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a few tips from an ebay dealer

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  • DisneyFanDisneyFan Posts: 2,213 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @CoinCoins said:
    please

    do not include a little 'note' telling me how to carefully package your item. i know how to package stuff. stop it.

    stop telling me to send you tracking numbers once it's mailed. it's automatic.

    if you don't see a box in the pictures, don't ask me if a box is included.

    if you don't see a COA don't ask me if a COA is included.

    don't ask me what i'd grade the coin. it's up to you.

    stop asking me if the item pictured is the same item you'll receive. of course it is.

    stop sending offers that are like 30% of the asking price. it's ridiculous.

    if your tracking numbers say it should've been there today but it didn't show up, don't assume i can magically make it arrive right now by emailing me about it. be patient. for christ's sake.. i have no control over the USPS.

    look at the pictures. i upload giant pics for a reason.

    read the description. i can't tell you how many times people ignore this.

    do not wait DAYS to pay for it. this is annoying.

    above all.. stop asking me dumb questions. i've hit a point where i just delete them.

    i know this may come off as asshole-ish, but believe me, 20 years of this will drive you to the point of starting threads like this.

    the very best customers are the ones that pay immediately and then get it in the mail when it arrives. zero communication. we keep it simple. i like you guys a lot.

    to the rest of you: stop bugging us with moronic nonsense.

    thank you very much

    sigh

    I think you are addressing the wrong audience. Always interested in finding a new source I checked out your website. You currently have 516 items for sale of which 191 are coins; but, only six are PCGS graded.

  • MetalMetal Posts: 122 ✭✭✭
    edited January 16, 2022 10:00AM

    Ebay is the classic market for lemons.
    I buy a lot on eBay, easily six figures a year. And while most of it is inventory or business-related, if I forget for a minute, I'm a seller and wear my buyer hat. The range and quality of equipment and the degree of professionalism amongst sellers are staggering.
    You can just as quickly be buying from a one-person shop or Ingram Micro's selling ID.
    If we're strictly sticking to coins I've received some dog crap shaped like a Morgan whose picture was so photoshopped it was clearly a scam to excellent beautiful coins from professional sellers (many I'm sure are in this thread)
    Back in the pre-Paypal days, when people were still sending checks and money orders across the country, we were able to take credit cards, and that was a hard and fast line between a guy selling out of his basement and a real business. (even if I started in my parents' basement) :)
    Once Paypal became a thing, every single basement dweller in the world suddenly became a 'store' That is when eBay, as a rule, started to go downhill.
    Once the quality of the seller decreased, the quality of the buyer did too.

  • alefzeroalefzero Posts: 1,001 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A lot of those points are real issues that are often encountered. You might not play those games, but there are plenty who do. But there are those who send an offer below met for a very rare coin that is asking four figured with OBO. I have had a couple of cases over the 25 or so years where lots were reported because the format of some older holder didn't match that of the current ones. A newbie concern, but still a valid one - if they would simply ask rather than report me as selling a counterfeit holder. But those who simply annoy are not as much the problem as those who are scamming from the buy side, playing the buyer advantage when settling claims through eBay.

  • Jzyskowski1Jzyskowski1 Posts: 6,650 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 16, 2022 10:17AM

    Well, I wish you guys would decide!
    Am I “in a cesspool , rathole or a low quality buyer “. A-%*+# is already taken by the OP. ( His words)
    It appears in your eyes I represent a lower form of life but which one?
    Maybe if I knew which one I could sleep at night 😂

    🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶

  • Desert MoonDesert Moon Posts: 5,911 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Performing Customer Service? I'm late to this thread, but answering all questions by buyers, even when they may seem egregious to the seller, seems to be called being a professional and providing quality customer service. If one can't take it, leave ebay (this to the OP).

    Best, SH

    My online coin store - https://desertmoonnm.com/
  • BarberianBarberian Posts: 3,783 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 16, 2022 11:44AM

    @ifthevamzarockin said:
    I don't mind the stupid questions and lowball offers. ;)

    I send them a message back "Thanks for letting me know you wanted to be placed on my blocked bidder list" :D

    There have been a lot of sellers on eBay recently who initially price a coin as much as 20 to 30 times its actual value hoping to catch some fool who's either drunk and/or doesn't know the value of the item. I give them a fair offer that is 95% off their asking price. They reject the offer and later reduce the price by 80%, though it's still 4 times more than the coin is worth. It's sad that eBay has increasingly become a venue for these Etsy-style grifters.

    3 rim nicks away from Good
  • BarberianBarberian Posts: 3,783 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MFeld said:
    When I see items for sale at anywhere approaching such unrealistic prices, I simply move on. Chances are extremely remote that the seller will sell for a reasonable price. And even if he might, I don’t want to do business with someone who will price something at a level so much above what he’s actually willing to accept.

    I usually tack on a note explaining the low bid as being in line with current retail prices for a coin of that grade.

    3 rim nicks away from Good
  • MasonGMasonG Posts: 6,261 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 16, 2022 12:44PM

    I get offers sometimes that are 10% of my asking price along with a note telling me that the coin is overpriced. On occasion, another buyer comes along and purchases it at the listed price before I have a chance to respond to the first "buyer".

    @MFeld said:
    When I see items for sale at anywhere approaching such unrealistic prices, I simply move on. Chances are extremely remote that the seller will sell for a reasonable price.

    It works the same way with people who make unreasonable offers. There's really no point in bothering with them- in all my years on eBay, not a single one of them has ever made a purchase.

  • ifthevamzarockinifthevamzarockin Posts: 8,902 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Even when I get an offer at 50% less than the price listed I send a polite response with a decline or counter offer.
    I have turned many of these into buyers. ;)

    When I get an offer at 75% off the price listed they go on the block list and they get a message that is not very polite. :D

    I had one person do that and I blocked them, they were very upset that I blocked them and asked if they could still buy the coin for close to my listing price. I told them no, once you are on my BBL you will never be removed. The buyer said it was a mistake and meant to offer more. I told them this is a lesson for you to double check your offers. After a couple more message from them I just ended the listing and told them I sold it to someone else.

    There are plenty of buyers on ebay, the first indication I get that someone is stupid they go on the list.

  • MFeldMFeld Posts: 14,013 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @SIowhand said:
    Some of you guys are wound too tight.

    Just out of curiosity, are you excluding the OP from “you guys”?😉

    Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.

  • jkrkjkrk Posts: 987 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 16, 2022 1:33PM

    @Metal said:
    Ebay is the classic market for lemons.
    I buy a lot on eBay, easily six figures a year. And while most of it is inventory or business-related, if I forget for a minute, I'm a seller and wear my buyer hat. The range and quality of equipment and the degree of professionalism amongst sellers are staggering.
    You can just as quickly be buying from a one-person shop or Ingram Micro's selling ID.
    If we're strictly sticking to coins I've received some dog crap shaped like a Morgan whose picture was so photoshopped it was clearly a scam to excellent beautiful coins from professional sellers (many I'm sure are in this thread)
    Back in the pre-Paypal days, when people were still sending checks and money orders across the country, we were able to take credit cards, and that was a hard and fast line between a guy selling out of his basement and a real business. (even if I started in my parents' basement) :)
    Once Paypal became a thing, every single basement dweller in the world suddenly became a 'store' That is when eBay, as a rule, started to go downhill.
    Once the quality of the seller decreased, the quality of the buyer did too.

    We, the team (my wife and I) , act both as a buyer and seller on E-Bay. We try to make our lives simple.

    1)We only deal in slabbed coins. If you have problems with the grading services don't blame us.

    2)If you have problems with our pictures, please ask if we can supply another scan. If you still have a problem with the picture, please do not buy the coin. If you buy the coin and are unhappy, we will try to work with you to keep the coin. If we cannot solve the problem we ask that you return the coin in the condition we sent it. We do not photoshop coins.... we don't play games... Sometimes our scans cannot bring out the same look as seeing the coin in hand. We probably have had more buyers saying the "coin looks better than the scan" than not. We are not intentionally trying to downgrade our coins.

    3)digital payments/ONline sites is the only reason we have a "store" rather than a basement.

    4)We will not ship internationally. We have no problem if you ask for an exception. The answer is still NO.

    5)If you wish to negotiate on a coin and we have some room, we will only respond with counters to reasonable offers. Otherwise we will politely pass.

    6)We only ship registered.... The delivery might take as much as a couple of weeks. We expect that you E-Mail your problems to us within a few days of RECEIVING the shipment. We understand registered is slow and do not hold that against the buyer. If Registered doesn't work for you please cancel your order. Your money will be immediately returned in full.

    7)We are not flexible with our policies. You can ask us to make exceptions but we rarely alter our policies.

    8)E-Bay rules states the latest date you should ship the coin. We sometimes ship as early as the day of purchase but usually the next day. We do not ship when the post office is closed (Sundays and Holidays ). Please do not request we ship on those days. If this is an issue, please cancel the order.

    9)If you believe we have contributed to the deterioration in Online selling we are sorry. All we ask is that if you don't like our terms to not buy from us.

  • MFeldMFeld Posts: 14,013 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jkrk said:

    @Metal said:
    Ebay is the classic market for lemons.
    I buy a lot on eBay, easily six figures a year. And while most of it is inventory or business-related, if I forget for a minute, I'm a seller and wear my buyer hat. The range and quality of equipment and the degree of professionalism amongst sellers are staggering.
    You can just as quickly be buying from a one-person shop or Ingram Micro's selling ID.
    If we're strictly sticking to coins I've received some dog crap shaped like a Morgan whose picture was so photoshopped it was clearly a scam to excellent beautiful coins from professional sellers (many I'm sure are in this thread)
    Back in the pre-Paypal days, when people were still sending checks and money orders across the country, we were able to take credit cards, and that was a hard and fast line between a guy selling out of his basement and a real business. (even if I started in my parents' basement) :)
    Once Paypal became a thing, every single basement dweller in the world suddenly became a 'store' That is when eBay, as a rule, started to go downhill.
    Once the quality of the seller decreased, the quality of the buyer did too.

    We, the team (my wife and I) , act both as a buyer and seller on E-Bay. We try to make our lives simple.

    1)We only deal in slabbed coins. If you have problems with the grading services don't blame us.

    2)If you have problems with our pictures, please ask if we can supply another scan. If you still have a problem with the picture, please do not buy the coin. If you buy the coin and are unhappy, we will try to work with you to keep the coin. If we cannot solve the problem we ask that you return the coin in the condition we sent it. We do not photoshop coins.... we don't play games... Sometimes our scans cannot bring out the same look as seeing the coin in hand. We probably have had more buyers saying the "coin looks better than the scan" than not. We are not intentionally trying to downgrade our coins.

    3)digital payments/ONline sites is the only reason we have a "store" rather than a basement.

    4)We will not ship internationally. We have no problem if you ask for an exception. The answer is still NO.

    5)If you wish to negotiate on a coin and we have some room, we will only respond with counters to reasonable offers. Otherwise we will politely pass.

    6)We only ship registered.... The delivery might take as much as a couple of weeks. We expect that you E-Mail your problems to us within a few days of RECEIVING the shipment. We understand registered is slow and do not hold that against the buyer. If Registered doesn't work for you please cancel your order. Your money will be immediately returned in full.

    7)We are not flexible with our policies. You can ask us to make exceptions but we rarely alter our policies.

    8)E-Bay rules states the latest date you should ship the coin. We sometimes ship as early as the day of purchase but usually the next day. We do not ship when the post office is closed (Sundays and Holidays ). Please do not request we ship on those days. If this is an issue, please cancel the order.

    9)If you believe we have contributed to the deterioration in Online selling we are sorry. All we ask is that if you don't like our terms to not buy from us.

    For 6) and 8), my unsolicited suggestion is to replace “please cancel the order” with “please do not bid.”

    Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.

  • jkrkjkrk Posts: 987 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 16, 2022 1:40PM

    @MFeld said:

    @jkrk said:

    @Metal said:
    Ebay is the classic market for lemons.
    I buy a lot on eBay, easily six figures a year. And while most of it is inventory or business-related, if I forget for a minute, I'm a seller and wear my buyer hat. The range and quality of equipment and the degree of professionalism amongst sellers are staggering.
    You can just as quickly be buying from a one-person shop or Ingram Micro's selling ID.
    If we're strictly sticking to coins I've received some dog crap shaped like a Morgan whose picture was so photoshopped it was clearly a scam to excellent beautiful coins from professional sellers (many I'm sure are in this thread)
    Back in the pre-Paypal days, when people were still sending checks and money orders across the country, we were able to take credit cards, and that was a hard and fast line between a guy selling out of his basement and a real business. (even if I started in my parents' basement) :)
    Once Paypal became a thing, every single basement dweller in the world suddenly became a 'store' That is when eBay, as a rule, started to go downhill.
    Once the quality of the seller decreased, the quality of the buyer did too.

    We, the team (my wife and I) , act both as a buyer and seller on E-Bay. We try to make our lives simple.

    1)We only deal in slabbed coins. If you have problems with the grading services don't blame us.

    2)If you have problems with our pictures, please ask if we can supply another scan. If you still have a problem with the picture, please do not buy the coin. If you buy the coin and are unhappy, we will try to work with you to keep the coin. If we cannot solve the problem we ask that you return the coin in the condition we sent it. We do not photoshop coins.... we don't play games... Sometimes our scans cannot bring out the same look as seeing the coin in hand. We probably have had more buyers saying the "coin looks better than the scan" than not. We are not intentionally trying to downgrade our coins.

    3)digital payments/ONline sites is the only reason we have a "store" rather than a basement.

    4)We will not ship internationally. We have no problem if you ask for an exception. The answer is still NO.

    5)If you wish to negotiate on a coin and we have some room, we will only respond with counters to reasonable offers. Otherwise we will politely pass.

    6)We only ship registered.... The delivery might take as much as a couple of weeks. We expect that you E-Mail your problems to us within a few days of RECEIVING the shipment. We understand registered is slow and do not hold that against the buyer. If Registered doesn't work for you please cancel your order. Your money will be immediately returned in full.

    7)We are not flexible with our policies. You can ask us to make exceptions but we rarely alter our policies.

    8)E-Bay rules states the latest date you should ship the coin. We sometimes ship as early as the day of purchase but usually the next day. We do not ship when the post office is closed (Sundays and Holidays ). Please do not request we ship on those days. If this is an issue, please cancel the order.

    9)If you believe we have contributed to the deterioration in Online selling we are sorry. All we ask is that if you don't like our terms to not buy from us.

    For 6) and 8), my unsolicited suggestion is to replace “please cancel the order” with “please do not bid.”

    I would except usually by then the order has already been placed. Thus, cancel the order.

    The good news is that in a week or so we will be putting the store on vacation for the 3rd time since late November.

    So... Please do not bid. :p

  • ctf_error_coinsctf_error_coins Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Straight out, my eBay buyers are probably more sophisticated than most because of the material that they are buying.

    I love my eBay buying clientele.

    That said, here is what I do.

    1) I only sell slabbed coins, 99% of which are MS.

    2) I have at least 4 high end photographs of each coin.

    3) I keep it completely professional when dealing clients and with any issues that very rarely come up.

    Keep it simple

  • MasonGMasonG Posts: 6,261 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jkrk said:
    1)We only deal in slabbed coins. If you have problems with the grading services don't blame us.

    There's at least one member here who believes you should be responsible for grades assigned by the TPG.

    Just sayin'.

  • MFeldMFeld Posts: 14,013 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jkrk said:

    @MFeld said:

    @jkrk said:

    @Metal said:
    Ebay is the classic market for lemons.
    I buy a lot on eBay, easily six figures a year. And while most of it is inventory or business-related, if I forget for a minute, I'm a seller and wear my buyer hat. The range and quality of equipment and the degree of professionalism amongst sellers are staggering.
    You can just as quickly be buying from a one-person shop or Ingram Micro's selling ID.
    If we're strictly sticking to coins I've received some dog crap shaped like a Morgan whose picture was so photoshopped it was clearly a scam to excellent beautiful coins from professional sellers (many I'm sure are in this thread)
    Back in the pre-Paypal days, when people were still sending checks and money orders across the country, we were able to take credit cards, and that was a hard and fast line between a guy selling out of his basement and a real business. (even if I started in my parents' basement) :)
    Once Paypal became a thing, every single basement dweller in the world suddenly became a 'store' That is when eBay, as a rule, started to go downhill.
    Once the quality of the seller decreased, the quality of the buyer did too.

    We, the team (my wife and I) , act both as a buyer and seller on E-Bay. We try to make our lives simple.

    1)We only deal in slabbed coins. If you have problems with the grading services don't blame us.

    2)If you have problems with our pictures, please ask if we can supply another scan. If you still have a problem with the picture, please do not buy the coin. If you buy the coin and are unhappy, we will try to work with you to keep the coin. If we cannot solve the problem we ask that you return the coin in the condition we sent it. We do not photoshop coins.... we don't play games... Sometimes our scans cannot bring out the same look as seeing the coin in hand. We probably have had more buyers saying the "coin looks better than the scan" than not. We are not intentionally trying to downgrade our coins.

    3)digital payments/ONline sites is the only reason we have a "store" rather than a basement.

    4)We will not ship internationally. We have no problem if you ask for an exception. The answer is still NO.

    5)If you wish to negotiate on a coin and we have some room, we will only respond with counters to reasonable offers. Otherwise we will politely pass.

    6)We only ship registered.... The delivery might take as much as a couple of weeks. We expect that you E-Mail your problems to us within a few days of RECEIVING the shipment. We understand registered is slow and do not hold that against the buyer. If Registered doesn't work for you please cancel your order. Your money will be immediately returned in full.

    7)We are not flexible with our policies. You can ask us to make exceptions but we rarely alter our policies.

    8)E-Bay rules states the latest date you should ship the coin. We sometimes ship as early as the day of purchase but usually the next day. We do not ship when the post office is closed (Sundays and Holidays ). Please do not request we ship on those days. If this is an issue, please cancel the order.

    9)If you believe we have contributed to the deterioration in Online selling we are sorry. All we ask is that if you don't like our terms to not buy from us.

    For 6) and 8), my unsolicited suggestion is to replace “please cancel the order” with “please do not bid.”

    I would except usually by then the order has already been placed. Thus, cancel the order.

    The good news is that in a week or so we will be putting the store on vacation for the 3rd time since late November.

    So... Please do not bid. :p

    Too late. Please cancel my orders.😉

    Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.

  • Namvet69Namvet69 Posts: 9,109 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nice @gonzer I thought maybe he works at a funeral parlor.

    BST: endeavor1967, synchr, kliao, Outhaul, Donttellthewife, U1Chicago, ajaan, mCarney1173, SurfinHi, MWallace, Sandman70gt, mustanggt, Pittstate03, Lazybones, Walkerguy21D, coinandcurrency242 , thebigeng, Collectorcoins, JimTyler, USMarine6, Elkevvo, Coll3ctor, Yorkshireman, CUKevin, ranshdow, CoinHunter4, bennybravo, Centsearcher, braddick, Windycity, ZoidMeister, mirabela, JJM, RichURich, Bullsitter, jmski52, LukeMarshall, coinsarefun, MichaelDixon, NickPatton, ProfLiz, Twobitcollector,Jesbroken oih82w8, DCW

  • MgarmyMgarmy Posts: 2,296 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Awesome gonzer great answer. If not DMV then IRS or maybe proctologist?

    100% positive transactions with SurfinxHI, bigole, 1madman, collectorcoins, proofmorgan, Luke Marshall, silver pop, golden egg, point five zero,coin22lover, alohagary, blaircountycoin,joebb21

  • jkrkjkrk Posts: 987 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 16, 2022 7:36PM

    @gonzer said:
    I'm sure this guy's day job is at the DMV.

    AS I get older, I've learned, that new responsibilities are added to the resume.

    All three closures are due to family obligations. Grandkids have been elevated over my need to banter with customers.

    Maybe, when the DMV opens a coin store I'll have a new customer?

  • streeterstreeter Posts: 4,312 ✭✭✭✭✭

    561 items in your eBay store and 6 are PCGS coins. And you come here to cry?

    I actually feel badly for your frustration but,

    Just what exactly does the PCGS forum have to do with your problems coinsnioc?

    Have a nice day
  • Cougar1978Cougar1978 Posts: 8,460 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 16, 2022 3:31PM

    Super post OP. Have experienced all of those. One I can add - Flake Buyer returns my coin to another buyer sending me his and sending mine to the other buyer. Could not block him fast enough after that experience.

    Or the guy that bought a $500 coin then wanted refund due to medical reasons / costs. I promptly refunded but it took days going thru the eBay / pay pal system for that (then) got bill collector memos from him every day / told him out of my hands. When he finally got the money from them told me “almost died because of you.” Blocked him quick as could after that incident. You get all kinds on the Bay like hits in a smash mouth football game. I just keep going executing game plan / working my angle don’t let them bug me.

    Before going on the Bay had about 10 yr bourse room experience selling at shows with occasional encounters with Flakesville types,

    Coins & Currency
  • Type2Type2 Posts: 13,985 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Some of us been here we just all respond to it definitely. Yup they are ugly but for $15.00 I’ll play with them just to keep it coin related.

    .



    Hoard the keys.
  • Che_GrapesChe_Grapes Posts: 1,884 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I can sympathize a little bit some folks can be frustrating. I’ve had folks try to cheat me but I will say that luckily most folks I’ve dealt with on eBay were good people, and I met many awesome collectors, but it seems like the last few years it has gotten worse with the trolls and so forth - I have stopped selling coins on eBay as of dec 2021. Now I sell on collectors or collectors corner.
    All the best —

  • jessewvujessewvu Posts: 5,065 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I sell as a hobby although I sell so much I had to set up a business (about 1,000 transactions a year). Since it's a hobby, I don't care much about making a profit and will usually bend when a buyer gives me a sob story, if I believe them.

    I agree with most of the OPs insight. I love the notes that say "ship as soon as possible, I need it in two days" whey they paid for First Class mail.

    The best way I can suggest folks deal with people is how I deal with them. They are my mom and she doesn't know what she is doing online. Not everyone is as savvy as me so I try to be nice. However, I block a person about every few weeks for things that are bad character or just beyond stupid.

  • Type2Type2 Posts: 13,985 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Haha no this is a stock photo.



    Hoard the keys.
  • FranklinHalfAddictFranklinHalfAddict Posts: 682 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The older I get the more I realize there are really, really dumb people everywhere.
    Of course everyone will do something dumb from time to time, myself included, but some people are just incapable of intelligently navigating daily life.

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