@ianrussell said:
Yes, I am shocked. Because if there was any other company that hid behind "we're just a marketplace, we're not responsible line", they would be shut down for selling fake coins and fake products.
eBay isn't selling the stuff offered for sale on their website. Does Coin World guarantee the authenticity of the coins advertised in their paper? Does PCGS guarantee the authenticity of coins sold on the BST?
As a casual seller, eBay is no longer for me. I still buy there occasionally, but it's not what it once was. I visit the site a handful of times per year. I understand many dealers here do very well there. These two viewpoints aren't incongruent.
GC has entered the marketplace and has done quite well. The way they run their business, I'm not surprised. I think they would have enjoyed success irrespective of what happened at eBay.
@neildrobertson said:
I have a single data point for you all:
When I started collecting in ~2012, there was about 5,000-5,500 German coins up for auction on ebay at any given time. I habitually check ebay on a daily basis (which I don't do for GC), so I've seen that number change over time. It's currently at ~3,500 for German coins with the same search criteria. That's a 30-40% reduction in auction listings over the past 10 years. And it's my perception that world coin collecting has only gotten more popular in that timeframe.
Maybe it's your search criteria that need adjusting. A lot of things have changed since 2012, including categories and the search algorithm. I see over 15,000 German coins on eBay right now.
There are over 80,000 German coins on ebay right now. I was referring to auctions specifically. It's not very generous of you to assume that I have no idea what I'm talking about rather than actually try to understand what I'm saying.
I'm not assuming you do or don't know anything. But ebay tweaks their software all the time. There's no guarantee that we're comparing apples to apples. I have not noticed a decrease in listings in any category, including German coins. So it is at least worth asking what the search parameters are/were and whether the numbers you mention actually compare.
@ianrussell said:
We started GC because of the wild west on eBay. We are dealing with yet another fake holder that a collector bought on eBay 6 months ago. It's shocking that eBay can say they are not responsible.
As fake holders get better, what can eBay do?
That is where we have an advantage - aside from inspecting every coin, we also stand behind everything we auction.
Ian
Really? You're "shocked"?
Yes, I am shocked. Because if there was any other company that hid behind "we're just a marketplace, we're not responsible line", they would be shut down for selling fake coins and fake products.
Ian
Disagree. They are a marketplace. Is shopify responsible for everything sold there?
I'm not assuming you do or don't know anything. But ebay tweaks their software all the time. There's no guarantee that we're comparing apples to apples. I have not noticed a decrease in listings in any category, including German coins. So it is at least worth asking what the search parameters are/were and whether the numbers you mention actually compare.
You're more inclined to think that I don't know what I'm doing than there being information that doesn't fit within your narrative.
The overall number of German coin auctions has increased over 10 years. An interesting part of the story is the number of US based auctions (sorry, listings) on ebay has actually gone down in that time frame. Most of the growth has come from ebay impoving its international reach. We are seeing more and more items listed internationally. I regularly sell to international buyers now as well. The majority of German coin listings on ebay are not US based at this point.
The number of coins I buy from abroad through all outlets has gone up over time too.
I'm not assuming you do or don't know anything. But ebay tweaks their software all the time. There's no guarantee that we're comparing apples to apples. I have not noticed a decrease in listings in any category, including German coins. So it is at least worth asking what the search parameters are/were and whether the numbers you mention actually compare.
You're more inclined to think that I don't know what I'm doing than there being information that doesn't fit within your narrative.
The overall number of German coin auctions has increased over 10 years. An interesting part of the story is the number of US based auctions on ebayhas actually gone down in that time frame. Most of the growth has come from ebay impoving its international reach. We are seeing more and more items listed internationally. I regularly sell to international buyers now as well. The majority of German coin listings on ebay are not US based at this point.
The number of coins I buy from abroad through all outlets has gone up over time too.
Thank you for the clarification. That makes more sense to me than the way I read your original post.
@justmenutty72 said:
I feel it will be eBay’s demise when they are finally held accountable for all of the bogus listings and counterfeits being listed and sold every day. The amount of such listings is phenomenal, and it’s only getting worse.
eBay doesn't sell coins. They provide a marketplace for others to do so. That is part of the reason why the OP's comparison is silly on the face of it. If someone commits a crime, would you also arrest their landlord?
I have reported to eBay MANY auctions where the coins were either not as described or were outright counterfeits. Sometimes I have made multiple reports about a particular coin and eBay does absolutely nothing. In one week alone eBay allowed the sale of $5K+ worth of counterfeit coins, and that’s just what I caught. There are multiple sellers that I know of who have been selling counterfeits for YEARS. They’ve been reported numerous times and it’s also in their negative feedback. How are the sellers and eBay not accountable for this? eBay has a responsibility to protect the seller AND the buyer. If I report a crime to the police and they choose to do nothing about it (while having all info and evidence needed to make an arrest) and then the crime is committed once again, but let’s say this time against you, you don’t feel the police should be held accountable? You wouldn’t consider filing a lawsuit?
.
You say…“If someone commits a crime, would you also arrest their landlord?” If the landlord is aware of the crime and does nothing about it (take action and report it to the police), then yes he should be held accountable too. You can’t tell me that eBay isn’t aware of fraud in its “marketplace”. There needs to be a policing system within eBay to not only protect the buyer, but themselves also. And they don’t have that which is why Ian referred to them as the Wild West. Mark my word, there will be a class-action lawsuit against eBay sooner or later, the sooner the better.
@ianrussell said:
We started GC because of the wild west on eBay. We are dealing with yet another fake holder that a collector bought on eBay 6 months ago. It's shocking that eBay can say they are not responsible.
As fake holders get better, what can eBay do?
That is where we have an advantage - aside from inspecting every coin, we also stand behind everything we auction.
Ian
Really? You're "shocked"?
Yes, I am shocked. Because if there was any other company that hid behind "we're just a marketplace, we're not responsible line", they would be shut down for selling fake coins and fake products.
Ian
I agree 100% with Ian👍👍👍 I have felt this way for quite some time
@wev said:
I collect American silver, flat and hollowware. Today the ebay listing count under Coin Silver is 7,996 BIN and 429 auction. In addition, many of the auctions begin at high retail, so they might as well be considered BIN, too.
That's been the norm for quite some time now.
There are deals on there occasionally.
A few years back I picked up an original pair of early Mobile Alabama tablespoons for $20 each.
@justmenutty72 said:
I feel it will be eBay’s demise when they are finally held accountable for all of the bogus listings and counterfeits being listed and sold every day. The amount of such listings is phenomenal, and it’s only getting worse.
eBay doesn't sell coins. They provide a marketplace for others to do so. That is part of the reason why the OP's comparison is silly on the face of it. If someone commits a crime, would you also arrest their landlord?
I have reported to eBay MANY auctions where the coins were either not as described or were outright counterfeits. Sometimes I have made multiple reports about a particular coin and eBay does absolutely nothing. In one week alone eBay allowed the sale of $5K+ worth of counterfeit coins, and that’s just what I caught. There are multiple sellers that I know of who have been selling counterfeits for YEARS. They’ve been reported numerous times and it’s also in their negative feedback. How are the sellers and eBay not accountable for this? eBay has a responsibility to protect the seller AND the buyer. If I report a crime to the police and they choose to do nothing about it (while having all info and evidence needed to make an arrest) and then the crime is committed once again, but let’s say this time against you, you don’t feel the police should be held accountable? You wouldn’t consider filing a lawsuit?
.
You say…“If someone commits a crime, would you also arrest their landlord?” If the landlord is aware of the crime and does nothing about it (take action and report it to the police), then yes he should be held accountable too. You can’t tell me that eBay isn’t aware of fraud in its “marketplace”. There needs to be a policing system within eBay to not only protect the buyer, but themselves also. And they don’t have that which is why Ian referred to them as the Wild West. Mark my word, there will be a class-action lawsuit against eBay sooner or later, the sooner the better.
Disagree.
I would never hold the landlord responsible for the tenant's crime.
Based on the way you lay it out, one could argue that you're more responsible than eBay. You're SURE they are counterfeit but didn't call the feds. That's the danger of distributing responsibility.
Your words are marked. But the class action will fail. Mark my words.
This problem is not limited to coins or eBay - counterfeit goods are an enormous problem across many e-commerce platforms that permit 3rd party sellers. I have stopped buying certain categories of items from anyone but the OEM or at a physical store. Car parts, light bulbs and water filters all come to mind.
@justmenutty72 said:
There needs to be a policing system within eBay to not only protect the buyer, but themselves also. And they don’t have that which is why Ian referred to them as the Wild West.
eBay does have policies that protect buyers and will refund them when they don't get what they ordered.
@justmenutty72 said:
There needs to be a policing system within eBay to not only protect the buyer, but themselves also. And they don’t have that which is why Ian referred to them as the Wild West.
eBay does have policies that protect buyers and will refund them when they don't get what they ordered.
Unless a counterfeit is purchased that the buyer is unaware of, and continues to be unaware of after receiving it. Most of the coins I report are high value key-date Morgans. I’m a little surprised nobody has rang in yet with Caveat Emptor.
@justmenutty72 said:
There needs to be a policing system within eBay to not only protect the buyer, but themselves also. And they don’t have that which is why Ian referred to them as the Wild West.
eBay does have policies that protect buyers and will refund them when they don't get what they ordered.
Unless a counterfeit is purchased that the buyer is unaware of, and continues to be unaware of after receiving it.
In that event, how is purchasing from a seller through eBay any different from buying it at a coin shop or a coin show or from an ad in Coin World? Or even the BST?
@MasonG said: “Agreed. But then again, eBay isn't selling anything aside from a place to advertise, are they?”
They are providing a service through which counterfeits can and have been sold. Which, in my mind, would make them complicit if they were to allow the sale of such fakes, especially those which have already been reported to them. I have many screenshots of such reports that I made that were subsequently ignored. Some years ago certain people were trying to sell human organs on eBay. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. eBay put an end to that quickly, because it’s illegal. Isn’t it illegal also to sell counterfeits? Of course, it says so right in eBay rules/policies and they even provide a platform to report such instances. But what good does that do, though, if they don’t monitor and act upon such violations? There needs to be a watch dog [an individual or group that monitors the activities of another entity (such as an individual, corporation, non-profit group, or governmental organization) on behalf of the public to ensure that entity does not behave illegally or unethically].
@justmenutty72 said: @MasonG said: “Agreed. But then again, eBay isn't selling anything aside from a place to advertise, are they?”
They are providing a service through which counterfeits can and have been sold. Which, in my mind, would make them complicit if they were to allow the sale of such fakes, especially those which have already been reported to them. I have many screenshots of such reports that I made that were subsequently ignored. Some years ago certain people were trying to sell human organs on eBay. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. eBay put an end to that quickly, because it’s illegal. Isn’t it illegal also to sell counterfeits? Of course, it says so right in eBay rules/policies and they even provide a platform to report such instances. But what good does that do, though, if they don’t monitor and act upon such violations? There needs to be a watch dog [an individual or group that monitors the activities of another entity (such as an individual, corporation, non-profit group, or governmental organization) on behalf of the public to ensure that entity does not behave illegally or unethically].
@justmenutty72 said: @MasonG said: “Agreed. But then again, eBay isn't selling anything aside from a place to advertise, are they?”
They are providing a service through which counterfeits can and have been sold. Which, in my mind, would make them complicit if they were to allow the sale of such fakes, especially those which have already been reported to them. I have many screenshots of such reports that I made that were subsequently ignored. Some years ago certain people were trying to sell human organs on eBay. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. eBay put an end to that quickly, because it’s illegal. Isn’t it illegal also to sell counterfeits? Of course, it says so right in eBay rules/policies and they even provide a platform to report such instances. But what good does that do, though, if they don’t monitor and act upon such violations? There needs to be a watch dog [an individual or group that monitors the activities of another entity (such as an individual, corporation, non-profit group, or governmental organization) on behalf of the public to ensure that entity does not behave illegally or unethically].
I’ve been reporting fraudulent listings and counterfeits to eBay for many years. A lot of them have been taken down, though certainly not as many as I’d hope. However, how do you suggest eBay decide which reports to take seriously and act upon? I have no doubt that many erroneous reports are made, either out of ignorance or dislike for the seller.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
@justmenutty72 said: @MasonG said: “Agreed. But then again, eBay isn't selling anything aside from a place to advertise, are they?”
They are providing a service through which counterfeits can and have been sold. Which, in my mind, would make them complicit if they were to allow the sale of such fakes, especially those which have already been reported to them. I have many screenshots of such reports that I made that were subsequently ignored. Some years ago certain people were trying to sell human organs on eBay. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. eBay put an end to that quickly, because it’s illegal. Isn’t it illegal also to sell counterfeits? Of course, it says so right in eBay rules/policies and they even provide a platform to report such instances. But what good does that do, though, if they don’t monitor and act upon such violations? There needs to be a watch dog [an individual or group that monitors the activities of another entity (such as an individual, corporation, non-profit group, or governmental organization) on behalf of the public to ensure that entity does not behave illegally or unethically].
I’ve been reporting fraudulent listings and counterfeits to eBay for many years. A lot of them have been taken down, though certainly not as many as I’d hope. However, how do you suggest eBay decide which reports to take seriously and act upon? I have no doubt that many erroneous reports are made, either out of ignorance or dislike for the seller.
I use to report them in my category all the time.
But, as you can image, in my category it would now be a full-time (un-paid) job.
@Catbert said:
Didn't ebay once outsource the policing of counterfeit coin review to a group of coin collectors for decisioning?
@Catbert said:
Didn't ebay once outsource the policing of counterfeit coin review to a group of coin collectors for decisioning?
For a relatively short time, I was a member of the group you’re probably thinking of. And we took our responsibilities very seriously. Unfortunately, for reasons I’m not even sure of, eBay ended it. I think it might have been at the time a new hire of significance took a job there.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I’ve been reporting fraudulent listings and counterfeits to eBay for many years. A lot of them have been taken down, though certainly not as many as I’d hope. However, how do you suggest eBay decide which reports to take seriously and act upon? I have no doubt that many erroneous reports are made, either out of ignorance or dislike for the seller.
I agree, it would be a daunting task to create a fraud group. Do you honestly think that eBay wants to commit that much of their revenue to create such a group? Nah, not likely. We’re talking a lot of money here. They’re going to choose the most cost-effective approach to the problem, even if that means taking little to no approach at all. Which seems to be the status quo.
@Catbert said:
Didn't ebay once outsource the policing of counterfeit coin review to a group of coin collectors for decisioning?
@Catbert said:
Didn't ebay once outsource the policing of counterfeit coin review to a group of coin collectors for decisioning?
For a relatively short time, I was a member of the group you’re probably thinking of. And we took our responsibilities very seriously. Unfortunately, for reasons I’m not even sure of, eBay ended it. I think it might have been at the time a new hire of significance took a job there.
I’d be willing to make a bet that money had something to do with it. And lots of it.
@justmenutty72 said:
There needs to be a policing system within eBay to not only protect the buyer, but themselves also. And they don’t have that which is why Ian referred to them as the Wild West.
eBay does have policies that protect buyers and will refund them when they don't get what they ordered.
Unless a counterfeit is purchased that the buyer is unaware of, and continues to be unaware of after receiving it. Most of the coins I report are high value key-date Morgans. I’m a little surprised nobody has rang in yet with Caveat Emptor.
And why should ebay believe you? They don't know you or your credentials. No one who notifies them has seen the coins in hand.
Are you willing to be held liable if you accidentally call a real coin counterfeit?
eBay is pretty much worthless to me at this point.
I used to surf it all the time, but like the OP stated almost all listings are BIN. The ones that are auction 90% of those have a starting bid that should be a BIN listing anyways.
On top of that it seems like 50+% of listings are disgustingly horrid artificial toning jobs.
Pretty much all I use eBay for now is dumping lots of crap coins that would be too much of a pain to sell individually.
The OP does his collecting (and his mathematical contention of quietus for eBay) by self-limiting his search in the example he gave re: So-Called Dollars.
His search using the term HK in the exonumia category currently returns 1300+ total listings and 92 auctions.
A normal standard search of the So-Called Dollar subcategory in the exonumia category currently returns 4,963 total listings and 287 auctions which means that he is only finding one third of the listed auctions for SCDs (So-Called Dollars).by using a less than optimal search method. The expiry of eBay may drag on a bit longer than he anticipates.
@ianrussell said:
We started GC because of the wild west on eBay. We are dealing with yet another fake holder that a collector bought on eBay 6 months ago. It's shocking that eBay can say they are not responsible.
As fake holders get better, what can eBay do?
That is where we have an advantage - aside from inspecting every coin, we also stand behind everything we auction.
Ian
This is where I went as soon as I saw this thread. Not having to deal with clowns on eBay (as either a buyer or seller) is a huge benefit of GC.
I’ve been reporting fraudulent listings and counterfeits to eBay for many years. A lot of them have been taken down, though certainly not as many as I’d hope. However, how do you suggest eBay decide which reports to take seriously and act upon? I have no doubt that many erroneous reports are made, either out of ignorance or dislike for the seller.
I agree, it would be a daunting task to create a fraud group. Do you honestly think that eBay wants to commit that much of their revenue to create such a group? Nah, not likely. We’re talking a lot of money here. They’re going to choose the most cost-effective approach to the problem, even if that means taking little to no approach at all. Which seems to be the status quo.
As they should.
@tokenpro said:
The OP does his collecting (and his mathematical contention of quietus for eBay) by self-limiting his search in the example he gave re: So-Called Dollars.
His search using the term HK in the exonumia category currently returns 1300+ total listings and 92 auctions.
A normal standard search of the So-Called Dollar subcategory in the exonumia category currently returns 4,963 total listings and 287 auctions which means that he is only finding one third of the listed auctions for SCDs (So-Called Dollars).by using a less than optimal search method. The expiry of eBay may drag on a bit longer than he anticipates.
@tokenpro said: The OP does his collecting (and his mathematical contention of quietus for eBay) by self-limiting his search in the example he gave re: So-Called Dollars.
Actually, the OP has learned over time what the search criteria is that works best for him. Using your example, if you plug in "HK" there are less results and the search is made from a smaller number of listings(apples and oranges). I accept that with your method I might on occasion find something my method would miss, but time has shown me that the time isn't worth it.
Thanks for your suggestion, but I have already done that and refined to what suits me better.
I mostly use eBay. Can use auction sniper for it. No buyers fee either.
Have got nice buys from GC in past which did well for me on Bay or from my table on bourse. GC has lots good stuff great photos. If they had an ap for iPhone I would buy more from them.
However lately if I have to get in a bid war just not a deal for me. Being end user not my cup of tea.
A question to GC sellers - after fees and shipping what pct of CPG do you realize?
Comments
eBay isn't selling the stuff offered for sale on their website. Does Coin World guarantee the authenticity of the coins advertised in their paper? Does PCGS guarantee the authenticity of coins sold on the BST?
Interesting premise......
But, I see them as mostly unrelated events.
As a casual seller, eBay is no longer for me. I still buy there occasionally, but it's not what it once was. I visit the site a handful of times per year. I understand many dealers here do very well there. These two viewpoints aren't incongruent.
GC has entered the marketplace and has done quite well. The way they run their business, I'm not surprised. I think they would have enjoyed success irrespective of what happened at eBay.
I'm not assuming you do or don't know anything. But ebay tweaks their software all the time. There's no guarantee that we're comparing apples to apples. I have not noticed a decrease in listings in any category, including German coins. So it is at least worth asking what the search parameters are/were and whether the numbers you mention actually compare.
Disagree. They are a marketplace. Is shopify responsible for everything sold there?
You're more inclined to think that I don't know what I'm doing than there being information that doesn't fit within your narrative.
The overall number of German coin auctions has increased over 10 years. An interesting part of the story is the number of US based auctions (sorry, listings) on ebay has actually gone down in that time frame. Most of the growth has come from ebay impoving its international reach. We are seeing more and more items listed internationally. I regularly sell to international buyers now as well. The majority of German coin listings on ebay are not US based at this point.
The number of coins I buy from abroad through all outlets has gone up over time too.
IG: DeCourcyCoinsEbay: neilrobertson
"Numismatic categorizations, if left unconstrained, will increase spontaneously over time." -me
Thank you for the clarification. That makes more sense to me than the way I read your original post.
I have reported to eBay MANY auctions where the coins were either not as described or were outright counterfeits. Sometimes I have made multiple reports about a particular coin and eBay does absolutely nothing. In one week alone eBay allowed the sale of $5K+ worth of counterfeit coins, and that’s just what I caught. There are multiple sellers that I know of who have been selling counterfeits for YEARS. They’ve been reported numerous times and it’s also in their negative feedback. How are the sellers and eBay not accountable for this? eBay has a responsibility to protect the seller AND the buyer. If I report a crime to the police and they choose to do nothing about it (while having all info and evidence needed to make an arrest) and then the crime is committed once again, but let’s say this time against you, you don’t feel the police should be held accountable? You wouldn’t consider filing a lawsuit?
.
You say…“If someone commits a crime, would you also arrest their landlord?” If the landlord is aware of the crime and does nothing about it (take action and report it to the police), then yes he should be held accountable too. You can’t tell me that eBay isn’t aware of fraud in its “marketplace”. There needs to be a policing system within eBay to not only protect the buyer, but themselves also. And they don’t have that which is why Ian referred to them as the Wild West. Mark my word, there will be a class-action lawsuit against eBay sooner or later, the sooner the better.
I agree 100% with Ian👍👍👍 I have felt this way for quite some time
There are deals on there occasionally.
A few years back I picked up an original pair of early Mobile Alabama tablespoons for $20 each.
My YouTube Channel
How is it even possible for the good people at eBay to know for sure what is counterfeit and what is not.
Please explain how they do that very clearly to me without hiring an army of experts in every category on the site.
Disagree.
I would never hold the landlord responsible for the tenant's crime.
Based on the way you lay it out, one could argue that you're more responsible than eBay. You're SURE they are counterfeit but didn't call the feds. That's the danger of distributing responsibility.
Your words are marked. But the class action will fail. Mark my words.
This problem is not limited to coins or eBay - counterfeit goods are an enormous problem across many e-commerce platforms that permit 3rd party sellers. I have stopped buying certain categories of items from anyone but the OEM or at a physical store. Car parts, light bulbs and water filters all come to mind.
eBay does have policies that protect buyers and will refund them when they don't get what they ordered.
Unless a counterfeit is purchased that the buyer is unaware of, and continues to be unaware of after receiving it. Most of the coins I report are high value key-date Morgans. I’m a little surprised nobody has rang in yet with Caveat Emptor.
In that event, how is purchasing from a seller through eBay any different from buying it at a coin shop or a coin show or from an ad in Coin World? Or even the BST?
I never said there was any difference. All sellers need to be held accountable no matter what platform they are using.
Agreed. But then again, eBay isn't selling anything aside from a place to advertise, are they?
@MasonG said: “Agreed. But then again, eBay isn't selling anything aside from a place to advertise, are they?”
They are providing a service through which counterfeits can and have been sold. Which, in my mind, would make them complicit if they were to allow the sale of such fakes, especially those which have already been reported to them. I have many screenshots of such reports that I made that were subsequently ignored. Some years ago certain people were trying to sell human organs on eBay. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. eBay put an end to that quickly, because it’s illegal. Isn’t it illegal also to sell counterfeits? Of course, it says so right in eBay rules/policies and they even provide a platform to report such instances. But what good does that do, though, if they don’t monitor and act upon such violations? There needs to be a watch dog [an individual or group that monitors the activities of another entity (such as an individual, corporation, non-profit group, or governmental organization) on behalf of the public to ensure that entity does not behave illegally or unethically].
start a go fund me page
I’ve been reporting fraudulent listings and counterfeits to eBay for many years. A lot of them have been taken down, though certainly not as many as I’d hope. However, how do you suggest eBay decide which reports to take seriously and act upon? I have no doubt that many erroneous reports are made, either out of ignorance or dislike for the seller.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
@ErrorsOnCoins Not my style. I have my own money, thank you 😊👍😎
I use to report them in my category all the time.
But, as you can image, in my category it would now be a full-time (un-paid) job.
Didn't ebay once outsource the policing of counterfeit coin review to a group of coin collectors for decisioning?
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Imagine if Uber started sending you fake cars @ianrussell @jmlanzaf lol
For a relatively short time, I was a member of the group you’re probably thinking of. And we took our responsibilities very seriously. Unfortunately, for reasons I’m not even sure of, eBay ended it. I think it might have been at the time a new hire of significance took a job there.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I’ve been reporting fraudulent listings and counterfeits to eBay for many years. A lot of them have been taken down, though certainly not as many as I’d hope. However, how do you suggest eBay decide which reports to take seriously and act upon? I have no doubt that many erroneous reports are made, either out of ignorance or dislike for the seller.
I agree, it would be a daunting task to create a fraud group. Do you honestly think that eBay wants to commit that much of their revenue to create such a group? Nah, not likely. We’re talking a lot of money here. They’re going to choose the most cost-effective approach to the problem, even if that means taking little to no approach at all. Which seems to be the status quo.
I’d be willing to make a bet that money had something to do with it. And lots of it.
You mean they can't just take the word of anyone who notifies them based only on the pictures?
And why should ebay believe you? They don't know you or your credentials. No one who notifies them has seen the coins in hand.
Are you willing to be held liable if you accidentally call a real coin counterfeit?
Caveat Emptor
eBay is pretty much worthless to me at this point.
I used to surf it all the time, but like the OP stated almost all listings are BIN. The ones that are auction 90% of those have a starting bid that should be a BIN listing anyways.
On top of that it seems like 50+% of listings are disgustingly horrid artificial toning jobs.
Pretty much all I use eBay for now is dumping lots of crap coins that would be too much of a pain to sell individually.
eBay is basically a junk yard.
Not at all the same thing. In fact it's the opposite.
EBay provides a marketplace which is a service sellers hire. So, essentially, eBay works for the sellers.
Uber sells a service and hires (contracts) drivers to deliver the service.
So. If you want to map the relationship.
Uber = eBay seller
Uber driver = eBay
I have said for a long time 😉🦫🙀
Caveat Emptor about eBay. Posted it all over this forum.
If you don’t like eBay stay on the sidewalk.
🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶
One thing I really like about bidding on the bay is I can use auction sniper.
I wish GC had an app for my iphone. I use my phone a lot in the biz. I am a see it all on one page big picture guy.
the op may be onto something.
i just checked ebay's list of acquisitions and they are down substantially in recent years. (i like to check every so often)
the amount of billion dollar companies they've purchased (publicly) has evaporated
now lets see how many billion dollar companies GC has purchased...
The OP does his collecting (and his mathematical contention of quietus for eBay) by self-limiting his search in the example he gave re: So-Called Dollars.
His search using the term HK in the exonumia category currently returns 1300+ total listings and 92 auctions.
A normal standard search of the So-Called Dollar subcategory in the exonumia category currently returns 4,963 total listings and 287 auctions which means that he is only finding one third of the listed auctions for SCDs (So-Called Dollars).by using a less than optimal search method. The expiry of eBay may drag on a bit longer than he anticipates.
This is where I went as soon as I saw this thread. Not having to deal with clowns on eBay (as either a buyer or seller) is a huge benefit of GC.
As they should.
Still zero on GC.
Just saying...
@tokenpro said: The OP does his collecting (and his mathematical contention of quietus for eBay) by self-limiting his search in the example he gave re: So-Called Dollars.
Actually, the OP has learned over time what the search criteria is that works best for him. Using your example, if you plug in "HK" there are less results and the search is made from a smaller number of listings(apples and oranges). I accept that with your method I might on occasion find something my method would miss, but time has shown me that the time isn't worth it.
Thanks for your suggestion, but I have already done that and refined to what suits me better.
I mostly use eBay. Can use auction sniper for it. No buyers fee either.
Have got nice buys from GC in past which did well for me on Bay or from my table on bourse. GC has lots good stuff great photos. If they had an ap for iPhone I would buy more from them.
However lately if I have to get in a bid war just not a deal for me. Being end user not my cup of tea.
A question to GC sellers - after fees and shipping what pct of CPG do you realize?