They want me to ship them my credit card!

LOL - i take a break from coins when i travel... mostly

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

and you should...Traveling - is living!!

 

Fair market value = only one single place and time, one venue, one coin, with only those bidding (or not). Far more complicated than that.

True, for some of us anyway.

Heritage does this (but doesn't show you what your shipping will be). They have such high fees I think it works against them. Often a coin will hammer many multiples what it is worth because of the commission, but they do tell you what it is before you enter the bid.

Ah. Pink Floyd (look it up)!

 

No, I don't have an account. I've suffered Fed Ex recently because a French dealer and German dealer sent coins to me using them. It was surprisingly difficult to receive a parcel. They try to deliver three times to my home, without leaving a card mind you, and then consider the parcel undeliverable and return to sender.
They don't allow options like changing delivery to work address, or pickup at depot, because the seller didn't tick those boxes. They favour process over efficiency and commonsense. You can't reason with them on the phone. The worst bureaucracy I've ever dealt with.

But... things are different in America by the sound of it.

 

I believe I'd tell them to $&%$@# %&#*& my %$#@ *&/ $# and to take my card and %&$#@ £$#@ €£&%$ until %&$#@

 

Not really. Same rules for us, but I think Europeans like Fedex for the ease of shipping and customs.

 

FedEx do get your parcel through customs quickly and efficiently, I'll give them that. I guess they have an attack of efficiency at this stage in the process because they can collect broker fees.

 

Yea, I dont know about how the fees work. In the US I think its only a problem for value over $5,000. My last one worth that cost me $30 in taxes (and/or fees, I dont know, the invoice is vague). Seems cheap, really.

 

My last invoice from them was $260 for a $1750 coin. The tax portion is 10% (so, $175.00). Somehow that became $260.

 

Heritage does it........

 

Well, I guess that would be your own countries tax rate. And I thought the US had high tax rates! Anyway, I never talked taxes with my cousins (many of which live in your country), but they dont buy coins!

 

Unless you really need that coin I would not pay them. Certainly an amateurish operation such as theirs would have no recourse against you. I always read the terms after learning a lot I won only accepted wire transfers that added quite a premium to the lot. It sounds like you did your homework, unfortunately they don't have clear guidelines.

 

In the UK you can 'virtually sign' online after first attempted delivery and request that it's either delivered to neighbour or posted through letterbox at your risk.

 

I think it's a mistake to see auction as fair market value by definition. People get carried away at auctions. You might be bidding against a reserve. Things often seem to sell for more than retail.

 

Yeah, I was told that option wasn't available to me because it was a high value item. That's understandable I guess.

The postal service would hold an undelivered item at the post office for collection at my convenience - much better than a courier company with only one depot in an outer suburb in a city of 4 million people.

I really don't understand why someone would use a courier when the existing postal service provides better service and is much less hassle.

 

I couldn't have said it better.

 

I've heard enough to feel like it's not worth the effort. I would cancel the purchase and not do business with them again.

 

Vinchon is an old and reputed dealer in France, but they are ...old and reputed !
Old and they probably still live in the 20th century with a fountain pen to write their invoices
Reputed and they probably don't care for new customers (even more if they come from the supposed (by them) A-cultural new world )

That said, as mentionned above, here in Europe you have to physically put the credit card into the machine to have the chip read for security reasons

@Nemo, as i live in France, if I can be of any help, I would gladly do that for you (PM please)

Q

 

It is certainly possible to use a credit card remotely, but the fraud risk is higher when the cardholder isn't present so the fees are higher. I suspect they are violating terms of their contract by asking someone to post a card to them.