How does this work when greatcollections and ebay both have the same coin listed?

1madman

https://www.greatcollections.com/Coin/1115982/2015-W-50-One-Ounce-Gold-American-Eagle-Burnished-First-Day-of-Issue--Washington-DC-1st-Coin-Sold-PCGS-SP-70-Moy-Signed-Label

https://www.ebay.com/itm/375592827506

Is it allowed for a consignor to list with GC and still market their coin elsewhere? Is the ebay seller just a scam artist?

PeakRarities

Considering that the eBay listing pictures are all screenshots of a computer screen, I think there's an argument to be made for the latter possibility.

That said, there have been times when I've sent something to GC and forgot to remove it from eBay right away, I'm sure I'm not the only one that's done that before.

MFeld

I messaged the eBay seller and will report back if I receive a response.

airplanenut

Any chance the seller is the GC consignor and simply forgot he had it listed? If you list as Good Until Cancelled, an item can stay on eBay into perpetuity without any action from the seller. The seller's feedback combined with the item being listed sky-high (instead of cheap to sell ASAP) certainly doesn't appear to be the typical scam of a random, new account trying to make a quick buck.

MFeld

@airplanenut said:
Any chance the seller is the GC consignor and simply forgot he had it listed? If you list as Good Until Cancelled, an item can stay on eBay into perpetuity without any action from the seller. The seller's feedback combined with the item being listed sky-high (instead of cheap to sell ASAP) certainly doesn't appear to be the typical scam of a random, new account trying to make a quick buck.

I think that’s the most likely scenario and the main reason I messaged the eBay seller.

ianrussell

The consignor is not located anywhere close to San Diego.

We had an example of this a couple of weeks ago, where an eBay seller with a lot of positive feedback stole images from our website and offered the coin for sale on eBay. eBay just can't police all of the scams that happen on their website. One day eBay will be held accountable.

I can assure you we have the coin in our vaults - as with everything we offer in our auctions. Here is a photo taken minutes ago of the coin with a newer member of the GC team, Tiny.

• Ian

ianrussell

coinbuf

@ianrussell said:

When does Tiny come up for auction.

lermish

@coinbuf said:

@ianrussell said:

When does Tiny come up for auction.

Two SP70s in the same picture!

1madman

Ok so it appears that the ebay seller doesn’t currently own the coin, but is marketing it / selling it before actually purchasing it from greatcollections. We had a discussion here a while ago about people buying coins from places with return policies, trying to sell the coin for a markup within that timeframe, and if they couldn’t flip it, they’d return it. Perhaps this ebay seller is doing it in a more ethical way? If he gets a bite on the ebay auction, he then purchases the coin from GC and sells to his buyer. This way he doesn’t have to do returns and peddle the coin around town to no avail.

What’s the consensus opinion on this business method? Shady or actually saving businesses/dealers time & energy?

Greenstang

Listing ended by seller

Tibor

@Greenstang said:
Listing ended by seller

Ebay seller knows not to cross Tiny. Good job buddy!

U1chicago

@1madman said:
Ok so it appears that the ebay seller doesn’t currently own the coin, but is marketing it / selling it before actually purchasing it from greatcollections. We had a discussion here a while ago about people buying coins from places with return policies, trying to sell the coin for a markup within that timeframe, and if they couldn’t flip it, they’d return it. Perhaps this ebay seller is doing it in a more ethical way? If he gets a bite on the ebay auction, he then purchases the coin from GC and sells to his buyer. This way he doesn’t have to do returns and peddle the coin around town to no avail.

What’s the consensus opinion on this business method? Shady or actually saving businesses/dealers time & energy?

It's debatable. On the plus side there is no cost for returns and no wasting time for the original seller. On the other hand, people might bid less thinking there is something wrong (shilling, fake valuation, not sure who actually has the coin, etc). My guess is that the majority of people would be against this business method.

DocBenjamin

@ianrussell said:

Looks like the out-of-collar variety.

MFeld

@U1chicago said:

@1madman said:
@1madman said:

Ok so it appears that the ebay seller doesn’t currently own the coin, but is marketing it / selling it before actually purchasing it from greatcollections. We had a discussion here a while ago about people buying coins from places with return policies, trying to sell the coin for a markup within that timeframe, and if they couldn’t flip it, they’d return it. Perhaps this ebay seller is doing it in a more ethical way? If he gets a bite on the ebay auction, he then purchases the coin from GC and sells to his buyer. This way he doesn’t have to do returns and peddle the coin around town to no avail.

What’s the consensus opinion on this business method? Shady or actually saving businesses/dealers time & energy?

Based on the nice reply I received from the seller, that's what he was doing. He understood and appreciated what i told him about some people thinking he might be a scammer, said he'd get in touch with the auction company and ended the listing.

Bikergeek

AFAIC, it's unethical for the seller to assert that they can send me a coin that they don't have possession of, nor agreement from the actual owner to market on their behalf. It's why I've blacklisted this seller: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fss=1&_saslop=1&_sasl=dreamtrophy&LH_SpecificSeller=1

I've observed them to steal other sellers' images, price the coins up enormously, and post them on eBay, Collector's Corner, etc. I say "steal" because I asked a well-known dealer if they knew that "dreamtrophy" was offering their coin with their identical images - and the dealer said, "yes, but I can't stop them."

I do see multiple sellers offering Heritage "for sale" coins and I have to assume there's an agreement in place for that; they appear to have access to the same inventory system. I don't love that, but I see why sellers would want to be in as many marketplaces as they can be. Fun fact: they don't all price the coin the same.

Here's a thought experiment:

• Joe Schmoe submits an auction lot coin. Say it's a $1k coin.
• "Uninvited Reseller" then posts a for-sale price for that coin - say, $2k.
• Shortly before the auction closes, Joe's cousin Bob orders the $2k coin from "Uninvited" and ensures the order is accepted.
• Then, Joe's other cousin Norbert bids the auction up to, say, $1700.
• Consequent to Norbert's up-bid, "Uninvited Reseller" bids the coin up to $1800 (and wins it)
• After the auction closes, Bob cancels the order.

OK, OK, I know some of you are clutching your pearls... relax, it's just a thought experiment. Please don't tell me why it's a bad idea! Some of my best ideas are bad ideas!