So What Was The Last (Slabbed) Coin You Returned...and Why?

Oh there is no problem at all with a return with DL - they don't even require a preapproval. I just somehow unethical returning a coin.

I would put a big gold star beside Andrew99's post. I guess as an online buyer I am good because I always pay instantly, but I guess I am bad because I have no hesitation to send a coin back if I don't like it. The coin in hand is simply a different thing from the photographs, even when the photographs are excellent (thanks, dealers who provide great pix). I feel that my obligation to be an "ethical returner," if that's a term, includes promptness and scrupulous caretaking of the coin while I have it. But as Andrew99 says, returns are part of doing business, and if a vendor is courteous and prompt about handling returns, they will have me as a repeat customer. If they perform the digital equivalent of rolling their eyes, I will never patronize them again. At a coin store, I can see the actual item. As Andrew99 wisely acknowledges, buying and returning is the online equivalent of holding the coin in your hand at the store and then handing it back unbought. My last comment on this is that even the best photographs can be deceptive, even if the deception is completely unintentional. As we all know, to use the example of the coin I have posted in the new acquisitions thread, carbon spots can disappear in a straight-on photograph, and then just explode when you look at a different angle.

I recently purchased a 1878 MS 65+ PL Morgan PCGS and the coin had a planchet flaw with pitting on the cheek that did not slow up in the photo and no comment from seller about flaw. I requested a refund and the seller apologized and paid for return shipping. When the seller relisted the coin, the planchet flaw was noted in comments.

When I buy a coin online from photo, I feel that I am entitled to see the coin in hand and returns are part of the online business practice. I have a hard rule that I only buy from online sellers who offer returns.

syeb and Centsei, you are the kind of customers sellers will bend over backwards to retain. The very fact that you even consider that you may have an ethical quandry puts you head and shoulders over most of the public that sellers deal with.

You would not believe the sort of nonsense I've had to put up with dealing with the public. Some people want to use you as an approval service returning all coins they cannot sell at a local show. One dealer I know had an attempted return after the customer cracked the coin out of the NGC holder it was in and then complained that the coin was bent. Do you really think NGC would slab a bent coin? I had someone complain that they were on vacation for a month in Europe and couldn't return my "deceptively photographed" Proof Franklin half for $22. They threatened negative feedback if I didn't take it back after a month. I had someone else claim "significantly not as described" to force me to pay for the return postage on their $25 coin that they decided they just didn't like.

All we ask is that people try to behave in an honorable way and what happens, happens.

I received once a set of gold lord of the rings coins that was sent through the USPO. the seller had an excellent record. to my horror, several of the capsulated had bounced out of their case indentations and one coin had escaped its capsule and had rubbed against the included metal ring on the coin's obverse side, causing considerable scratches. it was not the fault of the seller... it was the fault of pobjoy mint for not including enough padding inside the case to keep the capsules and hence the coins themselves from escaping. I got ahold of the seller and explained the issue, he refunded me $200 but in reality the value of the set was reduced a lot more than that, but that is only my opinion. I just ate it and accepted the situation, no hard feelings against the seller at all, not his fault.

Why can't you mention the coin dealer's name, so that others can be aware of it?

I think ebay should also report the number of "Not as described" claims a buyer made as well.

I think that there is a culture developing where ebay buyers when they see a coin "In Hand" even though it is graded by either NGC or PCGS and they realise that the coin is in fact what it is graded at and not a "Slider" they return it because they cant flip it for an instant profit.
It also appears that there are more flippers than collectors buying on ebay these days as well.