CT's ebay obsession

what is the deal with the eBay obsession here at CT? it seems every other thread is referencing an eBay auction, or complaining about eBay, or some shady dealings on eBay. constantly berating eBay auctions does not make one superior - if you want to bash eBay's current coin auctions, then start a forum for that. if you choose to use eBay, you should know what you are getting into ahead of time - know what you are buying.

i'm here to learn about coins, not eBay. i'm intelligent enough to steer clear of the many shady auctions out there. you aren't going to change eBay, it's a reflection of the greed that exists within our society. is all the eBay auction bashing because some here can't talk about coins because they don't know much? why not start a thread about a coin you'd like to know more about instead - you might learn something and the forum will be more powerful as a resource.



-Steve

 

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I hear ya, Steve.

A balanced view would include the idea that most e-bay auctions are totally cool. I have been very happy with e-bay purchases, and have made others happy selling.

News of the Weird. For many people, bad news attracts more interest than good news ... and e-bay has plenty of strangeness for humor's sake.

That said, newbies show up here every day seeking guidance. It's good for them to hear about dangers, so the topic gets refreshed pretty frequently.

 

I dont believe it to be an obsession as much as it is a learning tool for everyone, especially for those that are new to the hobby. I believe it to be an important part of our hobby as many transactions take place on Ebay that involve coins and/or currency. This teaches novice collectors what to look out for if Ebay is the way they want to go as far as purchasing coins go, then on the other hand, if you're new to the hobby maybe you shouldn't be buying coins on Ebay. Some collectors dont have the convenience of brick and mortar coin shops or coin shows every weekend. Maybe you're intelligent enough to detect fakes or altered coins but some collectors aren't to that level yet. This forum isnt about being Ebay police but to learn and share from each other regardless where the coin in question comes from, dealer or online auction.

 

1. Most members are dealing, have dealt or will deal with eBay. Therefore, there is more interest in eBay. Were I to write about Brown's Coin Shop, there is only one other person (that I know) who has or likely will ever deal with him. Tfhe interest in local dealers just is not there.
2. I have posted more than one positive about eBay. They typically get a response "good", or "Glad to hear it". End of story. If you post something even suspicious, everyone has an opinion or several. Just like you do not hear all the good news one the evening news.

A lot (most?) of the eBay threads are just that. "should i buy....?", "is this real.....?", "how did I do.....?", etc.

 

Hear Hear!! I agree with you 100%. If it wasnt for many of the eBay links and for the feedback regarding the coin given by many of the knowledgable members here, when I started collecting I would have no idea what to look for, what looks shady etc. Today I can say that I am now a decent grader because of the "is this real?" and the ebay links saying "This coin cannot be AU-58, etc"... I can pick out the occasional counterfeit, and believe it or not, if I google some coin I wish to purchase followed by the word "fake/counterfiet" so that I know what to look for, often I end up right back here on some thread. I have no coin dealer relative, the closest coin store is 11 miles away and I share a car, not easy to get to it. This is the best place to learn!
Moreso, putting up links to counterfeit coins and wierd deals has gotten a LOT of these yanked off eBay, a form of policing.

 

Hey Steve,

Rim pretty much nailed it as others did too.

I'll admit I've done my share of ebay bashing but if it educates one newbie on CT then one person on CT has learned something.

Several of us have run infoautions on ebay. I know the ones I've run have received very good repsonses from both the CT and ebay community for telling it like it is.

As for changing ebay we may not be able to accomplish that but we sure can make them think. When they get a flood of complaints about a bogus auction they tend to disappear rather quickly. Would that happen if not for a bunch of folks from CT reporting en masse?

I have done the same thing on Overstock. Infoauctions that is. You know, I took a lot of beginning collectors that are senior citizens under me wing so to speak. Saved these people a lot of money (some had been burned on SEVERAL occasions). Many will email about an auction before bidding. Know what? That makes me feel good. I'd sure hate to see my 75 year old mother getting ripped off on a daily basis.

Can it get annoying? Sure, I see your point. Just remember most of us are at least TRYING to educate.

clembo

 

I learn a lot from the Infoauctions that members of CT and the world put up on eBay. I also have learned information about the lots on eBay that I should stand clear of. At times on this forum there is an excessive amount of threads about eBay auctions that should be avoided, BUT I look at every single one of them. You never know if you are going to run into that same problem/auction/seller, and that is why knowledge is power.

 

It's pretty much the same on any forum on the internet not just coin forums. Why, probably because if totals were available ebay would be well on top of coin sales worldwide on any given day of the year and the largest coin dealer in the world is gonna get talked about good and bad.

I would also like to see the figures of how many crooks who were selling counterfiets, fakes, etc., etc. were uncovered and driven away. Or how many un-educated collectors were saved the agony of shady dealings because of these threads on CT or any other forum concerning ebay. As far as not knowing much about coins, it takes a VERY, VERY educated collector to spot and uncover most of these fraudulent auctions that would otherwise go un-noticed. Ebay is a great education tool for the novice and the professional. Where else can a collector see, detect and learn about the vast assortment of actual counterfeits on a daily basis?

 

ebay is a mixed bag. i also like to play blind when playing poker dagger, twoson. and the general will attest often with dazzling results i say long live fleabay

 

I got to admit that if the title indicates e-bay, I avoid reading those postings. I would assume that some folks have nothing better to do than bash others and some even appear to be trying to show everyone how smart they are, when in fact I question what gives them the right to interfere with someone else auctions or business? Did someone appoint them the overseer of our hobby? I must of miss those appointments somewhere along the line.
Actually I am appalled by the actions of some members of CT concerning e-bay auctions sometime with unfounded actuations.

 

If you dont like Ebay threads, by all means, don't read them.

Many a fake has been pulled from Ebay due to reports from members here, and many a member has learned what to look out for.

This forum is not about police or appointments at all, just learning and sharing what you learn for the betterment of everybody, or at least those who wish to participate.

 

Ok thank you for your opinion.

 

And thank you for yours !!

 

I see nothing wrong with threads about Ebay - it is a part of the hobby, since some people do not have local coin shops. I have learned from looking at Ebay threads. I find the threads a good way to help us newbies - even when it is about something I do not collect. So I think clembo and arizona jack covered it best.

 

Like said, don't like 'em, don't read 'em. I take some of them as very helpful (most actually), and some others just as complaining about ebay. There will be the bad with the good. But I think most of them are intended to help us that have no clue.

Phoenix

 

Yup,

I'm trying to show everyone how smart I are.

Now let's see - what gives me the right to "interefere with someone elses auctions or business?". I call this the ASK SELLER A QUESTION link provided by ebay.

Yes, you did miss the overseer appointment. It was in ALL of the media! Now seriously. What gives people the right to blatantly rip off the uneducated?

This happens many times on a daily basis. So much, in fact, that the ebay "police" can't even keep up with it.
Yes, there are times when someone will post a "questionable (to them)" auction and we respond. Know what the response is? Usually along the lines of "well they are not breaking the rules so the auction should continue".

There are sites online now where you can check out the history of a used car you might buy. You know, see if it was under water or something silly like that. Should we stop those too? You know give the dealer the advantage to rip you blind?

It's all fraud. Fraud is not good. Fraud has tarnished the name of ebay. Fraud has made many honest sellers move to other venues.

So don't read the threads. Howver, if you get burned we don't want to hear about. Who knows, may have already been posted here.

 

here's a serious question that i would like an honest answer to - how many of the auctions you see as fraud do you go into with the intention of buying the coin? how many do you look at simply because you think they are fraud? how many coin dealers do you approach at coin shows and tell them they are misrepresenting coins by overgrading and try to get them kicked out?

-steve

 

I still think that eBay gets discussed enough here to have it's own sub-forum.
:goof:

 

I pass up 90% of the bad auctions I see, I just post here when I see a blatant disregard for the hobby in general or those that I think folks could learn from.

At coin shows? Same thing...I just keep moving along to the next table. What a dealer does at a coin show is none of my concern, but, again, if with a friend and that friend is in process of making a bad buy, I will give my opinion.

At the ANA show, there was a large national dealer, the word" minting " is part of the dealers name, big advertiser in CW and NN. The proprieter sat there eating sandwiches for 2 days with the lonely look and no biz at all. No wonder, all his coins were problems, cleaned, overgraded junk. Viewing coins "in hand" is much different and usually takes care of itself.