Everybody's favorite... eBay.

Alright, I like to check out items on eBay and don't have a problem buying from reputable people on there. What I do have a problem with is all the bastardized mint & proof sets chopped up into small lots and asking ridiculous prices for. I don't know if it's really that or the fact I have to scroll through all that garbage just to get to the good stuff?

Anyone else feel the same way???

 

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Well, if you buy it, it is your choice to break them up and organize them into sets however you wish.

And you can ask $1,000,000,000.00 if you wish as well.

So long as you don't lie, cheat, deceive, defraud, switch-out, or manipulate photos, by all means, good luck.

 

I had a small issue yesterday .
Paid for coin last week and checked tracking yesterday .
All it said was the postage was paid and the post office was waiting on the item .

Sent a message to the seller yesterday and then he sent it out ( coin ) .

 

Yup. Problem is, while the raw number of reputable people on eBay may be growing, their percentage of the "whole pie" is plummeting.

 

People selling stuff on eBay always break down the entire set(s)... however, you should complain about how much they want for their junk ! No pun intended ! <evil grin>

 

Found this on there with the tag line... "1970 S Proof Small Date!? You decide." And upon looking at the coin saw it was clearly a large date. Clever word play trying to sucker someone who might not know the difference to put out good money on a turd. Those are the ones giving it a bad rep.

 

Yup.... but you just have to outsmart them as well. The World ain't so small anymore ! After-all, Momma always taught me to look... just don't touch nor ask questions about it if I know something's not right ! It's when you put down your hard-earned money on an auction that you can get hurt on, right ?

 

Unfortunately some people have more money than sense or knowledge and those are the ones being preyed on by these snake oil salesmen. eBay should do a better job of policing the coin & paper category because of the number of inaccurate postings. But then again, that's just my opinion.

 

The only thing that bothers me is getting into an all day back and forth with someone who has absolutely no clue as to what they are inquiring about. I just sold 8 rolls of 2009P WDDR-046 Lincoln Cents to someone. We were messaging back and forth, literally all day to get this sale through. BTW, my listings are short and sweet but fully understandable and descriptive enough for just about anyone. No hype.

 

Is that type one of those “fingers” things?

 

Ya . that's the extra thumb for the eyes ....

 

Yes it is.

 

Thanks. I just simply can’t begin to motivate myself to even LOOKING at those. Too minor for me to care about.

 

Ebay has good sellers, and scammy ones, but if you search you can find some hardworking honest dealers. Using another area of interest, gemstones, this happened to me this week. I had bid on a relatively rare stone I had a purpose for, and I bid and won on the basis it was about 5x7 mm and I could trim it to fit a ring I could show my gem buddies. I didn't notice the small weight in the advertisement as the photos gave a larger proportion than .21carat. The company sent this email to me.

I'm so sorry to inform you that your order hasn't been shipped yet.
We just found out that this item has the wrong information listed on the listing.
The actual stone weight 1.21ct, not 0.21ct. The rest information are correct.

Would you like to keep this stone without any extra charge?
Or if you wanted to cancel the item for a full refund, please kindly let me know.

I offered to cancel that order part as I have had excellent dealings so far and didn't want them to suffer financially.

The reply:

Thank you very much for your confirmation.
It's all okay, we will be happy if you would take it.

I'm sorry again for the problem that happened.

I have bought from thiagemstore for many years, and would recommend them to gem lovers, but like with coins, you always have to know what you are seeing and values, and like varieties, you need to have a knowing eye. Jim

 

Disclaimer: I own stock in eBay.

I view eBay as the worlds largest garage sale. You have to do some work to find the trusted sellers. I have had great luck buying many different items on eBay: books, Maui Jim sunglasses, premium fishing reels, swim trunks, odds and ends, and of course coins. I just know you can't purchase blindly.

 

Ebay is sketch. Sometimes I see decent deals for “junk silver” coins, like up to 16 red ounces for somewhere a little over 250$. The part that worries me , even when I read the description , is receiving something along the lines of War nickels and other coins not 90%, that is if they are real at all!

 

Yes that's true, but at some point you do get tired of trying to protect people from themselves. When that happens you just step back and let them get themselves taken. If people insist on buying things when they don't know what they're buying, I'm going to let them. In any field if you spend your hard earned money without getting yourself educated in what you're buying you're going to get taken and it's your own fault. Now if the seller is lying about what they're selling that's one thing, if they're just being misleading that's a different thing, and if they're not being misleading but merely asking way too much money that's yet another thing. If there lying they need to be shut down. If there being misleading people need to be warned and if they go ahead that's their problem. If they're just asking too much money for an item, I see no problem with that. If they find a fool that will buy it and the fool gets a lesson in school of hard knocks.

 

My most interesting eBay experience is still happening. I won an auction and paid via Paypal on an unremarkable Morgan silver dollar from a seller whose address was listed as New York, NY. When the tracking number was provided, I posted the number at the USPS website, and it said the item was being shipped from China!!!! I'll be returning it the day it arrives.

 

The point I'm making is that this work is getting harder and more voluminous by the week.

 

I've found that people with enough money to get "sloppy" with it seem to expect everyone to be protecting them from themselves - it's an entitlement thing. "I'm meritorious because I have money, and we need a metaphorical "police force" in EVERYTHING to be sure my money stays in the hands of more meritorious people like me."