The Reedededge- Bogus "No Reserves" eBay auctions

rays · April 7, 2003 3:35AM

Somehow I am on the spam list for this outfit. They sent me an email touting their "no reserve" eBay sales, including this 1809/8 PCGS MS61 Half Eagle. In good faith, I bid $5800 several hours before the auction ended. With less than 2 minutes to the auction ending, this seller cancelled all bids (my high bid included). This is a sham, not an auction.

airplanenut · April 7, 2003 3:38AM

I couldn't afford that stuff now, but thanks for the heads up- that recently happened to me on a completely unrelated item, but I got pissed

agentjim007 · April 7, 2003 3:40AM

I was bidding on his 1909-SVDB as he was cancelling bids He cancelled and I bid again. The clown didn't know if you end auction early you don't have to cancell each bidder's bid. I was *ucking with him.

Russ · April 7, 2003 3:45AM

There's another seller with the handle E.MIX that has been doing this constantly for ages; start low and if it doesn't get bid to where he wants it, cancel in the last few moments. eBay refuses to do anything about it, even though they made the practice a violation when they added the reserve fees.

Russ, NCNE

AbesNeighbor · April 7, 2003 3:51AM

Maybe they could stop all this by putting in a 5% wherever the bid is cancellation fee. This would also make sellers think twice about selling it off the auction while the auction is going on.

Dan

Russ · April 7, 2003 3:56AM

<< think twice about selling it off the auction while the auction is going on. >>

Dan,

If that's what this was, I wouldn't see a problem with it. But, what is really happening is that these sellers are starting with a low opening, claiming it's a no reserve auction, and then are closing at the last second because the item didn't reach the dollar amount they wanted.

Russ, NCNE

PQpeace · April 7, 2003 3:56AM

Maybe email Rob and ask him why he did that ??
He should have no problem telling you

Larry

kranky · April 7, 2003 4:03AM

dorkkarl posted recently about a letter that Reeded Edge sent to ebay concerning the increase in reserve fees.

BigD5 · April 7, 2003 5:27AM

They come across to me as whiners. I still get their crappy spam stuff after repeated attempts to get off the list, which bothers me. If they want to cry about the reserve auction fees, they shouldnt' use the reserve auction format. If they are going to cancel "no reserve" auctions very close to the ending time, they will be subject to many bidders who will just ignore their listings. If they don't like the rules, they can go play in another park. I guess Yahoo didn't cut it for them.

Wisconsin · April 7, 2003 5:43AM

I understand that resereve fees can eat up profits on anything that sells. My opinion is that if you want to auction your coins, ebay is a fine place to do it. If you want top retail money then you should stop wasting everyone's time and do shows or put them on a website. My opinion of auctions is simple-No Reserve. Everything sells and thats that.

sinin1 · April 7, 2003 6:13AM

I closed one auction when the original purchaser finally came up with the cash 45 days after the auction closed.

If I remember correctly it was a pain - I had to cancel every bidder before I could close the auction.

I was wondering what would happen if I closed it when someone bid - would that mean they would get it at my opening bid?

If 5 people kept on bidding during the last 3 minutes, could they ever get the auction closed without a high bidder?

rd5425 · April 7, 2003 6:22AM

I've bought from E.mix before and even though the coins I got from him were ok, He is not one of my favorite sellers, slow shipping, did not leave feedback, ect.

toothpuller · April 7, 2003 6:30AM

Here is a PCGS 1872 MS65RB IHC that The Reeded Edge also withdrew. I was considering bidding on it, but I had a gut feeling that they would pull a last second cancellation act.

Wisconsin · April 7, 2003 6:34AM

I bought a coin from them last year and was very happy with everything. Great coins, but all of the money usually. I don't think this latest game is going to win them any customers. All it did was ruin their credibility.

baccaruda · April 7, 2003 6:38AM

report them - it's a TOS violation now with the new reserve fees (as Russ said). Now that they're avoiding fees maybe Ebay will take action.

i'd write to TheReededEdge and tell the you spent 1 hour reviewing their auction. Tell them you want to be compensated $50 for their false advertising.

sinin1 · April 7, 2003 6:45AM

they must type very fast or there is sniper closing software - just like sniper bidding.

It took a total of 2 seconds to cancel bids on 8 bidders and close the auction - wow

Wisconsin · April 7, 2003 6:51AM

I understand that ebay has changed the way of cancelling bids. I guess one button will cancel all of the bids on an auction and the next button will end it. I supose if timing were right, you could bid in between steps and get the coin for opening bid. What would happen then????

Jay

baccaruda · April 7, 2003 6:54AM

what a POS company if you ask me. i can't believe they'd spam their customers about their "no reserve" auctions and then pull. not only are they spamming but bold-face lying to boot. bunch of scammers. they obviously have NO respect for the time their customers spend on their auctions - only peddling their garbage for maximum profit.

it's also a dead givaway when they start talking about investment potential and how prices are going to skyrocket. that's why they need to sell them now - they don't want to be forced into a higher tax-bracket i guess.

baccaruda · April 7, 2003 6:58AM

I guess one button will cancel all of the bids on an auction and the next button will end it. I supose if timing were right, you could bid in between steps and get the coin for opening bid. What would happen then????

can you set up a sniping program to not only bid at a certain time, but to repeat bids? set it up to auto-bombard one of their auctions with a $10 bid like once per second for the last 5 minutes. if they cancel bids, they'll get spammed with $10 bids.

CLASSICS · April 7, 2003 6:58AM

i received emails from him also. first bicthing about ebay and thier new rules. then another one stating how they have all these beautiful coins, which by the way are all..pq..and should have graded higher, then he starts the auctions, and just before the auction ends, and if he thinks he isnt getting enough money for his coins he cancells all the bids.... if he would put a reserve on them then he would have to pay ebay more.......so instead he does this crap .........its a game to him, little does he know everyone is on to him, and his game..........the knowledgeable people wont play his game...........

baccaruda · April 7, 2003 7:02AM

the change in reserve fees benefits anyone listing an item with reserve under $200. it's a good change. if he doesn't like ebay's rules he shouldn't use them.

Popcoin · April 7, 2003 7:15AM

Comments from Reedededge

Larry

DCAMFranklin · April 7, 2003 7:40AM

What a sorry outfit. I hate getting their spam.

I wonder if enough of us starting bidding $10 with about 2 minutes remaining on the auction, if one of us might get lucky and get a bid in between the time he cancels all the bids and the attempt to cancel the auction. Before he could again cancel the bid and then cancel the auction, the auction would end. A few negs from refusing to honor the auction, might put an end to this crap.

ms71 · April 7, 2003 7:55AM

Posts like this are a very valuable way to communicate. ReededEdge is now on my list, and I will not bid on anything they put up, or respond to any of their advertisements. There are enough straight-shooters out there, I don't need to encourage this kind of enterprise.

rays · April 7, 2003 8:38AM

I checked, they cancelled bids on many auctions that ended today. I reported them to eBay as in violation of TOS.

koinkrazy · April 7, 2003 9:14AM

I had the high bid on the 1872 indian cent Toothpuller mentioned. They really hurt their imagine in my eyes. Like others have said, they brag about a no reserve auction and then don't have the guts to stick it out.

satootoko · April 7, 2003 9:18AM

<< A few negs from refusing to honor the auction, might put an end to this crap. >>

I tried that once for exactly that reason, but E-Bay doesn't allow feedback unless you are in a completed transaction.

baccaruda · April 7, 2003 12:14PM

<< A few negs from refusing to honor the auction, might put an end to this crap. >>

I tried that once for exactly that reason, but E-Bay doesn't allow feedback unless you are in a completed transaction.

then how can a seller leave feedback for a non-paying bidder? either way it's not a complete transaction.

mrdq · April 7, 2003 2:25PM

It's a completed bid if the auction runs it's course.

End it early and it "never happened"

PQpeace · April 8, 2003 1:18AM

Just got an opology letter from them,
Larry

A WORD ABOUT YESTERDAY’S EBAY AUCTIONS….

Hello and welcome back.

Yesterday was a complete fiasco for us on EBay, and it’s a situation that we don’t want to run into again. I know some of you are pretty “hot under the collar” about several auctions that ended early, and we owe you an explanation for this action.

Let me start by saying that none of the coins that we auction on EBay are exclusive to EBay. In addition to EBay, we list/sell coins on CCE, Yahoo, our web store, our mail order list and finally, at coin shows. So, when we list a coin on EBay (or elsewhere), it is literally a horse race. The first customer to “pull the trigger”, generally will own the piece. Several of the coins we featured on EBay yesterday, including the generic $10 Indians, fell into this category and were sold at the Santa Clara Coin Show. We realized as the auctions were concluding that we had to remove these pieces quickly or be in danger of not fulfilling our contract to sell them. Despite the impression that some of you may have got, these coins had been legitimately pre-sold.

We also had a number of individuals that had made us offers on other coins throughout the week. Obviously, if we elected to accept an offer, we were forced to end the corresponding EBay auction early. Out of fairness to the EBay bidders, we let these auctions run as long as possible. When it became apparent that several of our auctions were not going to exceed the aforementioned offers, we chose to end the auctions early. These were primarily the “last minute” auctions that so many of you were justifiably angry about.

Unfortunately, when we came up with the idea of posting these “no reserve” auctions a couple of weeks ago, we did not calculate all of the possibilities that could arise. As offers started coming in on various coins, we tried to do what was fair to both the bidders and the potential buyers. But, in that process, we seemed to have angered both. For that, we humbly apologize.

Throughout the craziness of yesterday, there were several significant coins that did sell on EBay including a high-grade, early $5.00 gold piece. To those bidders that participated and were successful, we say thank you!

In conclusion, we hope that everyone will understand our position. Like everyone else on EBay, we are trying to sell a legitimate item at a fair profit and squeeze out a living in the process. Faced with the decisions that we had to make yesterday, we tried to do what was right and fair to all. Given the reactions of some of our bidders, you can rest assured that we will NEVER run this format of auction again. We are sincerely sorry about any ill feelings that this may have created as this was never our intention.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

Robert Lehmann
The Reeded Edge, Inc.

sinin1 · April 8, 2003 1:27AM

For some reason, I am not convinced.

I kind of figure if a coin gets put in an auction and at a no reserve, then it is committed to the auction - if someone made an offer, they should have made the offer in the auction as a bid.

If they new they were going to take these coins to Santa Clara are where-ever, they should not have been in an auction.

How often does Heritage pull a coin out of an auction, because they got a good offer?

This was an eBay auction - definitely big time difference than having something listed in an eBay store for 2 or 3 months.

K6AZ · April 8, 2003 1:31AM

Larry, that is an absolute load of garbage. He pulled the auctions at the last minute because the coins didn't get to where he wanted them. I hope everyone paid attention to "our coins are a horse race" comment. That means it is useless to bid on their auctions. There are enough reputable dealers around who play it straight not to have to deal with people like this who play games. I will never do business with them.

dragon · April 8, 2003 1:32AM

Personally, that explanation is not justified IMO and I would never bid in this persons auctions.

<<<When it became apparent that several of our auctions were not going to exceed the aforementioned offers, we chose to end the auctions early. These were primarily the “last minute” auctions that so many of you were justifiably angry about.>>>

This practice is unethical IMO, and is just playing games.

dragon

baccaruda · April 8, 2003 1:34AM

let's consider this for a second:

you walk into your dealer's shop and find a coin you're willing to pay top retail dollar for. he responds "ok, you can have it for this bloated price, but first let me see if i can sell it for more elsewhere. if it's not worth that much, come back later and you can have it at this inflated price."

yeah right. what buyer would think this is reasonable?

Russ · April 8, 2003 1:35AM

<< Out of fairness to the EBay bidders, we let these auctions run as long as possible. >>

Which is more fair? Ending the auction as soon as an acceptable legitimate outside offer comes in, or running it to the last second and building the hopes of the bidder - only to yank it?

<< When it became apparent that several of our auctions were not going to exceed the aforementioned offers, we chose to end the auctions early. >>

Translation: We were hoping to setup a bidding war between eBay and the other buyer to try and squeeze him for a few more bucks.

Russ, NCNE

kranky · April 8, 2003 1:35AM

I'll accept that they won't do it again, but I am having trouble reconciling their statement "The first customer to “pull the trigger”, generally will own the piece." with conducting no-reserve auctions that get pulled at the last minute. Obviously they weren't running auctions, they were running retail sales under the guise of auctions.

If there's a "trigger" that needs to be pulled, make it the reserve price.

tjkillian · April 8, 2003 1:46AM

Absolutely! If someone has an auction, the coin should be available and not be subject to a prior sale. It is not a "horse race". If you put a coin up with no reserve, be prepared for whatever you get.

Tom

baccaruda · April 8, 2003 1:56AM

let's all bid on their auctions and cancel bids at random times with the explanation "someone offered me more for my money" or "i found a better price elsewhere". after all, it's a horse-race out there for my money.

Russ · April 8, 2003 2:19AM

baccaruda,

eBay no longer allows the bidder to enter their own reason for cancellation. The choice is between three stock answers, none of which would send the message.

Russ, NCNE

baccaruda · April 8, 2003 2:28AM

yeah i know, i was just being an ass.

relayer · April 8, 2003 2:32AM

I've bought some nice coins from them. Their just trying to make a living selling coins

rays · April 8, 2003 2:36AM

<< I've bought some nice coins from them. Their just trying to make a living selling coins >>

That may be, but it does not justify their unethical behavior of touting no reserve auctions and pulling them at the last minute. This is completely unacceptable. Can you imagine Bowers and Merena, Stacks or any other reputable auction house allowing such antics? No serious dealer or collector would attend such an auction. It is the prospect of the buy-back fee of 2% or so that keeps real auctions auctions, not advertisements for possible sale.

baccaruda · April 8, 2003 2:53AM

i want to make a living laying on the couch watching cub's games. i haven't found an angle on that yet though.

Whitewashqtr · April 8, 2003 3:35AM

Did anyone see the "apology" Reedededge email? Seems pretty cut and dry to me as to what they are doing. I asked that they remove me from there email listing. Not sure how I made it in the first place.

BIDDERS BEWARE!!

WWQ

tjkillian · April 8, 2003 3:52AM

I just wrote to ReededEdge and asked if the 1872 MS-65R/B Indian cent were still available becaused they closed the auction saying it was no longer available for sale. Here's the response I got:

Yes, I believe it is still available @ $3100.
Thanks,
Rob

rays · April 8, 2003 3:53AM

<< I just wrote to ReededEdge and asked if the 1872 MS-65R/B Indian cent were still available becaused they closed the auction saying it was no longer available for sale. Here's the response I got:

Yes, I believe it is still available @ $3100.
Thanks,
Rob
 >>

Does anyone know what that coin was bid at on eBay when the auction was closed?

kranky · April 8, 2003 3:56AM

[edit] never mind, I was looking at the wrong auction. [/edit]

ScarsdaleCoin · April 8, 2003 4:36AM

I would report this to ebay, I agree this is a sham!

Wingsrule · April 8, 2003 9:12AM

Just sent them the "I don't buy it, remove me from your list" response.

segoja · April 8, 2003 9:26AM

Rob is a good guy. Guess the smell of $$$ just makes people do strange things.

Bought a super nice Ike from him on e-bay...a 1972-D for over $1100, yes $1100. It was wroth every cent. Paid within 2 minutes. Called him to talk about the coin. Said he had it out at Long Beach the weekend before and was asking $400.

You'd think I get a nice feedback comment. I even left him a nice comment.

Nothing!!!

How much trouble could it be to thank a guy for making you at least $700???

jamesfsm · April 8, 2003 9:29AM

Here's the email from Reeded Edge. I emailed them and told them I'd NEVER buy from them again. It is dishonest to try to pimp No Reserve coins off-eBay since Reeded Edge knew they WOULD sell for some amount on eBay. On a reserve coin at least you could argue that a sale at a show beats speculation on eBay. Disgust......

RE EMAIL:

A WORD ABOUT YESTERDAY’S EBAY AUCTIONS….

Hello and welcome back.

Yesterday was a complete fiasco for us on EBay, and it’s a situation that we don’t want to run into again. I know some of you are pretty “hot under the collar” about several auctions that ended early, and we owe you an explanation for this action.

Let me start by saying that none of the coins that we auction on EBay are exclusive to EBay. In addition to EBay, we list/sell coins on CCE, Yahoo, our web store, our mail order list and finally, at coin shows. So, when we list a coin on EBay (or elsewhere), it is literally a horse race. The first customer to “pull the trigger”, generally will own the piece. Several of the coins we featured on EBay yesterday, including the generic $10 Indians, fell into this category and were sold at the Santa Clara Coin Show. We realized as the auctions were concluding that we had to remove these pieces quickly or be in danger of not fulfilling our contract to sell them. Despite the impression that some of you may have got, these coins had been legitimately pre-sold.

We also had a number of individuals that had made us offers on other coins throughout the week. Obviously, if we elected to accept an offer, we were forced to end the corresponding EBay auction early. Out of fairness to the EBay bidders, we let these auctions run as long as possible. When it became apparent that several of our auctions were not going to exceed the aforementioned offers, we chose to end the auctions early. These were primarily the “last minute” auctions that so many of you were justifiably angry about.

Unfortunately, when we came up with the idea of posting these “no reserve” auctions a couple of weeks ago, we did not calculate all of the possibilities that could arise. As offers started coming in on various coins, we tried to do what was fair to both the bidders and the potential buyers. But, in that process, we seemed to have angered both. For that, we humbly apologize.

Throughout the craziness of yesterday, there were several significant coins that did sell on EBay including a high-grade, early $5.00 gold piece. To those bidders that participated and were successful, we say thank you!

In conclusion, we hope that everyone will understand our position. Like everyone else on EBay, we are trying to sell a legitimate item at a fair profit and squeeze out a living in the process. Faced with the decisions that we had to make yesterday, we tried to do what was right and fair to all. Given the reactions of some of our bidders, you can rest assured that we will NEVER run this format of auction again. We are sincerely sorry about any ill feelings that this may have created as this was never our intention.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

Robert Lehmann
The Reeded Edge, Inc.

The Reedededge- Bogus &quot;No Reserves&quot; eBay auctions

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