What's Wrong With This Auction For An 1843 CC Seated Dollar?

First of all, great job by everyone getting garbage like this off ebay. People like this ruin the hobby for those of us that are honestly selling quality properly graded genuine coins.

Now my question.

ebay pulled the auction; GREAT! Let's say the seller checks the auction frequently while it is still active, and keeps track of the email addresses of those that bid. What is to keep the seller from trying to contact the bidder that was the current top bidder after the auction has been pulled; make some absurd claim that ebay stopped his auctions because of, let's say "some accounting problem which I am currently working with ebay to clear up" and tells the top bidder that he is still willing to offer the coin to him/her, and for the inconvenience of the auction being stopped knock an additional 10% (or something like that) off the amount the person had bid, just to try to further entice the top bidder to close the deal? I admit, it would take an idiot to fall for something like that, but as all of you know, ebay is full of idiot buyers! Comments?

ebay does say time and time again to not engage in transactions outside the protection of ebay. Most folks familiar and experienced with ebay consider this as ebay just trying to not lose out on the auction fees.

Many still do circumvent the system as a habit. Even I myself am guilty of just emailing directly and asking the seller to name a price to sell outright.

I stand true to how shark infested the waters we swim in really are. Put up all the signs and warnings you like. The two categories of buyer will still use the schools of thought to rationalize and justify circumventing the system.

Educated buyers recognize the risk, know what they are buying and trust the seller/have relationship with the seller perhaps. They jump outside ebay to save the money. Saving 10-15% is huge when quantified on larger purchases.

Uneducated buyers will just see the perception of savings. People still will go for it thinking they are going to blow your doors of with the new gift only now at a bargain. Even better!

No argument here but back to my original point.

My wife is not very trusting of strangers, email or otherwise I don't think she would do it without at least channelling it through ebay as a BIN offer direct to her. She is aware of how the protection works and what is covered under the transaction guidelines. I have a long history with buying and selling larger items on ebay so at least my wife has seen me go through the system's loopholes and protection limits several times when deals have gone south.

My wife I think is more cautious than most simply because she lives with me. I always look for the loose ends of angles and have long preached never to follow something because it is just such a deal. Never convince yourself to overlook anything in a transaction just because the carrot is so great at the end of the string.

So for most other wives/husands I say yes, they would walk right into the soup unknowingly. Get burned without recourse. Lots of fish in the sea for sellers to burn, even if they can only get one shot at them.

The positive in the situation is when you can crush a fraud auction, you kill the exposure of it to more potential victims. Or at very least limit it.

-RFB