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 Replies: 9 / Views: 2,489 |
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Valued Member
United States
408 Posts |
I was interested in bidding for this coin at the following listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1724-1-2-Pe...AOSw241YWajOI decided against it because the bidders' identities are kept private. In fact, all their auctions are private. I also found it weird that the price shot up pretty fast for an auction that is newly listed. The seller is Witter Coins. Here is what they state about themselves: Witter Coin is San Francisco's oldest coin store, founded in 1960 by Mr. Dean Witter. If you are a beginning coin collector that's spending a few dollars, or an advanced collector looking for an elusive rarity to complete your collection, Witter Coin has a proven track record at assisting collectors of all kinds. Please review our website, to learn more about us, the way we do business, and to examine our extensive inventory thats includes over 1000 high resolution images. If you have any questions please contact us on the ebay message system or give us a call 415 781 5690. Ask for Luis or Sean. Our retail store hours are Monday through Friday 930am to 6pm, and on Saturday from 10am to 3pm. Our address is The Hobart Building, 582 Market Street, Suite 1409, San Francisco, CA 94104. So my questions are: 1. Is this a credible auction or do you think this seller engages in shill bidding? 2. If anyone has done business with this seller before, do you feel they are an honest company? 3. If you were bidding, would you take a chance on an auction where the bidding is kept private? Any other feedback you can give would be appreciated. Thank you. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2023 Posts |
Witter is a dealer based in San Francisco. I've been to their shop/office a number of times. I would highly doubt that they engage in shill bidding. ebay's reasoning for private listings is "If you'd like your buyers' identities to remain anonymous, you can create a private listing. ... While there are some cases where private listings are appropriate, such as the sale of high-priced ticket items or approved pharmaceutical products, you should only make your listing private if you have a specific reason." Frankly, I wish more high-ticket items were private because anyone who looks at my feedback can see what I've been buying, and if that includes a lot of bullion, I could be seen as a target. If I use the same account to sell items later, prospective buyers could also see what I've been buying, and the eventual winner would have my address on the shipping label. It's a good thing I'm not paranoid. I don't think it's that unusual for some items to rocket in price shortly after listing. For bullion especially, it's perfectly reasonable to bid up to spot value immediately because it can't reasonably go for less than that. There are also those who place bids instead of using the watch list feature. Here's Witter's home page, if you want to research their company further: http://www.wittercoin.com/ |
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Valued Member
 United States
408 Posts |
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While there are some cases where private listings are appropriate, such as the sale of high-priced ticket items or approved pharmaceutical products, you should only make your listing private if you have a specific reason." I get that, but they also do it for their cheap coins under ten dollars. I understand if something is high priced and people who are bidding may want to remain anonymous, but what would be the reasoning for doing that for very inexpensive coins? It could be just a blanket company policy to make all auctions private. I think it gives the wrong impression. Also, Witter Coins may have employees who get paid by commissions earned by sales. In that case, an employee might be motivated to hike up the prices for themselves. That could also be a possibility. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Private listings bug me a little, but if I want the coin, and know what it's worth, just bid accordingly and don't worry about it. No big deal.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2023 Posts |
Quote:
...they also do it for their cheap coins under ten dollars... That's a fair point. Maybe it's just part of their seller template. Quote:
...an employee might be motivated to hike up the prices for themselves... That could be true for any seller, private or not. Even individual sellers have friends. Edited by Alpha2814
12/21/2016 11:20 pm
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Valued Member
United States
408 Posts |
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Private listings bug me a little, but if I want the coin, and know what it's worth, just bid accordingly and don't worry about it. No big deal. I disagree. It changes the entire way you bid and your strategy. If I feel a bidding is honest, I can bid at any time and feel comfortable that no chicanery is going on. If I feel the opposite, I must wait until almost the end of the auction and bid, otherwise a buyer might think there is much interest in the coin and keep upping the bids. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Yea, I could see your point. I only bid at the end of an auction though, so it doesn't matter to me.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2023 Posts |
Quote:
If I feel a bidding is honest, I can bid at any time and feel comfortable that no chicanery is going on. If I feel the opposite, I must wait until almost the end of the auction and bid, otherwise a buyer might think there is much interest in the coin and keep upping the bids. In my experience, if there's any interest at all in an item on ebay, there's a flurry of frantic bidding in the final minutes of the auction anyway. Snipers abound and they either sit there with the browser open watching the final seconds tick down before submitting their highest bid, or with their automated tools to place their bid for them. That has nothing to do with whether the auction is private or not. The vast majority of auctions are not, and I can't tell you how many I've won or lost with final bids that came out of nowhere at the last moment. You can strategize however you like. You asked for someone to vouch for the seller -- I did that. You want to believe the other, hidden bidders are legitimate -- any seller could shill with phantom accounts, either with employees, friends or bots. At this point, you can believe, trust and bid however you choose. It doesn't look like our input is going to sway you. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4211 Posts |
Private auctions do not affect my bidding strategy at all.
If I like the coin I will bid a fair price and check later.
I personally wish more sellers kept the bidders identity hidden.
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Valued Member
United States
408 Posts |
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You asked for someone to vouch for the seller -- I did that. You want to believe the other, hidden bidders are legitimate -- any seller could shill with phantom accounts, either with employees, friends or bots. At this point, you can believe, trust and bid however you choose. It doesn't look like our input is going to sway you. But you did not bid on their auctions. That was something that I was looking for. Face to face transactions are very different than internet transactions. I definitely appreciate the input and I will take your experiences with them into consideration. If you had any negative experiences with them, you would have mentioned it in your posts. The reason private auctions make me leery has to do with all the negative articles I have read about them. The other people on here are correct, in my opinion. Just be cautious and, if the price is right, go for it. I still think it is weird how the price shot up on it in less than one day. |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 2,489 |
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Posted 12/21/2016 10:36 pm
