I thought I was too old for tuition (APMEX)...
CommemKing
Posts: 2,202 ✭✭✭✭✭
I bought what I thought was going to be a 1952 PCGS MS66 Rainbow Washington/Carver commem on ebay from APMEX. I received a coin today that has a different cert number than the one posted in the auction and has nowhere near the color as the coin posted. No I recall some others having similar trouble with APMEX but I either don't recall the threads or didn't read them. I also noticed there are NO RETURNS for their items. What in holy hell is going on here. Are they selling coins with the best stock photo they have and sending inferior coins when purchased. I looked on the auction page and it does not appear to state you will necessarily receive the coin in the auction. Although I don't know why someone would do business like that. its too late now but I will be calling first thing in the morning. Please anyone with any help would be appreciated.
Joe
Comments
If you contact them, they will take it back.
They have a history of using stock photos.
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First contact seller through ebay's system and ask for a refund. Good chance they will do it. If not you can file a SNAD with ebay and return it.
This comes up every 6 months or so.
Fact: APMEX's brain is set on "BULLION" and all bullion is the same.
They apply the same brain to coins. Hence the problem. Best to ask them if the coin you are buying is the same as pictured.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
I started a thread a few years ago asking " Am I the only one who didn't know Apmex uses stock photos for everything?". I argued with a guy on the other end of the line about all 65's are not the same. LOL
edited to add......... I did get my money back after getting belligerent with them.
True. They are AWESOME for bullion. Anything else requires a phone call before purchase to make sure it isn't a stock photo.
But, they do stand behind their product, so they will fix the problem.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Apmex is a bullion dealer. Period. Just one more example. Sorry for the inconvenience for you.
deal with them through the ebay system. Your potential feedback will make them jump through hoops.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
Next time if you buy from them, message them saying you are paying a premium because the coin shown is attractive. If you can not send me cert xxxxxxxx, then cancel sale and save us both time and energy. Their website is the same way.
Good to know. Thanks everyone. Calling first thing in the a.m.
I would use ebay's message system.
Just my 2 cents
Link to auction?
This isn't the first time a post like this appeared!
That is one reason to buy from a B&M shop
Apmex isn't the Only seller on ebay in fact there are many.
Be very careful !!!
I had that problem once also. I called and they refunded and took coin back. I have never done business with them again and won't ever. I always want the coin pictured! That is a pet peeve of mine.
STOCK PHOTO'S SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED!!!!!! PERIOD!!!!!
Stock photos labeled as stock photos have a place. If they are selling 100 20 Franc coins, do you really want them to photograph them all and list them all separately? If you are selling NGC MS 69 2018 Kennedy Halves, why can't you use a stock photo?
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Yeah the lesson is: Never buy a numismatic coin from APMEX. Great for bullion though.
Successful transactions with: wondercoin, Tetromibi, PerryHall, PlatinumDuck, JohnMaben/Pegasus Coin & Jewelry, CoinFlip, and coinlieutenant.
Bait and switch is a real no no. When they use the postal service it escalates it to postal fraud. Not good.
bob
Ebay has anointed Apmex as the house bullion provider. The small saps that helped create Ebays success got flattened when the so called level playing field went lopsided in favor of the behemoths. That is why Amazon soars while Ebay stutters.
the "Ask seller a question" feature on eBay should always be used with Apmex. they have listings with some really nice coins but they tend to use Stock Photos.
Yeah, right. Don't let facts get in your way
https://amazon.com/1908-Indian-Quarter-Random-Uncirculated/dp/B01MSGE36T/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=apmex+gold&qid=1554427669&s=gateway&sr=8-3
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Fun fact about Amazon being "better" than eBay:
https://ebay.com/itm/2000-1-oz-Gold-American-Eagle-BU-SKU-7442-/121836343477?hash=item1c5e0310b5
https://amazon.com/2000-American-Eagle-Brilliant-Uncirculated/dp/B01M3YP88Q/ref=sr_1_24?keywords=apmex+gold&qid=1554427950&s=gateway&sr=8-24://
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
the only time you should by bullion from them on eBay is if you are getting 8-10% ebay bucks
https://apmex.com/product/7442/2000-1-oz-gold-american-eagle-bu
I have a hard time believing that's the case, and that sounds really lame. A big outfit like that also knows coins inside and out and cannot possibly feign ignorance that an attractively toned coin priced at a premium is a generic 'stock photo' type item IMO.
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Your hobby is supposed to be your therapy, not the reason you need it.
Take a deep breath old friend.
Ebay enjoyed a market cap higher than that of Amazon a decade and a half ago as both companies battled for market dominance. Today AMZN has a market cap of $893 Billion vs a tepid $38 billion for Ebay.
So what happened. Amazon originally inventoried and shipped their own merchandise, and judiciously integrated independent sellers into the system.
Ebay want to have their hands on nothing but servers so they enticed folks to independantly stock the virtual shelves.
Today Amazon has small delivery truck whirring around the neighborhood delivering most orders in 2 to 24 hours in the lesser metro areas. If they lost every independent seller, they would take a hit...but survive.
Ebay has taken their longtime merchants and hosed them at every turn. Only thing that keeps many around is the Bucks promotions and they sure as hell make no profit on those.
The coin seller that once paid $35 in final value fees on a $2000 Saint, now gets whacked for $123. And that is only if he is paying a monthly fee for a store. Apmex sells the same saint and probably pays $40 in fees. Problem is they mess up orders frequently as this OP demonstrates, and they don;t jump through hoops to offer next day shipping.
I appreciate that you sell items in the $10 to $20 range mostly and are successful at it. This being a PCGS forum, that and NGC coins are mostly what I sell, and the margins on properly grade coins don't permit much room on rapidly rising fees.
Easy fix. Call. Explain. Get an RMA and shipping label. Return for refund or replacement. No extra $ except gas to/from whatever shipper is used and a bit time.
One of their methods.
Remember the 5 oz bullion puck story?
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The point is not that Amazon didn't kick everyone's butt. They did. It's the reason you ascribe to it that I take issue with.
Amazon is literally twice as hard on sellers as eBay with fees in the 20% range. And notice that Apmex sells on Amazon also but sells the same item for 7% more money because of the fee difference.
There are probably a lot of reasons why Amazon kicked eBay (and everyone else), but the way they handled "behemoth" retailers is NOT one of the reasons.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
APMEX has been unethical about numismatic coin bait and switch ever since I can remember. I would never buy bullion from such a dealer who practices such dishonesty.
Best, SH
Bummer
Apmex is not the venue for collector coins at all IMHO
Congrats on 2k posts @CommemKing
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
I remember the threads as well. It’s better to put up the most commonly looking or the least favoritable picture when dealing with common coins or random date listing at least that been policy of the other big company. Not worth the dissatisfactions and loss of business. A 2 % returns rate equals a 20% dissatisfaction. Anything should be returned if not as described. Sorry to hear this happen.
Best place to buy !
Bronze Associate member
For me it really doesn't matter......I want the coin pictured......no matter the value.
This situation comes up here periodically... Apmex does use stock photo's... you will not get the coin pictured. The will, however, refund your money when you are dissatisfied. Cheers, RickO
What. About a charge back on the charge card
Yes it has been a topic here a few times in the past. Its a strange practice for a company that does a lot of business with the public and for sure they know collectors disapprove of the practice but it obviously hasn't stopped them. IMO they do it hoping the buyers wont bother with a return. Like some others have suggested, send it back not as described.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
Part of this probably depends on how many people disapprove and whether the practice makes them money or not overall.
It's a simple rule. Don't ever, ever, ever, ever expect to get the coin pictured from APMEX. This subject has come up quite a bit. Just last year, I bought a 1913-D T1 Buffalo in PCGS MS-65 that from the images, was a nicely toned "2 Feather" variety. What I received was not what was pictured.
They do more than just use stock images, they actually manipulate the images to make them seem better. The amount of time used to alter images for use on eBay could easily be used towards actually photographing the actual coin for sale.
Can anyone tell me what is wrong with the following images? They came from APMEX listings on eBay.
^^^
Looks like they inserted a cropped coin pic onto the slab?
Off center too.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
looks like the labels do not match the slab generation
wow
deja vu!
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/993496/ordered-from-apmex-but-got-a-different-coin
They used photoshop to put a Rattler label onto a different generation holder??
APMEX is a great company. Period. Amen.
That's fine, for you. I'm not telling you to buy off a stock photo. But your pronouncement was that they should NOT BE ALLOWED. That, I disagree with.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
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I sell a lot of PCGS/NGC coins. My sales volume is driven by cheaper items but my dollar volume is driven by higher priced items.
I'll repeat what I said on a different thread. The problem isn't eBay, it's the coin market. Coins have ridiculously thin margins. Anyone who was looking for a business to go into would never go into coins. Most BM establishments do most of their dollar volume on bullion with single digit margins - often LOW single digits.
It also depends on what you want to compare it to, even if you do choose to be in the stupid coin market. eBay is still the BEST venue for a lot of coin material, including low margin PCGS/NGC slabs. You cannot easily run a business on BST. Even coin shows have costs associated with attending. GC is really not the best option price-wise for slabs under $1000 because you will lose 15% minimum due to buyer/seller fees. For coins $50 and under, GC is incredibly expensive. And, of course, Heritage and Stack's are even worse, assuming you could get them to take your $100 coins in the first place.
As I always say: there is no venue that is the best venue for everything. Some things are better on eBay (and cheaper!), some are better on GC, some are better on Stack's, some just need to be wholesaled for whatever you can get, some could go BST,etc.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Again, that is NOT the practice I was referring to. Dimeman's pronouncement was the very generic "no stock photos". Stock photos are perfectly acceptable if you are selling 50 MS65 1881-S Morgan $s or some other widget.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I can't think of any case where I would be happy with a "stock" coin. If they are going to use stock photos it should be marked on the thumbnail page so I can skip right on buy and not bother to open the auction!
I hope that was a tongue in cheek statement. Any dealer that switches labels should be closed down!
I also don't believe it should be permissable to use a stock photo, and given the photo manipulation above it would seem that APMEX is in violation of some rule, somewhere. I would even think it constitutes some type of fraud, especially where PCGS is concerned. APMEX appears to be fraudulently mis-representing PCGS.
I am always confused as to why collector type buyers insist on buying bullion from APMEX. sure, they advertise at 79 cents over spot on bullion, but that's by check/wire transfer at 500+ozt.(under 500ozt. is $1.30-$2.00 over spot) not a lot of collectors buy that much at a time and they almost to a person DO NOT want to leave a paper trail. why not buy from a seller like our store at spot+ .50-$1.00 with no paper trail??
APMEX isn't very good for a collector, maybe for a dealer/wholesaler, but not a collector.
It's quite simple why I would buy bullion from Apmex: they are cheaper than any B&M, especially with eBay bucks. I routinely buy bullion coins for as much as $60 back of spot with eBay buck bonuses.
I'd also point out that you are thinking too much in terms of your particular state/B&M. NY state, for example has tax on bullion below $1000 and recording requirements for purchases over $1000 so there is almost always a paper trail. APMEX/Ebay also lets me use credit cards (except their wire transfer bulk lots) that gives me a 2% bonus that no B&M will allow me.
I often wonder why anyone buys bullion at my local B&M!
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
The only case where I'll use stock photos is for a PCGS 70 or for generic items (modern mint sets, rocketships, sealed items).
For a PCGS 70, I think it's fine as long as you advertise the cert number may vary (provided the label type is the same). Outside of that, I want to see what I'm getting, so I try to do the same on the selling side.
(I'm admittedly a small-time seller with 50-250 items at any given time.)