as demonstrated by this example. For the benefit of the few folks here (if any ) who don't read oriental languages, the coin clearly names it's issuer - the People's Republic of China - and it's denomination - 30 Yuan; but the combination of the studious appearance of the seller's photo and his high amount of feedback undoubtedly work to mislead a large part of the buying public. I've e-mailed him the correct designation of the coin, including the page of Krause where it is pictured and listed, but I'll be very surprised if he corrects his listing. Including shipping the opening bid would be $25.98 for an item Krause values at $18 in a category where Krause is frequently on the high side. EBay is a wonderful place - if you always remember to caveat emptor and pass on anything and everything that you can't verify.
I had an exprience with this seller where the coins pictured were not exactly the ones I received. I did nothing about it because they were similar and the value I received was OK but I have been a bit wary of them since then.
Here it goes...... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...&category=41101&sspagename=STRK:MEBWN:IT&rd=1 Beautiful is it not?? $10.00 bucks,, what a deal.... Then I was sent a piece of crap with border nicks..... I emailed the guy, he says, "well, I must have mixed it up with the auction on yahoo, and getting it back would be near impossible. Can i refund your money?" Yeah, right! Beware of this guy, I am sad.......
My advice is to stay away from ePay, sooner or later you will get burned. The hard lessons in life only have to be learned once.
Feedback is the sellers reputation. If there were a local coin shop that had a bad rep for ripping people off you'd be reluctant to shop there, right? Same thing with ebay. Take a minute and research his/her reputation. Set some criteria for yourself as to what is acceptable to you in an ebay seller, and stick to it. This will greatly reduce the odds of an unhappy outcome.
Feedback can be dangerous. You get a seller on eBay who sells one hundred over graded coins to one hundred different individuals and only ten of them realize they were duped. Of these ten, only two decide to leave negative feedback. The result, the seller has a 98% positive rating!
Well tradernick and I have the same outlook for ebay. We both have recommended that you look for regular dealers selling on Ebay. Ones that have a store or website. These type of sellers are more prone to being honest. They should know their coins, and give better service. I would cross check any seller on Ebay with the Numismatic Dealer Directory. If they are ANA or PNG dealers all the better.
Well, I looked back about 15 feedbacks and found the same picture, I know cause I am a graphic artist and layerd one atop of the other and the are a perfect match. I will leave negative feedback, I told him this is not acceptable. What a jmoke! He has good feedback, but not for long. I am going to open up his scam to the public. I myself have excellent feedback as a buyer and seller, and lan on keeping it that way!
Glad to hear you are willing to leave negative feedback. This is what makes the system work. Often folks are unwilling to leave negative feedback for fear the other party will reciprocate.
The seller may have made an honest mistake and used the wrong photo. Did you ask the seller why the two photos were identical? If the seller is willing to refund your $$$$ including S/H, you may want to reconsider leaving a neg. You might damage your rep with a retalitory neg from the seller which, in the end may be the result of an honest mistake. On the other hand, if you are convinced the seller intended to send you the POC coin, then leave the neg. It just does not appear consistent with the seller's feedback history.
Yeah, I understand what you are saying rbm86, and am waiting for a response on that exact question. I will be sure to fill you all in.
Wait, looking at some earlier pics, he did the same thing with a 1923 peace dollar. Waiting his response.
98% really isnt all that great if we all take the time to see what the 2% negatives are for....... If they are relaliation from a buyer who was left negative for slow pay or whatever then the sellers probly fine.... I only worry when they have 2% of their shipments lost in the mail or buyers complaining outright of being ripped off. The folks running ebay need to get off their duffs and change the system...... My being left neg FB buy some seller who I got payment to within 72 hours would be terrible if it was over my complaining that he sent me crappy merchandise But the seller can hold out his FB on you till he sees what youre gonna say.....ultimatley giving him the upper hand all around. Whats ebay do to remedy this.........both parties can now agree to take off mutual neg feedback...........So me as the buyer who paid in a timely fashion has to concede the neg FB I left against this jerk@** seller in order to remove his undeserved bad FB against me for complaining to begin with cause hes a con artist. Ebay is not about to screw sellers over........thats their bread and butter.....but they sure do need to start looking into complaints and start being willing to remove FB against innocent buyers who get the shaft on occasion......... Lucky for me Ive only gotten ripped the once so far.........knock on wood
His final response.... All I wanted was his honesty, it took pulling his teeth! Some sellers use the same picture for multiple items, but then they state that in the description as well. Hopefuly this is a lesson for him. His response..... below "WOW, What do you want me to say. I had 5 of those Peace $ and they were identical in every way, so why take 10 pictures when 2 will do. This is not against e-bay rules. Did the same with the Walkers as I had a lot of them identical, but any with nicks I had on separate pile for sale on Yahoo. Like I said, I must have picked coin I sent to you off wrong pile, but this was NOT done to intentionally scam you in any way. I have apologized and offered full refund of your money as I am an honest seller and could not sleep at night otherwise, but if you cannot believe that there are honest people that make mistakes, then I guess I cant convince you otherwise. Offer of full refund still stands by the way, and you have a nice evening. "
Make sure you get the S/H charge back as well. Even though using photos that are not actual may not be against e-Bay rules, the seller should at least DISCLOSE that the actual coin will be is not the one pictured, and that ought to be an E-bay rule. Despite what this guy says, no two coins are identical. Comparable, yes, but not identical.
Well hopefully they aren't all bad - I just purchased a 1965 SMS and a '72 Silver Ike dollar. We'll see!
