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Creative way to use today's ebay 20% coupon to buy coin
jt88
Posts: 3,180 ✭✭✭✭✭
I has a seller contacted me asking if I received today's ebay 20% coupon. I told him yes and also told him is not good for coins and currency. He told me he can change category from coin to collectable so I can use the coupon. So I bought a coin from him, both happy. If you want to buy a coin please contact the seller ask him to change the category so you can buy it with this 20% coupon.
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For me, I consider this to be unethical. It is just a get around of the conditions ebay put on the 20% off. Ebay is an awful company, but manipulation to get around them, just ain't right. I got the offer too, but it did not even cross my mind to do this for the coins I have on my want list.
Best, SH
Before you say something is unethical, please read the offer.
Ebay is a big boy and if they did not want sellers to change categories, they certainly would state it in the offer. Ebay certainly could anticipate people asking the question of sellers.
I assume (not positive) that eBay is trying to prevent people from buying cash or cash equivalents. I believe that in the past they used to prohibit just items in the bullion category, as well as a few others (such as gift cards, etc.). Now they have expanded it to everything in Coins & Paper Money.
Imagine the scams people would come up with to abuse the coupon if they could use the discount to buy money. You and your friends could sell each other $500 in current paper money for $400.
Collector coins, on the other hand, are presumably not the real target of the rule, but they get caught up in the process.
Is there a dollar limit on this offer
Lafayette Grading Set
$100
I now have my second Disagree of the day from someone who does not post his/her reason for disagreeing. Care to share what you found so disagreeable, @pocketpiececommems ?
I have noticed tribalism in my disagree clusters
I couldn't care less
...maybe you "couldn't" care less?
Spell check caught it, grammer check missed it. Thank you, I will fix it.
Anyone got any Au they want to offer up? US pre 33 commons grade not really a concern, modern eagles any denomination, lets get em up in the collectables category. blitzdude's ready to buy.
I have no issues getting around the rules they set, especially when they advertise "20% off of EVERYTHING" and then declare excluded categories. That's not everything, maybe state something along the lines of "20% off ALMOST everything".
Any dollar you can get eBay to spend on your behalf is a dollar well saved as far as I'm concerned.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Thanks for the heads-up !!!
@blitzdude check the bst forum
I looked but not seeing anything. 1 gold says not available when I click your link.
I saved 100 dollars on a graded football card I know I can resell at a profit
Looks like someone else bought it! There is always platinum...
I couldn't find anything coin wise listed under collectibles, so I ended up buying a new lawnmower.
Between the coupon, free shipping, & no tax I saved $96.00 compared to the best deal I could find locally.
I purchased something yesterday off ebay... I did not have a 20% off coupon... would have been nice.
Oh well... I will survive... 
Cheers, RickO
Does eBay penalize sellers who do that since I assume they are coughing up the 20%?
I would not email a seller on how conduct his business like that and resent somebody emailing change a listing category.
I had someone ask me to change a category last year in eBay messaging, I did, they bought it, and within a week they were NaRUD
For these types of coupons, there is a code and anyone can use it. It is not like the ones that you need to activate through a targeted email. I did get an email on it (ignored it at first), while others did not, but I think they could all use the same code.
What you say here is a total cop out and totally lame. If you expect ebay to have to write everything ethical down for you in every offer they do, then one has to wonder what your sense of morality is. Yikes.
the choice of a category in ebay is not a matter of ethics. You can post anything in any category
Just the other day this came up for me. I knocked some homeless guy over the head with a hockey stick and harvested his kidney and accidentally posted it in bullion and the buyer was upset because he wasn't going to get bonus bucks so i moved it to industrial waste handling
edited to add I like to put the ak-47's in gardening supplies
EBay writes all the rules in their favor, and should follow its own rules. What is unethical about using existing rules to your advantage? You are not making false representations, there was no agreement express or implied that coins couldn't be listed as collectibles in that category, and there have been no broken promises or contractual provisions. Most notably, contracts are construed against the draftsman. If eBay wanted to prohibit the practice, it could have done so. Instead of excluding all coins, the language excludes specific "items"_ listed_ in enumerated categories. A coin listed as bullion or a collectible is not an item in an excluded category per the plain meaning of the language used in the offer/coupon.
Another time , I was doing some shopping and I noticed some SOB put a cereal box on the shelf in the canned goods aisle.
A lot of people think hostage situations are stressful but it went pretty well. I still exchange Christmas cards with a few of the guys at that prison
We must treasure this rare occasion.
If folks want to justify it they can but I believe it is unethical. The email I got from ebay said 'coins' were not part of the 20% off. So the last thing I am going to think about doing is ask an ebay dealer to move a coin to a non-coin category so I can get a coin for 20% off. A coin is a coin, no matter what category it is in.
If feepay truly intended for coins to be 20% off, then why was this statement not in the offer?
Hey folks, you want to buy a coin? No worries, just get the dealer to move it from the coin category for you and put it into, oh I dunno, how about autoparts, that is how we like it at ebay!
Don't get me wrong, I have zero love for feepay. But I will abide by their rules, and coins were not part of the 20% offer.
Best, SH
It was eBay's choice to make the offer and to be specific in any exclusions. Unless we are talking about a different coupon, all items are eligible unless explicitly excepted. EBay excepts items listed (emphasis) in certain categories. A coin is a coin, but a coin is not an excepted item unless it is listed in a specific enumerated category. I am aware of no rule that requires coins to be listed in only one category, and it is not unreasonable that such items could be listed as bullion or collectibles which were not excepted. Unless the coupon specificallly said "no coins" (what I see doesn't say that unless the email language was different), then you are interpreting it broadly and in a way that a literal application of the text doesn't necessarily support. As such, while the interpretation I offered may be hypertechnical and literal, it is not unreasonable and I don't see the moral issue.
I once got a 15% off coupon from Marshall Field in Chicago. Went to coin counter and first ascertained the price of AGEs, then attempted to purchase same. Seller was not happy and refused to do so. Went upstairs to customer service and explained the issue. They ended up selling me two American eagles at 15% discount (there was a limit on how much could be spent).
Whoever really thought there would be ethics in coin dealing anyway?
I thougt it was cash and carry.