Ebay Coin Seller Of Cleaned Coins Sandbagging Other Sellers

Impressive description of copy stand as well but pics sucks.You are absolutely right with cleaning issue.Hi is probably cleaning them DIY method and description is just a...cover.

Although I don't agree with this seller's practices, I cannot develop the hatred which is being expressed here. He explicitly states, in bold, that (paraphrased) "any coin more than twenty years old without patina has likely been cleaned." He then sells coins over twenty years old with no patina.

The conclusion is, um, obvious. If you can't make that obvious conclusion, you probably shouldn't be buying coins on ebay.

Furthermore, I find his photos to be quite well-done. Big, sharply-focused and lit in the precise style I'd use if I wished to highlight a cleaning. It is plainly obvious which of his coins have been cleaned, and indeed even the uncleaned ones tend to look cleaned.

Frankly, I don't see much deception here.

with Dave. While he may not be explicit about cleaning, he is clearly implicit about what buyers should conclude from appearance. That's probably the best a seller can do if they buy and resell stock. After browsing ebay for a couple hours, I'd put this seller in the upper ~20% for disclosure. I had forgotten how many damaged, whizzed, dipped, misattributed and otherwise misrespresented coins are on ebay. Yikes--now I remember why I buy at shows.

If I list an item on ebay that is fake and instead of writing that my item is fake... I write "remember, 90% of coins on ebay are fake". You would not see a problem with that?

Seriously guys... c'mon.

pls - Seriously indeed.

Do you think it's right that a seller can put whatever statement they want in a listing, even if it is false and hurts other sellers?
Well, the ebay representative I spoke to earlier today said "No" and explained that this is covered by the hateful/profane content policy , even though it's not technically hateful or profane.

I understand that it seems like a moot point for non-sellers, since it does not directly affect them or their livelihoods.

Are there any sellers on here that can give me relevant feedback on this? (Bobby?)

DV - Exactly, if you sell a cleaned coin, say so. But you don't go and make a general statement that other seller's coins are cleaned, do you? I am sure you don't, because that would not be right.

This seller is doing exactly that. And THAT is the only issue I have.

I never said anything about the seller deceiving people, he is obviously not.

He IS, however, damaging the reputation and business of other sellers, and that is a major no-no.
It's not a simple "if it looks cleaned, it probably is"... it's an explicit statement that 90% of coins on ebay are cleaned, and that any untarnished circ coins over 20 years old are cleaned. This is obviously false, but still something that a small percentage of people will believe.

pls - Yea, it's kind of a shame that this stuff is labeled under such a strongly worded policy. It's really just mis-information, and there ought to be a separate policy for just that.
Thanks for replying. =)

Omaha - Fleecing the uninformed is exactly what this is about. the uninformed today are tomorrow's serious collectors. There is enough ignorance already, why should anyone benefit from spreading more of it.

Have you ever been a seller? And would you appreciate another seller making a false negative statement that also pertains to what you are selling?

If it affected you, you would be all up in arms. I believe that standard should extend to others as well. (Yes, I believe in social justice and jurisprudence).

See my example above: If I list an item on ebay that is fake and instead of writing that my item is fake... I write "remember, 90% of coins on ebay are fake". You would not see a problem with that?

Can you really not see it is this seller who is hurting the competition?
When I was speaking to ebay I made sure to say that they should not cancel the seller's listings or take any action against their account, only to inform them through official channels that their statement is mis-informative and can only be hurtful to other sellers.

I need not prove any personal damage. This is not a court case. It's just common sense, man.

And I find fairly pristine examples of coins 30+ years old pretty regularly, as I am sure you do because our pocket change has plenty of them. But, this is besides the point. Unfounded statements that benefit a seller at the expense of others is simply not ethical and grounds for those on the receiving end to take action.