Maybe what we have is two tier market. I have sold and bought coins on ebay. I do not allow returns on coins. I usually start my auctions at very low prices. I describe them accurately. I suspect there are 2 kinds of buyers out there. The perfectionists who will return a coin if it doesnt quite measure up. The 2nd type of buyer is relying on the Slabber's grade. Maybe it is overgraded. The buyer may not care. IF I buy an ms 65 slabbed coin and it ends up being ms 64 in reality, i may still be ok with it. Why? Maybe i will hold it 25 years. In the end I will still do ok, so long as it wasnt cleaned. I am talking about coins that sell for less than $500.00... When i want to buy a coin that sells for more than $500 I buy from an Auction house like Heritage, or buy from a dealer who does offer returns. I do agree that if you were selling an expensive coin on ebay, I wouldnt buy it unless you offerred a return policy. My philosophy is that if I accumulate a well diversified portfolio of slabbed coins(pcgs or Ngc), in 25 years when i go to sell, I will come out ok. This philosophy worked well for me on coins that I bought raw in the 1970's and then later slabbed. There were one or 2 lemons, but most were ok, and I did well financially. Having said this, I did recently return an Ngc slabbed coin on ebay because it had pvc on it, and I wont stand for that.
Interesting read. Particularly those who say they won't buy from a seller without a return policy. I have no stated return policy, and there are some in this thread who have bought from me multiple times.
<< <i>Well, if people wouldn't bid on their stuff, then they wouldn't be able to get away with it.
I returned a coin that was cleaned and retoned, and was not advertised as cleaned. He told me he was only going to return the purchase price. I said, of course. Then after I seemed to not care, he said he was also going to deduct ebay fees. I told him that seemed unethical but I didn't want a cleaned coin. >>
Of courses those who do state a return policy usually include a provision that fees and costs of shipping will be deducted. The seller can get some of those fees back from EBay so that might be the part that is a little less ethical. Apart from that, to borrow from a well known phrase, "Cleaning is in the eye of the --holder."
<< <i>I have no stated return policy, and there are some in this thread who have bought from me multiple times. >>
'No Return Policy' isn't the same as a 'No-Return Policy'. And you have posted on this board times you have accepted returns. So people know you stand behind what you sell. Which is what a return policy does for us without a 56000 post reputation
One of the first things I look for in an ebay auction is the return policy. If they say no returns I'll either pass it by or send an email asking it it can be returned if I don't like it. If they don't respond to the email or say no I pass it by - unless it can be bought for about half of the going rate. I bought a PCGS slabbed coin with no return policy one time and never again. The photo had been doctored and the description did not mention that the coin had been used for a coaster and left part of a ring of paint on the reverse. Had I seen the coin in hand I would not have offered half of what I paid.
To those that say an ebay suction is not an approval service I say that is exactly what it should be. This board has hundreds maybe thousands of posts commenting on the impossibility of grading coins from a photograph. There are almost as many saying "buy the coin not the holder". Both statements are very true.
Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my hard drive?
Like I said earlier I do allow returns IF I mirepresent the coin in any way. My pics are clear enough to grade the coin. I feel that covers any issues. I will not bid on a coin that has pics that I cannot grade for myself. I would bid on any coin that had a good pic with or without a return
Comments
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>Well, if people wouldn't bid on their stuff, then they wouldn't be able to get away with it.
I returned a coin that was cleaned and retoned, and was not advertised as cleaned. He told me he was only going to return the purchase price. I said, of course. Then after I seemed to not care, he said he was also going to deduct ebay fees. I told him that seemed unethical but I didn't want a cleaned coin. >>
Of courses those who do state a return policy usually include a provision that fees and costs of shipping will be deducted. The seller can get some of those fees back from EBay so that might be the part that is a little less ethical. Apart from that, to borrow from a well known phrase, "Cleaning is in the eye of the --holder."
<< <i>I have no stated return policy, and there are some in this thread who have bought from me multiple times. >>
'No Return Policy' isn't the same as a 'No-Return Policy'. And you have posted on this board times you have accepted returns. So people know you stand behind what you sell. Which is what a return policy does for us without a 56000 post reputation
To those that say an ebay suction is not an approval service I say that is exactly what it should be. This board has hundreds maybe thousands of posts commenting on the impossibility of grading coins from a photograph. There are almost as many saying "buy the coin not the holder". Both statements are very true.