More Coin Shipping Scams

Wow, this coin vendor has balls of brass.

He charges $4.00-6.00 per coin shipping, then ships the coin unprotected in a regular mailing envelope for under a buck.

The story goes like this in his feedback:

• the coin gets mangled by the USPS sorting machine.
• the envelope gets torn.
• sometimes the coin is lost altogether.
• sometimes the coin shows up in a plastic bag from the post office.
• if the coin does show up it's got damage from his carelessness.

The seller runs a company called PJS Inc. He created the handle in early January of this year and has been listing hundreds of coins since last month. I think he's made about a $1000 on shipping overages alone.

Yet, he's still allowed to sell on ebay after over a dozen negatives, just as many neutrals and being reported over and over in just over 1 month.

I nearly bought some coins he had that were priced very competitively, then I read his feedback. Holy cow!

bafflez

 

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He doesn't have anything listed now...but thanks for the heads-up!

-LTB

 

Great feedback was left for this dude, if he continues operating like this he just might have to close shop soon..

high shipping cost sent in envelope torn by post office who put in plastic bag

Overcharged me over forty dollars claiming he was mailing each shipment separate

Double Standard?You don't combine shipping,yet you put 4 comm's in a PKG.$2.07!!

CHAOS! UNBELIEVABLE! anyone missing 1936 Washington Quarter $37.35 ship 8 coins!

Sent both first class, $.78 postage, arrived postage due. Overcharged $10.12 !

Paid $5.35 for Priority Mail, coin sent 1st class mail $0.61 - he pockets $4.74.

Does not combine shipping just a way of gouging buyers that would like to buy!
Reply : This buyer clearly cannot read listings, states we do not combine shipping! Bad

 

What kills me is so many people refuse to leave negative feedbacks when the seller is clearly at fault or a scammer, because they don't want to be identified as a problematic buyer. I can't tell you how many times I'll see a positive feedback left with a neutral or borderline negative comment.

However, if one buyer leaves an honest negative that's written clearly, others follow suit.

bafflez

 

14 negatives!!! It,s obvious this guy wont be seeing much business in the
Future!!

 

It is the detailed seller ratings of 1 or 2 that get rid of sellers like this (way faster than feedback ratings).

Buyers must also learn to voice their displeasure with high shipping charges by NOT BUYING.

 

I appreciate as much as the next person reporting troublesome sellers. However, why not report the facts

Out of his last 199 coins listed, his shipping was $2 - $3 on 181 of them. Further, I will bet you have no idea how he shipped the 16 (2 did not sell) coins he charged higher shipping for.

Out of his 14 negatives, 8 are for his failure to combine shipping charges. Not that that excuses his performance, but most his negatives have nothing to do with your complaint.

First off, why is it all eBay's problem? Everyone has access to the same info you got. They can make up their own mind. My figuring is 75% of the time I will get what I buy; 20% of the time I will get a bad coin, return it, and get my money back; and 5% of the time I will get hassled (lost at post office or similar) and then get my money back. (Every listing now states "eBay will cover your purchase price plus original shipping". That means that his "no returns accepted" policy is totally meaningless. BTW, that means if you do not like it, they will refund and they mean it.)

Secondly, he has 14 negatives and 8 neutrals. That does not sound like "just as many neutrals" to me.

Thirdly, the quantity of his neutral/negatives is absolutely meaningless. 14 negatives out of 50,000 is about as good as can be expected. 14 negatives out of 100 and he will be gone. That is why they list feedback "PERCENTAGE".

Fourthly, the way to get rid of a seller like this one is to return what you get for a refund. When eBay is having to pay for items (even if it is just to handle the returns), they will get rid of the seller PRONTO.

 

I think you're missing the point of my original post.

There are feedbacks stating exactly what he charged:

paid 8.00 for best shipping recived a post envlope with a broken 1 & their stamp

Paid $5.35 for Priority Mail, coin sent 1st class mail $0.61 - he pockets $4.74.

Charged nine times actual freight paid, then sent everything in one envelope.

Sent coin in ordinary envelope, after charging $3.00 to ship one half dollar.

Plus every listing states he's mailing the coin PRIORITY MAIL. A seller isn't allowed to charge for a higher priced shipping service, then send it by a cheaper service. Period.

Even his most recent feedback (which was positive) states $5.35 priority mailing charges, on several listings he dropped his shipping costs to $4, then $3 - most likely to fall off ebay's radar. He is still listing in every auction that the item is being mailed priority mail.

The buyers who left negatives overwhelmingly stated they were paying for priority shipping and not receiving it. In fact, some claim they were receiving coins sent unprotected in ordinary envelopes. I think we can all agree a coin should be sent in a bubble mailer at the very least!

If you read his feedback carefully, the issue isn't that he won't combine shipping costs, it's that he's charging for Priority Mail shipping costs on each coin, claiming to the customer he is shipping each coin separately, then puts them all in one first class envelope and pockets the difference. That isn't allowed on ebay. It's fee avoidance and shipping overcharge violations - all these are in ebay's seller policy. As a seller (& buyer) on ebay I'm expected to abide by the rules, this guy is no different.

When I first looked at his feedback rating a week ago there fewer negatives than there are now, he has received more since I looked last. Anyone getting 14 negatives and 8 neutrals after being a member less than a month is inexcusable.

While I may have not gone into every single reason why he's a seller someone should avoid, I didn't know I'd have to defend myself to someone on this forum who would so vociferously be concerned with the minutia in the details of my original post, I will, however, in the future be more detail oriented if I decide to post a warning about a seller on ebay.

The original post was meant as an ad hoc warning to people here. Take it for what it was meant for.

I did not know that ebay covers a "no return" listing, if that's the case, why is it offered as an option still in their selling forms? When ebay removed insurance as an option it was removed from the selling forms.

Have you had personal experience being reimbursed by ebay when the seller has a no-return policy in place? Since the buyer protection policy is only 2 months and a few days old, it's probably not widely known by many buyers yet. I sure didn't know that.

As for why is it ebay's problem: they take a cut of every sale, so they should be monitoring violators of their stated shipping policies when they are reported. When people get reported for flagrant overcharging on shipping they need to take notice.

As I already said, it was more like 7-8 negs and 6 neutrals when I first looked up his feedback rating, he's received many more negatives since then. It doesn't change the fact that that he's ripping off buyers.

Agreed, but 14 negatives and 8 neutrals out of 278 feedbacks isn't anything to write home about either. He's a one-month old handle with that many negatives with the same complaints over and over on his feedback - flagrant violations of stated ebay selling policies, it's inexcusable.

I'm sure he's done selling with this handle and will pop back up with a new one and do this all over again. A month later he'll reappear with a new name. It's the common pattern of a serial scammer. I've seen it before. And sadly, it's endemic to the ebay coin category, hence why a warning was posted.

When I find GOOD coin dealers I post praise posts for them. When I spot BAD ones I post warnings.

Therefore I feel the warning I posted was warranted.

Hopefully in a year when buyers are more familiar with the new buyer protection policy, people like this guy will not be able to do what they are doing.

Anyway, thanks for telling me about the buyer protection policy re: 'no returns', I'll need to dig around more on that. I have a coin or two I can now send back that weren't as described but the seller has a 'no returns' policy in place. Nice! :kewl:

 

eBay

 

eBay's return policy is anything but new. Here is the first time I used it http://www.cointalk.com/t35026/. Be sure to look at the date of this thread. If there is any doubt, I got a full refund. The only thing new about their policy is that it now includes items where PayPal has not been used. BTW, they liberalized it in favor of the buyer when they changed the feedback last year.

You missed my point. The seller is bad enough that you do not need to enhance his short comings. "He charges $4.00-6.00 per coin shipping...." Not true. If you really believe he has broken eBay rules by over charging for shipping, report him. I will save you the trouble. He has not and they will do nothing. I speak from lots of experience. Do you? "When people get reported for flagrant overcharging on shipping they need to take notice." Oh! They do take notice and they will take notice and appropriate action - WHEN IT IS FRAGRANT. This is not by their published definitions. However, had the buyers all reported him for not shipping priority, he would have been gone long ago.

In your first post, "Yet, he's still allowed to sell on eBay after over a dozen negatives,...". In your last response "it was more like 7-8 negs and 6 neutrals when I first looked up his feedback rating....". Which is correct?

 

You are correct, I should not have generalized that his shipping was "between $4-6" when it was actually between $4.00-$5.35, with a few listings at $3.00. It doesn't change the fact he is a seller to avoid.

Take the post for what it was meant for, a warning to other buyers - you don't have to heed it since you're so confident in ebay's protection policies. I'm still waiting for a refund on a lot of coins I got 2 weeks ago from a seller who sent me a bag of junk.

In your first post, "Yet, he's still allowed to sell on eBay after over a dozen negatives,...". In your last response "it was more like 7-8 negs and 6 neutrals when I first looked up his feedback rating....". Which is correct?

Troll much?

I read the thread link you posted, and the only thing it proves to me is you like arguing, so much in fact that the admin. shut the thread down because the horse was dead for a week and you kept beating on it.

My opinion is 14 negs in a month is a FRAGRANT (sic) violation. You might disagree and see things differently, and that's your opinion. My opinion and $2.95 will get you a coffee at most Starbucks.

So in summation, I'm quite finished discussing this with you. Go find some other newbies to play with. I'm sure I'll see you around.

baff.

 

If the seller doesn't combine shipping and give a discount, then the seller should not be able to ship the buyers items together.
Any time I buy from a seller that doesn't combine shipping, I pay for each coin with a separate paypal transaction and fill a claim with paypal if the seller ships the coins together.

 

Unfortunately, he'll probably just get a new ID and continue to rip off buyers without the negatives he easily walks away from.

 

Bafflez gets the win on that one...

For every 1 negative vote a seller gets, there were at least 5 others who thought about it and didn't because they would rather not get their 100% buyer rating flamed in return by a disgruntled scammer. I sadly fall into that category as well unless the violation is really bad (receiving a coin less than half the value the seller leads me to believe using blatant scamming tricks ie, falsified dates, doctored photos, etc)

Also, more support for exposing the bad sellers is needed. Together we can put a lot more force on them and make ebay a better haven for quality coin dealers, not guys looking to extort the ignorant for an extra buck or two. And yes, there is no doubt that the buyer takes some responsibility, but it is our job to help the ignorant and steer them in the right direction, not protect those who are hurting the system.

 

Brother I heard that. That's why I make sure to have an ebay ID to buy with and another to sell with. There are too many sociopaths on ebay that will try to exact revenge on those who leave a negative rating.

 

I will tell you what I did (or better threatened to do because he then changed his mind) to a seller who refused to combine shipping. I was going to pay for one item. When I received the first item, I would them pay for the second item. When I suggested that, he decided it might behoove him to combine shipping.

 

You can say that again!!

 

Whoever thinks this way should know this....

Quite some time ago, eBay changed things so that sellers can NOT leave negative feedback (it is not even an option to sellers). They can't even leave non-positive comments in a positive feedback (subject to removal).

Your fear of losing a "100% buyer rating" is totally unfounded.

You need not fear leaving negative feedback for a seller out of concern for a seller's revenge feedback.

 

Yes and no. The seller can leave positive FB, with scathing comments.

 

And if they do, all you have to do is report it to eBay and they WILL remove it.

That also goes on the seller's record as a policy violation.