Are Cuban coins allowed on eBay?

ajaan

Title says it all.

1960NYGiants

Not identified as Cuba. But you can identify them as Caribbean.

John Conduitt

You can list them, but are they 'allowed'?

As with Cuba, you're not allowed to list Iranian products, which isn't helpful if you want a Persian rug. In theory, Parthian coins are banned as they were made in 'Iran', and you can't (in theory) ship them to the US. The Parthian Empire ended 1800 years ago and was Hellenistic. It's a crazy eBay rule relating to US embargoes that everyone else in the world has to endure.

Still, if you want a Parthian coin, there are lots of US sellers on eBay - they list them as Greek instead. Clearly, if anyone was selling embargoed goods they could use this same trick. Presumably, it isn't allowed, but you can get away with it.

WillieBoyd2

The prohibition of the sale of Cuba coins on Ebay is purely and solely an Ebay management decision.

John Conduitt

@WillieBoyd2 said:
The prohibition of the sale of Cuba coins on Ebay is purely and solely an Ebay management decision.

Well, not entirely. It’s an over-cautious attempt to comply with US law https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/embargoed-goods-prohibited-countries-policy?id=4323

WillieBoyd2

Again, it is an Ebay policy as stated by Ebay on an Ebay internet website.

jdmern

They are very strict on the Cuban rule. Even if you list them as 'Caribbean' or 'Quba' or any other variant, it is very likely you will get one of the messages warning you that you've violated their embargo policies before they cancel the listing on you.

John Conduitt

@WillieBoyd2 said:
Again, it is an Ebay policy as stated by Ebay on an Ebay internet website.

Except the reason for the policy is stated as this:

Why does eBay have this policy?
This policy helps ensure that important government regulations are followed.

WillieBoyd2

John Conduitt

It is. And the reason given then was also the US government embargo:

“eBay’s Embargoed Goods policy prohibits the sale of items that fall under U.S. embargo regulations. As a U.S.-based company, this policy applies to all items sold on eBay.“

They ban all Cuban coins because:

“We are updating the policy to clarify that eBay does not permit goods from embargoed countries that claim to be pre-embargo, since we cannot determine or verify when an item was removed from a specific country. Specifically, listings for stamps, coins or paper money from Cuba are not permitted.”

https://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/ban-at-ebay-on-cuban-coins-angers-collectors.html

Sapyx

Enforcement is largely automated. EBay bots spot the word "Cuba" when someone attempts to use that word in a listing title or description, and blocks the listing from happening.

Using weasel words like "Quba", "South Florida" etc will avoid the bots and see your item listed, but anybody can then report your listing to eBay, and you'll be in far more trouble with eBay for deliberately evading the bots.

The rule is enforced by eBay, worldwide. I'm in Australia, and the Australian government has no quarrel with Cuba. Yet eBay Australia still blocks me (and every other Australian) from selling Cuban coins there.

Yes, it is ironic that even minted-in-America coins from the pre-Castro, pro-America regime in Cuba are banned under eBay's policy. They probably even ban the sale of those souvenir coin-like medals the Cuban exiles had made for fundraising for their cause, since they too would have "Cuba" in their title.

@JohnConduitt said:
“...eBay does not permit goods from embargoed countries that claim to be pre-embargo, since we cannot determine or verify when an item was removed from a specific country...”

... which is a particularly funny policy to have for coins, since coins have dates on them. You can literally tell when they were made just by looking at them. When they were actually exported out of the country ought to be irrelevant, since the reason for the embargo is to prevent the regime from receiving profits from sale of the items, and the regime receives no profits from the sale of pre-regime-made coins.

EBay have chosen the blanket ban simply because it's cheap and easy. The fact, that 99.9% of people "violating" this policy aren't actually Americans attempting to illegally enrich the Cuban regime, is irrelevant.

SYRACUSIAN

Tricky Sapyx! Quba had not entered my mind! 😃

Very informative post as usual of course. The same goes with Iran for example. If the coin or banknote is certified, the gallery picture speaks for itself, as in a recent listing that I had (Persia is also immediately detected). If it is not certified, I strongly recommend Sapyx’ trick.

SaorAlba

I look at other auction sites, even based in the USA, and they have no problem listing lots from Iran, Cuba, DPR Korea etc. I don't collect Cuban coins, but I have a decent collection of 19th century Cuban banknotes, many printed in the USA or Great Britain.

ADG

This ban on coin sales just highlights our idiotic foreign policy with Cuba. The US economic embargo was supposed to isolate Cuba and lead to Castro's quick downfall. How did that work out? Over 60 years later and we still have a policy left over from the cold war era.

SYRACUSIAN

I look at other auction sites, even based in the USA, and they have no problem listing lots from Iran, Cuba, DPR Korea etc. I don't collect Cuban coins, but I have a decent collection of 19th century Cuban banknotes, many printed in the USA or Great Britain.

I have a Cuban banknote collection. Not a big one, but with lots of dupes and triples, all high grade. I had bought them on the cheap raw, from heritage I think. Now many of these certified by now banknotes, are worth a lot more than when I bought them. But not as much as to address Heritage or Stack’s or Lyn Knight for that matter. So? I avoid ebay at all costs! It is by no means the only place that I can sell them, I actually sold a few dupes at my coin club’s auction and then a few more at a smaller auction firm from Sacramento, CA.

Besides, ebay, ever since they got rid of PayPal and started managing their own payments, costs up to 27% to a very casual seller without an ebay shop such as myself. I often use it as a bait, but the transactions are 95% off the platform, I know enough people by now and I keep meeting new ones.

amwldcoin

Wow! where do you come up with 27%? With my ebay store I am less than 9% all in, without I want to say it's a bit under 13%.

@SYRACUSIAN said:
I look at other auction sites, even based in the USA, and they have no problem listing lots from Iran, Cuba, DPR Korea etc. I don't collect Cuban coins, but I have a decent collection of 19th century Cuban banknotes, many printed in the USA or Great Britain.

I have a Cuban banknote collection. Not a big one, but with lots of dupes and triples, all high grade. I had bought them on the cheap raw, from heritage I think. Now many of these certified by now banknotes, are worth a lot more than when I bought them. But not as much as to address Heritage or Stack’s or Lyn Knight for that matter. So? I avoid ebay at all costs! It is by no means the only place that I can sell them, I actually sold a few dupes at my coin club’s auction and then a few more at a smaller auction firm from Sacramento, CA.

Besides, ebay, ever since they got rid of PayPal and started managing their own payments, costs up to 27% to a very casual seller without an ebay shop such as myself. I often use it as a bait, but the transactions are 95% off the platform, I know enough people by now and I keep meeting new ones.

SYRACUSIAN

@amwldcoin said:
Wow! where do you come up with 27%? With my ebay store I am less than 9% all in, without I want to say it's a bit under 13%.

Different countries, different currencies, different rules, different planets.