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 Replies: 13 / Views: 2,059 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1000 Posts |
Is anyone else afraid to buy coins at auction online? I was ripped off by a guy from my home state of Michigan and now I am nervous to pull the trigger on any purchases of coins. The con-artist was a shiller and on top of that took your money and did not send the coins. He was kicked off of ebay & Overstock, but soon pops up with new accounts. As a warning to my new friends in the coin community. Watch out for a coin and precious metal seller from Northern Michigan. Often uses location as Up North, Twinning, MI or Prescott, MI. I would give ebay user names, but he has so many that it is easier to watch out for the locations. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
533 Posts |
I wouldn't say that I am afraid but rather am cautious. The higher the dollar amount, the more cautious I am. I have only been taken on ebay once and it was not for anything numismatic. Maybe I have been lucky so far, but I am very careful about what I bid on over 25.00 and I don't buy anything over that amount from anyone with low or a lot of negative feedback. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
533 Posts |
I forgot to add that in the case of a seller that closes shop and reappears with a different name, the feedback would be quite low even if it is all positive. A seller like this I would potentially buy from but not anything of great value. I like them to have been around and I need them to use PayPal. If they have low feedback and require a check in advance, forget it.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1000 Posts |
As far as the feedback system, This guy builds his feedback up quickly by selling cheap things to his other user names (that he later uses for shill accounts). He looks like a reputable seller with hundreds of positive feedback entries. And a bunch of repeat business. He behaves himself until he builds a high enough feedback level, sometimes months. (Mainly sells wheat pennies and buffalos during this period) And then he pulls out the big guns and starts selling Gold and Silver bars, Silver Eagles, and old silver dollars. And Bam he rips off a ton of people in a few week period and gets kicked off ebay or Overstock as people realize and the Negatives start flowing in. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1984 Posts |
I use Up North, Michigan as my location. I have 100% feedback, was recently invited to become a powerseller and have never not sent an item or taken any money without providing the item as promised and better. I don't think location should be an eliminating factor--there might even be honest non-counterfeit coin sellers in China. I'm just saying, if you've had a problem with a seller, please don't blame it on our state. Feel free to identify any seller with whom you've had a problem, just state clearly the problem you had and disclaim the fact that the statement is your opinion only. I don't know about Overstock but I have been buying/selling on ebay for almost 9 years. I've had a few problems (which seem magnified because they are always disconcerting) but so many successes that I have lost count. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1000 Posts |
Sorry Halfabustisbetter, I did not mean to offend anyone from my home state. I guess my message and tail of woe is was meant as a warning to be extra careful on auction sites. Especially if they don't take PAYPAL. As long as your name is not Richard S from Prescott, MI. In that case I would have to withdraw my apology.  The seller name that burned me was MSRARECOINS which has long been disabled. I know he is still out there pull the same scam under a different name, giving us Wolverines a bad name. Do you mind me asking what your ebay name is, so I can take you off my MSRARECOIN Radar if I come across one of your auctions? |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Read the complete auction listing thoroughly and research the sellers feedback through the ebay feedback system and look at all negs and neutrals at http://www.toolhaus.org/. Does a seller have negs because of a couple cranky and impossible-to-please buyers or does the seller have negs due to items misrepresentation, lack of shipments, refusal of timely refunds, or other red flags? Due diligence before you bid will prevent the vast majority of bad experiences. Edited by biokemist6
11/13/2007 2:04 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1000 Posts |
That is an awesome tool. It would take forever sometimes to sort thru the Positive to find those buried Negatives. That site has been added to my favorites.
Thanks
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1840 Posts |
I don't worry about fraud since I pay with my credit card through Paypal. While I've never had any issues in over 150 transactions, both my credit card and Paypal insure against fraud.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
877 Posts |
Its not just coins either. I have seen similar cons for any of the types of items I regularly look at. After being on ebay a while you seem do develop a sixth sense that something is 'fishy'. That's when you really check it out. And read some of the feedback. Amazing how many good sellers have some outrageous, negative feedback from buyers who either don't understand the system or seem to have had unrealistic expectations. I have only been stung once ($35) from a buyer that stole others' photos and descriptions, collected the money and never delivered. I reported him/her (as did many others) and ebay did kick him off quickly (probably just before he shut up shop anyway). I also watched with interest another one that bobbed up again, several times, only a day after being kicked off -same items and descriptions. After about a week ebay was pulling his next lot of listings within a few hours of the next startup -sometimes they do act decisively! He then disappeared; hopefully forever. Jeff |
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New Member
United States
40 Posts |
As Snowman suggested, use your credit card to pay for items on ebay. My wife lost money on an item she sold (not coin). The buyer complained (though item was described accurately) and his CC company sucked the money back from Paypal, who then took money back from her. The item was never returned. Buyers have more protection than sellers. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
I have had over 600 transactions on ebay (not all left feedback) both buying and selling and have had 1 transaction that I got burnt with, it wasn't numismatic related (was actually before I started collecting coins) it was a car part which was about 14 bucks. I have never used Overstock though so can't say anything about them |
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Rest in Peace
United States
2884 Posts |
I have had over 300 transactions on ebay and only had two or three problems. Of those three only one was never resolved to my satisfaction. It was a low value coin and was not worth returning. Mike  |
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Valued Member
United States
390 Posts |
ebay is a great place to buy things. You need to do your homework, though. Especially raw coins. There are a lot of people who will try and scam you. There are tell tale signs to look for, though. One is the pictures they have of the item for sale. If it's blurry or you can't see it well, watch out. You can always ask for better pictures to be emailed to you, but I haven't had any success with that in the past. I always go to ebay first when I need to buy anything. I almost always find it there, and for much less than anywhere else. Sometimes the seller has huge numbers of feedback and other times there are minimal numbers. I don't buy anything expensive unless they have good feedback and I check https://www.toolhaus.com on all the sellers I buy things from. It's a great tool, as was mentioned above. It all comes down to doing your homework as a buyer.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 2,059 |
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Posted 11/13/2007 09:44 am
