Everybody's favorite... eBay.

I broke up a "key" 1950 proof set a few weeks ago. Mainly did it because I overpaid a bit. So I submitted the half dollar and sold the rest using buy-it-now, so as to soften the blow when the half comes back 63 or 64. One buyer... the one who bought the Lincoln... was excited to have it because he told me he was building a set of proof Lincolns. Just the Lincolns. So there ya have it. It worked out for both of us.

 

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I wish I could paste the winner take all listing I saw this morning... 1957 Proof Set Sealed Envelope. It was a sealed envelope alright, it was a 1964 envelope with the date scratched out and 1957 hand written over top. That's the kind of crap that needs to be eliminated. Okay, enough on this topic from me, it's time to move on.

 

Actually I LOVE reading gripes like this - they tend to validate my extreme cynicism.

 

That's totally different. That set of yours has value where as the modern (post 1990) run of the mill sets being sold off coin by coin is the kind of crap I'm tired of having to sort through. "And that's what grinds my gears"... Peter Griffin.

 

YUP, I often thought of those eBay sellers with their addresses as NYC, New York and many with Boston, NY... that's where I think about those overseas culprits ! After-all, they do post some spectacular coin pictures ! LOL

 

I completely agree, and in fact I think they are entitled. . . To whatever happens to them.

 

I agree these types of sellers need to be banned, but reality is different. I'm just very careful about who I spend money with on eBay.

 

As an update to my OP, the seller agreed to a return; the item arrived yesterday and was returned without opening; the return address was a different apartment number at the same street address in New York, and the seller's name is now English instead of Chinese. Interesting????

 

It's possible they know exactly what they're buying, but doesn't care because maybe they have so much money. The best "help" you can do for the newbies is to make a comment on the listing and let the owner know the description is wrong... "it's a large date, NOT a small date" If the buyer doesn't research enough and read the comments, then it'll be a lesson learned for them, but at least you did your part.

 

Hmmm, I bought one advertised as a 1963 proof set still sealed about 2 months ago, but have never opened it. In my own defense, the outer envelope is rather worn as if it may be 55 years old. It would be too late to do anything about this, and the price was OK.

Not related to the above, there is a coin seller on eBay who sells some pretty darn good looking coins. All of his listings are "Buy It Now" with free shipping, AND he has that "Make Me an Offer" on all of this listings. I have made offers on some 30 of his listings, usually calculating a 15% discount on each of them, and usually making offers on about five coins at a time. I always wait until the day before his listing ends, too, so it's not as if I am trying to pull something over on the seller. If there were others who thought his prices were fair, or if there were some buyers making offers of only 10% discount, most assuredly these items would have disappeared. None of my offers have been accepted, and no counter offers are ever presented. The point is, I guess, that the seller really does not want to entertain discounted offers.

I've been tempted to ask this seller why he or she has the "Make Me an Offer" option on the listings; my offers amount to as much as several hundreds of dollars on five or six coins, and that ain't hay. I have relented because he may put me on some list that forbids me from doing business with him or her.

That happened to me years ago when I bought dozens of coins from a seller who neglected to put all of my purchases in the envelope he sent. He followed through a week or so later, but must have thought I cheated him. It was clearly a mistake on his part, and I was a bit offended when I went to start another purchase with him only to find he had set up his block.

 

I admit that I enjoy reading it at times.