just been scammed too!
Had a really nice girl knock on my door at 7pm in Doreen melboune Australia area.
Silly me thought it was all really odd & that the paintings
were re-productions. But we brought 2 for 260. So I don’t feel totally ripped off lol.
And I do love the paintings. Will not be getting them to frame it though. Sounds way to dodgy.
Even though they r from china, I’m happybwith them lol
But I knew when I asked her about if they had a website or business card that something was off when she said they didn’t have one!
But hey love the paintings & will be hanging them even if they r cheap replicas.
Mel

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 18:16:09 +0000

Hi folk,

I feel like sharing with everyone, hopefully you’ll feel all a bit better.

First let’s say the most important: those guys are not only Israelis, they are backpackers from all around the world who don’t really know what they do. I’m French; I did it myself and am not proud of it. Although it’s the only job I found to pay my travels.

I feel bad about the whole thing but in the same time, some of the buyers will never know and they were so happy to buy a real painting with a story behind it for 100 bucks, really happy. I truly hope they will never read those blogs so they can still enjoy those beautiful colors in their homes.

In the same time I think I really earned this money, walking 8-10 hours in 30-35 degrees and forcing doors was really hard. I was so happy when I finally could stop this terrible job and have enough money to discover your beautiful country.

The money you gave me guys, I gave it back to your economy. I had only 200 bucks on my bank account when I got back home but thanks to you I had thousand of beautiful landscapes in my head.

Those young students do this door-to-door job as any other shitty job they could find to pay their travels. Before judging those poor young guys, check what motivates them to accept those sad jobs. Working for 3 or 5 bucks an hour in a restaurant does not pay. Have you ever checked that the pizza you have in your plate at the restaurant has not been prepared by a poor backpacker (yes for me 3$/hour is a poor salary). Hope you’ll do it next time.

Yes those canvases are probably made in China. And what? You like one of the canvas? Good for you, buy it. Do you think you have paid more that what it was worth? Where would you have bought art? How much would you have paid?

Next time you have one of those backpackers at your home, don’t yell at him. Tell him/her that lying about the origin of a product is not fair. Advise him to tell the truth about the product. If there is a canvas that you like, tell him you would love buying one for what is fair for you and help this young guy/girl to understand a bit of life.

Hope I have not hurt anyone.

Regards.

Nicolas

By: Puzzled

Puzzled — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 22:41:42 +0000

This “scam” has been going on since at least the late 1960s (which was when I first encountered it in England). What is peculiar/suspicious about it is that although the paintings always seem to originate in China, the sellers/students are always Israeli. So, why are young Israelis (in preference to other nationalities) traipsing the world selling dodgy paintings?

By: Sucker

Sucker — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:24:36 +0000

They’re in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) now, same pitch as described above. If you get “got” cancel the check. If what they’re doing is legit, they’ll come back for new payment or to reclaim the artwork. I’m still waiting for them to come back…

By: Art Lover

Art Lover — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:21:07 +0000

I myself sold art, door to door.
I have to say that it is a controversial subject indeed.
At first I was quite repelled by the stories I’ve heard about people lying and saying they painted the art and so forth. I decided to give it an honest try.
I’ve sold these beautiful paintings for 2 months. I haven’t used a single lie in any sale, and I was the top seller in my team.
These paintings are amazing. They were indeed painted by hand as far as my untrained eye can tell, since I see 2 of the same painting and they are quite different from one another.
Almost every product we buy today is made in China and these aren’t so very different. Do you know for how much the factory in China sells your Nike shoes? No more than a few Dollars probably.
Furthermore, every product in the world today has mark-up. That means that the prices go up from the factory till they reach the client and that’s exactly how it should work. The product we provide is of top quality, brought to the customers door so he can try it in his house, framed for him within the week in the convenience of his house, and handed to him on a silver plate. Just show me another company that provides people with that service, and still keeps the costs lower than any painting you can find in galleries today at that level and quality.
We, the students and young people who sell it, work very hard day after day to provide this service and we earn an honest living. We are also taught and trained to be polite and nice since we are invading the people’s private space and sanctuary and we treat them with the utmost respect. Someone who is rude, too pushy or aggressive in his sales will quickly be off the team.
In any profession you will have dishonesty, lies and deceivers. Especially sales is a tricky business. Even the simplest salesman in any clothing store will show you the “nice side of the truth” so to speak. Does that make it the “great clothing stores scam”?
The bottom line is that we provide an amazing product, at low cost, to your doorstep, work very hard for the customers to find something that they love, and change the misconception today that art should be only in museums and galleries. Please forgive the ones that don’t believe in the product enough that they feel they must lie and deceive. I try to stop that phenomena as best as I can and explain to them that the truth is the most efficient sales “tactic”.
Hopefully we can get rid of that phenomena soon and continue providing people around the world these beautiful paintings.
(posted this comment in a few other places because I think it’s important to hear this side as well)

By: Philip Stewart

Philip Stewart — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:09:38 +0000

An extremely beautiful girl arrived on my doorstep just outside Oxford UK at 9 p.m. on Monday 12th July, said she was an Israeli art student selling paintings. I told her I shan’t buy Israeli goods as long as Israel is occupying the West Bank and besieging Gaza. She left.

By: Oliver

Oliver — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:16:31 +0000

Just adding to the hundreds of comments already but mine is a little more detailed.

I was hit yesterday by the same group. A nice tall dark guy in his 20’s knocked on my door and immediately after I opened the door he started to open up his A1 portfolio. This really took me aback because I never saw sales tactics on my doorstep like this before and this was just the tip of the iceberg.

After some time he showed me all the paintings and I questioned him, A LOT about who painted them etc. He seemed genuine and he didn’t lie too much but I did notice the paintings looked similar to ones we got from Greece in a souvenir store and we only paid about 36 Euros each and they were smaller. I asked if he was an artist and he said ‘not professionally’. He definitely was Israeli and he had a second guy who was also young who was also Israeli.

The second guy arrived in a white van which looked like a 2000 model Mitsubishi Express (courier model with no side windows).

They asked to come in because it was cold out so I let them in my hallway. I didn’t let them go around my house as it was a construction site anyway. The second guy was very pushy and tried selling more than one painting. He was giving me decor advice and said he was trained as an interior designer.

He went out and got another A1 portfolio and in that time, the first guy stayed back and saw my empty RAAF munitions case on the floor and asked “do you know what that is?”. And I said “you know what that is”. And he talked about how in Israel its a common thing to see because the soldiers carry them around on the streets. In Israel, I think the youngsters serve compulsory time in the military as well just like in some European countries.

After some time I declined to buy the prints they recommended and were bargaining with me. At one stage he picks up his phone and says he will call his supervisor to see if he can make it cheaper. He walks outside out of view. I at that moment suspected that he was just talking to himself. I just feel bad for people like these. haha

Both guys were nice, but they were beginning to piss me off because I wanted a specific painting that they had but they wanted to sell me more. I said I only had 200 to spend and in the end I bought a $150 painting of a large villa scene with a fountain. I did understand that it most likely is a copy and wasn’t original but it was oil on canvas and the technique used on the canvas was definitely in haste but not bad. Chinese maybe?

I didn’t have cash at the time so they asked if I wanted to go to the ATM and I declined. I had the flu, it was night time, I couldn’t be bothered.
They suggested that I can do direct deposit and thought it wasn’t a bad idea. Besides I have their account information now and the name on the account is DEFINITELY of hebrew origin.

They did refer a framer although I don’t want my paintings framed as I do my own framing. I am also an artist so I knew what I was dealing with and decided to frame the painting the next day because the paint was still fresh.

They aren’t bad guys but they definitely are doing this for the money. If they are students/tourists then I feel better about that.

Either way if you are suspicious, the best thing to do to any door to door salesperson is to ask for information on paper straight away and a phone number and ABN. Don’t stand through their spiel unless you are truly interested.

Another note, your house is not a marketplace. Businesses have put their foot in your door through the internet, tv, the phone and now personal sales to your door. Think about where this is leading.