... about a situation on eBay which I found truly fascinating. I have purchased many Morgans and Peace dollars from a seller, and I've been largely happy with them. The seller would write the grade on the 2x2 but NOT disclose the grade in the listing. Of course the grade is quickly seen by any buyer looking at the coin. Anyway, even though I'm a rookie, I could always tell "his" grade was always a few grades higher than it's actual grade. Wanting more than my opinion I did show many of the coins to reputable dealers and even sent a few to PCGS. The measure stood, a grade or two - maybe even three or four higher on his 2x2 than the actual grade. Despite this situation I never really held malice towards him. As I mentioned, I was for the most part happy with the coins I'd been buying. Ultimately though I quit buying from him. Being curious I kept an eye on his auctions and he always had the same basic Morgans and Peace dollars. Nice coins. As the weeks went by I noticed his grades getting higher. What once was a 'his' 64 was now a 65 - what was once a AU-58 was now an MS-61. You get the idea. I thought, "Wow, this guys got guts!" --- His feedback was always perfect as he DID have nice coins. I gave him dozens of perfect ratings on what were 'overpitched' coins but I always liked the coins. Now though, surely this new method would be reflected in his feedback. Soon there would come the, "OVERGRADED" and "NOT HAPPY - F"..... Nothing came. Nothing that is except MANY glorifying positive reviews. "This can't be," I thought. Someone will catch on here. Someone will KNOW this MS-65 they're expecting is barely a slider. Still after weeks and weeks, 100% postive feedback. I don't know what the moral of the story is. I don't know if a Sociology prof. would have a field day figuring out why this group of people somehow are missing the obvious. Even now I can't say I'm upset with this seller, or hold any bad feelings at all! (maybe I should, I just don't know) Bottom line is I find it very interesting and was hoping to hear someone elses opinion/take on my story....
Your best defense is to familiarize yourself with a particular series/ coin prior to buying from a dealer such as this. If he's not playing the fancy lighting and camera work trick, and you can give it an accurate grading guess by his photos, I may consider buying from him. But, I'd bet his practices may get rookies to overpay and outbid you on a regular basis.
This really isn't a shocker. Many coin buyers on ebay are not well informed, to put it nicely. I agree with your assessment that a sociology prof. could have a field day. Because I've seen people give positive feedback over fakes, planted rolls that they paid good money for but didn't pan out, and transactions gone bad. Some people are so afraid of controversy or of feeling guilty of being screwed, that they will leave a positive feedback regardless of the situation. Then there are many who just didn't know they got ripped off. The feedback system is a very, very basic guideline to let you know that a seller will most likely send you an item after you pay for it. You almost can't read much more in to it than that. Doug opened my eyes with some past Heritage auctions one time as to what true collectors are willing to bid coins up to. Even with 15% buyer premiums, prices on some coins were much less than they went for on ebay. Not all but some.
I have to agree with you 100%. The process of leaving a neutral or the unforbidden negative feedback is more lengthy, and almost feels as if you are physically injuring the seller. The truth is you are doing a tremendous disservice to all ebay buyers if you do not give a well deserved feedback.
