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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ConfederateHalf, post: 1230417, member: 27946&quot;]I&#039;ve just experienced another way in which unscrupulous sellers try to scam the unwary coin or bullion buyer on eBay.</p><p><br /></p><p>Like many here, I troll the eBay listings periodically looking for junk silver that might end up selling at auction below melt. I have a pretty good success rate at this and have never had a problem with any seller until this week when I bid on a won the following auction:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=3&amp;campid=5335874456&amp;toolid=10001&amp;mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D330588743165%26ssPageName%3DSTRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=3&amp;campid=5335874456&amp;toolid=10001&amp;mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D330588743165%26ssPageName%3DSTRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT" rel="nofollow"><font face="Arial"><font size="2"><span style="color: #0000cc">1918-1944 7 pc Mercury Dime Legend Set Circulated P D S</span></font></font></a><font face="Verdana"><font size="1"> (330588743165)</font></font></p><p><font face="Verdana"><font size="1"><br /></font></font></p><p><font face="Verdana"><font size="1"></font></font>My winning bid was $16.05 + $4.00 shipping. While the shipping was a tad on the high side, I was satisfied that the total cost of $20.05 came in below melt for 7 Mercury dimes......or so I thought.</p><p><br /></p><p>The next thing I know, I receive an invoice from the seller - <span style="color: #ff0000"><b>sunshinestatenumismatics</b></span> - and he has revised the invoice - tacking on another $3.23 to the bill - effectively changing the price of my winning bid AFTER close of auction. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie4" alt=":mad:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Needless to say, I was not amused,&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie3" alt=":(" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>I quickly contacted the seller and advised him that it was against the rules to use the invoice revision tool to pad the bill with unauthorized charges. That tool is only supposed to be used to fix problems with shipping charges or for combining invoices - NOT to add to the seller&#039;s profit because he didn&#039;t like the winning bid price!</p><p><br /></p><p>The seller subsequently sent me a new invoice - deleting the unauthorized surcharge. However, he was not very happy about having been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and he subsequently berated me for stealing &quot;the shirt off of his back,&quot; (3 bucks is apparently going to break this guy....), and griped bitterly about me citing eBay rules to him! <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie11" alt=":rolleyes:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>He then tried to justify his dishonesty by citing his listing description, wherein he had inserted the following illegal language:</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial">WARNING<b>:</b> Auctions that do not meet face value AFTER ebay fees for clad coins and paper money, or Metallic Intrinsic Value (Silver, Gold, Copper, Nickel) for precious metal coins, including all coins listed per auction, will be considered NOT SOLD. No exceptions. If you plan on purchasing, please bid realistically and accordingly. Coinflation.com provides up to date values to go by. Thanks and good luck bidding!</font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><br /></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222">If you read these terms carefully, <u>what he is trying to do is to run a standard auction as if it were a RESERVE AUCTION without actually paying eBay a fee for a reserve auction</u>.</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222"><br /></span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222">Not only does this violate eBay&#039;s fee avoidance policy, but it also is a dishonest attempt to deprive bidders who win his junk silver auctions at below melt of the right to take delivery on the merchandise they won.&nbsp; The bottom line is that if he doesn&#039;t get the price he wants - he&#039;ll either cancel your winning bid or he&#039;ll pad your bill!</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222"><br /></span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222">Pretty slippery guy....</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222"><br /></span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222">Anyway, after a couple of email exchanges with this gangster, he agreed to send the coins and to only bill me for what I was supposed to be billed, but he is still disgruntled that his little scam didn&#039;t work and sees himself as the victim of me compelling him to abide by the rules!&nbsp; Go figure.....</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222"><br /></span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222">The most flummoxing part of this is that this guy had 265 positive feedbacks and no negs in his history, so I can only assume that he had been getting away with this scam for some time now - no doubt cancelling auction after auction that did not provide him with the profit level he thought he deserved.</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222"><br /></span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222">Without question, I should NEG this guy for this, but since he quickly rescinded the charge and shipped the coins I told him I would not NEG him if he completes the transaction with no further shenanigans.&nbsp; Nonetheless, I wanted to warn the community about this dishonest tactic he is using.&nbsp; No doubt, there are others who try to use clever statements in their listing description to circumvent eBay&#039;s auction rules - so it pays to read the entire listing closely and then make up your own mind if you want to deal with someone who operates in this manner.</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222"><br /></span></font></span></p><p><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222">So - a word to the wise - </span></font></span><span style="color: #ff0000"><font face="Arial"><b>CHECK YOUR INVOICES </b></font></span><span style="color: #fb0034"><font face="Arial"><span style="color: #222222">- especially if you win junk silver at below melt value - because some dishonest sellers will try to add unauthorized charges to them to steal your deal.</span></font></span>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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