Every smart person will answer no

[Twitch]

Every smart person will answer 'no'

Do you guys ever buy questionable coins off of eBay figuring that the money back guarantee will save you in the likely event that the coin isn't as described? I've done this several times and it's maybe worked out 1 time out of 7 or 8 chances. It's really turning out not to worth the effort.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[Peyton Manning]

YES! ( ok not really)

 

[villagenut]

No.....does that mean I am smart

 

[BigWaveDave]

Ebay is best used as a research tool....aside from that?... too many headaches.

 

[Iron Patch]

There's a big difference in buying something that is a good gamble vs something that is just a plain stupid to buy. The good gamble is usually based on experience and knowing more than the seller, and the stupid purchase is knowing less and believing what they say. I've gambled many many many times and rarely lost, but what I did lose was just a drop in the bucket for what I made. I never count on the seller to tell me what I'm buying.

 

[jerseyben]

I take gambles all the time. However, I am usually gambling that something is a contemporary counterfeit.

 

[Captain Caveman]

No. I only buy PCGS graded coins, from sellers with very high ratings with 99.x% positive feedback. I go about as safe as you can go!

 

[huntsman53]

No! I actually cherrypick varieties, errors and sometimes other valuable non-identified/un-attributed coins such as earlier Proofs off of eBay which others sometimes fail to notice. I haven't done this in awhile or made any decent finds in awhile but about 10 years ago, I cherrypicked a 1911 Matte Proof Lincoln Cent off of eBay for around $14 before shipping. It was in PR-55 condition and I noticed that the coin had 2 of the Die Markers for a Matte Proof 1911 Lincoln Cent and thought I could see one more. When I received it in the mail, I was ecstatic to find I was correct and the coin actually had 3 Die Markers for a Matte Proof but was missing a few others which was due to the state of the Dies when the coin was struck. I have only had one bad purchase per see. The purchase was what I knew was a new Doubled Die Variety Lincoln Cent which I knew would end up being wrote about in Coin World and many other Coin publications and a variety that many collectors, experts and dealers would be scrambling to find. When the bid price went to $250, the Seller realized that he had something special, so after almost three weeks, he sent me a faked one of the coin I won and purchased and which was verified by the Postal Clerk who I had open the package. After no response to my emails, I filed a claim with PayPal and he refused to send me the coin I purchased or send me a full refund. I then sent the entire auction listing information as well as pics from the listing of what I purchased and pics of what I received to PayPal. This was also turned over to the Post Master for Mail Fraud. PayPal eventually started a Criminal investigation and said that if he did not send me the correct coin or a refund in 3 days, to send the coin that I received to them. The Seller was "CC'd" the same message and after seeing that he may be charged with Federal Counterfeiting Charges, he refunded my' money in just a few hours. The coin till this day is considered stolen even though he refunded my' money and no one will touch it as I sent emails to every Coin Expert, Collector, Dealer and website dedicated to coins that I know and as far as I know, it has never been sold and I know that it has never been attributed as a new Doubled Die Variety.


Frank

 

[Mackaydon]

I use Ebay only to view "Completed Listings"; sales prices of what actually sold--not asking prices--which I ignore.
Don......

 

[coinsareawesome]

I buy off of eBay because there aren't any good antique stores or yard sales that have good prices on coins where I am. I only buy from people who have a 100% satisfaction guarantee rating by other members.

 

[Iron Patch]

I only buy from people who have a 100% satisfaction guarantee rating by other members.

I'll never understand that because if a seller sells 5000 coins and 1 person is an idiot, the seller is not going to have 100% feedback.

 

[Trooper733]

I used to, but don't anymore. Back before the TV shopping channels started with "coin specials" of overpriced high production current mint products which caused people who had never sold a coin in their life to start selling coins on ebay and thought a slabbed MS69 State Quarter or a State Quarter with an error created by grease in the die was worth $60-$100. I always bought from established coin dealers who also had a storefront in some city in the U.S. most of whom can usually tell a counterfeit from a genuine coin. Not that their weren't some unscrupulous coin dealers, but I bought several raw 18th and 19th century U.S. coppers and never got burned by counterfeits, only having one that was misrepresented by the photos. It was the same coin, but it had been dipped (cleaned) . After the wave of TV sales, I began steering clear from ebay coins, and still do.
By the way, nothing wrong with collecting State Quarters or other modern U.S. mint issues, to each his own, but the prices charged and paid will never equal out as investments, unless maybe if they are minted in precious metals.

 

[egeorge1]

I only buy ebay when i cant find what i want locally and my cut off is 99.9% rated sellers. This eliminates most issues in my experience.

 

[Joe777Cool]

YES. Many times I have purchased "questionable" coins. It's a 50/50 proposition with zero downside. If the coin is fake, or not as described, I'm out 10 minutes of my time to mail it back. I've gotten some ridiculously good deals. Like that time I bought 8 crappy standing liberty quarters for well over melt. Had a hunch....took a gamble....sold 1 of them for $650 (buyer had the coin authenticated by NGC as a genuine 1916) and a $550 profit.

Some people want the warm and fuzzies of buying certified coins from 100% feedback sellers.....I'd rather buy the "weird old coin" from the newbie seller. I guess by the original post/title this makes me stupid. Thats fine.

 

[Twitch]

YES. Many times I have purchased "questionable" coins. It's a 50/50 proposition with zero downside. If the coin is fake, or not as described, I'm out 10 minutes of my time to mail it back. I've gotten some ridiculously good deals. Like that time I bought 8 crappy standing liberty quarters for well over melt. Had a hunch....took a gamble....sold 1 of them for $650 (buyer had the coin authenticated by NGC as a genuine 1916) and a $550 profit.

Some people want the warm and fuzzies of buying certified coins from 100% feedback sellers.....I'd rather buy the "weird old coin" from the newbie seller. I guess by the original post/title this makes me stupid. Thats fine.

There are many, many good pieces of advice in this thread but you and I are the same kind of stupid. I buy lots of stuffs that's poorly identified, photographed, or described. Lot's of good wins. But some real misses that are quickly send back.

 

[AlabamaRelic]

So you're saying this coin was a one-of-a-kind? I didn't even know that was possible.

I have only had one bad purchase per see. The purchase was what I knew was a new Doubled Die Variety Lincoln Cent which I knew would end up being wrote about in Coin World and many other Coin publications and a variety that many collectors, experts and dealers would be scrambling to find. When the bid price went to $250, the Seller realized that he had something special, so after almost three weeks, he sent me a faked one of the coin I won and purchased and which was verified by the Postal Clerk who I had open the package. After no response to my emails, I filed a claim with PayPal and he refused to send me the coin I purchased or send me a full refund. I then sent the entire auction listing information as well as pics from the listing of what I purchased and pics of what I received to PayPal. This was also turned over to the Post Master for Mail Fraud. PayPal eventually started a Criminal investigation and said that if he did not send me the correct coin or a refund in 3 days, to send the coin that I received to them. The Seller was "CC'd" the same message and after seeing that he may be charged with Federal Counterfeiting Charges, he refunded my' money in just a few hours. The coin till this day is considered stolen even though he refunded my' money and no one will touch it as I sent emails to every Coin Expert, Collector, Dealer and website dedicated to coins that I know and as far as I know, it has never been sold and I know that it has never been attributed as a new Doubled Die Variety.


Frank

 

[huntsman53]

So you're saying this coin was a one-of-a-kind? I didn't even know that was possible.

No, that is not what I was saying! I meant that it was/is a new Variety that had/has never been recorded and/or made aware of to the coin collecting world. New Varieties are discovered almost each and every day if not every day and while some folks think that every variety for a specific type, series, denomination, Date and Mintmarked coin has been found and identified, they are totally wrong! It is possible that the coin that I won and paid for, was actually a counterfeit itself but I will never know since the Seller never sent it to me and as far as records and news is concerned and to my knowledge, the Variety has never shown up on the market again or in the coin collecting world. The Seller instead, apparently waited until he found a coin of the same Date and Mintmark that looked similar to the one he sold on eBay, then modified it in an attempt to reproduce the look of the coin I purchased and which I believed was/is a new Doubled Die Variety. I am usually good a spotting faked or counterfeited coins but my' purchase and the bidding was based on pics of the coin and many others thought the same. However, I always copy pics of the coins that peak my interest to my' PC and blow them up to get a better look at them and this coin looked good. If I do not purchase a specific coin, then the pics are deleted from my' PC but if I bid on and win a coin, I keep the pics just in case of such an event that happened to me with this purchase. And yes, I have had a couple of other Sellers on eBay, send me a coin or coins that I did not purchase. These were honest mistakes on their part in these other cases and I eventually got the coin or coins I purchased but I protected myself by copying and pasting the pics to my' PC because you never know when they might get deleted from the Auction or from eBay. Sorry for the long answer and explanation but I felt that the question needed a clarified answer!


Frank

 

[jerseyben]

No, that is not what I was saying! I meant that it was/is a new Variety that had/has never been recorded and/or made aware of to the coin collecting world. New Varieties are discovered almost each and every day if not every day and while some folks think that every variety for a specific type, series, denomination, Date and Mintmarked coin has been found and identified, they are totally wrong! It is possible that the coin that I won and paid for, was actually a counterfeit itself but I will never know since the Seller never sent it to me and as far as records and news is concerned and to my knowledge, the Variety has never shown up on the market again or in the coin collecting world. The Seller instead, apparently waited until he found a coin of the same Date and Mintmark that looked similar to the one he sold on eBay, then modified it in an attempt to reproduce the look of the coin I purchased and which I believed was/is a new Doubled Die Variety. I am usually good a spotting faked or counterfeited coins but my' purchase and the bidding was based on pics of the coin and many others thought the same. However, I always copy pics of the coins that peak my interest to my' PC and blow them up to get a better look at them and this coin looked good. If I do not purchase a specific coin, then the pics are deleted from my' PC but if I bid on and win a coin, I keep the pics just in case of such an event that happened to me with this purchase. And yes, I have had a couple of other Sellers on eBay, send me a coin or coins that I did not purchase. These were honest mistakes on their part in these other cases and I eventually got the coin or coins I purchased but I protected myself by copying and pasting the pics to my' PC because you never know when they might get deleted from the Auction or from eBay. Sorry for the long answer and explanation but I felt that the question needed a clarified answer!


Frank

That is quite a conspiracy...

 

[huntsman53]

That is quite a conspiracy...

Yes but one that was backed up on my end by blown-up pics made at Walmart's Photo Department of the coin that I won off of eBay, inspection of the pics and the coin I actually received by the Postal Clerk and the local Postmaster who both agreed to offer testimony if criminal charges were brought against the Seller for Postal Fraud and Counterfeiting. Also, PayPal agreed that it was a case of fraud and counterfeiting and wanted the counterfeited coin sent to them even if I was refunded my' money. However, I opted to return the counterfeited coin to the Seller and allow him to keep his' freedom from jail time but eBay and (I believe) PayPal tossed him shortly after he refunded my' money. PayPal may have continued the criminal investigation into the transaction as it had been turned over to their' Investigators but if they did, they never notified me.


Frank

 

[Twitch]

If you're looking at a PCGS coin, and the # matches the # listed on the website, what else is there to look at?