Following a similar post on RCC, I did a search on MSNBC for 'ebay fraud' and was suprised at some of the articles. Especially the 'tale of two auctions' where a former ebay employee stated that after suspending a powerseller the powers above him basically told him that he 'wasn't allowed to do that anymore'.
Thanks Chris, That was very interesting reading. I have been scammed more than once on ebay and duped numerous times. I still buy a few things on ebay mainly mint and proof sets, but, prefer shows for most of my purchases where I can pick up the coin and truly look at it and not a doctored/enhanced scan. I do not buy from sellers who say it is from an estate and you grade it. I bought a beautiful scanned 2 cent piece common date graded VF by the seller. When the coin arrived it had more pits and dings than a golf course. At best it might be a good as it does have full rims. That was the las one. I am awaiting a 21D Merc Dime now scan showed it to be at least a good we wil see.
It's amazing how a website is built one day by people who want to talk about coins, has expanded to a lively forum with over 40000 members (though many are not active).
Its sort of strange that the 3 people that posted in 2002 were all last seen between a period of october and november of 2009
If it looks too good to be true, buyer beware. Ebay has made many improvements to protect buyers. In the past week I reported 17 suspicious coin auctions and all were taken down withing a few hours. The 1 time I did get burned, eBay reimbursed me within a few days and worked with the Feds to find the seller and prosecute him.
It might be the first Coin Chat thread, but it isn't the first Coin Talks thread. I was around for almost three weeks before this thread was posted.
