Fake return etiquette

So, the Vespasian NEP RED denarius I purchased is almost certainly a fake; in addition to seemingly pressed fields, odd font, and strange style, it is also from a known fake seller...

So my question is, what's the best way to go about a return/refund?
Should I
1. Demand to keep the coin, get a full refund, and then deface or otherwise destroy the coin?
2. Return it to seller asking them to please not try to sell it again?
3. Return it to seller defaced or destroyed?

Thanks

 

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Option 3 with refund and the worst letter you can think of but don't let him know.

 

Since they are on forums list it is safe to say assuming positive intent or that the seller didn't know is out the window. F that guy. If you give him back the coin you will be helping him to sell more fakes.
Hopefully you paid with PayPal. I doubt a known fake seller/ forger will make it easy to return.
I would recommend opening a dispute.
Out of curiosity, who was the seller?
And good luck.

 

Seller was "holdingancienthistory" who shows up on the Forvm list.
Oddly, he's got like 1200 feedback at 100% which is why I didn't think twice at first.

 

I would just return as is and leave negative feedback once your refund clears.

 

Although it absolutely is a fake, you really need to return it as is. Although it may not seem fair, if you deface it or refuse to return it, the jerk seller would be within his rights to refuse a refund. I know he's certain to sell it again, but realistically, the only way you can protect a future buyer is to take the financial hit yourself. No one should expect you to do that.

Phil Davis

 

..o lordy....haha....i saw his wares and lQQked on forvms list...it was a bingo...an attempt to make his name sound like 'holdinghistory', a legit seller on ebay should be a red flag..

 

Return as is and be glad you get the refund. No sense pissing him off.

 

Hi,

When you go through PayPal, they ask that you dispose of the coin, or I should say, that’s what they asked me to do two years ago - much tidier using PayPal.

- Broucheion

 

Inrequested an eBay return and it asks me to return the coin.

although I am tempted to deface it, I don’t want to get screwed out of $42 so I’ll just send it back and wash my hands of it.

ethically I should keep it and put it in the black box, but...

 

I'm the first one to admit that the coin would have tricked me. Perhaps the only thing curious for me MIGHT have been the M in the obverse legend, so this clearly means I need to learn about distinguishing fakes ....

However, even if the guy is a jerk and knew very well that it's a fake, you need to return it back in the same shape.
Think about it differently (I know that from a numismatic point of view it is NOT the same thing, but ....). Let's say you buy a genuine coin and you don't like it, as the seller's pics appear with a different toning color or it has some scratches visible from a certain viewing angle, you don't like the coin and you want a refund. To get it, you need to return the coin, right?

 

This was a real tricky one. I really wanted to believe it is authentic... I've always wanted a Neptune reverse, and this one is a scarcer one.

Forvm report confirmed that it was fake, as the field are just too smooth and must be pressed, or modern die struck.

It's a real bummer.

 

You are not ethically obligated to bear the cost of the dealer's fraud, in order to protect his future customers. If you were a billionaire, it would be a different story.

 

As @Ryro so eloquently stated, "F that guy". They're a known fake seller that even has the cojones to emulate the eBay User IDs of legit sellers 'Holding History' and 'Ancient Treasures'.

The most important thing to do is to leave negative feedback declaring the coin to be fake and the seller to be already known as a fake seller. Another step is to 'report' other coins of theirs to eBay under their 'prohibited items' policy.

eBay prohibits the selling of copies of coins w/out disclosing them as such. They likely won't sniff at one or two complaints, but when they start piling up and enough negative feedback rolls in, they will eventually ban the fake seller.

It deserves reiterating that the guy is a scumbag thief scammer. He deserves no etiquette. Initiate the return. Leave the negative feedback to warn other buyers.

 

This has happened with me a couple of times as well. I usually send a note back to the seller requesting a refund because the coin is a fake. One seller returned the money and asked me to return the coin; the second returned the money and told me not to bother returning the coin. Either way, the coin is not as described (ie it is fake) so you should have a full right to a refund.

 

I'm skeptical that EBay will ever kick out any fake sellers. I've reported fake sellers numerous times but have never seen them take any action. As far as they're concerned, I suspect they don't care what sellers are selling, as long as they make their commission... Caveat emptor...

 

I am not sure about eBay policies in these situations, for ancient coins. Never bought from eBay and most likely I never will.
What I can say however ... sometimes I scroll through eBay for modern coins from my country (... marked really exploded...) and I find the same cheap copies, again and again, sold as authentic. I reported the items as counterfeits. Nobody cared.

 

I purchased a cheap tetrarchy issue from an eBay seller last year. Upon later looking at the seller's other offerings in following weeks, I noticed that they were selling obvious fakes of Roman Republic and Imperatorial denarii. Some were sold into the 100s of dollars level.

I made it a point to issue multiple reports to eBay about the fake coins being offered. Other buyers also noticed the fakes after receiving them and left scathing negative reviews.

The seller is no longer a registered user on eBay.

 

I wouldn't leave negative feedback initially. See how he handles the return, and then maybe give him positive if it all goes smoothly. We can all be fooled by fake coins, and it seems harsh to damage a seller's reputation for the sake of one coin

 

Except that this seller is apparently known for, and has a history of, selling fake coins. It's not a "first offense."