Got two lots in yesterday: Liberty Standing Half Dollar 1937- 1947-D (complete collection) nice 1938-D The "nice 1938-D" was a solid VG; unfortunately, it was the rare "missing mint mark" variety. The auction stated "no returns", but of course Buyer Protection/SNAD trumps that. I'm hoping the seller will credit me the difference in value, but I expect he'll want me to just send the lot back, especially now that its melt value is higher than the final price. We'll see. Type Set-- antique & recent nickels: Fine-BU The "BU" Buff turned out to be AU, polished. The V-nick might barely make F, but was also cleaned, as was the shield nickel (VF details at best). The half dime has dark, ugly toning and a scratch through Liberty's neck and head. The lot might still be worth what I paid for it, but it's going back anyhow, I think. Neither of these worked out, but I still think they were worth the gamble.
I made a similar gamble on some fillers of modern coins. Luckily I didn't pay too much but still, getting some scratched or rougher than described/pictures is always a let down.
You probably already checked... but did you look at the reverse of the 38-p and see if the two got swapped? Just a thought.
why not just scrap the halfs, get your money back from that and move on? It was a gamble. Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose.. this time you break even. I just dont get the gamble part I guess.. You dont score big on the gamble you return and make the seller eat shipping.. As for the buff.. is obvious in the pictures at least to me that the coin was buffed out. 3 Care to give out your ebay name? I want to make sure you dont bid on any of my items. and this is why so many selllers are hating ebay.. gamblers.. who is to say there was a 38D in there and ooops.. now its not?
How is it gambling if you just return it when you don't score a bargain? I can see though if the item wasn't as described. Those coins in fancy holders I noticed are usually much higher than they are worth. I could see them being cleaned before insertion and the majority of older coins have been cleaned at one time. Couldn't you determine the grade by the picture or atleast downgrade the coins if you couldn't make them out? I have bought coins where I didn't entirely agree with the grading, I just bid what I thought the coin was worth.
I agree with the posts above, I'm not sure where the gamble comes into play. You bought something looking for a deal, and when you didn't get it, you returned the item. If you bought from me I'd me pretty annoyed.
I don't know why they couldn't tell by the picture that the grading is off or that some coins were cleaned. I personally don't pay attention to those grades.
I wish I knew. I wouldn't trust anything but my own eye, and I don't take anyone's "word for it." people selling stuff on eBay are tryin to get the most out of their product, but I always look with my own eyes and decide. If it looks to good to be true, it probably is.
Jeff, Sometimes I really have to laugh at the dummies that sell things on FleaBay. You'd think they would do a little homework before they listed something. In this case, I didn't know that the US had ever produced a "Liberty Standing" half dollar. I know that there is a "Standing Liberty" quarter dollar, and there is a "Walking Liberty" half dollar, but this listing would make me be very leery of even thinking of bidding. What else do you suppose the seller overloooked? "Oh, by the way, I made sure that all of the coins were nice and clean. They ended up looking very nice after I used the Brillo pad!" Chris
I know grading is pretty subjective. For instance, I bought some IHCs. For some reason it seemed the grade was always one grade up what I think it should be but I noticed this depends on the definition of the grade. I merely just downgraded the coins automatically before bidding and just didn't pay attention to the grade they assigned. I also bought a seated quarter that was listed as XF because "I saw another quarter listed at VF and this coin is much nicer". I got VF Details cleaned and bid accordingly which wound up to be Redbook G. This coin was listed as XF but too bad for the seller nobody bid and got it with 45 seconds left for 99 cents with free shipping. I do see diamonds on the ribbon which does say something.
If I win an auction and the item turns out to be significantly not as described, I haven't "lost a gamble", I've been cheated. You'd better believe I pursue it with the seller (politely, always), and if the seller isn't responsive, with eBay Buyer Protection. If it was a vaguely-described lot that looked like it might hold something interesting but didn't, I eat my loss and leave positive feedback. If this half-dollar seller had just shown a photo without specifically calling out the 38-D, I wouldn't have bid quite as high, and if I'd won, I wouldn't have groused when I found the slot mis-filled. PM sent. And if any of the folks who "liked" this post want to block me, PM me, and I'll send you my ID as well. Really, though, sellers who don't lie (or post unintentionally inaccurate descriptions) have nothing to fear from me.
By the way, the guy who sold the halves said he was pretty sure that there was a 1938-D, and asked if I was sure that "the P was not a D". I explained, proposed a partial refund, and he quickly agreed. I emailed the guy with the type set, and he immediately and apologetically offered to let me return it for a full refund, adding that he hoped I'd try him again. Given his response, I'll certainly consider it, although I'll make more conservative assumptions about his listings.
