A New Name For Zhang Tao

Bob, I would not completely agree that it's a waste of time reporting fraudulent coin auctions to ebay. Over the past three years, I've been regularly and routinely reporting such auctions, most recently (past 6 months?) using ebay's "Report this item" hyperlink near the bottom of each auction.

I would be hard pressed to state how successful these reports have been since it seems to be a hit-and-miss proposition and I do not track many of the hundreds of auctions I've reported. Some auctions which are obvious frauds are permitted to remain while others in which there's a degree of doubt are immediately pulled. A couple generalizations: sellers from China who are peddling obvious fakes tend to have their auctions pulled more often than US sellers peddling the same junk. PowerSellers almost never have their auctions yanked. The point is that reporting does have some effect with ebay, albeit it random, unpredictable, and seemingly fruitless.

I've discussed this issue with the ANA whose advisory relationship with ebay is tenuous and ineffective at best. Their best recommendation for those of us in the trenches is report, report, and keep reporting. Not much else we can do.

Fred

ebay talks out of both sides of its mouth when it discusses fraud and its attempts to curb it. As you stated, there is no rhyme nor reason to what auctions of counterfeits they pull and which they leave. Not long ago, there was an auction (I no longer have it watched nor bookmarked) for something like a 1907-S Morgan which the US seller was attempting to pass off as a genuine rare coin (it was indeed very rare with a total mintage of zero). I reported it as did a number of others, yet ebay let it continue and it sold for a fair amount.

And I would have no problem at all seeing (and buying a few) counterfeit coins on ebay if they were correctly attributed with continued reporting of deliberate fraudulent auctions. ebay has it backward and just can't get it right.

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Originally posted by Morgan Fred

Bob, I would not completely agree that it's a waste of time reporting fraudulent coin auctions to ebay.

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I agree we must not give up and diligently research and keep a watchful eye and report all fraudulent selling. Coin collecting has to keep the trust and respect that it has earned through years of honest buying and selling. Sure sometimes a coin is not graded correctly as we perceive it, but that is up to the buyer and seller to iron out. Fraudulent, counterfeit and deceptive selling can not be tolerated!