Ebay: Counterfeit Conspiracy.

Yes ebay could pick out a lot of the problem pieces but like you said they worry more about their own profits. And yes what they are doing IS in violation of the HPA and they could be held responsible under it. The problem is the government isn't going to go after them, they have bigger fish to fry. That means that some private citizen or group would have to press charges against them in court. Know anyone willing to put up the possibly millions of dollars it would take to take on ebay? And even if they did an won, would the penalties applied be large enough to convince ebay to change their actions? Or just pay the fines and write it off to operating expenses? They fell in line removing them from ebay.ca, because the canadian government did go after them because under Canadian law even marked copies are illegal.

@bobby131313 said:


Yes, but also no.
Any algo can pick up the listings whose description or title says: "This coin is a copy."
Pretty much all of those listings are against policy.


Please explain; they can easily tailor the algos to weed out listings that say "This coin is a copy."

@Conder101 said:


This would be unnecessary. Also part of my real point.

I think that if you put an algorithm to detect "this coin is a copy" and its variations, all you do is encourage sellers to omit that inconvenient bit of information.
That would definitely make the problem worse!!

A couple ideas for solutions.These are just some ideas that could be worked on or dismissed.
1) Buy the counterfeit, make the seller pay return shipping and leave negative feedback.
2) I was told by ebay that I could keep a counterfeit if I submitted a document certifying it as a fake from my ANA, PCGS authorized dealer. That way it could be sent in to the FTC, FBI or mint. My dealer said he would over-charge for such a service because he doesn't want to do this all the time. I don't know how this could be utilized and certainly do not blame my dealer. Maybe if enough items were sent in to gov't agencies, they would get sick of having to file a report every time and actually do something about it. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
3) Convince those who updated the Hobby Protection Act with the The Collectible Coin Protection Act to pressure ebay into compliance. It was Oct. 14 2016 that it was amended, so someone at the FTC does care. ebay and Amazon are the 2 largest US violators of the new regulation. If they took the time to revise the HPA they should be able to at least pretend to try and enforce it.
4) Convince Paypal to aid in enforcement by disallowing proven violators from using paypal to open new ebay accounts.
5) Educate!! Share, teach those of us who just collect how to identify and avoid counterfeits. I would be willing to buy a table at my small local shows for that purpose only if I had enough material and gained the experience needed to provide such a service. I have acquired a few alterations and counterfeits. I refuse to fight this fire with gasoline by buying them. I have stared collecting information, links and writing commentary on my website.
6) Get PCGS and NGC to sue anyone, including auction sites that facilitates the sale of fabrications of their product and copyrighted materials.
7) Start a PR campaign to embarrass ebay into changing their policy. One good story by a major news outlet would do wonders. There is absolutely no reason they should give more than one warning before shutting down a sellers account. Two warnings and a 3rd strike your out policy would allow for potential errors by honest sellers. I do not know what happens when ebay takes down a listing, but it should be made perfectly clear to the seller that they are breaking US law, not just violating ebay policy which I would guess is all that happens.
8) Use ebay's "report item" link even though it does no good. There has to be some strength in numbers. At some point they should recognize that buyers are becoming more aware and buyers are their lifeblood.
9) If sellers can just open multiple ebay accounts, maybe I should do the same for buying, wait until the last day before opening return cases so that the money I spend on counterfeits has time to be taken out of seller's accounts so that ebay has to cover the refund. Or at least buy from sellers with no returns and make ebay pay return shipping. I know by myself it would mean nothing to them. If enough people did something similar, maybe it would have an effect.
!0) ebay will not inform a buyer that the item they bought has been proven after the sale to be counterfeit. It is up to the buyer to figure it out. This is just wrong. It is cruel and heartless. Shopping elsewhere may help me avoid being scammed, but it's not me I am worried about. It is those who are not fortunate enough to have some experience or years under their belts that concerns me. I guess it is the Lorax in me.

Feel free to tear this flaw filled rant apart, I'm a big boy now I can take it. I survived over a decade of it on yahoo stock boards.
Ed

This is what I was told by an ebay concierge rep. I do not know much about ebay's inner workings. The reps. don't know everything either I have gathered. They actually thought if they reported illegal activity that something would be done about it.

I see merit on both sides of the conversation and I think this is a good conversation to be having. We shouldn't just roll over and except it but we should keep our expectations reasonable. Change happens slowly.

i agree ebay is less than lightning quick to take down listings, reported through their own report a listing link.. that is why in part I joined this site,, so I can learn more, and do my part in reporting listings to someone , who can actually do something.

i have personally seen thousands of coins, removed.. and yes it is like whack a mole, as quick as you take them down, they come back,,

And yes a lot of this should be dealt with by ebay, can you even fathom, how many people are sitting at home, with what they think are 1 ounce gold bars. that are only worth 2$..

Yes ebay needs to verify their sellers better.. No new seller should be able to sell anything for 1,000$ plus..ever..

they would do something about it. I suppose it's easier to allow all the fake jewelry, coins, purses, clothing, etc. to sell then deal with those who catch the fakes rather than ensuring items sold are the real deal.