I hate the haggling process, and I refuse to participate. If I have a coin I want I ask the price and if it is too high I walk away. If I am selling and the dealer makes me an offer that is unacceptable I walk away. If I make an offer to buy of give my sale price and the dealer declines or counter-offers I walk away. I refuse to play that game and waste half an hour argueing about the value of a coin, I have better things to do.
My local dealer is one of the good guys. He has been honest with me about my purchases and the things I've brought him to look at (for evaluation or sale) and he understands that I won't haggle and I routinely buy there because he makes me comfortable and treats me reasonably.
My other buying annoyances are with the myriad of
ebay problems. I am very capable on
ebay (10000+ completed transactions) and have learned how to avoid the scams, but the constantly being on my guard against scammers is annoying to say the least.
Why can't
ebay sellers:
1)accurately grade their material,
2) list their items with a starting bid somewhere below the actual value of the coin, instead of fishing for one dumb buyer to overpay,
3) charge a reasonable shipping rate and have it plainly stated in the auction,
4) post large clear images of BOTH sides of the coin that are properly cropped and please leave the photos taken from space out of your listing,
5) provide a reasonable return policy which doesn't include a punitive restocking fee,
6) write coherent titles that are informative and descriptive without resorting to unwarranted superlatives and multiple exclamation points and all caps, really, I'm not screaming at you, so please don't scream at me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7)refrain from using stock photos,
8)stop posting the Collector's universe prices when we all know they are way too high and even then are only meant to apply to PCGS graded coins,
9)be honest about a coins flaws, seriously every coin you sell can't possibly be PQ for the grade, it's not mathematically possible and I just don't believe it,
and finally
10) understand that selling SGS70 coins is simply a scam, there is no other reason to sell them than to cheat people who don't know what they are doing!
Hmmm, that turned into a top ten list so I'll make another one for things buyers do that annoy me. Some of these are in general and others of these are related to my own experiences selling on
ebay.
Top ten things
ebay buyers do that annoy me:
10) Don't ask questions about a listing with only a few minutes before the listing ends. If you want me to see your question before the auction endes give me at LEAST 12 hours and preferably 24 hours. I am not physically attached to my computer, nor do I care to be.
9) If you win an auction pay for it. PROMPTLY!
8) If there is going to be a delay in payment (this includes mailing me your payment) then contact me to let me know,
7)If I have 500 auctions ending within a week and then 500 more ending the following week please be patient with the feedback process. I am only one person and leaving feedback is exceptionally time consuming, so wait for it, I promise I will leave it for you,
6)if a coin is closely graded to what was described (it was listed as a VF35 and you think it is a VF30) and the seller had good photographs then deal with it! He wasn't trying to cheat you, it was just a difference of opinion, if you don't like it, don't complain or leave nasty feedback, just ask to return the coin,
5)Don't argue with the grading opinion of a reputable
TPG Company (NGC, PCGS, ICG, and the pre-2006 ANACS). These services are trustworthy. If you don't like the coin then just ask to return it, don't be a jerk about it,
4)be patient with the post, the USPS isn't perfect and they lose packages every day (so far it's happened to me 3 times, and one package turned up the day after the replacement coin arrived 29 days after it was postmarked). If the seller has a good history of delivering as promised give him the benefeit of the doubt, it is unlikely that he'd risk his
ebay reputation to cheat you out of a $10 coin, so give him a chance to fix the problem,
3)Please learn to grade for yourself! At least get the
ANA guide and compare the pictures, I just want you to know what you are doing before you look at my auctions, it saves us both a lot of potential headaches,
2)Stop buying overgraded garbage! If the coin has wear and it is blast white that means it is cleaned and worn, stay away. If it is in SGS70 plastic it is overgraded and you are being scammed, run away, those coins are not a cost concious buy they are a joke and we think you're being foolish,
and
1)STOP BUYING FAKES! There is no Santa Claus in numismatics, that means that the trade or bust dollar that the guy from China has for sale for $25 is NOT genuine! People with those kinds of coins know what they have, you are not getting a good deal, you're being bent over the barrel and being laughed at for it!
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Posted 06/14/2006 8:44 pm
