Ebay "Best Offer" Ethical Question

BuffaloRocks....




So True .. So true

Domain555,
I didn't type nor mean CCF. I intentionally wrote CC as in "Coin Collector" community at large. As in most things, buying from rip-off artists encourages them to continue such methods. It would be in all of our best interests if these folks went out of business and stopped taking advantage of others. Big or small they hurt us all, IMO.

Yes, I have run across fools on this forum and see posts on here of folks being "messed with" by other posters in sales on ebay and so-forth. I am not one that feels it is okay for others to be ripped off as long as it isn't me. As I often say, maybe many are experienced enough in this endevor not to be suckered, but everyone has markets they are unfamiliar with that they will want to buy something in at some point. So if that market has vultures/rip-off artests in it you are susceptible to being taken. Thus such sellers are bad in any market! You may not be the "mark" in a coin sale, but no one is immune everywhere. Thus I like to promote that anything(like coins) be sleaze-free. Not just for my benefit(wasted time wading through their listings or displays at shows) but for all newbies etc. Some jerk ripping off a kid at a coin show or on ebay might deter that kid from ever buying a coin again. That is a shame! The lesson they may take is that all coin sellers are sleazebags or that the whole industry is corrupt.

Domain555,
I can tell you are not the kind of seller I am talking about - by a longshot. Toned Ike's are a real specific niche. I mostly collect 1910-1945 US coins of many denominations, both raw and slabbed. So it is a different market than moderns. As long as the seller is up-front about the gold-plated Ike as an "altered coin" there is no sleaze involved. It is those that try to sell altered coins as unaltered or cleaned as non-cleaned that are being sleazy and deceptive.

I get tired of sellers listing at 200%, 300% or more of "inflated retail" for slabbed coins I know can be had for 80%-95% routinely. Some of them will even haggle down to a reasonable range once they see you aren't a sucker. But, IMO, they start at a ridiculous price hoping to get a few newbies to BITE on those coins and "get over" on them. When they know full well they are listing them at a rip-off level to start. It is logical to put a start price above your "minimum", but some take it to an extreme IMO. That is what I object to as a sleazy ploy/tactic. IMO it is unethical. Kind of like charging $50 for a dozen roses to one customer and $25 to another by profiling - not by volume or by loyalty - just because one looks like a mark willing to pay whatever you ask and the other said he has checked prices throughout your city and knows the going rate most places is $25. Or the cab driver that charges the foreigner $100 for a $40 cab ride because they can't read the meter and don't understand our monetary system. Or take a $20 bill from a blind guy instead of the $10 bill he owes. To rip-off the uneducated or vulnerable, or attempt to, is sleazy business. JMHO

Buffalosrocks.............




We are 100% in agreement. There is a SLABBED value ... and plus or minus 5-10% seems fair.

For me, it get hairy (both buying and selling) when it is not a TPG-ed coin. All the buyer-seller has is pictures, etc. to go by.

I do not use BIN any longer, since the ridiculous offers are a problem. But, since I do not monitor ebay constantly, it would be the next time I found the offer. ebay does set a clock on it. Our hope is our customers are happy, so after a person makes an offer I either would accept it or let them know, freeing them to find an identical coin elsewhere. Or, make them a counter offer.

Agreed. A quick 30 second email or message with your counter can lead to a sale as well. Some people give one offer and are done with it others start low with the intention of coming up and meeting in the middle. Automatically rejecting or ignoring offers really just costs sales in the end.

Now if someone consistently offers like 5 dollars for three figure items yea by all means block them, otherwise its really just chasing away business

If it is acceptable, I take it right away. If it's close, I'll counter. If it's ridiculous, now I reject it right away. Used to counter.

I'm considering not using it any more. I've had plenty of cases where the item sells at the BIN price anyway. Rarely does anyone make a reasonable offer (>50% BIN). I'm tired of this scenario. I list at $20 BIN. Get an offer for $3. Counter at $15. Receive a counter at $3.25. I don't need that.

kg5,
I don't like to see anyone ripped off or exploited in this hobby. I see sellers with highly inflated prices not just on ebay but at coin shows and B&M shops and pawn shops etc.

Just because - for me - it is a nuisance to wade through those listings or displays - which wastes my time - doesn't mean I don't OBJECT to them trying to rip off newbies in principle as well.

Not all ebay shoppers do their due diligence and there aren't always many of the same coin&condition as you propose. It is presumptuous to say they do or SHOULD or postulate that it is okay for sellers (B&M or otherwise) to try to rip people off as "buyer beware".

Some of the conversations I overhear at shows ( between buyer and seller ) or B&M shops prove to me that way too many sellers are lying rip-off artists. It sickens me and I don't like to see anyone ripped off in this hobby!