Is My Math Wrong Or Is This Buyer Unable To Count?

THAT'S IT, EddieDiz, the answer to the question, "What do you collect?"
I collect/buy coins from which I cannot look away.
To do so, I have sold many others which did NOT speak to me.
I recently acquired a 1799 dollar. * It spoke to me. It appears that your 1800 dollar speaks to you as well.
As a stray cat who camps out by your back door until you adopt it, the coin as often as not chooses the next custodian.

Although when I am feeling feisty, I think to myself, "I want to buy coins which make a jaded dealer say, "WOW!"

Our friend in Arizona is caught between a coin and a buyer who never should have been brought together. We can only sit back and watch to see how this sad story ends.

* https://goccf.com/t/137735

Very classy.

Okay, so here is my issue.

When I buy a coin--and understand that for right now, with my current income, I do not buy coins over $10, so it's not like I stand to lose thousands as this buyer does--I look carefully at the seller's pictures and information, then pop the coin with date into friend Google and take a look at the first page of results both in pictures and text. Sometimes, if pictures are blurry or show many coins together, I'll shoot the seller an e-mail and say "hey, could I get additional pictures?" or "You say these are all damaged. I'm looking at X coin, up in the left-hand corner, and I'm not quite sure where I should be looking. Would you mind doing a zoom? I'm not sure ebay zoom is doing the job, because I'm missing it." 99.999% of the time the response I get is an enthusiastic, friendly "no problem!" with further pics or information, and that .001 is useful anyway because anyone who refuses to help me give them my money clearly has nothing I want to spend my cash on.

So here is my question . . . let's say our buyer, Dragonfly whatever it was, genuinely doesn't see 14 and 15. I wouldn't, if Matthew hadn't kindly pointed them out. Why on earth was there no e-mail like the kind I send, "I'm not seeing those last two stars--maybe I'm just having a dumb moment, but would you mind doing a zoom?" so g could go "no problem!" and send a photo with a brief description of how to spot the coins in the clouds?


I don't smell a dunce here. I smell a thief--one who wants both coin and cash. There's an established seller, there's a PGCS slab, there are easy-to-spot diagnostics if you know anything at all about coins (I know nothing of this coin, but a quick lookup for the 13-star variety on friend Google shows me quickly and clearly that this buyer is blind, stupid, or dishonest), there was an offer to rectify the situation that was refused. And while this by itself means nothing . . . I took a look at the buyer's feedback. He/she certainly uses the word "honest" a lot when leaving feedback, something I find quite interesting. I don't feel the need to note that my sellers are honest. I prefer to praise them for fast/proper shipping, good items, good communication, accuracy in pictures/description, etc. I know that's getting mind-pretzely levels of Freudian, but word choice honestly does mean a lot (just ask anybody you know if the glass is half-empty or half-full, and wave a half-full glass of milk in front of them--bet you a nickel, and not a Jefferson one either, that the grouches all say "half-empty"). So why are so many sellers praised as "speedy and honest" or "you are honest"? Interesting thing to praise when there are plenty of other options.

I wouldn't be surprised if this was a way to get a pricey coin for free or close to it, sad to say.

Good points, Nina. Unfortunately, I see the same thing.

While it should not be necessary to state the diagnostics and the reasons for a coin's variety or worth, it is often necessary on ebay to a)educate the buyer; b) get better money for the coin; and c) protect yourself from exactly these types of situations.

It has been my experience that buyers such as this one are only looking for a partial refund (which would be COMPLETELY insane in this situation) or the ability to keep the coin and the money (which happens on ebay far more often than anyone would care to know).

I have still not relisted anything since the Christmas holiday season and I'm anxiously watching for the outcome of this situation to decide if I will continue to sell coins on ebay or just stick to albums and books.

Susan, I understand what you are saying. I have read through dozens of "troubling ebay cases". This one is particularly disturbing as it is unclear as to the true motives behind the scenes. Typically, there is some minute detail that the entire case hinges upon. Here, everything seems to be in order which leads me to think it might be buyer's remorse? Watching anxiously as well.

So, you're back where you started, and 162 bucks richer? Congrats!

At least you will be getting your coin back.