The Reason That Ebay Buyer Protection Exists

Well, I contacted the seller, reasonably requesting that the seller refund the final bid price plus shipping plus any costs I incur in returning the item. The seller went out of his/her way to be a <redacted>, acting surprised that I was unsatisfied with my purchase and only offering refund of the final bid but no shipping. So, I escalated it, and I will most definitely be leaving negative feedback.

Lesson learned, I guess. I suppose I should have noticed the red flags and not bid. That's what I get for assuming that a seller would have better sense to include pictures of some near-mint state coins but then sells well-worn coins that are G-4 on a good day. Even if one isn't familiar with coins, wouldn't one have more common sense than that? It would be like selling a used book on ebay, showing a picture of a new one, and delivering one with a few pages ripped out and coffee stains on the rest, and then acting shocked when the buyer complained. Confounding.

Listing said coins would be good condition. Suppose these are, barely. Didn't say coins pictured are the ones you'd get, but then again, it didn't say you wouldn't. I think I would have assumed as you did that I'd get the pictured coins.

If you open a paypal case, you can specifically request a refund of the listing price and the original shipping cost. If the coins were counterfeit, paypal would ask you to destroy them. As they are just crappy coins, they will require you to send them to the seller. I'd just stick them in a paper envelope and send 1st class, about 65 cents.

The second you say anything like that the seller actually has a case against you and at the very least youre feedback will be blocked

This would be my stand. Immediate negative feedback stating bait and switch is the only logical recourse to warn others. Chalk it up as a $10 learning experience.

The seller did state in his description that it was;

"a great way to add or start a weat penny or coin collection"
(and only left out his opinion of what he considers "good" condition should look like).

I myself have been burned a few times in the early days of ebay when most items didn't include photos and I would bid blind, going by description only... I have also received coins nicer then the item description, and feel in the end everything balanced itself out..

Maybe its just me, but whenever pics are supplied for an ad I expect/demand/infer that they are accurate and of the ADVERTISED ITEM. IMO, they must make it perfectly clear IF they are stock pics - otherwise they have to be of the item actually being sold. Particularly for collectibles!

I can "somewhat" buy that if a seller has 20 certified coins from the same roll they are selling that they only show one and the rest are somewhat presumed to be similar. But ONLY under that type of circumstance is a stock pic acceptable. Otherwise it is total bait&switch and they should have to pay shipping BOTH WAYS as well as the refund - minimum!

Deceptive or "not even of the coin they send" pics are a blatant attempt to rip off. IMO, ebay should be booting these sellers - and there are way too many of them doing loads of business and ripping off many.

Again, maybe I shouldn't have bought, I don't see why I should bear any expense beyond my annoyance and hassle in fixing the problem. I'm not the one that set out to defraud.

As far as the fact that the seller never specifically stated that the coins pictured were not for sale, that's not a valid defense. First off, according to ebay policy, sellers "can't include pictures that don't accurately represent the item for sale" and are "not allowed to include conflicting or misleading product information in a listing." (See Selling Practices Policy at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies...tices.html). The seller here violated both of those policies.

Second, there is no other reason to include a picture in a listing of a coin for sale except as to show the condition of the coin being sold.

Thus, in line with ebay policies and the dictates of common sense, the pictures a seller includes are part of the listing and part of the product description. If one includes pictures of high grade coins, then those same high grade coins are what he/she is representing is for sale. Here, the seller did not deliver what was described, plain and simple. If the seller wishes to use stock images but sell a coin not specifically pictured, it is up to the seller to explicitly disclaim that the picture is that of the coin.

I think I was entitled to rely on the pictures in the listing despite the reg flags in the listing. Typos alone aren't enough to poo-poo a listing, and I know I've listed items myself with innocuous typos.

All I can say is that the seller is lucky he/she is not in Texas, or I would have really laid down some retribution, and soaked them for 3x the value of the coins actually pictured plus attorney's fees under Texas' consumer protection laws.

Maybe I'm putting in too much of my time over $13, but it's the principle of the matter, and I feel I owe it to the hobby to keep people like this moral-less, unapologetic, scamming [insert appropriate expletive here] far, far away from ebay.

Webpage devoted to the issue? Get a good nights rest and then write something like "BEWARE OF SELLER. Showed pictures of high grade coins but shipped low grade coins of lesser value. Refused to resolve amicably". He will most likely rebutt, but it will be unintelligible gibberish.