In all seriousness, I have to say the waiting. I always know I have located the right coin and enjoy the internet "hunt". I have never had any problems with paypal. Usually fast and easy. I know who I am buying from and know I can trust them before the purchase..
What's most difficult? Looking at scans and washed-out photos to see if the coin is original. Scans do a good job of hiding hairlines unless the coin was cleaned with a Brillo pad.
Roy can speak for himself - but what it means to me is that if the coin is raw - know the seller as well as you do the coin
Do you mean there are untrustworthy sellers out there? What? But , but SGS is so good and cheap. WAITING is definately the hard part. I have less patience than spelling ability. I can not stand waiting.
Now that depends. I'd be comfortable buying anything from Clark Smith , and I never buy silver crowns from China. What I mean is simply that unless you are very familiar with either the seller or the coin with a large, clear picture, you're begging to be scammed; and with the ease of altering photos, even familiarity with what to look for, and good pictures, may not be enough. A couple of years ago I bought a counterfeit yen that really had me fooled. When I compared the coin I got with the auction photo there was no question that I got the coin that was shown (a couple of critically placed bagmarks), and no question that the photo had been extensively worked on by an expert. (A cast coin with lusterous fields
Very true satootoko. I once took a house with vertical siding and through editing made it horizontal siding (all four sides). When presented to the owner, he freaked (he was told that the siders worked on the wrong house that day). I have done some pretty amazing things with photos to make people think something other that what is real. I have never done a coin (and have no reason to do so) but anyone who wishes to deceave could take a beat up coin and give it a frosty background.
