The “waters” of eBay are getting more treacherous day-by-day. The powers that be seem to have no interest in policing their site and, unless you are the unfortunate buyer, there is no mechanism for reporting fakes or fraudulent practices. Two vendors seem to be responsible for most of the “altered” items that get listed. So, until things change, it is a case of “buyer beware”. To illustrate the point, we feature a 30” wooden torch with hand-painted lettering that reads “Abe Lincoln”. First off, it is unlike any torch we have ever seen. It appears to be made entirely of wood, with no kerosene reservoir or burner. More than likely, it is a decorative wall-mounted torchiere. The lettering is not in the appropriate style and shows practically no wear. In addition, it is simply not something that one would expect to see emanating from a political campaign of the period. Those discrepancies apparently did not deter some trusting souls, as the concoction sold for $3013. We think the buyer got severely “burned” or “torched”.