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when a ebayer says "I don't know much about coins"....why is it a "red flag"?
mozeppa
Posts: 4,431 ✭✭✭
hells bells!!!
many of you people don't "know much about coins" either!...yet you send up the red flag on others!...
at least that ebayer was just being honest about his ignorance!
some of you here DO know quite a bit about coins...and there are those who ride on their coat tails, by asking those who DO know, a myriad
of questions!...Nothing wrong with that, thats how we learn ...IF WE CHOOSE COINS AS OUR HOBBY.... BUT!... then THOSE SAME PEOPLE are the first to "RAISE THE RED FLAG" at the ebayer who has coins to sell, and he knows zilch about them (except that they have a value higher than face.)
and all the guy wants to do is sell them to get further in his chosen hobby of collecting spark plugs!
I've run into hundreds of people who do other things for a hobby....yet they're still aware that ....old coins = more than face value money.
I can't tell you how many times I bought coins from people who got them from an uncle a grandad or even grandma...
my own grandmother was a cashier a book store at oklahoma university...she for some reason was fixated on washington quarters and hoarded them!....she started there in the late 1940's....(and i mean there was a 5 gallon bucket)
in the bunch were (2) 1932-D's ....and a half dozen 1932-S's...and YES...she knew nothing of the hobby! ......(by the way these were AU to UNC.
so where is it written that you must be a fount of knowledge in order to collect?...Not many of you people know exactly what "NAVEL FUZZ" is....and most of you collect that!
I dare say many of you will miss out on some great buys because of paranoia.
many will say "I'm just being careful"....and yet many of those will buy a raw coin at 2x grey sheet ....send it in only to get it bagged for
altered surfaces, tooling, not genuine, et. al.
where was your carefulness then?.....or was it gambling?.
a gambler takes a chance on his own knowledge and accepts the outcome.
when he wins he trusts hisself...when he loses he doubts hisself.
who is it then....that doubts the other guy that he is NOT doing business with...yet seems to have him all slewthed out by virtue of the fact
he's admitted to "no knowledge" about a hobby?
knowledgable people and honest people are bright silver dollars....hypocrits are a dime a dozen.
part observation....part rant....need my meds!
many of you people don't "know much about coins" either!...yet you send up the red flag on others!...at least that ebayer was just being honest about his ignorance!
some of you here DO know quite a bit about coins...and there are those who ride on their coat tails, by asking those who DO know, a myriad
of questions!...Nothing wrong with that, thats how we learn ...IF WE CHOOSE COINS AS OUR HOBBY.... BUT!... then THOSE SAME PEOPLE are the first to "RAISE THE RED FLAG" at the ebayer who has coins to sell, and he knows zilch about them (except that they have a value higher than face.)
and all the guy wants to do is sell them to get further in his chosen hobby of collecting spark plugs!
I've run into hundreds of people who do other things for a hobby....yet they're still aware that ....old coins = more than face value money.
I can't tell you how many times I bought coins from people who got them from an uncle a grandad or even grandma...
my own grandmother was a cashier a book store at oklahoma university...she for some reason was fixated on washington quarters and hoarded them!....she started there in the late 1940's....(and i mean there was a 5 gallon bucket)
in the bunch were (2) 1932-D's ....and a half dozen 1932-S's...and YES...she knew nothing of the hobby! ......(by the way these were AU to UNC.
so where is it written that you must be a fount of knowledge in order to collect?...Not many of you people know exactly what "NAVEL FUZZ" is....and most of you collect that!
I dare say many of you will miss out on some great buys because of paranoia.
many will say "I'm just being careful"....and yet many of those will buy a raw coin at 2x grey sheet ....send it in only to get it bagged for
altered surfaces, tooling, not genuine, et. al.
where was your carefulness then?.....or was it gambling?.
a gambler takes a chance on his own knowledge and accepts the outcome.
when he wins he trusts hisself...when he loses he doubts hisself.
who is it then....that doubts the other guy that he is NOT doing business with...yet seems to have him all slewthed out by virtue of the fact
he's admitted to "no knowledge" about a hobby?
knowledgable people and honest people are bright silver dollars....hypocrits are a dime a dozen.
part observation....part rant....need my meds!
0
Comments
Because what they realy mean is; I hope you don't know much about coins
I know a little bit about a lot of things!
I know a lot about a few things!
I know everything about nothing!
oh.. and you couldn't have read that and thought long on it in ONE minute!
Sometimes it is truthful and not just a line. If someone sells 95% beanie babies and only does a few transactions a month, that person I might believe. Another seller with 1000 feedbacks mostly on coins is probably running some kind of scam.
Other red flags are no returns, low feedback, lower tier slabbing companies, fuzzy pictures.
is:
"I don't know much about coins"
i'm not saying don't be careful....i'm saying........ is there a point where judgement and trust gets to be a phobia of paranoia?
...my 2 cents...in my experience on ebay...the more 'experienced' the seller claims to be the more likely what they are offering is a problem in some way...either overpriced and/or overgraded or damaged in some way.
Then there are the honest & experienced coin folks who generally regard ebay as a retail outlet...they have nice material to offer but there is little chance at any kind of a "deal".
The folks who claim 'ignorance'...well, that is fine...but the 'red flag' for me comes up when they go on to use numismatic terminology to describe the coin and do not supply good pics...and have starting bids at or over grey sheet...and then offer no return policy.
The best "scores' I have found on the bay came from folks who offered nice material with good pics and a simple listing. No hoopla...no flash. Low starting bid w/ no reserve...return policy...reasonable S&H fees...they readily reply to emailed questions...and, of course, good feedback.
on that i agree.
the ebayer i had in mind started his sale at $50...(its now at over $1000)
there's no hoopla or flash.
yet someone here has doubts on him and want to know if anyone else here sees red flags....i believe he's legit.
he's on another thread.
Apropos of the coin posse/aka caca: "The longer he spoke of his honor, the tighter I held to my purse."
Last fall, I found a couple of ebay listings from a seller in New England. He was offering nice Bust and Seated coins at a low starting bid with PayPal and return policy. He claimed to know little about coins and was apparently selling for a friend...his selling history was for arts & crafts items. The pics were good and the descriptions simple.
I recall there were a total of 4 items over a few weeks...I won them all and they turned out to be great original coins...one was a beautifully toned R-5 Bust Quarter which I (regretfully) sold. I have been back to this sellers listings in the hopes that they offer more coins...so far, no luck.
<< <i>hells bells!!!
at least that ebayer was just being honest about his ignorance!
some of you here DO know quite a bit about coins...and there are those who ride on their coat tails, by asking those who DO know, a myriad
of questions!...Nothing wrong with that, thats how we learn ...IF WE CHOOSE COINS AS OUR HOBBY.... BUT!... then THOSE SAME PEOPLE are the first to "RAISE THE RED FLAG" at the ebayer who has coins to sell, and he knows zilch about them (except that they have a value higher than face.)
and all the guy wants to do is sell them to get further in his chosen hobby of collecting spark plugs!
I've run into hundreds of people who do other things for a hobby....yet they're still aware that ....old coins = more than face value money.
I can't tell you how many times I bought coins from people who got them from an uncle a grandad or even grandma...
my own grandmother was a cashier a book store at oklahoma university...she for some reason was fixated on washington quarters and hoarded them!....she started there in the late 1940's....(and i mean there was a 5 gallon bucket)
in the bunch were (2) 1932-D's ....and a half dozen 1932-S's...and YES...she knew nothing of the hobby! ......(by the way these were AU to UNC.
so where is it written that you must be a fount of knowledge in order to collect?...Not many of you people know exactly what "NAVEL FUZZ" is....and most of you collect that!
I dare say many of you will miss out on some great buys because of paranoia.
many will say "I'm just being careful"....and yet many of those will buy a raw coin at 2x grey sheet ....send it in only to get it bagged for
altered surfaces, tooling, not genuine, et. al.
where was your carefulness then?.....or was it gambling?.
a gambler takes a chance on his own knowledge and accepts the outcome.
when he wins he trusts hisself...when he loses he doubts hisself.
who is it then....that doubts the other guy that he is NOT doing business with...yet seems to have him all slewthed out by virtue of the fact
he's admitted to "no knowledge" about a hobby?
knowledgable people and honest people are bright silver dollars....hypocrits are a dime a dozen.
part observation....part rant....need my meds!
I pretty much agree with this statement if the person has not sold a lot of coins before. I have occassionally listed something that I was not very experienced with. I ussually include an "I don't know much about this item" phrase. My wife's doll stuff comes to mind.
<< <i>hells bells!!!
at least that ebayer was just being honest about his ignorance!
some of you here DO know quite a bit about coins...and there are those who ride on their coat tails, by asking those who DO know, a myriad
of questions!...Nothing wrong with that, thats how we learn ...IF WE CHOOSE COINS AS OUR HOBBY.... BUT!... then THOSE SAME PEOPLE are the first to "RAISE THE RED FLAG" at the ebayer who has coins to sell, and he knows zilch about them (except that they have a value higher than face.)
and all the guy wants to do is sell them to get further in his chosen hobby of collecting spark plugs!
I've run into hundreds of people who do other things for a hobby....yet they're still aware that ....old coins = more than face value money.
I can't tell you how many times I bought coins from people who got them from an uncle a grandad or even grandma...
my own grandmother was a cashier a book store at oklahoma university...she for some reason was fixated on washington quarters and hoarded them!....she started there in the late 1940's....(and i mean there was a 5 gallon bucket)
in the bunch were (2) 1932-D's ....and a half dozen 1932-S's...and YES...she knew nothing of the hobby! ......(by the way these were AU to UNC.
so where is it written that you must be a fount of knowledge in order to collect?...Not many of you people know exactly what "NAVEL FUZZ" is....and most of you collect that!
I dare say many of you will miss out on some great buys because of paranoia.
many will say "I'm just being careful"....and yet many of those will buy a raw coin at 2x grey sheet ....send it in only to get it bagged for
altered surfaces, tooling, not genuine, et. al.
where was your carefulness then?.....or was it gambling?.
a gambler takes a chance on his own knowledge and accepts the outcome.
when he wins he trusts hisself...when he loses he doubts hisself.
who is it then....that doubts the other guy that he is NOT doing business with...yet seems to have him all slewthed out by virtue of the fact
he's admitted to "no knowledge" about a hobby?
knowledgable people and honest people are bright silver dollars....hypocrits are a dime a dozen.
part observation....part rant....need my meds!
I think many of the people dissing that seller on that other thread have every intention of bidding on his auction. I've seen it happen quite a bit. They know the coins look legit and they know from his feedback and past auctions of similar nature that every buyer has been thrilled with their purchase.
The disclaimer works well on so many levels for the unscrupulous. These have been mentioned already here by others.
But on the other hand, the truly ignorant about coins probably isn't going to say that. They don't want to appear ignorant because they fear not being taken seriously by coin collectors.
Think it through and you'll get it. It's a winning strategy for scammers, but a seemingly bad strategy in the minds of the truly ignorant but honest seller.
Apropos of the coin posse/aka caca: "The longer he spoke of his honor, the tighter I held to my purse."
I knew it would happen.
<< <i>sea eagle
yet someone here has doubts on him and want to know if anyone else here sees red flags....i believe he's legit.
he's on another thread. >>
Well that's the point isn't it? I see some nice coins IMO and wonder what the minds here think about the auction.
I love the ones that are selling uncirculated stuff and say ' they look good to me '
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
<< <i>not talking about other red flags....just when the guy has 100% Feed back ....not many sales (say 40)...and the ONLY red flag (so to speak)
is:
"I don't know much about coins"
i'm not saying don't be careful....i'm saying........ is there a point where judgement and trust gets to be a phobia of paranoia? >>
You HAVE to take other things into account.
If the seller has some pics (not super nice as to be someone used to taking coin pics) and describes the coins not at all, or in layman's terms, and says they know nothing about coins, AND they aren't all about coins in their sales, then I may believe them.
If they use numismatic terms, have items for sale that are slabbed, and/or have other things that would point to someone who would/should know about coins and then they state "I know nothing about coins", I will likely NOT believe them.
If I were to put up a morgan dollar, I feel pretty comfortable in what I know. I wouldn't state "I don't know much about them". If I were to put up a Roosevelt dime, I am still learning the series, and could put up "I don't know much about them", but if I did that, I wouldn't talk about how nice and gemmy it is either. Would be a couple of pics, very little text, and a "let the highest bid win"
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
<< <i>when a ebayer says "I don't know much about coins"....why is it a "red flag"? >>
I personally never (automatically) consider it anything to be suspicious about, if the rest of their words, feedback, pix, etc. seem to support that statement.
- Jim
<< <i>When a ebayer says "I don't know much about coins".... >>
That translates to, "Wait until you see the crap I'm sending to you."
The major red flag is the no return policy. Most of these ads sound about the same. "I don't know much", "I'm by no means a grader"," look at the pictures and judge for yourself" and my favorite, " you are buying the opinion of the grading service not mine". and therefore all sales are final.
While it's true there are some sellers selling coins they honestly know little about and just want to auction off coins in their possession for the best price possible, They usually offer good clear pictures and a bona fide return policy.
Anyone buying coins slabbed or raw without a return policy is just asking for grief. Dave W
The priceless ingredient in any coin transaction is the integrity of the dealer.
David J Weygant website: www.djwcoin.com