I saw these on Ebay today. They already have bids. The links to the auctions are below the photos. https://www.ebay.com/itm/267511004232 https://www.ebay.com/itm/267511053265
EBay should be prosecuted for promoting counterfeiting, and profiting from counterfeiting. A huge fine and some prison sentences might shake them up. They are just as responsible as the people who create the fakes, and the people who sell the fakes. Even more so because it is THEIR platform that makes this crime easily accessible worldwide.
Deaf ears. We've all posted the fleaBay's illicit listings. They do not care as long as they get their cut. When you see key date listings for less than melt with 50 sold, only 5 left!............you need to be a special kind of stupid to buy those. What's funny, I posted a listing from this same seller a few weeks ago, calling him out. Disgusting what eBay allows to go on.
There is just as much crime in our government as there is on our streets. They would prosecute you for Malicious Intent, eBay would be an afterthought, end of story!
That 1893 is a real piece of, erm, work. Reported both, and included the sentence "eBay is facilitating fraudulent and illegal sales of counterfeit US coins" in the report for the 1893. I imagine both will earn a "we see notink", but it's worth a try. I also see that the report popup now allows a full 1000 characters rather than the old 100, and allows uploading up to 5MB of "supporting evidence" in the form of images or whatever. Wonder what the AI does with those. Probably treats them as chew toys.
Crime is crime. Don't rationalize it or make excuses. There is no excuse for this behavior in a civilized society.
There are so many Ebay coin sellers....it IS tough to police. I am hoping AI can make a dent there. Couldn't Ebay require higher financial commitments by sellers....verification....credit cards...posting a bond...references....whatever....I dunno. Higher standards for raw coins possible ? 30-day refund policy mandatory ?
I wish they could go in the opposite direction -- kick off the big schlock-shovelers completely, let the big businesses sell through their own websites, and take it back to the day when it was basically a flea market/swap meet, with sellers mostly just plain folks. That ain't happening, though.
They already have that in place. There's another problem though. By the time you get it, test it or get it tested and authenticated, the clock has run out. I have not told this story yet, it's a little embarrassing even though I ultimately won. I bought an 1893 0 from supposedly a 100% seller. (1000's of sales) I got it, looked real in AU condition, it weighed correctly, was not magnetic, sent it out immediately came back (40 days later) from PCGS as counterfeit. It cost me over $500, and was heavily bid on. I contacted the seller and he ghosted me. I got in touch with eBay and they considered my claim. It got denied, and I immediately appealed, with photos of the PCGS paperwork and the flip it was returned in, a labeled body bag. They denied the appeal even after I threatened to turn them in to law enforcement. The Secret Service no longer handles counterfeit coins, it now a local enforcement issue (good luck). I wasn't defeated yet. I remembered something important. Never use bank transfers or debit cards on internet transactions, they have no protections. I contacted my credit card bank and they directed me to take my evidence to their local branch. I did, they photocopied the evidence and they ruled in my favor, back charged eBay, like it never happened. I don't know who had to eat the loss but either way I don't care. Winning! (and I still have the fake coin, I believe it is silver).
Good thing I cleared off my fainting couch, eh? Interesting, though, that they say the decision's from "a customer service agent", not AI. Of course, they don't say whether that "customer service agent" is a human agent.
I sometimes wonder if we help the crooks with these threads. "I am not a collector"... Well then what are you doing with Carson City Morgans?? These are exactly well done enough to fool the casual collector and it pisses me off. I like how he dresses up his personal contact information with Christian imagery.. As though he has ethics. Remember when criminals were hard to find?
I try to post links to fakes to help others. Thanks for sharing your story, and warning others about not using bank transfers or debit cards on internet transactions.
Ebay is heavily involved in a segment of the collector market which requires expertise which they do not have. Since there are no penalties for offering counterfeits for eBay, they can continue to part of the coin market "on the cheap." The solution is don't bid there. I have not bid there for several years. I know a dealer who bases his business around eBay. I've told him I will neither buy from nor place bids with him on eBay. I do buy pieces from him at the shows and from the small number of offerings he has on his websire.
