A study of online marketing by Great Southern Coins

So, what's your concern here? I don't see any marks on your pictures that I don't see on GSC's, as a matter of fact I see them more pronounced on theirs than on yours. Such as at the top of the Indian's headdress, between the 3rd and 4th stars on the left, the area in front or the Indian's face, the scratch through the date, the rim by the 4th star on the right, the indent in front of the eagle's wing. You cleaned the reverse but his photos didn't try to hide anay of that. I think, all in all, that GSC provided an accurate representation of the coin.

 

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This thread was to help people see how their coins look in other people pictures... so I was just adding to it. I have no issues with their coins or pictures, and buy them regularly.

 

So this afternoon while watching the heavens literally open up and raining at least 3 inches an hour....
I sat in my car had lunch and window shopped some half dimes.
The next thing ya know a date I'm interested in pops up.
An 1850 seated half dime .....sold by none other than GSC! The obv. Image juiced of course ,and the rev well not so juiced but shows the coin is damaged .......heavy scratched ! All in the fields on the rev around all devices . As I read their write up on the specimen....not one time was it mentioned that the coin is "damaged " "details" "won't grade"......... Sad that they are allowed to do business !

 

If you have enough interest in getting it graded, my guess is you can see it has the scratches and know it won't grade.

 

Not stating the true condition of the coin in writing is no less than fraud .
Just like you buying a car and not being told it was in a flood.
You defend this company even though the evidence is as plain as day.....you should of been a lawyer .....

 

Comparing selling a coin as is, where all problems are visible, with a Lemon car, where problems are hidden? Hmm

 

OK simple yes or no question?
Hypothetical
I'm a used car salesman and I sell your son/daughter their first car . The car has been damaged and of course a mechanic would know it was....but your child not being educated in automotive knowledge wouldn't.
Is that wrong????? Simple yes or no question a one word answer.
"One Word" yes or no?

 

I've been thinking about your experiences and I think we need a way to incorporate them. You have made several really essential observations about how inexperienced collectors can be lured into purchasing a flawed coin.

What is missing from this thread is how to see what you see. I am going to give this some thought and see if we can assess some coins we would never buy.

I think of GSC like my local coin shop. They are strictly a storefront. They have 95% raw coins graded by the owner, and 5% slabbed. The coins might grade, might be details if they were submitted, or might not be worth the expense. I have walked away with damaged coins even after looking through a loupe. The staff doesn't mean to hide anything; neither do they see every flaw, so they trust me to see things for myself.

I just treat the two sellers the same. You need two skills for them, to grade in hand and grade from photos.

We can help newbs and ourselves if we share how we know whether a photo tells us "buy" or "don't buy".

 

Yes, that's wrong. BUT I also think it is a wrong analogy, lol. Anyone with eyes can see damage on a coin. Right? Any logical person would think a damaged coin is not worth as much as one in good condition, right? So a correct analogy would be: A used car salesman is trying to sell my kid a car with no wheels, sitting on blocks. Now, she is no mechanic, but SURELY she can see it is on blocks, and being sold as-is.

 

Decided to look at a few of their auctions. Looks like he says damaged... http://www.ebay.com/itm/1877-S-Trad...674036?hash=item44068ce8b4:g:-SEAAOSwstJZVXcQ

 

No.

Now you're going to tell me how I am wrong, and that the salesman has a moral/legal/whatever type of obligation to disclose everything they know about the car, which they don't.

Now, I agree with jwitten that your analogy is not a good one, but let's do apples to apples, using an orange.

So let's use a coin with damage that is evident in the photograph, let's use the earlier posted SLQ with the scratches. In the listing, the scratches weren't mentioned, but we all agree that the scratches are visible in the seller's listing. So isn't it really the buyer's job to efficiently and effectively evaluate the coin for themselves, and then make their buying decision based on their conclusions of what was presented to them?

So now let's take your flooded car example, and convert the apple to orange comparison to an apple to apple comparison. In other words, the seller may not tell you about the flooding, but everything is there to show you it has been flooded. Maybe when you open the door, water pours out and rainbow trout gleeful exit the vehicle. Or maybe there is a waterline, or mudline half way up the entire interior. The seller is mute, can't write, and doesn't know sign langue, or understand your language, so you have no way of asking a question. Did he hide the fact that the car was flooded? Did he prevent you from seeing the evidence that the car was flooded? I think the answer is no to both.

So we now have a coin, and we have a car, that have both clearly shown their best and worst. If you buy the coin, and aren't happy with it, or you buy the car and aren't happy with it, who is to blame? Nobody but you. That's actually more of buyer's remorse, then of deceptive sales practices.

And I believe that the initial purpose of this thread was to help everyone in being a more educated buyer when buying not in hand coins from anyone, to whit I also believe the thread is accomplishing nicely.

Caveat emptor. It applies to everything you buy, including coins.

Again, thanks to the OP for this helpful and educational thread!

 

A flooded car is not as obvious as you make it out to be. That is why there are laws dealing with it.

Caveat emptor applies to everything, eh?I certainly hope you are not in the pharmaceutical or food industries, as well as many others whose trustworthiness the public has to rely on.

And by the way @Paddy54 ... Yes, that's wrong. For cars and coins.

 

So you guys are saying that when you have sold a car, or traded in a car, you fully disclosed EVERYTHING you knew to be an issue with the car? Ok, yeah... I believe that.

Of course a flooded car won't be as I described it. I described it that way so the analogy can be applied to this discussion. Like I said, a flooded car by law would actually have to be disclosed, and in many (all?) states it is required to be mentioned on the title. It wasn't my analogy anyway.

As for pharmaceuticals and food industries, the next time you buy used pharmaceuticals or food, you let me know. Another bad attempt at a comparison. New products are a different animal than used products, especially products meant for consumption.

A used car, a collectible coin, a used patio table, or any other used item, only has to have what's called a 'warranty of merchantability';

So the car basically has to be capable of driving off the dealer's lot. The coin has to be able to sit there and be a coin.

Good or bad, there are many laws and common sense rules that protect sellers as well as buyers.

Hmm.. me thinks this thread is getting derailed....

 

It was a simple 1 word answer yes or no.
"No buts", is it right or wrong... as anything can be sold "as is" and "as is " to a collector who is new to the hobby who doesn't know any better,is the same as your son or daughter buying a car ,or anything for that matter believing they are getting a good value ....and truly they aren't .
It's funny how when the situation hits home it is wrong.....but as long as it's not "Me" then no harm done!
Time and time again this seller has been proven to buy problem coins ,and sell them with no disclosure as such.
It's well known that this seller has a track record of these practices . And just because they do sell some items that are not tainted ,it's OK to do business in this manner .
Buy what you want ,from who you want,after all it's your money..... Personally I wasn't raised to take advantage of anyone ,for any reason . And I find such practice,in life,or business as one that is "morally bankrupt"!

 

No.

 

If this is true, and I don't doubt you that it is (I bow to your superior experience), but then WOW!, something isn't working as it was originally designed.

 

Yes, clearly you do. I, on the other hand, do not.

 

There is one thing they DO do that is not entirely on the up-and-up. Their titles/headlines are too superlative, but I've grown to completely ignore them. So should everyone.

 

Agreed. 100%.

 

This is a wise man. Good thinking.