New eBay policy on Coins sold for more than $500?

Here is what tracking looks like:

 

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For years I've bought almost all my coins on eBay and I'm glad to see them incorporate this coin varication service.

 

Bucket o' popcorn waiting to see their sensitivity and specificity. I wonder if Kalshi has an over/under on that.

 

By George, I think you got it right

 

I wonder how much of this is just lip service. How many counterfeit coins are sold for under $500? I'm thinking the vast majority. They could flag for review every coin listed for less that some percentage of the Greysheet market value. You know that a five figure coin being sold for $100 or whatever is fake. I could write, test and implement that query in probably 5 minutes.

Heck, they could check the titles and descriptions for the word "replica" and eliminate a big chunk, because lots of sellers say so right in the listing. Replica coins are specifically a violation of ebay policy. Yet you can go to any coin category and find one advertised as "replica."

I suspect this is all just to reduce their liability below a certain threshold and proclaim "see, we did something about it." But I'm very cynical, having reported many many items over the years with a specific description about why it's fake, only for them to say "looks good to us." They've looked the other way for a very long time. Why the sudden change of heart? I don't buy it.

 

This is exactly what I was thinking.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if several people have sued eBay for facilitating the sale of counterfeits and this action was part of the settlement.

 

True!

And they could simply review all complaints their automated report-messaging-system has received the past few months, search through them for words like "fake", "copy", "cast", "counterfeit", as well as "replica" -- then have a human look at any of those that are still listed. That would eliminate another chunk. (And while such a human were doing that task, they could also look at other listings by the same sellers.)

 

This is my thought too. It may also have something to do with a threshold for criminal liability. Facilitating the sale of counterfeits has been a crime for many years, but somehow they've always been about to go "who, me?".

They had a committee and/or employees doing just that, quite a few years ago now. They eliminated it. Since then, it took someone with insider connections to get a listing removed. I haven't checked over there lately but there were numerous cases where someone on CCF could get a listing removed when many others had failed. It shouldn't take "connections" to get their attention.

 

ALL coins over $500?

How about world coins?

 

There must be something in this for eBay besides company image, altruism, and customer service.

They have to be making money on this in some way. It’s always about the bottom line for companies like this. Always.

 

"Starting August 18, Authenticity Guarantee will begin rolling out in the U.S. for:

• Graded U.S. Coins priced at $500 or more
• Graded World Coins, including Canadian coins, priced at $500 or more
• Raw U.S. Coins priced at $500 or more"

according to https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-authenticity-guarantee-collectible-coins. So not raw coins unless they're US. So for example this fake 1948 Canada $1 being sold for $2400 gets a pass. https://www.ebay.com/itm/8004083372...xgjabIIffnKKDuII33Pbe3rHUw==|tkp:BFBM_J_7iI1o

 

All I can think of, as mentioned above, is that they must have been hit with a hefty lawsuit or threats of heavy fines from the government. This will cost them a ton of money, so it seems like the alternative (status quo) is now more expensive for them. Anybody know why they started doing this for trading cards in 2022?

 

Not sure if this works, open and scroll down to see 2 merc dimes.
They look the same, probably returned, then reposted.
I see raw coins way over 2k on ebay.

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:4ad2a0e4-e477-4947-b3b4-3052fba668e5

 

No doubt about that Canadian dollar being fake. Everything about it looks off.

 

Matches others I've seen with the cartoon date among other things... Ebay taking baby steps.

If at first you don't succeed, try try again?

 

Agreed. When your lawyers explain the possible outcomes of litigation, things can change, dramatically.
Larry the old insurance guy

 

Thanks for the explanation!

I wonder what my graded world coin (sold for over $500) will look like after it receives its "Authenticity Guarantee?"

Will the grading company or eBay slap a label on it, or put it in a bodybag labeled, "Authentic?"

 

If they are sending coins to the major grading services, the cost of certification is too high for $500 coins these days. At any rate, given the turn current around times, you grand children might get your purchases; you won't.

I'm glad I don't mess with eBay.

 

I've sold a couple of coins that reach the $500 threshold on eBay, but never again.