Something really bizarre just happened - I kept on getting notes from UPS that it was going to deliver a parcel to my house - although I receive coin shipments at my work address - and that when it showed up I would have to pay $597 to UPS presumably for tariff charges. Also it was from Boxtal France, from CDMA - a known French coin dealer. I have probably purchased coins from CDMA but if so it would have been in the distant past - and I have not been able to get in touch with the company since they are not on ebay, nor Numisbid or Biddr, which are the auctions houses I use to buy coins for my collection. My recollection is that CDMA is a bit on the pricey side. Any ideas? If this is a scam it is pretty sophisticated since it has UPS collecting the money - I was not able to shell out $597 just to purchase a mystery box which might be a catalogue or something. Since my wife was the one who answered the door for UPS I have no idea what was in the parcel only I was not going to pay $597 to see it. I will look on the internet and find out if this is the latest scam, but it does to seem to me to be very good - who would pay this kind of money for something they did not order? And CDMA is a coin auction house. P.S. I have received coins lately from Europe no tarriff charges including a worn Plotina sestertius I was able to considerably improve with a bit of olive oil. I always wanted an example and will show it shortly.
Scam, if you didn't order anything it's a scam, even if you did order something, the seller would contact you and ask wtfooey!
I thought so too - it does mean that someone from France actually paid UPS to send me something counting on my naivete in paying for what may well be an empty box. Still it is elaborate in that the scammer had to pay the shipping charge to UPS in the hope of collecting the $597 - it is bizarre!
How would the sender in France collect the supposed 'tariff'? Doesn't that money go to the government?? I recently was sent a package by the same dealer and they used the correct harmonized code for ancient coins, no tariff.
I just read about a week ago about just such a scam. I don't recall all the details, but this sounds very much like the one described in the article.
That's crazy. Especially if you didn't even order anything. There is certainly no reason to pay anything to anyone until you hear back from the supposed sender and get everything figured out. Remember one of the hallmarks of a scam is urgency.
Isn't CDMA the same thing as CGB? If so, they either send by FedEx (as I found out to my chagrin) or the post office, respectively. Per the real tariffs and the suspension of US mail from some of the postal services, I'm not ordering anything from Europe until the situation becomes more clear. Aaron Berk talked about the tariffs in his latest podcast, and he called the current logjam a temporary bump in the road, or something to that effect. He further elucidated that firms like FedEx/DHL, etc. were more likely to be stopped and searched, rather than the post. *Oh, I think CDMA is Numiscorner - not sure why there's a dual name. Numiscorner sends packages via the post.
I just placed an order with them last week. It was sent by FedEx, apparently the only option right now.
You can forget about bidding in European auctions or buying coins anywhere outside the borders except a few countries for now - the tariffs are killer. It can't last forever and one auction house very kindly let me put the orders in their "storage." Other are on the way but I will have no choice but to not accept with perhaps having to simply write it off - one dealer said that it takes months for a rejected order to get back and there is a fee for doing so - the result is that the coin may have to be destroyed. If Americans no longer can participate in auctions out of country and vice versa does that mean that ancient coin prices collapse, or go up or stay the same? If you know a way to avoid this mess other than just buying from American auction houses, I am all ears -
Yes, DHL or FedEx shipping from dealers outside the US. You'll have to pay for the premium shipping, but no tariff if the package is properly documented with the correct harmonized code. It's not impossible to receive coins from overseas, but it will cost more. Isn't this what you voted for?
