Hi

I was wondering has anybody had any experience with this seller:

http://www.real-sword.co.uk/

Some of their stuff looks very nice and also affordable, but I sent them an email a couple of days ago and no response still. Weird.

Zlatko, the website you mentioned is a British company selling Japanese swords.
That is quite terrible when that company did not respond to your e-mail.

Haven't had any dealings with the company, so cant comment,
lack of return mail could be for many reasons outside of their control,
but a lot of stock listed looks to be the same as the original seller who can be found on ebay direct,
oriental weaponry in the UK I have dealt with and were very good all round,
best,
lee,

I sent them several emails - if they don't answer, it's their loss, since this is not inspiring a great deal of confidence. I can't help thinking this might be some kind of scam (I found several webpages with almost identical graphic design to this one, seems kind of shady).

@Lee
The original seller from ebay that you mentioned - oriental weaponry - I can't seem to find them. Do you have a link perhaps?

Sorry to be unclear Zlatko,
oriental weaponry is an online shop here with a good rep,
http://www.oriental-weaponry.co.uk/



the ebay merchant-merchants are the Chinese forge's selling direct from China,
take a look through the bay, you'll recognise a handful from the pics of their swords

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Handmade-Carbon-steel...Sw14xWJKI5

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hand-forged-T10-1095-...SwmrlU0uU5

http://www.ebay.com/itm/clay-tempered-samurai...SwDk5T6xfD

the above is just a quick grab from the first page search,
wont say anymore on the auctions, as its policy here to not discuss current live auctions, easiest way to keep the peace for all,
there are also a good couple of katana deals listed on the classifieds here and over at sword forum,
the SBG forum has a lot of info on the Chinese forges from memory,
good luck, hope that clears up the confusion,:)

Call me picky or suspicious but

1. They have a .co.uk url but a Japanese postal address.
2. They are a business that uses a hotmail account.
3. The 'about us' section is a load of quasi-psychological oriental babble aimed at people who want a sword with mythical qualities. If it had said 'Hi, my name is Chad and I really care about top quality swords, am an iaido practitioner and katana collector' it might have been more informative and honest.

Quote:

the Japanese sword has long been used as pedagogical tool meant to cultivate the ideals of humanity in the soul, heart and mind of the pupil.

That waves so many red flags in my book I'd avoid. But that's just me.

For the record, under UK law (as I understand it) curved blade swords over 50cm in length, notably 'Samurai' swords are not legal to import or sell unless they are made by traditional methods or are for use by registered members of martial arts clubs.

As far as I can tell these swords are not legal to import and sell in the UK which is not a great start on which to judge a company.

Tod

Of course Tod can hand forge you a katana for the £145 price they are offering.... :eek:

Or try here https://southernswords.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=katana

others are available in the UK just i know these guys are reputable suppliers.