Buying Coins Off Ebay

Seriously, Elmo? Really?

You blame strangers on an internet forum for a potential $3050.00 loss that hasn't even been proven yet? Your post at the end of that thread says it all: you had concerns, could have returned the items but didn't because the price of gold went up in the interim. How is that anybody's fault except the guy you see in the mirror.

Bank,
Start small. You can learn one thing from Elmo's story: don't hesitate to return an item if you're not happy. If you're not happy at the first sight of the coin, chances are you never will be. Don't expect to bat 1.000.

I buy and sell on ebay a lot. I have had one coin returned in over 300 sales. I do describe my coins properly and have a 14 day return policy. I also upload HR pictures. Believe me if there is a defect it will show. On the other hand I have bought coins that had average pictures. Sometimes they are nice some times they have issues. I bought a lot of BU morgans and 4 out of the 5 had some pvc issues which never showed up in the listing pictures. I ended up reselling them on ebay but I described the issues and my pictures showed the problems. This seller had 100% feedback and had sold several of these lots with buyers praising them. So reading the feedback is really only another tool to help you. I should of known when I saw they were in the old pvc holders that there could be a problem. The sellers are a consignment shop not coin dealer. I did end up making a little money when I resold them. I didn't look at them under a 10x loupe when they came in or I would of sent them back. For me unless it is a bullion type buy I only buy graded coins off ebay.

I have had hundreds of purchases and hundreds of sales on ebay....almost all of which have worked out great. With that said it is a great place to meet idiots but I can also meet them almost anywhere...I have made some fine friends and have had many repeat sales/purchases.
One of the biggest issues I have found is shipping. Keep in mind your package is likely a single coin, in an envelope and should cost no more than 3 dollars. However, there are some that ship for over 12 dollars.

Keep these things in mind.

I love ebay.

Holy Crap! - those 3 comemerative halves for $50 & free shipping?
That's a steal - ($50 because u'll pay ebay & PP fees too)

Just gotta watch sellers who schill on their own listings. In rare cases a seller may actually BUY the item they are SELLING at an incredibly low price within minutes of listing it so that the feedback will reflect the item at that low, low price. It's rare but does happen, usually about 3AM lol. More common are those 1 or 2 feedback people who bid to drive the price up (schill). Even then they have multiple accounts with good amount of feedback, so hard to pinpoint except for things like IP addresses, all of which ebay will look into if you report a possible listing/activity violation. And that's all you need to do is suspect the activity. If the seller is clean, ebay usually will find out.