Got an email back:
Hello
Thanks for your message. I'll forward it to the verification department for you so that they can further assist you. If you need future assistance regarding verification, please email (email censored)
Thank you,
Lori
Experts' Moderator
Support
Ok, fine....and then I get this one:
Hi,
To verify your identity and continue with the verification process, please scan and email to (email censored), or fax to 555-5555-5555 “Attn: verify”, copies of your:
(1) government-issued identification (non-professional license related) and
(2) professional license or official proof of professional license.
Please include in the email or fax your username and email address.
We appreciate your cooperation and patience.
Lindie
Support
(And, yes, I have removed the site name (etc), to keep the guilty party anonymous at this point. I wouldn't said anything to that email address...you might be emailing a major porn site, who might put you on their mailing list for updates on their selections of weird elephant & giraffe porn...then you'd have some explaining to do to your other half, kids, etc!)
Ok, government issued ID...got a driver's license, so that should work....
BUT, we're back to the "professional license" thing again...
Well, as for a business license, the local municipality does not require one to open a business in its borders.
So, I do not have ANY "professional license"...I suspect they essentially mean an antiques dealers license...which you can get if you are in a city, sometimes towns, for a fee. So, to get that "professional license" there are no tests to take regarding knowledge, or anything else, though some places require you to have a clean criminal record.
Back to square one.
SO, I sent them another email...that was 2 days ago.
Here is what I wrote....I suspect the irritation I was feeling at the time does come through...
We are in a municipality (rural area) that does not require, nor issue, a business license to operate, so I do not have a "business license."
As for a "professional license or certificate", there really are no "credentials" required to be an antiques dealer. We build reputations.
In many cases (though not all), those with "training" and assorted "certificates" are not necessarily all that experienced, and don't really have the knowledge required. That is usually why they have acquired the certificates....because building an actual reputation as a qualified and respected dealer takes time. It is the actual hands on experience in researching items, handling actual pieces, and day to day involvement in the business....REAL LIFE is where antiques dealers truly learn. Those who actually have the experience to add to/back up their accumulated "certificates" tend to be involved in large auction houses, import/export of antiquities, involved in very large firms, and the like. Fees for their services are well beyond the reach of users of your site, thus it will be highly unlikely those sorts of dealers would register to do such work for the minimal amounts offered.
Just trying to point out the realities. If you want qualified antiques dealers to utilize your site, I suggest you review your "qualification requirements."
The 4 "questions" asked as a "test" are not exactly what could be considered something that could be used to identify someone to be an antiques dealer...all the answers are available online to anyone who can copy the question into Google....and they are not difficult questions to answer, either...
What I can send is a photocopy of my Provincially issued driver's license, a copy of a birth certificate, etc.
I would expect this to suffice? If not, I suggest you do a Google Search for "Fedora Antiques"...you will find evidence of my activities archived online all over, under my store name, and it is spread over a 12 year period (all in Manitoba), dating from when I first got online in 1998, in case you are doubtful of my qualifications.
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And that is where it sits at the moment...
Not exactly easy to sign up...and, I suspect that a regular business license is not what they are after, anyways. I'm willing to bet they want something that states "ANTIQUE DEALER" on it....guess I need to print something up myself...! I wonder if they actually even to any background check to see if the "certificates" of these "experts" are legit or not....
Let's see...hmmm....
How about one that says: "Member of the Manitoba Antiques Dealers Association"...?
There is no such thing, by the way. Manitoba Antique Association, yes, but no dealer's association. Would be very easy to create a certificate for that...
Maybe I could be a member of the NAAPA?
No, not the Newell Asian-American Professional Advocates....
"NORTH AMERICAN ANTIQUES PICKERS ASSOCIATION"
I do have some other certificates around...could fill one of them out....
\Ok, maybe not...
They are 1940s "Arcade Cards", by the way....have a bunch for sale in bulk...check my listings at Addoway.com or contact me if you want to buy some. They are about the size of a postcard, but are printed on heavier card stock. You could pop your penny (or a nickel in later years) into a vending machine and get one. I bought a machine and a bunch of NOS cards awhile back. There were singing stars of the 1950s/60s, including 3 different sets of 4 Beatles ones....except one set was actually only 3 cards...it didn't have a Ringo! So, if you were trying to collect "all 4" of that set of Beatles ones, you'd be plugging in a ton of change...for eternity...'cause you'd just never seem to get the "missing" one...which did not exist!
Well, not much more to add at this point...guess I'll wait until I hear back from the site.
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