Follow-up: that fake 1920-S Walker from eBay

As detailed at great length in this thread, last month I bought a 1920-S Walker from eBay that turned out to be fake. In fact, it turned out that the seller had been moving quite a few counterfeits on eBay, and he got banhammered for it. I got my money back, eBay didn't require me to return the coin, and everything seemed settled.

This evening, I got an email from the seller:

HI:
Have not received my coin back yet. Send tracking number
Rich

(Big, bold text is just as it appeared in the email.)

Now, at this point, I figure I have several options. I can:

1) Return the counterfeit to him. I got my money back, he should get his merchandise back.

1a) Deface the coin, then return it to him.​

2) Ignore him.

3) Tell him to go pound sand.

3a) Explain to him that there's no way I'm going to supply him with a counterfeit coin that he's just going to turn around and pass off on someone else.

3b) In the spirit of his last eBay message to me -- "Do what you want, I have all your emails on how you loved the coin and will buy all I have plus positive feedback" -- tell him to "Do what you want, I have my money back and you've been kicked off eBay."

3c) Just tell him to take it up with eBay. (Since he's been kicked off, I assume that will be equivalent to talking to a brick wall.)​

4) Since he tried to get me to settle for a partial refund, offer him a partial return. "I'll send you a plastic dime."

5) Send him a counterfeit tracking number.

6) Send him a clad Kennedy, and when he complains, point out that he's fifty cents ahead. If pressed, ask him whether he wants to go to court to reclaim his illegal merchandise.​

It is tempting to mess with this guy, but I find that I really don't want to antagonize him -- I just want to ignore him. I do think I'll contact eBay customer support for advice, but I'm pretty sure they'll confirm that I'm under no obligation to return the coin.

I'm still wrestling with the ethical issue -- am I holding on to the coin to keep him from passing it off on someone else, or do I just want to have an impressive counterfeit for show and tell? It's not black and white. But returning the coin really feels like the wrong thing to do.

 

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Under no circumstance should you return the coin. All of your options except 1a sound good. He can only want the coin for one reason and that is too fool other people

 

Who would pay the shipping? If you would have to pay to return his fake coin, I'd go with the pound sand option. On the other hand, if he'll agree to pay you like $10 shipping, why not? You come out ahead.

 

i would tell him that, as the item is illegal you did the right thing by taking it off the market (destroying it) so that no one else can be fooled by it. because you know that once he gets it back he will just re list it under a different account

 

Tell him that you turned it over to the US Department of the Treasury.
Then, unless he's a real idiot, you'll never hear from him again.

 

The item is in fact illegal, so I doubt eBay would even consider helping him get it back.
You could tell him if he pays shipping and handling to you in advance, you would be happy to send it back with the word "COPY" stamped into both sides to make it a legal item.

 

I sold a coin on eBay to a guy, who then asked me to accept checks from his "friend in Nigeria"... yeah... anyway, I wanted to get some enjoyment out of it so had the guy (in Nigeria) send the fake checks, and then kept messing with him. That was all good and fun an' all 'till I got a phone call from some barely understandable person, who I hung up on. Who then called me back within seconds. After a few times he managed to squeal out "eBay!" in a somewhat understandable way and I realized it was that same (deleted) that I had messed with for a couple months. He got my number off of eBay, even after he was banned. So no, don't mess with him. Keep the item and if he continues to harass you contact the police (who will tell you to contact the FBI) and maybe you can catch the (deleted). Good luck.

 

You are not required to return it, so don't return it. OR send it back with copy marks, and make sure he can't "fix" the stamps without completely ruining the coin.

 

This

 

If the shipping back to him is less than $1 (is he in the US?) I'd carve the word "FAKE" into the coin, throw it in an envelope with a handwritten note that you'll keep an eye out for any more "quality" collectibles of this sort, and will gladly bid and go through this cycle again :smile

 

Send it to EBay...........

 

Do what I'd do.

Step 1; Feed your dog some nasty, greasy stuff.
Step 2; When your dog takes a greasy, nasty, horrible-smelling dump because of what you fed him/her, grab a non-clear ziplock bag and scoop a ton of it up into the bag.
Step 3; Toss the coin in, zip it up, dou... no, triple bag it, and mail it off in a small flat-rate box.
Step 4; ???????
Step 5; Profit!

 

I'm never giving my address to Merc Crazy!

 

Actually, tell him you gave it to the Secret Service, as it is their jurisdiction. You can really send it to them if you want. They will dispose of it.

 

Messing around with someone who got your details (name/address/email) would not be a good idea.

Tell him you 1. hate counterfeits and threw it away long ago or 2. submitted it to your <any type of relative here> who works in police.

 

Agreed, Do not fool around with this person just to be safe. Just say you gave it to autoraties as owning counterfits is illegal.

 

+1

Make sure you tell him that you provided them with his name, address, and copies of all the emails you exchanged.

 

I'm Apparently "Out Of Touch"

I'm sorry, but after reading this thread, I see that my "old school" manners are probably obsolete today, but felt compelled to post, and accept ridicule from "the norm". I've received very expensive questionable coins that I determined through TPG submission that they probably weren't authentic (see past posts). I wholly paid for the coins, and they are now my property. They are encased, labeled "questionable authenticity".

I don't know how/who determined that the seller had intentionally offended, but until adjudicated, publication of guilt may be legally/morally improper.

If you have been "made whole", the coin legally isn't your property to retain, deface, or alter from the condition received. I believe it is now legally the property of the entity who repaid you.

I personally was recently again scammed by an eBay seller who blatantly violated my rights by leaving slanderous false feedback.
I left truthful objective unoffensive feedback, and notified eBay of their possible culpability in a slanderous action. They removed the feedback, and contacted the seller who refunded my payment. I personally paid to return the improper shipment received, sending the item with a note indicating possible litigious action for vindictive scurrilous publication seemingly intent to destroy the perfect record/salability of a 5 figure annual eBay preferred Power Seller. In my opinion, anything else would have reduced my activities to the level which I derided/despised.

I believe you'll find that legally the coin should be forwarded to the current owner, or government officials for authentication, and removal from public domain if determined to be counterfeit. If you retain the item, there is a probability that the coin will again enter the market as authentic, possibly causing grief for another.

Just my humble objective opinion, not intended to offend, but merely present another perspective. Rich :thumb:

 

My understanding of the law is that owning counterfeits is not illegal, but knowingly trying to pass them off as genuine is illegal.

 

Yes, I think the Hobby Protection Act covers transactions not ownership. I would doubt that owning counterfeits by itself is illegal as almost all dealer I know have black cabinets. My personal black cabinet are all punched by a COPY punch I had made.