what is your best ebay story

PTVETTER

Again I think some will be great stories!

rhedden

Several hours later, no replies.

mbogoman

A few years ago in the slow time before Christmas, I found an 1879 CC Morgan $1 listed with a Buy it Now. The pictures weren't great, but I could see what looked like luster and was reasonably confident that it was authentic based on the pics and all of the other listings from the seller (they all looked real). The listing was already over two days old and I found it hard to believe that no one else had grabbed it at the $260 BIN price. That was the only thing that gave me pause, but I figured, what the heck, so I hit the button. Soon after, the seller messaged me about the coin, stating that he thought it was damaged (the area above the ear was not great looking) and asked me if I still wanted it. I said "yes" and then waited...when it arrived I was more than ecstatic! From what I could tell, the coin was either a low Unc or an AU58, and either one was fine with me. The area above the ear was just a weak strike. I sent it in to our hosts and it came back in an MS61 slab. It is still my best score to date!

Edit to add: Just yesterday I received an 11 coin lot of Morgans, purchased for a net of $285 after Ebay Bucks. One of the coins was a decent, VF details cleaned 1894 P (pics on BST). I'll take that any day of the week at a little over melt!

PTVETTER

nice to hear something good happening on EBAY.

reading on the forum most have problems of some type.

rhedden

I recall a forum member getting an awesome 1860-o key date Seated dime in a lofty grade as part of a miscellaneous lot, which I think came from Europe. I will link this thread if I can find it.


Here it is. PCGS AU58. What a classic ebay score.

1860-o dime cherrypick

OPA

Almost 2 identical stories over the years for coins purchased but never received. a) Seller immediately refunded my bid
2d seller mailed out a replacement coin. In both cases, approx 6 month later, I receive the original packages via USPS...correct address etc. Contacted the sellers in each case and in both instances they advised me to keep the items nor did they want to be paid. (each item was for less than $30)

The following event did not occur via an eBay purchase...
approx 3 or 4 year ago, I purchased several cartons of cigarettes (6) for about 1/2 the cost of what they were selling for in the US from an EU distributor. I received all but one carton w/o any issues. About 1 week after receiving my shipment, I received a notice from US Customs, indicating that they've impounded one carton because it's illegal to mail them via the US Mail. The EU distributor was informed and credited my account for the one carton. Low and behold, several month later a brown paper wrapped package arrived in my mail box, and yes it was the carton of cigarettes from US Custom's. ( I guess they did not like my brand ) The US Mail cannot be used for mailing cigarettes purchased and mailed within the US. However, if they are purchased at an overseas duty free shop or retailers, that does not apply because the origin of the package is not via US Mail.

MGLICKER

Half a dozen years ago I ran an auction for as I recall a barber half in AU58. A bidder made a couple of inquiries about the coin and won the auction at a fair price.

Didn't know that he was a forum member and he posted later that he had all but given up finding the coin in AU58 and this completed his set.

Can't recall the forum handle and I have not seen him post for quite some time.

roadrunner

My most memorable Ebay experiences have to be with Harbor Coin. At the time I was bidding with them they specialized in trying to get pq money for coins in old holders. Let's just say their descriptions were mostly very optimistic and the photographs rarely clear enough to prove anything one way or another. But the first time around I was willing to bite and ended up with a pair of coins. What got my goat was a MS63 RB 1867 2c rattler piece that was described as >90% blazing red and essentially 64+ quality. I bid strong money on that figuring solid MS63 and 50-75% red. When it showed up I was appalled as the coin's luster was deader than a door nail and maybe it had 10-15% red still left. It was a real turd and worth low end MS63 BN money. Since they didn't allow returns I had to eat the $125 on that doggie. It was the same way with the other rattler coin I had won. That was a quick $200 down the drain. Suffice to say I left them some nasty feedback and vowed never to do business with them again.....but little did I know that was not the end.............

Within 3 months of that incident I ran across an interesting auction for a raw VF20 1795 half that was formerly ANACs certified (old VF20 holder was pictured). I was willing to pay very weak VF money for the coin as long as they offered a return priv. in case it didn't measure up in hand. They agreed to that and I bid accordingly and won the coin. The coin turned out to be nothing more than a Fine+. I contacted them the same day I got the coin requesting a return on it. They failed to respond. I contacted them every day for the next week. Now I figure they were just sticking it to me. I've been in this situation before where I've returned coins without an acknowledgement by the sellers, and they ended up keeping both the coins and the cash. So at least right now I had 75% of what I started with.

After a month, they finally respond to my Ebay PM's....claiming the return priv expired that first week and to pack sand. You had to wonder how their PM answering system was working a month later but not for the previous 3 weeks....lol. The real kicker here is that the seller turned out to be the exact same dealer with the 1867 2c piece....Harbor Coin. He was selling the 1795 half under his own name, not the company's name. I never made the link until I was sunk What were the odds? Gigged again by the same guys! And you had to figure they knew who I was on that 2nd auction when I requested a return priv. Hey, I was the guy that gave them 2 nasty feed backs in the previous auctions. They must have been salivating and laughing their butts off on the chance to get back at me. When I did a little research after the auction I found out these guys had 3 separate ID's for Harbor Coin and another one for one of the principals....4 total that I could find. Their first ID had dozens of negs/neutrals that apparently they needed to distance themselves from that. Good old Ebay.

CoinZip

roadrunner

My most positive Ebay experience was winning a PF66 rattler 1857 proof dime that no one else even bid on (2006?) The seller was a Florida jeweler who had the coin on consignment. They told me the owner had paid over $20,000 back around 1989-1990 and just wanted it gone. As it turned out this auction was going off exactly during a Long Beach show. It's ending time of 2 PM EST was in the middle of the work day for most people. No one paid attention. The coin had wonderful Raymond toning rings. I got it for a song at $6500...sight seen money for average quality was $7500. My top bid was $8500 and I didn't even have to go there. There were no bids other than mine. I was praying hard that the dealer wouldn't back out of the auction or something. But when the coin showed up it was even more magnificent in person. The coin eventually ended up in a PCGS MS67 holder as a pop 1 finest graded, finest known with a price tag of $24,000. The odds of getting a similar deal like that with a rattler today?....not very high.

OnWithTheHunt

About 15 years ago someone listed a raw, off-center 1920 Buffalo on ebay that looked really nice, so I placed a bid on it for about $150 and left on vacation several days before the auction ended. When I got back, found to no surprise that another collector had outbid me and won it. A year or so later, the same coin, still raw, was back on the bay, and this time I was determined to get it. Waited the last minute, put in a snipe bid for about $550, and won it. In those days, bidders names weren't concealed, and the underbidders, by just a few bucks, were our own Fred Weinberg and another well-known error dealer, so I knew I had something good. Sent it ATS to have it graded and it came back MS-64, 15% O/C. Still have it, too, with no plans to sell.
,

rhedden

Bought this Seated half on eBay for $205. It was a great buy in its own right, but the "scratches" the seller mentioned were actually the diagnostic die cracks for the coveted baseball-cracked reverse. I would guess a fair market value of $3,500-$4,500 in XF45. When I posted it on this board, someone posted a sour grapes remark to effect of, "Wow, too bad about the huge dent on the rim, that will never grade at PCGS." We shall see; it's going in my next submission.

kevinstang

Just before the price of silver took off I bought 20 some standing liberty quarters in a lot offered for sale on ebay- the seller didn't know much about coins or had really bad eye sight I guess- they listed the lot as being mostly dateless as they couldn't read only a couple of dates on the coins. They had a really lousy picture- I took a gamble and ended up winning the lot for $40 some dollars. There was only 1 dateless coin in the lot- a 1917 type 1 , all the other coins were dated between 1917 -1924. The story had been the coins were found under a porch recently torn off an old house- and the coins were a little dirty. A soak in acetone and several of the 1923 and 1924 clearly looked UNC or high end AU. The big surprise was a full date 1921 ! It was in XF condition. The only coin mint marked in the lot was the dateless Type 1 - it was a Dmint. Seller later listed the other coins from same find- all barbers. Needless to say I bought that same lot too, lousy pictures and all. Sadly nothing more than a few F- VF late date coins. I did also one time buy a blue whitman folder of buffalo nickels that the seller said contained nothing but dateless buffalo nickels filling all the slots. They were right, but one of those dateless coins was a 1916 Double Die Obverse!

ricko

My best ebay story is never having been screwed by a deal. Second best is never losing a snipe on a product I wanted. Do not do coins on ebay anymore though. Cheers, RickO

rhedden

<< <i>Just before the price of silver took off I bought 20 some standing liberty quarters in a lot offered for sale on ebay- the seller didn't know much about coins or had really bad eye sight I guess- they listed the lot as being mostly dateless as they couldn't read only a couple of dates on the coins. They had a really lousy picture- I took a gamble and ended up winning the lot for $40 some dollars. There was only 1 dateless coin in the lot- a 1917 type 1 , all the other coins were dated between 1917 -1924. The story had been the coins were found under a porch recently torn off an old house- and the coins were a little dirty. A soak in acetone and several of the 1923 and 1924 clearly looked UNC or high end AU. The big surprise was a full date 1921 ! It was in XF condition. The only coin mint marked in the lot was the dateless Type 1 - it was a Dmint. Seller later listed the other coins from same find- all barbers. Needless to say I bought that same lot too, lousy pictures and all. Sadly nothing more than a few F- VF late date coins. I did also one time buy a blue whitman folder of buffalo nickels that the seller said contained nothing but dateless buffalo nickels filling all the slots. They were right, but one of those dateless coins was a 1916 Double Die Obverse! >>




Wow, those are some exciting buys! A dealer's fantasy come true....

The last part reminds me of a friend who had an XF 1916 Buff, doubled die, back in the 1970s. He couldn't sell it worth a darn and ended up getting $1.50 for it. People forget that this variety was not recognized as anything special a few decades ago.

BAJJERFAN

I once sniped a toned 1884-o Morgan in ms66. Within 2 minutes I got a really nasty message from the losing bidder calling me all kinds of rotten names.

kevinstang

<< <i>The last part reminds me of a friend who had an XF 1916 Buff, doubled die, back in the 1970s. He couldn't sell it worth a darn and ended up getting $1.50 for it. People forget that this variety was not recognized as anything special a few decades ago. >>



Wow, I'd have given him at least $2! LOL I think I sold my poor example for over $600

WaterSport

Last year was a great year for cherry picking on ebay. These 3 coins were added to my variety sets. AU 58 1927 DDO cent, MS 64 R&B 1934 DDO cent and a MS 63 R&B 1972 DDO#4 cent. All three coins were bought raw for a collective total of $49 dollars. Current Base Valve is $4500. Thank you ebay!.

WS

roadrunner

<< <i>........the last part reminds me of a friend who had an XF 1916 Buff, doubled die, back in the 1970s. He couldn't sell it worth a darn and ended up getting $1.50 for it. People forget that this variety was not recognized as anything special a few decades ago. >>



In 1974 the CW Trends value for an XF 1916 nickel was $3.75. I think your buddy got ripped off. I didn't know much about buffs back in the 1970's but I surely would have given someone $5-$20 for a 1916/1916 DDO considering that just a plain old unc 1916 was worth $18.

Wolf359

Some guy listed a trade dollar in the Morgan dollar section. Only trade dollar I've ever bought, and as I suspected when I bought it - it was a proof. Bought it for about $200, PCGS slabbed it as PR63CAM.

SmallTownCoins

2006.. Gambled $6,300. on a raw Chain Cent, had a visible date and chain,
sent to ANACS came back Details Fine, sold to a sponsor of this site for $10,500.
Thats probably my best ebay transaction. I am not an ebay fan :-)

rhedden

<< <i>Some guy listed a trade dollar in the Morgan dollar section. Only trade dollar I've ever bought, and as I suspected when I bought it - it was a proof. Bought it for about $200, PCGS slabbed it as PR63CAM. >>




My friend was a life-long coin dealer, but he lived in a small town in a non-affluent area where prices have historically been low. I doubt he would have even found a buyer for a regular 1916 Buff in less than MS63 back then. As I recall, he couldn't get anyone to bite on the 1916 DDO and had it for a long time before he gave up and "dumped" it for $1.50. This story was being recalled with quite a bit of chagrin. This story got regurgitated some time in the 1990s right after I bought an 1888-o Hot Lips in XF45 for $11 out of the junk box in the shop we were in, and the owner told me that "nobody will pay a premium for a Hot Lips, so you can have it for junk dollar price plus 50 cents." History repeating itself, as I still have that Hot Lips and it's probably worth $400.

winky

I got took but never again.

mustangmanbob

Before everyone had a quality digital camera, an album of Lincolns were listed, terrible pictures.

Since it was the old paper style, no pictures of the backside. There was only 1 picture overall, looked like it was taken with the album open on the floor and the person standing above it, and 2 somewhat closer pictures of the 2nd and 3rd pages, but not the first.

I could see coins in all the key spots, except the 1909-S. Very little bidding until the last 5 minutes, and I won it at a pretty low price.

When it arrived, it had both the 1909-S VDB and the 1914-D. These were the coins I could never afford as a kid in the 1960's, and will probably never upgrade from the ones I got.

On non-COIN,

I deal in classic Mustang parts. There was an auction where a shop had closed, and everything was being auctioned off, starting at 99 cents, LOCAL PICK UP ONLY in bold letters. It was about an hour from me, and got very few bids. I had tossed on some bids somewhat as place holders to track the auctions and wound up winning over 20 lots, most for 99 cents. For example, new rear leaf springs, lot of 20, (they sell for about $80 each) bought for 99 cents, Lot of 4 shock tower frame rail assemblies, 99 cents, sell for about $600 each, Lot of 50 Right Upper door hinges, retail is $63, mostly sell for about $25, 99 cents. Lot of 15 bell housings, various engines, sell for $75 to $150 each, 99 cents. I had Ford F250 supercab 3/4 ton, with an 8' bed, and it took 2 trips to haul it all away, and I paid less than $50 for all of it. Although I still have some of it, I sold over $10,000 from the stuff I picked up that day.

OnWithTheHunt

<< <i>Before everyone had a quality digital camera, an album of Lincolns were listed, terrible pictures.

Since it was the old paper style, no pictures of the backside. There was only 1 picture overall, looked like it was taken with the album open on the floor and the person standing above it, and 2 somewhat closer pictures of the 2nd and 3rd pages, but not the first.

I could see coins in all the key spots, except the 1909-S. Very little bidding until the last 5 minutes, and I won it at a pretty low price.

When it arrived, it had both the 1909-S VDB and the 1914-D. These were the coins I could never afford as a kid in the 1960's, and will probably never upgrade from the ones I got.

On non-COIN,

I deal in classic Mustang parts. There was an auction where a shop had closed, and everything was being auctioned off, starting at 99 cents, LOCAL PICK UP ONLY in bold letters. It was about an hour from me, and got very few bids. I had tossed on some bids somewhat as place holders to track the auctions and wound up winning over 20 lots, most for 99 cents. For example, new rear leaf springs, lot of 20, (they sell for about $80 each) bought for 99 cents, Lot of 4 shock tower frame rail assemblies, 99 cents, sell for about $600 each, Lot of 50 Right Upper door hinges, retail is $63, mostly sell for about $25, 99 cents. Lot of 15 bell housings, various engines, sell for $75 to $150 each, 99 cents. I had Ford F250 supercab 3/4 ton, with an 8' bed, and it took 2 trips to haul it all away, and I paid less than $50 for all of it. Although I still have some of it, I sold over $10,000 from the stuff I picked up that day. >>




You probably were told this before, but YOU SUCK, TWICE.

Mission16

Once I bid and won several rolls of state quarters for face plus shipping. the pics clearly showed them to be proofs so I figured that was a great deal. Once I got them, it was a several days before I started to open them to fill albums for the grandkids. Couple rolls in, as I happened to look at the edges and thought: "No way are these 90%." The more I looked, I knew they were. A quick email to the seller confirmed the packaging he'd broke them out of. I offered to pay him spot for them and he was thrilled! Turns out he'd taken them to two local dealers who "flat-out, were not interested."

BUFFNIXX

picked up an ngc slabbed 1918-d buff in solid good-4 which was an unlabeled overdate 1918/7-d. I was on pins and needles till the coin actually got to my p o box
as i thought the dealer would be sure to spot it but he did not. Price was a lofty fourteen bucks. Retail is now eleven hundred smackers.

BUFFNIXX

long ago got this good 1916 doubled die obverse buff for 2 grand and then sold it for over 3 grand shortly after.
coin was cleaned and hairlined but not all that bad looking.

[URL=http://s1012.photobucket.com/user/buffnixx/media/161_zps157a8e2f.jpg.html][/URL]

coindeuce

Best eBay story ? By far, the occasion upon which eBay decided to nuke a listing of mine after it had ended, and was paid for by the buyer without incident. A totally free sale before eBay ever offered listings with no FVF.
I never bothered to ask eBay for an explanation.

7Jaguars

Well, it was a British coin but interesting. I used to thoroughly digest the 'bay every day, when about 6 years ago I spied what looked to be a very nice 1838 sovereign with at least prooflike surfaces (the coin was then unknown in proof). I bought it for 1250 pounds - then about $2000 dollars. On receipt, it was obviously a proof and not simply PL early strike. It failed to holder with our hosts who stated excessive hairlines (die prep only and quite obvious on close inspection with magnification). I then sold it to the pre-eminent specialist about two years ago for $18k USD equivalent which was a wholesale price. He too had a good laugh at the lame grading, but was glad to get it as he was able to place it for a healthy profit as well. Hated to sell, but needed the cash!

seanq

I have a bunch of great eBay cherrypicking stories, my favorite just because of the unlikeliness of it was probably a broadstruck twenty cent piece which had been listed as a normal quarter. My favorite story in general dates back to when eBay used to let you see the names of the other bidders, and I noticed the same guy always bidding against me on clipped planchets. I eventually reached out to him and wound up with a great friend and trading partner.


Sean Reynolds

Shamika

<< <i>My favorite story in general dates back to when eBay used to let you see the names of the other bidders, and I noticed the same guy always bidding against me on clipped planchets. I eventually reached out to him and wound up with a great friend and trading partner. >>



I have a similar story in regards to coinboards. There was this guy from New York with whom I would battle anytime a rare coinboard made an appearance on eBay. He and I would both try to snipe any auction of mutual interest so I never knew if I had won until the last second had ticked away. It was crazy frustrating! Eventually he offered for sale a very rare coinboard that I'd never seen before. I placed a monster bid that did not meet reserve, but this allowed him to access my contact information which was the sole intention of the auction. He then introduced himself and we became friends and regular trading partners. He later admitting how much he hated bidding against me .

And for the record, I eventually convinced him to sell that rare coinboard he had baited me with. It's one of my prized pieces in my collection.

DUIGUY

Seller's pics


Bid $15.00

What came in the mail.