Ebay removes references to the ANA from coin policy

Frankcoins.com · 05-09-2009, 10:05 PM

Ebay has removed all references to the American Numismatic Association (including the ANA logo) from the coin policy pages, including the reference to reporting people who violate ebay rules "to the ANA and/or law enforcement"

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-coins.html

Oddly, they still incorrectly refer to ANACS as the "American Numismatic Association Certification Service" which has not been true since 1990, nearly twenty years ago.

I talked to Alan Herbert (an ANA governor and "Mr Answerman" in Numismatic News) around New Year's, and the ANA board is really furious hearing from members such as Larry Briggs, J.T. Stanton, Dr. James Wiles, and Rick Tomaksa who have been contacted by various people who have attempted to list signature slabs or authenication certificates signed by them only to have ebay end the listing, and threaten the seller with sanctions from the ANA!

At the same time, Ebay has been totally unable to remove in a timely manner many of the blatant Chinese-made counterfeits.

HandsomeToad · 05-09-2009, 11:23 PM

The problem is Ebay had removed ANACS from the list of accepted TPG's and only recently placed them back on the list but I missed the ANA's departure from Ebay's graces.

I think the ANA has been too vocal on the amount of fraud on Ebay and considering how Ebay polices its community forums, I guess they don't like anyone bad mouthing them anywhere.

Ribbit

jessash1976 · 05-09-2009, 11:34 PM

Thats Ok, I have recently gotten a chinese fraud removed. There was a 1909 S VDB for sale. I could tell by the mintmark, that is was a fake. The bid was up to $540.00, so I thin kI might have help someone out. I have been on the lookout lately fo rthat crap, so eventually E-Bay may have to do something.

Arizona Jack · 05-10-2009, 12:22 AM

Alan Herbert is a member of my coin club here in Mesa AZ, and he has not very many nice things to say about Ebay at all.

HandsomeToad · 05-10-2009, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arizona Jack

Alan Herbert is a member of my coin club here in Mesa AZ, and he has not very many nice things to say about Ebay at all.

I did a survey from Ebay yesterday and got 10% completed and had to stop because the question asked was asked in such a way the answer was impossible to give, so I didn't complete the survey. They mixed two situations into one question and on one, I had bad things to say and on the other I didn't and I couldn't answer the question, so I didn't.

But's that's Ebay for you! A bunch of idiots making a lot of money off a bunch of idiots (not all are idiots but many are).

Ribbit

clembo · 05-10-2009, 02:41 AM

I'm breaking my "clembo silence" for this one folks. Really - WHAT does that tell ANYONE about ebay?

I once belonged to the ANA and let my membership lapse because it really did not do much for me other than a claim and a name. Anyone can get in by paying the fees.
HOWEVER, and this is a big HOWEVER, the ANA is a well established organization that DOES have the interests of the hobby in mind. Sure there are politics involved but the King of Hobbies, Coin Collecting, is at heart.

Ebay is increasingly becoming the king of greed and they've been working real hard at it. Sure, as some may point out, for the fees the exposure it great but it is getting so stacked against the legit sellers it makes me sick.

It used to be that a good seller could sell to a knowledgeable buyer with very few hassles. If there was a sticking point it was easily taken care of. A personal case in point. Years ago I bid on, and won, a nice unc 1866 Two Cent Piece.
Well, I got an 1865 in the mail. Granted it was nice but not what I bid on. I contacted the seller in a civil matter. Seems he had already sold the coin indadvertently.
Well, I liked the one I got even though it was the wrong date and asked if he could just send me $20 and I'd keep it. He did and we were both satisfied.

Can anyone do that now? You know, work it out yourselves without ebay or paypal stepping in? I think not.

Key words in my experiece being "good seller" and "knowlegeable buyer". Ebay is more geared toward garbage seller and sucker these days. Countefeits, it would seem, get better fees so let them go without any "real" monitoring.

Darn shame. Ebay was a great concept but things change over the years. Honestly, I'd love to see them go belly up anymore.

quartertapper · 10-21-2009, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jessash1976

Thats Ok, I have recently gotten a chinese fraud removed. There was a 1909 S VDB for sale. I could tell by the mintmark, that is was a fake. The bid was up to $540.00, so I thin kI might have help someone out. I have been on the lookout lately fo rthat crap, so eventually E-Bay may have to do something.

Don't count on ebay doing anything on the account of morrals. As long as they are making money. It's not likely it will matter where the money comes from, or how badly it ruins numismatics in the process. As long as they keep making big bucks without the feds stepping in, business as usual will continue, and they will still somehow sleep at night. Shameful, ain't it?

rlm's cents · 10-21-2009, 11:00 PM

Has anyone bothered to see when this thread was started?

BTW, I have probably had 100+ counterfeits removed - mostly copper 1943 cents. I have never had a problem with them removing any of the ones I knew were counterfeit.

quartertapper · 10-21-2009, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlm's cents

Has anyone bothered to see when this thread was started?

BTW, I have probably had 100+ counterfeits removed - mostly copper 1943 cents. I have never had a problem with them removing any of the ones I knew were counterfeit.

Thank you for keeping on top of this. I for one have not done enough reporting of counterfeits. Cheers to all who have!

spock1k · 05-10-2009, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HandsomeToad

The problem is Ebay had removed ANACS from the list of accepted TPG's and only recently placed them back on the list but I missed the ANA's departure from Ebay's graces.

I think the ANA has been too vocal on the amount of fraud on Ebay and considering how Ebay polices its community forums, I guess they don't like anyone bad mouthing them anywhere.

Ribbit

thats how u build a business absolute monopoly

NMBSURFER1 · 10-21-2009, 05:57 PM

[

I think the ANA has been too vocal on the amount of fraud on Ebay and ..............

Ribbit

[/QUOTE]

I would think that until the Chinese situation is forbidden on Ebay being vocal is the name of the game.

Bazz · 10-21-2009, 06:20 PM

Sholom is right. There is plenty of good with the bad on a place like ebay. I just think that the nature of an open marketplace with not a lot, if any, regulation is not conducive to a hobby like coin collecting. There are just too many sidewinders in that marketplace and coin collecting depends on such precise grading among other things.

Even if you get a good person that makes a mistake as has been described in a couple of posts above you have to go through the process and sometimes the expense of mailing a coin back. And this is what the bad guys are counting on at least with the less expensive coins, that you don't feel it's worth it to mail something back and just move on. With the more expensive items they are just hoping whomever is collecting that coin is not educated or observant enough to notice that they are being duped.

Still I believe having faith in a site like EBAY is justified when you only deal with the good guys you know that are doing business on the site. God help you if you stray from that list though. Consequently I don't buy coins from that site anymore.

BNB Analytics · 10-21-2009, 06:24 PM

This is horrible news.. Hopefully ebay figures this out.

coinmaker · 10-21-2009, 10:13 PM

Just checked out Sellbits.com, not much going on there. Checked their forum and and the only comment was this: In total there is 1 user online :: 0 registered, 0 hidden and 1 guest (based on users active over the past 5 minutes)
Most users ever online was 2 on Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:47 am.
Not going to get much action here.

yakpoo · 10-21-2009, 11:33 PM

I used to buy quite a bit on eBay before the new "Search Experience" was thrust upon us. I would have to say that 99% of my experiences have been good ones. I overpaid sometimes, but that was my own fault. Things might not go smoothly all the time, but things can be worked out.

The few unpleasant experiences have been like this one...

I bought a roll of "Gem Uncirculated 1943-s Lincoln Pennies" from a seller for $189. It was a "No Reserve" auction with a $0.50 start price. I got a pretty good price for the roll...no doubt.

I paid the Seller, but got a message the next day that he was having a party and someone stole the roll off his desk. I've done business with the guy before and felt sorry for him so I cancelled the transaction...but haven't been able to bid on his auctions since...just doesn't feel right.

A while later, I see him selling "Gem Uncirculated 1943-s Lincoln Pennies" again. I write him to say that if he has more rolls, he should do the right thing and complete our deal. I point out that it's likely costing him money not having me bid on his auctions. This is what he wrote back...

Quote:

I am sorry you feel that way but I am not collecting rolls to lose over $100 by selling a roll to you at a $100 plus loss just to make you happy at what you seem to think is fair.

I guarantee you if the shoe was on the other foot you would do the same thing. It is time to move on.

No, I wouldn't do the same thing...what he's doing is lying and fraud. He can set a minimum price...he's just afraid no one will bid. If he doesn't get the right price, he lies about it and takes advantage of the good nature of others. It's Seller like that that eBay is trying to rout out...and I don't blame them.

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