Is This A Violation Of Any Ebay Rules?

@SAP, thanks. I guess a loophole would be to post a rare mule as the photo and then purchase the first coin out of the 4 that are available. Then say the first one was that exact coin. So if 4/4 were available and I purchased all 4 then one of them would have to be the rare coin. then the seller couldn't say the first coin they sold/bought was the coin in the photo.

Ill keep an eye out for similar listings when I'm on ebay.

Some would argue no. The first thing I did when I saw the listing was message the seller saying that the coin in the photo was worth much more then the listing price even if only 1/4 was that coin. I posted here about it afterwards. I myself didn't but any of the last 3 of 4 that were available. If one of the 4 did turn out to be the true mule then I feel worse for the seller then the buyer but that's not the case most of the time.

I guess cherry picking or any business goes against the idea of morals of getting a steal of a deal by knowing what you know. I'm not into profiting off this hobby. It's my hobby not my job, it brings Me joy and knowledge and something to leave behind in the late late future to my family and as teach my son about.

I like how the shoe fits.

If a dealer sells a $1 coin for $100 it's illegal and he should be banned.

But if a seller can buy a $100 coin for $1 it's cherry picking.

Please keep the outrage to yourself, it's so hypocritical.

I can imagine an in person deal is much different then ebay. If I went into my LCS and the owner offered me an amazing deal, say a mint state large bust 73 for 50$. I would jump on it because there is absolutely no way they would not know the true value, I would be very grateful. If I went into the same store and purchased a coin worth 50$ for 200$ that would be on me.

Now talking about ebay, if a seller advertises a rare coin for sale and there is only one in a lot of 4 coins(doubtful all 4 would be the rare coin if any) if the dealer says 1/4 sold right from the start they can now sell 3 over priced basic coins(not extremely over priced, in this case 2$) this would be immoral and simply false advertising, which is immoral and illegal. Now of one of the 4 actually was the rare coin I would notify the seller and offer a better price if they wanted,even after already paying for and receiving the coins.

All this said I believe in this scenario the seller knew what they were doing and did not intend to sell the rare coin for 2$, they simply used it as a way to lure potential buyers. There is no way to know for sure unless all 4 were for sale originally and you purchased All 4. This wasn't a question about ones morals as one can differ then another. This was simply a question as to weather or not what the seller was doing was breaking ebay policies.

Simply sometimes some collectors take a five buck flyer on such items, it would cost more to return than the effort, even the seller has a tough time making much from these types of sale

The description stated that the coin in the photo was one of the four for sale. If a stock photo of a rare variety or mule was used for selling regular non rare version I would say it goes against ebay policies. That's all this thread was about and somehow turned into a conversation about morals. My question was simple and has been answered at this point. Posting a photo of a rare coin saying it is included in a lot of several coins when it is not goes against ebay policies. If the seller didn't know the photo was a rare variety, then he was notified by me before the sale finished. If he didn't actually have that same coin for sale then it's against ebay policies.

It is far more rewarding cherry-picking cherry pickers.

And, I have been cherry picked, with a coin I just plain forgot about (but happy it now has a good home).

Those are stories for another time.

For several years now, since I started publishing books, anything I want to buy face-to-face at a coin show gets scrutinized. The dealers are worried that I am cherry picking some truly rare variety that they do not know about. In fact, usually the opposite occurs, and I tell them what they have. In the one I remember from my last coin show (when the heck was that?), after looking through a box of 2x2s, I showed a prominent dealer where he had marked an 1859 DP1 as a vanilla N9, about a $400 price difference.

I think there is fine line between repeatedly being successful at cherry picking and getting a rep for ripping people off. (Remember the dealer who bought a roll of circulated 1925 five-cent pieces for peanuts?) Rep in the Canada coin market is important to me. I want to trust those with whom I am dealing, and I want them to trust me. If that costs me some extra dollars, so be it.

As to the OP, these days I usually assume the worst about E-Bay listings. IMHO it has become saturated with grifters and people who want to unload problem coins. There are some good, honest sellers there, but with so many bad ones, it is hard to sort them out.