eBay Commiseration Forum

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by princeofwaldo, May 26, 2020.

  1. princeofwaldo

    princeofwaldo Grateful To Be eX-I/T!

    Was wondering if there might be some consensus among CoinTalk members about adding an additional Coin Forum where we could all share our eBay nightmares. Not so much about coins purchased on eBay, as in dealing with eBay itself, especially as a seller. If my own experience is any guide, there is no end to the mind-numbing bureaucratic insolence encountered when dealing with them.
     
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  3. thomas mozzillo

    thomas mozzillo Well-Known Member

    There may be some legal issues if it were only about eBay nightmares. Could possibly be OK if it were titled "eBay experience" or something like that. A forum where we could share positive & negative experiences. I doubt Peter would approve of a forum like that but you could start a thread like "Share your eBay experience". Start it off with your own experience.
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2020
  4. NumisNinja

    NumisNinja Active Member

    Mine was the junk drawer lot. I mean you'd think if you were actually interested in the random low quality lot of coins strategically assembled to look like more than they are, that you'd at least get a decent price. But once you get it and try to break down the value of each piece, you realize that yours and EVERY other junk lot out there is just a bunch of overpriced undesirable coins that collectors and hoarders are trying to get rid of for as much as they can.
     
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  5. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    MOST of the time.

    "eBay treasure hunting" was a big part of how I got back into the hobby. Yep, I got some garbage. But there really are folks out there who don't know and don't care what's in the pile, and will either sell it at a good BIN price, or auction it without exaggerated claims, and with photos that most people will skip right past.
     
  6. kanga

    kanga 65 Year Collector

    I've bought many coins on eBay. I've had two problems.
    1. An order was not delivered. Tracking showed no progress. Dealer refunded. And I've dealt with him satisfactorily since.
    2. An order was delivered -- somewhere else. That's was USPS problem, not eBay's.

    I've sold some coins on eBay.
    No problems encountered.

    My main complaint about buying from eBay is the images that sellers post.
    You very often have no reasonable clue as to what their coin actually looks like.
    -- There's the famous dark disc.
    -- There's the well known small disc on a large background.
    -- Even if you get an image of a good size, often focus or lighting is a problem.
    -- And a one-sided coin is not unusual.
    These are not really the fault of eBay.
    As long as at least one dimension of the images is 500+ pixels eBay says it's a go.
    And the poor images are done by large, knowledgeable sellers as often as by newbies.

    And I practice strict CYA.
    If I can't see what I'm looking for in an image, I skip the listing.
    If the seller's feedback is below 98%, I skip the listing.
    (EXCEPTION: A seller with 50-100 feedbacks and only one negative.)
    (EXCEPTION: A seller with 500+ feedbacks and over 98%.)
    And there are any number of other "red flags" that will cause me to skip a listing.

    Overall, if you practice intelligent buying and selling, eBay is a good place to shop.
     
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  7. princeofwaldo

    princeofwaldo Grateful To Be eX-I/T!

    The real problem with eBay is there refusal to treat sellers (the users providing them with revenue) in a fair and equitable fashion. Instead, eBay sides with the buyer in nearly all disputes. The result is trailer-trash buyers out to game the system, taking advantage of sellers who are left with almost no recourse. I say "almost", because there are other venues to sell coins. I've had my fill of eBay's nonsense and will be leaving them behind for other more reputable auction firms.
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2020
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  8. kanga

    kanga 65 Year Collector

    I agree that sellers have taken a beating on more than their share of disputes.
    BUT
    Where are the other venues?

    Stack's? No way. There is very few coins listed on eBay that they would be interested in.
    Heritage? Nope. They are only one small step down from Stack's.
    Great Collections? Not them either. They are only one step down from Heritage.

    So where are these other venues, particularly ones that can profit from a lot of the low end material that makes up a high percentage of eBay's listings.?
     
    serafino likes this.
  9. erscolo

    erscolo Well-Known Member

    No thank you. There are enough complaints about this or that in this world already. I have yet to have any negative issues from that or any other venue.
     
  10. princeofwaldo

    princeofwaldo Grateful To Be eX-I/T!

    I've had pretty good luck with Stack's. My only complaint about all of the large auction houses is the wait for settlement, --should be more like 14 to 21 days instead of 45. If that means they need to more thoroughly vet their bidders or require them to provide a credit card, then so be it.

    Agree with the earlier observation that eBay now caters primarily to the bottom feeders, which is a real shame. At one time, there were some decent coins to be had for anyone who regularly visited the site, most sold in no reserve auctions with low starting bids. The fee structure encouraged it. Now days, the fee structure provides only one incentive, to list as much junk as possible at buy-it-now prices only an imbecile would pay.

    And if you try to sell bullion related gold coins in no reserve auctions, plan on being out the coin and with funds frozen indefinitely in your PayPal account after the buyer claims first that it is fake, then claims it is cleaned, then claims it has been mounted, all in an effort to get eBay to void the no return policy in the auction, which eBay gladly voids. And when the buyer never mails the coin back and the funds remain frozen, you can plan on spending a month of Sundays to resolve it all.
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2020
  11. serafino

    serafino Well-Known Member

    I like the idea of a forum for Ebay related topics. Ebay is by far the biggest marketplace for buying and selling coins. I would not have much of a collection without Ebay. I'd like to know the annual volume of coins sold on Ebay, it's gotta be huge.
     
  12. princeofwaldo

    princeofwaldo Grateful To Be eX-I/T!

    If eBay is your primary source for coins, you must have one heck of a collection, no question about that. It must be the most awesome collection ever assembled!
     
  13. baseball21

    baseball21 Well-Known Member

    While you're almost certainly being sarcastic yes serafino probably would. eBay has the biggest selection by far especially for world coins assuming you aren't looking for 5 figure plus coins.

    There's plenty to complain about eBay on the selling side, but buying selection so far isn't a complaint. That may change if they chase too many sellers off but that hasn't happened yet
     
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  14. serafino

    serafino Well-Known Member

    Snotty, sarcastic remark duly noted ;)
     
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  15. princeofwaldo

    princeofwaldo Grateful To Be eX-I/T!

  16. desertgem

    desertgem Senior Errer Collecktor

    In the article quote above:

    "eBay said it was notified in August 2019 about the alleged conduct of its employees and launched a “comprehensive investigation.” All of the employees involved were fired in September 2019."

    Sounds to me like it is incomplete in several ways, and as mentioned in the article

    “The internal investigation found that, while Mr. Wenig’s communications were inappropriate, there was no evidence that he knew in advance about or authorized the actions that were later directed toward the blogger and her husband. However, as the company previously announced, there were a number of considerations leading to his departure from the company,” eBay said.

    I may be an exception, but I have not had any trouble with Ebay. A few customers, but not the company and that includes several hundred from foreign dealers. My suspicion is that the blogger and these specific people had an personal interaction and conflict that escalated.

    You can check @Peter T Davis for sure, but I am fairly certain the forum does not want to get involved. Some people have complaints and post in general discussion forum.

    Jim
     
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  17. princeofwaldo

    princeofwaldo Grateful To Be eX-I/T!

    Incomplete in what way? They handed down 6 indictments in Federal court, with two other higher executive indictments possibly to follow. It was a multi-departmental conspiracy at eBay that reflects the culture they operate in. You can be an apologist for them if you like, but to the extent it illuminates who you are dealing with when selling coins on eBay (hence the post on the Coin Chat forum), it's worthy of discussion here.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2020
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  18. Charles Ruge

    Charles Ruge Supporter! Supporter

    Back in the early to mid 90's, I had much better luck using the yahoo auction site. I bought off both sites, but was getting better coins from yahoo.
     
  19. desertgem

    desertgem Senior Errer Collecktor

    I did not say anything indicating an apology for anyone. If anyone has evidence that others than the ones fired were involved, and not then fired by eBay, or if higher eBay officials directly ordered them to do this, then you have an excellent point. It looks more like a personal conflict between some of the public and a big business. It appears it is going to court, so I will hold any judgment as I have no knowledge of the blogger. Let justice be done. (I own no eBay stock, know no one at eBay, no lawyers involved , nor the bloggers) If you do , you should so state, otherwise it seems moot at this time. No offense intended sir, Jim
     
  20. princeofwaldo

    princeofwaldo Grateful To Be eX-I/T!

    YES!! I agree completely. Same held true for sellers at the time, it was a much better experience overall. It cost nothing to sell there, though at the time eBay still had very low rates as well.

    For items like bullion related material, Yahoo was hands-down superior to using eBay even when eBay was only charging 2% and allowing sellers to demand any payment method they wanted.

    Unfortunately, once Yahoo eliminated their auction platform (and I have never heard why, perhaps some suitcases full of cash passed under the table??) it wasn't long before eBay jacked-up all of their fees by up to 500% and required the use of PayPal exclusively for payment.
     
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