"Vintage" means nothing on eBay

The search was "vintage absinthe glasses swiss bubble reservoir crystal." eBay found 26 listings. Eight of them, from eight different seller accounts, carried the same title, "Vintage Absinthe Glasses, Swiss Bubble Reservoir Crystal Tasting Stemware." Seven match word for word; the eighth adds "Set." All eight were marked Brand New. All eight were sponsored, meaning the seller paid to put them in front of you. The prices ran from $49.49 to $76.95.

Listings come and go, so the item numbers are given as a record of what was there that day, not as links.

What the listings admit

The rest of each listing contradicts the title. Two of the eight were checked in full. Both give the condition as "New: A brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item in its original packaging." One gives the brand as "Does not apply," the other as "unbranded," and neither has a maker's part number or barcode. The more expensive one fills in a field called Theme with the word "Vintage," and lists the crystal as "BPA Free" and "Recyclable."

On these listings vintage is a style, the way a new barstool can be "industrial." It says nothing about when the glass was made. "Swiss" is in the title too, and no Swiss maker is named anywhere.

How to read a listing

• The Condition field outranks the title. A seller can write anything in a title. Condition is a fixed menu, and "New" there means new.
• Look for the word Theme. "Theme: Vintage" or "Style: Vintage" describes a look, not an age.
• Same title from several sellers means one supplier. Old glass is found one piece at a time. Identical listings in a row are warehouse stock.
• Sponsored is an ad. It is placed by payment, not by how well it matches what you searched.
• Search for used, then read every photo. On eBay, set Condition to Used and add -new -reproduction -replica to the search. That clears the stock. It does not prove anything left is old. For spoons, the French sites are better hunting: see The real spoons are in France.

What a period glass looks like

The glasses of the absinthe era were made to mark a dose: a bulb, a line or a ridge near the bottom showing where one measure should come to before the water goes in. The reservoir glass above is one kind. There are photographs of others, and of Toulouse-Lautrec's 1893 café glass, in Spoons, fountains and glasses.