The moon must be full over Europe today!

Aethelred

I am getting some really odd questions from folks in Europe about my eBay auctions today.

One guy is asking if a coin graded by ICG is a modern copy, another is worried about there being two Roman coins from the same emperor with the same reverse on eBay at the same time (mine is ICG graded and the other is raw by the way) I have assured him that the Romans made more than one!

I also have a guy from Europe wanting MY bank account info because he claims Paypal is not working. He has zero feedback. I am in the fast lane to pissed-offville with him!

Geez!

coinkat

Moon Over Madrid?

Sorry to read about your issues... actually, the first is quite comical

coinpictures

<< <i>
I also have a guy from Europe wanting MY bank account info because he claims Paypal is not working. He has zero feedback. I am in the fast lane to pissed-offville with him!
>>



PayPal was down for about an 18-hour period Thursday night into Friday, but it's all good now. Tell him to try PayPal again or to eff off... better yet: a 0-feedback buyer in Europe wanting to pay via PayPal? I hope you have good insurance... that's a chargeback waiting to happen.

Hussulo

Why dont I give the guy my bank details and when he pays me I can send you a cheque!
Some days you do get them.

Aethelred

Does keep life interesting!

lordmarcovan

Just be careful about some of those foreign-source eBay questions.

One from Canada caught me with my guard down last night and made me do something stupid.

Fortunately I think I realized my stupidity in time and was able to take quick action.

At least your people had legitimate (if idiotic) questions, though your second one sounds like he's on a similar crooked tack as my mysterious Canadian.

johnsim03

Hey guys, let's try to step out of our North American mind-set for a moment, please.

In the EU, for example, most eBay purchases (and all other online purchases) are paid for via bank transfer. This is perfectly normal, and,
for a European, it is also perfectly normal to ask if a bank transfer is accepted for a transaction.

Looking at it logically, it is an electronic transfer, just like PayPal, only probably at a smaller fee level.
It's not like the person that has your international bank routing number can draft on it...

Everyone STARTS at 0 feedback - didn't you?

John

lordmarcovan

True enough.

But in examples like the one I posted a link to, one has to be wary of eBay questions now, too. The phishers are getting very crafty. It's not a question of xenophobia or fear of foreigners so much as it is a fear of scammers in general.

If a person with zero feedback, in other words, a total unknown, wanted MY bank information, as in Michael's example, I would be afraid. There it is. Regardless of what the practice might be in Europe or other countries, here in the USA we are afraid of sharing bank information, social security numbers, addresses, pets' names, favorite colors, preferred ice cream flavors, and so on. People are gun-shy because of the amount of identity theft going on. You only have to be taken one time to be gun-shy.

In mailorder/mail sales, I have been burned really badly only twice that I can recall, where it left a scar. But both of those situations were domestic, with homegrown American crooks.

johnsim03

As a side issue, does everyone realize that PayPal is now a registered bank?

I'm not sure the exact significance of that, but, at least for the European Office, it is registered as a bank now.
Is it the same for PayPal USA?!

John

lordmarcovan

I didn't know that, but hopefully that is a good thing, legally speaking, for the users.

Zoins

<< <i>One guy is asking if a coin graded by ICG is a modern copy >>

NGC and ICG do grade some "modern copies," namely the 1961 Bashlow US Continental Dollar restrikes. These are restrikes made from 1876 replica dies, not the original 1776 dies. NGC and ICG probably grade these, in part, because they are cataloged in the HK So-Called Dollar reference.