Help Me Play With This eBay Scammer

Ok, here's the ulr for a 2008 No P Satin Finish coin for $45.99. Of course all 2008 satin philly cents are not marked with a mint mark and currently sell for around $2. So, this guy is trying to make you believe this is an error coin like the famous 1982 No P Dime. What would you ask him next? I'll post his responses as he replies.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270373004796&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

I wrote to him and said: I haven't heard of this mint error. Is it a rare error? Thanks

He wrote back and said: I haven't heard of it ether, but can plainly see there's no P mint mark on it. Thanks Daniel

I wrote: How many of these do you have? Are you willing to make a deal on a quantity of them? If so, how much?

He wrote:

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Lol I have no idea of what to say next, but I bet you'll get some responses to this. Good Luck!

 

OK, I sent him a scather....

 

Man! You use all these technical terms! What's a scather?

 

In off color terms, a scathing remark.....

 

I reported him. lets see if they do anything

 

No where in the ad did I see that he said it was an error. So what is the problem besides being overpriced??

 

Reported him for what? He has done absolutely nothing wrong. He could ash $1,000,000 for it, and it still would not be a scam or any version of fraud.

 

Let me rephrase that. He has done nothing against any eBay rule or against any federal or state law.

 

By stating it's a "No P" in his ad, it draws upon the No P designation given to a major mint error and implies this coin should have a P, otherwise, why state it has No P. By pricing it well above its actual value he implies it is not the norm for this coin and that it is worth more than a coin with a P. In his response to my 1st question about the coin being an error, he allowed me to assume it was an error and pointed out again, it has no P. If it involved more money, I'd take this one to court. Since it doesn't, I'm going to edited with him until he disappears and eBay boots him. Guess those with integrity can see what he's doing wrong and it's up to us to police our own hobby. Losers like this seller give the hobby a bad name.

 

WOW! very strange, he hasn't responded to my offer to purchase a quantity of his No P's. Very strange for a greedy little scammer. Did some of you jump all over him and scare him? If so, great. Or maybe he's gettin his sleep, so he can wake up bright and early and scam some more. Or maybe, he's reading this post and laying low or defending himself.

 

Are you an attorney? Just asking, because you're drawing some pretty broad legal conclusions, which from my experience in the court wouldn't hold water. I'd have to say he's clearly shown "intent", the basis for a criminal conviction, as opposed to a simple recovery of losses, as in a civil action.

 

Yep, I'll report him too. This jerk has to go, for the good of the hobby.

 

This leads to a significant question. Is it wrong for people to take advantage of peoples ignorance to get their money or are they fair game and to be dismissed with a simple 'caveat emptor' or let the buyer beware?

Isn't this the heart and soul of marketing in general or was there once a less cynical form of marketing?

For my part, I like the golden rule.

 

Because you can read other that what he says into his listing does not make it violate any laws. Even your implied statements do not violate any regulation I am aware of. However, aside from that, in this country you are innocent until proven guilty.

People are reporting him. For what? Selling a cent "with no P"? Trying to sell a cent for more that it is worth? Allowing someone to misinterpret what he says? There is nothing he has said that is not true. On the other hand, what I do know that will happen if you keep annoying this seller is that you will be kicked off eBay. Yep! Your messing with him will cause you to disappear and eBay will boot you. Plus, if you keep writing post like this one, you will also be booted from this forum. And, yes, I can site you the rules for both.

Am I a lawyer? No. But I can read and have read most of the eBay rules. You should try reading them. That way you might not "interfere with other users' listings".

 

I gather you're a fan of the P. T. Barnum approach. All's fair as long as it's legal. Otherwise just take advantage of the suckers. It's their own fault.

 

Normally I'm the first one to want to "call bad eBay sellers"

Normally I'm the first one to want to "call bad eBay sellers" on their stuff.
But I got to say in this case the sellers words verses your assumptions are off a bit, in other words he's saying this and your assuming much, much more - it's out of kilter.
He says "no "P" and even though that means nothing as far as a variety or errors go (on this cent) he did not go on to "claim" anything further. Your the one with the assumptions.
He made no claims of anything - he may be on drugs or otherwise impaired but he did very little really wrong other than the high price and while I'm certain I would not buy from him (or anyone on eBay including God) technically he has not "lied" at all.
In this case this is just another less than perfect eBay seller, par for the course!

 

There are two answers to your question. Is it against the law? None that I know of. And just how would you write it? If some moron CAN misread it, the writer is libel for the moron's mistake? Get real! There are some things you cannot say (i.e. It cures cancer), but batter, good, original, etc. are not amongst them.

Can a listing be written to be amoral. Yes it can, but that does not make it against the rules. Besides, there are no moral police.

 

If you'd like to quote the law, especially in an effort to defend a clear scammer, I'd suggest educating yourself before speaking. Having spent a career sending white collar criminals like this seller to prison, I can see there is a definate case to be made against him. Most people in this forum can see the point and many will complain to eBay about this seller, as will I, and we'll do the same for any other sellers that think they can get away with misleading/defrauding the public.

 

No way dude, the gap between what he's saying and what one has to assume isn't as wide as you make it out to be - he's clearly attempting to mislead. And, based on the way he laid out his ad and responded to my question, I could prove intent, when he tries to claim ignorance in order to avoid prison.