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Ebay Allows Fakes If It's "An Ashton Coin"?

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Pillar of the Community
Bacchus2's Avatar
United Kingdom
2895 Posts
 Posted 01/30/2014  01:21 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Bacchus2 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Please elaborate - I do not understand you use of the "hilarious" symbol.
Valued Member
United States
110 Posts
 Posted 01/30/2014  4:25 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Duncan_Doenitz to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Bacchus2, are you saying that if a seller lists a unmarked fake copy of a token on ebay.uk, where you suggest it is legal, that he can offer it for sale in the US as well, where it is NOT legal (you call it a gray area)?

Let's spin that logic in the other direction. You mentioned guns being banned in the UK. But you think a seller on Craig's List in the US can sell a gun to a UK buyer? Is that really your interpretation?

And then where would you draw the line? Are fake yellow prescription pills from some corrupt nation OK to sell in the US or UK, even if the yellow color is not medicine, but cadmium yellow coloring? (That's not an imaginary situation, it happened.)

I expect the laws in the US to protect me, and obviously residents of the UK expect their legal protections too - nothing gray about it.

I'm just saying...

-Duncan

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bobby131313's Avatar
United States
24192 Posts
 Posted 01/30/2014  4:44 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add bobby131313 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Well Canadian sellers can break rules that US sellers have to follow and they show up right next to ours in searches. I see it every day and when you report them you're told it's allowed because they live in Canada and have different rules.
Bedrock of the Community
basebal21's Avatar
13014 Posts
 Posted 01/30/2014  6:56 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add basebal21 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
And then where would you draw the line?


A common sense line of no drugs or weapons seems to be a pretty rational way to attack the issue. For weapons for example its easy because they have to be sold within their country anyway.

Coins however have VASTLY different rules country to country. Listing it in the UK isn't a crime until it ends up on US soil and then its still only a US crime and does become a gray area because US law doesn't apply to the seller. Customs plays a role too in decided what does and doesn't get out.

Heres the problem though, the only way you could make sure that no law was broken in an international coin sale would be to ban international coin sales all together. Theres too many varying laws to run a program to do it and far to many listings to have people do it. Even if you did do a program people would complain when things are excluded that shouldnt be and things would still get through. Its cant match pictures to text or spot counterfeits.

I dont understand the logic of banning the sale every where because a single country doesn't allow something. If a country has a restricting on exporting their coins does that means no one can sell internationally.

Theres also the other side of it where a buyer is responsible to know what is and isn't allowed to be purchased. I think we can all agree sending a coin is no where near as serious as sending illegal drugs or weapons and shouldnt be treated with the nuclear option of banning everything like they are.
Valued Member
United States
110 Posts
 Posted 01/30/2014  7:04 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Duncan_Doenitz to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Bobby, are you thinking of listings that would be considered illegal across certain borders, or just violations of ebay's "house rules" for listing sales? After all, ebay is the Big Dog and they can probably interpret their own rules any way they they choose, whether we as participants agree or not.

But ebay and the sellers cannot ignore violations of the law - ebay is big, but not that big. However, in reality, they really have ignored illegal sales in the past. In a fair and honest society there are consequences for ebay's sins of omission, and at least once - involving fake Gucci bags - they were slapped down in court, but more often nothing is done. Which is really sad, because if ebay was just a little bit proactive they could provide a much safer environment for buying and selling, and honest buyers and sellers, and ebay in the long run, would benefit. Short term corporate gains are not always the best answer.

And no, it would not be cost prohibitive for ebay to take a few baby steps towards protection. Many large companies, for example, use "secret shoppers". (My sister was one, in fact.)

ebay has often allowed known bad sellers who game the system to return, after being banned for, say, a month, but does no follow-up to see if they have become honest sellers - and many just go back to repeat their previous activities. In Coins, for example, sellers who used generic images of tokens marked "COPY", for example, but shipped tokens that were unmarked, often manage to return with no oversight. That's just plain wrong.

(My solution in that case would be to permanently ban those who in intentionally game the system - but if ebay chooses to let them return, part of their profits should be escrowed, plus an extra "enforcement fee" be paid by them to cover the cost of tracking their sales, which could simply involve random purchases from their auctions.)

Folks, if your grocer was discovered intentionally selling tainted meat to you and your friends, how easy would it be to trust him back in the marketplace without a bit of oversight?

I'm just saying...

-Duncan
Valued Member
United States
110 Posts
 Posted 01/30/2014  7:15 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Duncan_Doenitz to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Basebal21,

One Stamp sale alone involved $73,000 in counterfeit US stamps, shipped to either Australia or New Zealand, I forget which, bought in good faith by a major stamp dealer as discount postage.

So that's OK?

Are you prepared for the day you receive as a gift a cheap counterfeit of an expensive coin, purchased online as genuine, by a friend of family member for you?

-Duncan
Bedrock of the Community
basebal21's Avatar
13014 Posts
 Posted 01/30/2014  7:52 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add basebal21 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
One Stamp sale alone involved $73,000 in counterfeit US stamps, shipped to either Australia or New Zealand, I forget which, bought in good faith by a major stamp dealer as discount postage.

So that's OK?


Youre dancing around the issue and have completely ignored everything I said. Thats not even an example of what youre talking about. Thats a deceptive listing where buyer protection would refund the money.

I dont know how you draw the conclusion that its okay to deceive people from anything I said.

As I said in my last post your solution means ebay no longer allows international sales. Too many countries have too many different rules. There are in fact countries that dont allow their coins to leave their country without permission even if theyre real. That means no coins can ever be sold internationally real or fake anywhere because its not legal there
Valued Member
United States
110 Posts
 Posted 01/30/2014  10:21 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Duncan_Doenitz to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Basebal21,

I do get what you're saying.

I can see where a seller in one country would be unhappy if, listing an auction sale that's legal in his own country, would feel put out if he was told, by someone in another country, that he can't list it. I get it.

But that's not quite an accurate definition of the problem. If the sale takes place legally, in the seller's home country, or another place where the auction is legal, fine. I might not like it - I don't like counterfeiting, which is the type of product we're discussing - but it is what it is.

But look at it from my standpoint. Why should I, or any other collector in the US, or anywhere else that counterfeiting is illegal, have to accept sales of counterfeits here in the USA in violation of our laws? You suggest that just because it's illegal in the US, that's no reason to ban the sales (Actually, you expand that to potentially include all international sales on ebay, which is not at all the issue or anything that would be expected to happen.)

A seller of counterfeits DOES violate US law when he ships the items into the US, so lets not dance around that either.

Once the crimes rise to a high enough level, criminals may be extradited to the US for violating our laws; the small time cross-border chiselers get away with it because of cost/benefit logistics, not because they are innocent.

In ebay terms, sellers can select where they will or will not sell/ship their goods. that's not a complicated deterrent to selling, and in fact it is often used by sellers by choice, to avoid shipping to places where buyers sometimes prey on ebay sellers, or where some postal systems are corrupt. It's not a big deal, so suggesting the US buyers have to look the other way and accept when counterfeits are offered from across a border, well, I certainly don't agree.

In the case of the sale of $73,000 in counterfeit stamps, by the way - which does fit the definition of counterfeits sold across borders - the counterfeits were too good. The buyer didn't discover that they were fakes, they were detected by another dealer when part of the lot was being resold. So you might toss it off as no big deal because ebay would make good, but in real life that didn't happen and the dealer was stuck. Just substitute the words "counterfeit tokens" for "counterfeit stamps" and I think you'll see the relevance to our discussion. It's just that I've been more active in fighting stamp fraud, so it came to mind.

-Duncan
Bedrock of the Community
basebal21's Avatar
13014 Posts
 Posted 01/30/2014  11:37 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add basebal21 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
I don't like counterfeiting, which is the type of product we're discussing - but it is what it is.


Theres a HUGE difference between trying to pass counterfits off as real (which is already banned everywhere on ebay) like your example and sellers selling fakes clearly stating they are which is really what the issue is about.


Quote:
A seller of counterfeits DOES violate US law when he ships the items into the US, so lets not dance around that either.
Once the crimes rise to a high enough level, criminals may be extradited to the US for violating our laws


At the same time lets not blow it out of proportion either they arent selling uranium on the black market. No ones getting extradited because of the hobby protection act. Its hard enough to get known murders brought to the states for a trial from a friendly country, no ones being turned over for selling some fake coins.

Yes some of it is that the government has better things to worry about, but again were talking about people who are selling fakes that describe them as such. If people didnt collect fakes there wouldnt be information sources and research about them available which would actually make the problem 10 times worse if only the TPGs were allowed to keep a database.

People collect fakes for a variety of reasons, a lot of those reasons generally lead back to the same conclusion that their efforts help protect other people from them. So yes if someone in the UK has a fake and someone in the US wants to buy it for their collection to add to the knowledge base around it as far as I'm concerned its fine. All laws arent equal, and again common sense needs to be applied which is something we no longer do these days.


Quote:
It's not a big deal, so suggesting the US buyers have to look the other way and accept when counterfeits are offered from across a border, well, I certainly don't agree.


So a UK seller is expected to know the laws of the US and Europe and anywhere else hes shipping?

Again back to my post two posts ago theres no way to filter out listings country by country like that. People get around the filters every day, theres only so many people you can have looking at probably millions of items listed daily and those people certainly dont have law degrees and a working knowledge of every countries law.

My point being the ones listing them as fakes and being honest arent the ones to be worried about and wasting time reporting. Its the ones who are passing them off a real that should get the attention. Every second ebay spends enforcing rules against an honest seller accurately describing something is a second that a dishonest seller is getting no attention.

A compromise may be to have a fake/copy coin section added where you know exactly what youre looking at when browsing those listings.


Quote:
In the case of the sale of $73,000 in counterfeit stamps, by the way - which does fit the definition of counterfeits sold across borders - the counterfeits were too good. The buyer didn't discover that they were fakes, they were detected by another dealer when part of the lot was being resold. So you might toss it off as no big deal because ebay would make good, but in real life that didn't happen and the dealer was stuck.


They would have if a claim had been filed.

By no means am I excusing the behavior of a dishonest seller, but at the same time if youre buying 73K worth of something there is an aspect of personal responsibility to examine what you get when it gets there.

But again this is an example of a dishonest seller running a fraudulent listing which is illegal and banned by ebay already. The coin in question in this thread clearly stated it was a copy and even put it in larger font in the description. The honest seller describing something as a copy is in no way equal to the dishonest one trying to pass a fake off as real. A distinction should absolutely be made between the two.

Valued Member
United States
110 Posts
 Posted 01/31/2014  12:05 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Duncan_Doenitz to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
The problem is not with an honest seller. The problem is with the product and where it's being sold. As you yourself mentioned, "illegal and banned on ebay already".

Come on, the seller has offered dozens of deceptive fakes in violation of ebay's rules...

Oh. Wait.

I get it now. It's you and ebay in this together! They really didn't mean it when they provided an easy link to Report auctions of Banned Items in the Coins category, or set their rules; they weren't serious at all - they just did it so you could yank my chain!

Well I guess it is kind of a joke at that.

-Duncan
Edited by Duncan_Doenitz
01/31/2014 12:43 am
Bedrock of the Community
basebal21's Avatar
13014 Posts
 Posted 01/31/2014  12:58 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add basebal21 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
I get it now. It's you and ebay in this together! They really didn't mean it when they provided an easy link to Report auctions of Banned Items in the Coins category, or set their rules; they weren't serious at all - they just did it so you could yank my chain!

Well I guess it is kind of a joke at that.


Its impossible to actually have a discussion about it when you resort to reply's like this or your other reply about is it okay to send almost 80k worth of fake stamps they said was real.

Bottom line a buyer is responsible for knowing the laws of their country/area when making a purchase. You cant have it both ways where you want ebay not allow sellers to sell something because another country has a law against it, but are fine with ignoring the fact that would basically mean the end of international sales when you combine all the different laws for a single standard.
Valued Member
United States
110 Posts
 Posted 01/31/2014  01:25 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Duncan_Doenitz to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Bottom line is, it's not just on the buyer. A seller is just as obligated to know the rules for selling on ebay. And about your "honest seller", who has been selling almost exclusively Ashton fakes on ebay and nothing else since Sept 2010, it's quite a stretch to imagine he (or she) doesn't know the score, or know how dangerous to the hobby these deceptive fakes are.

Did you follow the earlier link to Wikipedia to read about the forger and the assessment of the dangerous nature of these fakes, and his persistent return to selling them?

The seller obviously has solid connections to the forger or at least to his supply, so if you think he is innocent, well you might fool yourself but I don't buy it for a minute.

These are relatively modern fakes (probably still being made today)* and they are made to deceive.

I have no idea why you want to insist that banning the sale of counterfeits where they are illegal will threaten international trade on ebay, but to me you are really grasping for ways to defend the sale of these dangerous items, especially as it pertains to this seller.

PLEASE - do some serious internet research on these specific fakes and THEN let me know what you think.

Do you have any idea how much damage counterfeiters are doing to some parts of the hobby? Even the experts are being fooled, at least long enough for the fakers to make their profits. Even slabbed silver dollars are not safe, you know.

They don't need apologists in the front lines fighting for them.

-Duncan

*UPDATE: After a little bit more online searching, the deception is really bad. By 2011, experts were noticing that most of the supposed "Ashton" counterfeits offered on ebay were cheap "fakes of fakes", currently being produced. And one guy wrote, "Some dealers (e.g. Format Coins in Birmingham) have all but given up dealing in British coins because of the flood of fakes showing up."
Edited by Duncan_Doenitz
01/31/2014 02:14 am
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