Oddly, at least five people put in bids of $200 or more, so it wasn't just two nincompoops running up an auction, as I've witnessed countless times.
I figure a person could have eventually won the legitimate product, with a bit of perseverance, for $20-30 more. It's just bizarre (but not so much if the buyer simply looked at the picture and placed a bid).
Of course the seller is scamming buyers, or he would have listed exactly what the buyer was getting in the initial heading, not just in the description. I know I've put in bids for silver coins, that I noticed last minute, without reading the description, or just giving it a cursory inspection.
With 996 silver coins or bars in my inventory, I've come to terms with the probability that,
at minimum, five to ten percent of my total collection consists of silver-plated forgeries.
When I started collecting in 2008, I hadn't figured out yet that a good magnet can reveal most plated fakes. My one saving grace rests on the fact that I bought so many proofs with boxes and COAs. I can only assume (read: pray) that it's a little more challenging to make forgeries of those types of coins vs straight bullion (which, worriedly, makes up probably 30-35% of my total collection). Plus, I'm guessing the Chinese didn't starting mass-producing forgeries until the silver run up of 2011, when it would have been far more profitable doing so than when silver was selling for under $10 spot.
As far as the no-returns thing, there really is no such thing on
ebay anymore. Buyer protection stipulates that
anything the buyer doesn't like about the product, even if the buyer
simply makes something up, is grounds for a return. The buyer may be stuck paying the return shipping, but that would be the only loss incurred, assuming the buyer studies the auction specifics a little more closely and realizes his/her costly mistake.
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Posted 04/07/2014 08:36 am
