Options
Ebay cannot stop bad buyers from stealing coins
twilloo
Posts: 1 ✭
Myself and others have had nothing but trouble on ebay just since they totally hung the sellers out to dry. is there any 3rd party verification or trust that can help you. I sold s 28 plain dollar on there and the guy sighed for it and then said noting was in the package. He reported it and paypal snatched the money and returned to buyer. It almost always is buyers with low number feedback that do not sell at all, they just scam. There must be a better way or a better place to sell coins than to worry about your sale on ebay.
2
Comments
You can video tape yourself packing the package to provide proof that the coin was in the package.
Young Numismatist/collector
75 Positive BST transactions buying and selling with 45 members and counting!
instagram.com/klnumismatics
Unless you do that at the post office and film yourself handing over the counter as well, it would not help really.
You really have to trust your buyer, which is why I stopped selling on eBay.
Especially lately people are complaining about the smallest things (even on the forum and major dealers) that would not have been complained about a few months ago.
That doesn't prove anything since after you're done video taping, you can open the package, remove the coin, and then reseal the package.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
@twilloo ....Welcome aboard..... Sorry to hear of your problem. Seems there have been a lot of issues with ebay lately. Cheers, RickO
I communicate with the buyer before shipping....especially low or zero FB buyers....or those with poor FB (ie <99%). If they cannot intelligently discuss their purchase that's a red flag imo. If they can't take the time to reply with a message, I won't reply with a coin. Funds will be returned vie Ebay/PP. One time, a 0 FB buyer paid a very strong BIN price which raised a red flag in itself. And when I checked the shipping address it was in a Louisiana forest along a dirt road. Huh? That buyer refused to reply so I unwound the "fully paid for" transaction and refunded the money. Someone (me, Ebay, or PayPal) was going to eat that transaction. It wasn't going to happen on my watch. That was 2 years ago. And to this day I haven't heard from that "buyer".....who still has 0 Feedback. I placed them on my preferred people's list just to see if they ever surface for air.
You could ship your item through an independent 3rd party service who will help document with you. But, that will increase your costs. The last time I shipped a valuable 18" floor tom (drum) I wasn't sure the buyer was legit. I tried to get my local USPS mgr to witness me packaging up a nice condition vintage drum. It took me a long time to convince him it was in both our interests. He was very unwilling at first. Like you know....."not my problem man...what difference would it make." Bureaucrats just don't want to step up or put out if they don't have to. And to boot, he barely paid attention to what I was doing in his office as the drum was packaged up. He would have made a poor witness in any court....lol. Fortunately, that drum arrived safely. Despite all my concerns of scammer buyers doing a switcheroo or claiming damages, it has yet to ever happen. Though in a couple of cases, I've taken action not to ship just to ensure it wouldn't happen.
No company can stop all scammers.
We've had plenty of crumbs on the BST board here over the years yet we most all suck it up and carry on without blaming our hosts.
Should I post a thread for each of the ten thousand eBay transactions that went fantastic for me recently?
eBay is better than ever
@ErrorsOnCoins ....Glad to hear that.... I realize that the problems posted here are really a minority when the hundreds of thousands of weekly transactions on ebay go well for the most part. Just seems to have been more complaints lately. Cheers, RickO
All you have to do is pick up the phone, when they reopen, and state your case. It will be put back in you account. Now, you are new here so we don't have any experience with you or your business. How many deals have you done on ebay? That means a lot to whomever you speak to. Reputation is very important. If you are also new to ebay, they will automatically side with a buyer until you speak to someone. Paypal may also be your friend and a call to them would be appropriate but try ebay first.
Sorry this happened. ** Can you provide a link to auction and out the buyer please. Those of us that do sell a lot on ebay may want to block this individual, at least for now.**
bob
I have done well over the years on ebay (mostly), but In all honesty, I have never seen anyone seem to do as well as errors on coins claim he does. Must be his clientle and type of coins he sells.
I wonder if the USPS is one of those places where no cameras are allowed. I'll have to look at the signs next time I go.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
He has recently done ten thousand transactions and they have all been flawless. This man walks on water!
@twilloo said:
I sold s 28 plain dollar on there and the guy sighed for it and then said noting was in the package.
Most packages are weighed at the post office for postage due ... so if you have the postage receipt ... you can prove the coin was in the package.
Not really. No one is going to ask the buyer to take the package to a PO to weigh it. Even if they did, the buyer can weigh the coin first then add some tape, packing, whatever they want to make up the difference. It is not like this was a 1 pound item in the box.
It's the type of coins. Errors are hot now. There's also no price guide so it is easier to get higher premiums. And it is also harder to find an exact comp for some of the errors.
You could never get a big premium on a common date MS65 Morgan because there are so many of them with clearly defined prices. And it is hard to buy them cheaply for the same reason. Without a clear price guide, error coins are the wild wild west of numismatics.
I sell nothing on ebay I can’t afford to lose. As a matter a fact when I sell something I consider it gone then when things go right it’s a pleasant surprise.
it is possible the buyer is correct and the coin pilfered during shipment
I do agree with you that it offers some protection having the receipt.
BUT, what if I ship a single slabbed coin in an eBay supplied bubble envelope that weighs 2-3 ounces
I could also send a heavier duty envelope that weighs the exact same with no coin inside
Except whatever you send should be a couple ounces lighter when it gets there. So if you ship a 3 ounce empty envelope, the recipient will get a 3 ounce empty envelope. If you ship a 3 ounce full envelope, the recipient will get a 1 ounce empty envelope.
Ask the buyer to send you a photo of the package (both sides). When items go missing inside the package, USPS will typically stamp the package "received without any contents" or something similar. They are required by law to deliver it to the recipient even if the package is empty. The buyer will most likely need to file a police report and provide it to eBay in order to get his money back. That is unless the auction was sold for less than $25.
@ironmanl63 why don't you just pm @ErrorsOnCoins and hash things out. You're coming off as a petulant child by hectoring him here on the forum.
Thank you for your thoughtful and constructive post.
LOL!
That's a coin fact !
eBay sellers:
I’ve warned people about this over and over. Many eBay coin buyers are borderline evil.
They’re not cute and cuddly and fun. They are mean, opportunistic, thieving, conniving creatures from hell and if you see one while listing eBay coins, block immediately. Imagine a feral cat with a problem-solving brain and the moral compass of a meth addict. That’s an unethical feloniest eBay coin buyer.
(Yes, I am aware "feloniest" is not a word, yet it should be.)