A study of online marketing by Great Southern Coins

Isn't that the way it is, and should be, with all things? Those that do the best at anything are the more experienced ones.

 

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It is SO hard not to respond with a political comment...

 

Indeed, but is also why care must be taken to clarify this fact, particularly when positive experiences with certain sellers could be misinterpreted by those newer to the hobby.

 

I heard it loud and clear. You didn't need to say it.

 

I bought a raw gold half eagle from them and the coin was exactly as shown, and I'm hardly an experienced collector! In fact it's the one I use for my avatar. I haven't sent it in for grading yet but may do so in the future. I recently joined the ANA so maybe I'll submit my coin to NGC for grading.

 

God bless you for a very informative opinion. Well spoken

 

Your one of the few

 

Their feedback says otherwise

 

+1

 

Their feedback is terrible by E-Bay standards and your ignorance of that fact is embarrassing.

 

This month, they have over 2,900 positive, and one negative. Your feedback total record shows 1,061 positive, and one negative. So technically, theirs (this month) is better than yours total (which don't get me wrong, I think yours is good, but by your standards, it sounds like it's not).

 

It isn't just about the numbers. They are a high volume seller and they sell a ton of graded material. If you read the actual feedback, the problems associated with this seller become readily apparent. They offer problem coins of better and key date material as problem free coins and use deceptive photos to attempt to hide the problems. Furthermore, there are reports that some of their coins are counterfeit and even reports that they don't honor their 30 day refund period.

Additionally, they have had 37 negatives in the last year with 31K positives. That is a higher rate than my 1 negative per 1K and when you add in all of the neutrals they have, it is even worse.

Btw, my lone negative feedback was related to a gem bu Mercury Dime that I sold. The coin had album slide marks on the obverse devices. They were visible in the photo and I included them in my description of the coin. The buyer negged me because the coin didn't grade problem free at PCGS even though I disclosed the problem at the time of sale. A far cry from the shady business practices of GSC.

 

Frankly, reading the negative and neutral comments for this seller for the past year doesn't encourage me to do business with them.

 

My point was, your negative was not deserved, and I imagine many of theirs are not either. When you do business with literally thousands of people, you are sure to get a few idiots buying your stuff.

 

If you only read their few negatives and neutrals and ignore the many thousands of positives I can see why you would feel that way. Like Lehigh said, not every negative comment is deserved so you gotta take some of them with a large grain of salt. YRMV.

 

When I read their negative reviews and then I look at their inventory, I come to the conclusion that they engage in unethical and deceptive business practices. That doesn't mean that every coin they sell is a pos, but if you are buying raw coins from them, you better have an extensive knowledge of the series you are buying, just like they warn in their comments of every listing.

Listen, you like them because you can cherry pick their inventory for your niche, and nobody begrudges you for that, but your neverending defense of this company in the face of overwhelming evidence is perplexing to say the least.

 

I just don't think their photos are altered like people say. I think what you see is what you get. I generally do not think they list things as "Uncirculated" if they are not. I think they sell in volume, so of course there are going to be some crappy coins in the mix, but they are not advertising them as nice. I haven't seen anyone produce evidence of them buying a problem coin, cracking it out, and listing it as a no problem coin. I have seen people produce that evidence with other sellers before, and I agree that is shameful. But to my knowledge, no one has ever produced that evidence with them, even though people say they do it.

 

Why is cracking out problem coins and selling them raw the standard for unethical behavior? The point is that the feature many many raw key date problem coins and don't mention the problem anywhere in the listing. As a professional coin dealer, they have an ethical responsibility to do so.

As for their photos, they appear to have contrast enhancements at a minimum. Boosting contrast can be used to hide hairlines which are telltale signs of cleanings. Maybe they don't need to enhance the photos of the coins you buy, but that doesn't mean they don't do it.

 

Here is my latest toner from them. Their pictures, followed by 2 sets of mine. I have one camera that gets the details well, but not the toning for whatever reason.

 

I'm thankful for this thread. I have no opinion of GSC, other then I know that I am not experienced enough to make an educated purchase from them, and I just pass by their items when looking.

To me, all of their photos look 'too good to be true', so I realize I'm not educated enough to decipher their pics. I'm sure I'll eventually get to the point where I'd be comfortable buying a raw coin from them, but for now, I'll pass.

The thing I really don't like about them, is that because their photos look super duper, the bid go into the realm of stupidity from what I've seen.

Thanks to the thread-starter for this, as I, and I'm sure many others, have gained some valuable insight. This thread has also made me ease up a little on them, as it appears that for the most part, it's a wysiwyg, as long as you know what it is you're seeing.