How Much Silver and Gold Bullion on eBay is fake or counterfeit?

WingedLiberty1957

I've been hearing anecdotes that a lot of Gold and Silver Bullion coins on eBay are fake. I was wondering how pervasive people think that might be?

OPA

My uneducated guess, just like your survey ...less than 1%

MsMorrisine

Small
Tiny
Above 0%

Downtown1974

< 5%

I believe it’s a very small percentage, but I still only buy from reputable dealers when going through eBay.

bronco2078

< 5%

i have no idea but I picked less than 5% because I have only gotten fake bullion 2 times . I've seen quite a bit a sketchy listings but I have no idea what percentage they represent of the whole or without handling them if they are 100% fake

Timbuk3

!!!

ricko

5-25%

My guess is strictly a guess....since I have not done a time bounded, in depth study - and would likely miss some of the fakes anyway.... However, from the amount of threads on the coin forum, pointing out fakes, I would say over 5%...but less than 12%.... Cheers, RickO

VanHalen

< 5%

I believe it's still under 5% but rising of course.

OPA

@ricko said:
My guess is strictly a guess....since I have not done a time bounded, in depth study - and would likely miss some of the fakes anyway.... However, from the amount of threads on the coin forum, pointing out fakes, I would say over 5%...but less than 12%.... Cheers, RickO

FYI...There are currently 1,656,348 coins in the coin category and according to your "guess," at least 5% or over 72,000 are fakes. If that was the case, eBay would have been shut down a long, long time ago.

ricko

5-25%

@OPA....And exactly who would shut them down?? They self police... and admittedly do not catch nearly all the fakes.... however, there is no one that will shut them down... even at that rate, it is a drop in the bucket of commerce.... how many MILLIONS of more items beyond coins are on ebay?? No, even 72,000 is not a daunting figure...well within the realm of possibility. Cheers, RickO

blitzdude

5-25%

Alibaba west, over 5% for sure. Plenty of fakes listed at any given time, some easily identifiable, some not so much.

OPA

"And exactly who would shut them down?"

ricko. I'll give you a potential list.

a) reputation. Lack of buyers & sellers, do to "high volume" of counterfeits & fakes and the bad publicity that comes with it, will affect their bottom line.
b) Secret Service....with that many fakes, it would probably reach their threshold in getting involved.
c) FBI ... interstate transportation of counterfeit products.
d) US Postal Inspector
e) Numerous local & State consumer protection & law enforcement agencies.
d) Class action suits brought on by some of your "5%" that lost money.

blitzdude

5-25%

@OPA said:
"And exactly who would shut them down?"

ricko. I'll give you a potential list.

a) reputation. Lack of buyers & sellers, do to "high volume" of counterfeits & fakes and the bad publicity that comes with it, will affect their bottom line.
b) Secret Service....with that many fakes, it would probably reach their threshold in getting involved.
c) FBI ... interstate transportation of counterfeit products.
d) US Postal Inspector
e) Numerous local & State consumer protection & law enforcement agencies.
d) Class action suits brought on by some of your "5%" that lost money.

I unknowingly purchased fake silver eagles on ebay. they even used pictures of real eagles them proceeded to send silver plated brass. I can tell you with absolute certainty A-E, D didn't give a hoot. Ebays solution? Return the fakes to seller so I could get refunded lol

Edit: Trust me, I wish the people on your list did give a hoot, I don't like getting ripped off and it bothers me to no end seeing these scum bags taking advantage of innocent and honest people. Unfortunately that's not the world we live in.

hchcoin

< 5%

@OPA said:

@ricko said:
My guess is strictly a guess....since I have not done a time bounded, in depth study - and would likely miss some of the fakes anyway.... However, from the amount of threads on the coin forum, pointing out fakes, I would say over 5%...but less than 12%.... Cheers, RickO

FYI...There are currently 1,656,348 coins in the coin category and according to your "guess," at least 5% or over 72,000 are fakes. If that was the case, eBay would have been shut down a long, long time ago.

That is a great way of thinking about it.

cohodk

< 5%

I don't like getting ripped off and it bothers me to no end seeing these scum bags taking advantage of innocent and honest people. Unfortunately that's not the world we live in.

The truth will always overcome lies. The "innocent and honest" need to add "knowledgeable" to their character traits. Education will always defeat the con-man. Teach the masses.

PerryHall

Most of the counterfeit bars on eBay came from China. Here's a suggestion---go to the two major selling sites in China which are similar to Amazon (aliexpress.com and dhgate.com) and do a search for silver bars or silver bullion. The counterfeit bars shown there are what you can expect to be sold on eBay. It appears that the vast majority of the fake bars are of the 1 oz size.

ricko

5-25%

Then go to ebay..... See anything familiar... and those are the lousy counterfeits... Cheers, RickO

blitzdude

5-25%

@PerryHall said:
Most of the counterfeit bars on eBay came from China. Here's a suggestion---go to the two major selling sites in China which are similar to Amazon (aliexpress.com and dhgate.com) and do a search for silver bars or silver bullion. The counterfeit bars shown there are what you can expect to be sold on eBay. It appears that the vast majority of the fake bars are of the 1 oz size.

Why go to aliexpress or dhgate? Tons of fakes available right there on Amazon

PerryHall

@blitzdude said:

@PerryHall said:
Most of the counterfeit bars on eBay came from China. Here's a suggestion---go to the two major selling sites in China which are similar to Amazon (aliexpress.com and dhgate.com) and do a search for silver bars or silver bullion. The counterfeit bars shown there are what you can expect to be sold on eBay. It appears that the vast majority of the fake bars are of the 1 oz size.

Why go to aliexpress or dhgate? Tons of fakes available right there on Amazon

Virtually all the fakes on Amazon came from China through aliexpress and dhgate. By checking their offerings you can see what brands are coming out of China so that you know which brands to be particularly cautious of.

TwoSides2aCoin

None of what I sell.