I had bought this one commemorative set a year ago or so. It didnt take long to get in the mail, but when i opened the 2 coin silver set, it was actually a 3 coin silver and gold set. I was unsure about weather to keep the coin or not, so i decided to do nothign unless the seller contacted me. They did and i returned the set. I dont own or have even handled a gold coin until then - so it was cool - but sucked i had to return it any one else not get what they barganed for?
you might get sparse replies to this thread as none of us want to admit to our failures in being safe in our online purchases. I know I don't.
I'll reply, with this info.... I've made several Ebay purchases, and I've not any of them go wrong (SO FAR.... knock on wood!). Now, I will say that some people are better (by far) than others when it comes to things like packaging and timeliness, but overall, I've never had a major complaint.
I once won a raw common Morgan in an eBay auction where the description read something like "MS-64+++++." The pictures were OK, but not good enough to make an accurate appraisal of the coin's true grade. I bid at about an MS-62 price. The coin turned out to be EF at best. I e-mailed the sellers and explained that I thought they had over estimated the grade of the coin. Their answer was to refund half of my money in the form of a credit. I wasn't overjoyed with their solution but took it rather than get nothing. I applied the credit to another Morgan (this one was a semi-key date) that they were selling a couple of weeks later. Again, they overgraded the coin, but I sent it off to NGC and it came back with a grade closer to what I had hoped it would earn. In all I broke about even. That is probably my worst experience with an on-line purchase. I've been fortunate.
I mostly buy bullion related coin lots on eBay and haven't had any problems yet, (knock on wood). If I were buying a coin with numismatic value, I would only buy from an auction that offered a return policy like, 'full refund less shipping, for any reason', within about a week from delivery. If a seller is not willing to offer that, they would not be considered reputable by me.
