Why Is There A Replica's And Reproduction Section On Ebay?

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies...ps.html#what

ebay still allows replica paper money under certain circumstances (see above link).

The problem is that most of the rules for allowing the replica currency can not be enforced merely by looking at photos.

--Items are one-sided (if the seller only shows one side, how do you know?)

--Items are less than 75% or greater than 150% of the size of the genuine item. (if the seller shows no reference or measurements, how do you know?)

--Listings include an image of the actual paper currency being sold. (until you receive the currency, you don't know) Listings with stock photos or images that are dark, out of focus, edited, or misleading aren't allowed.

--Listings must clearly state that the item is a "reproduction," "replica," or "copy" in both the title and description.

--Copies of currently commercially exchangeable notes are not allowed. (who maintains a current list of every note that is commercially exchangeable? - certainly not ebay)

--Altered notes intended to deceive a collector (whether the present seller made the alteration or not) are not allowed. (why they threw this in with the rules for replica notes is unclear, unless the alteration is to remove indications that the item is a copy or reproduction)

Examples: no reference to size, only one side shown, claims they are NOT replicas. 381545675091

Shows both sides, no reference to size. 191804370575

Shows both sides, no reference to size. 182022028643

As close to policy adherence as I could quickly find 262289999832




ebay's replica currency policy does NOT require that the currency be "marked".

The issue at its core is money. To enforce the rules evenly ebay would need a large staff of paid managers and experts on call to supply the needed expertise. In addition, creating such a group would make ebay face the issue of lawsuits that could not be defended. Anyone could sue for terminating an item that violated the rules (or a buyer could sell ebay for not finding a fake) and simply flood the system with law suits. In courts the seller would win because ebay never saw the item in person. (That was an opinion I heard directly from ebay legal 6-7 years ago just before they agreed to put the Coin Watch Committee in place as a result of pressure from the ANA.)

The cheapest thing for ebay to do is NOTHING.

In fact, it was estimated by ebay that they would pay less by simply refunding all claims made regarding fakes than to police the situation and defend lawsuits. Statistics show that a very small percentage of buyers ever lodge a claim for a refund within the allowed time period.

The threat has always been that ebay could eliminate all coin sales and barely effect their bottom line.

Therefore if we want ebay to continue to allow the sale of coins, we need to recognize the fact that the numismatic community must police the issue by themselves. It is up to us to train individual buyers about the problems and how to defend themselves. Reliance on ebay to do anything more then they are currently doing is unrealistic.

Cascade That video came from the 2014 USMNA (US-Mexico Numismatic Association) annual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona.

I do not think the loss of coins would cause ebay to blink financially. They are enormously profitable with very few actual employees to eat away the profits. They make just as much selling crap as good items.

A new improved venue would have to be an auction. To properly police the situation would be very costly otherwise. The problem is essentially the difference between an auction (where knowledge is expected and frauds can be remedied with the auction house) and a venue (where the venue assumes NO responsibility at all regarding any sales).

Auctions like Heritage can also be profitable but really only for high end coins. Auctioneers like Heritage take short cuts like bulk selling low value coins to minimize their costs. There is no point in selling $5 coin if the fee adds $14 to the sale price.

Also take notice of how many auction houses have closed or merged in the past twenty years and you can see why calling ebay's bluff would likely leave an unfilled gap for low end collectors.

I believe that the complete elimination of coins, at least the bad ones, will never happen at ebay. There is too much pressure on ebay from the Chinese, Russian and Spanish interests (forgery groups) to allow sales in a flea market (no rules) atmosphere.

So send all coins worth over $100 individually to Heritage or another venue that will handle them ONE at a time. Put coins under $100 on ebay and train the buyers to know what they are bidding on.

Once a buyer is trained he/she will either avoid or buy fakes as their own taste determines. Trained buyers will avoid re-posted fraud.

When I was a kid - many local dealer's had bid walls. Stuff of all values was posted - no one sued the dealer. Times have changed. People everywhere are looking for an edge, or an instant profit and if threat of lawsuit provides that edge NOTHING can stop them.

Creating a site as you envision and that I might wish for requires complete honesty on everyone's part and no self serving greed. No after the fact complaints - no refunds - no returns - descriptions including grade claims would have to be approved by the auctioneer. Coins would have to be sent to the auctioneer for study BEFORE the sale. Fraudulent items would be retained with no consigner recourse. Properly marked and described legal counterfeits would be accepted for what they are.

Anything short of a total waver of normal rights to complain would bring the auction down.

Is that possible today? I seriously doubt it.

I find it interesting that there appears to be some legitimate paper money in this section of reproductions.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1914-US-PAP...AOSwuAVWwhD9

http://www.ebay.com/itm/C-Series-Ha...AOSwWTRWwl5x