I know this has been talked about in a variety of threads, but I thought I would list a couple of my early ebay mistakes, and if it saves one other person from making them it will be worth it. 1. I once thought I bought a 2001 proof set for 6.00 plus s&h only to throughly read the description and find that I purchased the box and COA only!! no coins. 2. I thought I purchased a PC for an incredible price and I waited for the mailman to arrive only to realize I had purchased only the mother board!!!! 3. I thought I bought a morgan dollar for $5.00, and was so proud of my great deal only to realize the s&h was 16.95. The moral of my story is make sure and take the time to read the entire description and shipping information and make sure you understand it before buying!!!!! Maybe some CT readers can add to these lessons learned.
Talk about a tragic comedy. (even though I was laughing at Your misfortune, I was cringing at the same time) At least You recognize Your mistakes and will read the fine print now. : ) I think all of Us have done something absent-minded at some point regarding purchases. If We were to start a thread about that, it would be colossal.
Astute Observations!! I couldn't help but find humor in your post, as I believe that the majority of individuals who've visited internet auction sites, for any significant duration, have experienced similar circumstances. I've read the body of auctions repeatedly, believing clarity of understanding, only to realize in the future that your mind occasionally operates with "preset understandings", only seeing an "opportunity". I occasionally ask myself, after the fact, "what were you thinking". I appreciate your expression of vulnerability and honesty. I suspect, as I, in haste your past actions may be repeated. I've learned to respect the creativity of auction sellers who state the facts in a manner where the truth is often misunderstood. LOL :smile
Stung Yep. Guilty. I just got my 4 gig SD card from China today. I bid 1 Cent. S&H was $9.95 But I placed the bid at 2 am through half closed eyes just because I was frustrated with my 512K card. Sometimes I forget to read the fine print but I had to leave an honest pos for the seller because I got what they promised. I just didn't notice the $10 + 1 cent cost. Then again, it is a long way to China..........I hope.
I ordered what I though was a cheat code for my daughter's Wii. We waited for months. I went to the post and discovered that it wasn't a book, it was a link to a download the seller emailed me. By then the email was gone. I messaged the seller and he emailed me the link again. I ordered what I thought was a photograph of the skyline of Chicago. Found out later it wasn't an actual photo. It was a digital download.
I know the horror stories about fake coins from China. I've bought a lot of stuff from China. Mostly Pokemon and Super Mario toys. I've also bought my son a lot of Blackberry attachments from China. I have never been burnt by the Chinese. I always get my stuff in about two weeks.
I've never really made any bad mistakes. Accept for that foolish purchase of a 1970-S Small Date cent certified MS-64 RD by PCGS for $100. And then I come to find out that MS-65 is only worth $75. The good thing is, I see 64's and 65's selling for $100+ all the time so I guess I didn't get burnt real bad..
How about selling mistakes as well? I once really lucked out on a coin due to the seller not really knowing what he was doing. He listed a double sestertius of Postumus (a Roman coin from the mid 3rd century), but the only picture he has was really zoomed out and you could barely make out what it was. He also called it an "ancient Christian artifact" in the title despite the fact that this coin had absolutely nothing to do with Christianity, and his description was pretty bare. In addition to this, his feedback was 0, and this is a rare enough coin that you want to know that the guy you buy it from hasn't sold any fakes. These things are all red flags for fake coins, but I figured that I might be willing to chance $10 on it, and I asked the guy if he could email me better pics. He did, and it turns out that he just had no idea how to crop an image, and Ebay just shrank down his gigantic photo. The coin looked very real, and I managed to snatch it for $10.50. The guy later revealed to me that he'd payed $90 for it (or something like that) and was considering not sending it, though I did end up getting it. So when selling, make sure your picture is clear, your description accurate, and that you don't put odd phrases like "ancient Christian artifact" that make it look like you don't know what you have. In addition, if you have no feedback, try to build some up with less valuable items before you try to sell something expensive, or you may be in for a large loss.
1. never buy coins that dont have a return option ... more than 3/4ths of few coins I bought on ebay i ended up returning because the coin didnt look as nice in person as it did in the photo 2. avoid raw coins ... stick with PCGS and NGC graded coins ... usually they are not slabbed for a reason (like they would come back as Genuine, Not Gradable due to an old cleaning or damage) 3. watch out for counterfeits ... never buy coins from overseas (china especially) ... there are cases of counterfeit coins in counterfeit slabs so buyer beware when using #2 above. it's best to buy from a good dealer with a lot of sales and some sort of guarantee. 4. dont get carried away in a bidding frenzy ... figure out how much a coin is worth and how much you are willing to pay ... and stick to that
I once thought I was getting a great deal on 50 rolls of wheats. The photo showed 50 rolls and the title said 50 rolls, but unfortunately I did not read the full description stating that this auction was for one of those 50 rolls! I actually ended up getting my money back though, as both the photo and auction title were very misleading. Probably deliberately so.
Not a coin.....but Another type seller error~ Be careful about getting "Reserve Price" mixed up with "BUY IT NOW" price. Once posted an item and sold it in 10 minutes because of this error. I wish it had been around on the auction block long enough to get a 2nd bid......... But it was an honest error and good find on both parties part.
A lot of the eBay sellers have so much other crap in their listing that any important info can be lost. The actual listing will say "1915 D nickel. Nice." And then there's 1,500 words about all the countries they don't ship to, the types of payments the accept and don't accept, how important good feedback is to them, their philosophy on life, etc. I rarely find a coin action that describes the actual coin in more than 10 words. I think people are thinking the less they said, the lesser chance they can be accused of lying about anything.
Great thread I usually re-read any lot if the deal seems too good to be true.. usually, as mentioned above, there is something that will set of warning flags. One time I did hit the buy-it-now for a nice looking 1948 Red Book (Guide Book of US Coins) with a buy-it-now of $5.00 I was kind of nervous since it was a valuable edition, worth over $100, easily. But, I paid, and the book arrived. It was just that the seller had no idea. And the seller had excellent feedback. But, it could just as easily have been a bad move. I hesitate every time a deal 'seems too good to be true'. Usually it is too good to be true.' Mistakes? Sure, looked at a picture and was about to hit the old bid or buy it now for a coin, when I realized that the picture was 'just an examp[le of the coin'. I hate those listings.'
Tears Like a box of chocolates. I sent my lucky bid winner (BIN) with tears on the item. But I now try to pay more attention to what I offer. And it has also gone the other way. I've sold stuff my wife has tossed out and I retrieved. This includes some books.
This happened today. DOH!!! At the corner store they got a clearance box. Everything a quarter each. They had bags of 100+ US flag lapel pins. I bought all of them. I put one pin on ebay for one dollar buy it now with free shipping. I figured 50 cents for the pin and 50 cents for the stamp and envelope. I sold it right away. I took it to the PO. Because the envelope wouldn't go through the sorter without jamming up, I was charged 1.22 for postage. I lost money, but there's an upside. I put a whole bag up for auction and it sold for 12.95 + postage. What a profit!!!
