How to buy safely on ebay
Tvac897
Posts: 1,478
Hey guys, I'm new to collecting on eBay? Can anyone give me some tips or point me in the right direction of a thread that will walk me through how to avoid getting scammed?
-Rome is Burning
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Better yet maybe try some of the dealers sites, or Heritage Auctions, DLRC, and other auction houses to start with. Paying a $ more can be very helpful when you are learning. My collection site linked below has links to some of the dealers and auction houses I have bought from, or dealers who have been especially helpful over the years.
World Collection
British Collection
German States Collection
2. become a believer of feedback, always check it and see what the seller has been buying
3. read item descriptions completely before bidding
4. don't expect the coin to be worth popular on-line price guides
5. Take advantage of all buyer protection available
6. Do not buy from China
7. if it's too good to be true it ain't true
8. search this forum for anything that says ebay
9. Try to ask the seller a question. the tone of the answer is a good indicator.
10. there is no such thing as an estate sale
11. determine your maximum bid and stick to it (don't get emotional and win for the sake of winning)
12. At the moment there are a quarter million coin/currency listings. If you don't get this one there will be another one.
13. Learn to use the advance search to determine what the going price is for your coin
14. Don't go coin shopping while under the influence of medication (worse results than trying to drive a tractor)
Velocity, Not Valuation Defines A Bubble.
Don't bid on any auction that does not have a clear return policy.
This disqualifies alot of auctions.
Don't bid on any auction that has cr@ppy pictures and does not clearly represent the product.
This avoids scammers who are hiding problems.
Don't bid on any auction that is too good to be true.
This is a good general rule. Scammers prey on folks with hopes of getting a bargain.
Always check a seller using this website:
Toolhaus - negative and neutral feedback
This will expose any issues that eBay does not.
Always check to see that the seller has a recent history of selling the product you are interested in.
This will expose sellers pumping up their feedback artificially.
Always examine feedback.
Read the positives. Sometimes a negative comment occurs within a positive feedback. Sometimes there are followups.
Sometimes you see a pattern of shilling, which is other fake bidders with the sole intention of making real bidders pay more.
Always know the series you are dealing with.
This avoids you from overbidding or overpaying.
Never respond to a second chance offer.
This is how shills work. They bid you up. If the shill "wins"...they offer the first non-shill bidder a 'deal'.
[amended]
Take care when responding to e-mails. Never click on a link in an e-mail.
Try to do everything directly through the eBay website. If you click on a link in an e-mail, phishers can steal your account if you click via eMail and then login. Using the "reply" feature of your e-mail application is generally safe.
When in doubt, ask the seller a question.
The response can be enlightening. Is the seller on the ball? Or a goof?
Read all auctions carefully.
This will avoid scammers who list PayPal as a payment type, but actually don't accept it.
Avoid any auction that uses the following language:
Guaranteed unsearched
Estate sale
Grandpa/Grandma
I know nothing about coins
Avoid anything from China or Australia.
Hotbed of scams right now are originating from these two countries.
Develop a sense of comfort and uncomfort when reading a listing.
Avoid anything that is uncomfortable to you.
Make a list of bad sellers and avoid them.
You'll see some of those sellers here. You'll find others yourself.
When buying an item from a seller, check out the other wares for sale
Make certain that you don't see any questionable stuff from the seller in question like Fake Trade Dollars.
Also, checking out completed listings of this seller can help too.
When buying slabbed coins, you might find this website useful, as there are some counterfeits out there.
Sample slab photos
Do not purchase an item that exceeds the PayPal protection limits.
Later on, when you come to learn and know the Truly Reputable Sellers...there are precious few it seems in the mess of garbage on that site...then some of these rules can be relaxed.
But if you want to avoid scams, follow all of these rules and more.
Go slow. Do not get excited. Do not rush to bid ever; you will miss one of the Big Rules.
Oh yeah...a big one...
Do not bid while drunk.
If the toners all have the same "look", slabbed or not, run like he!!.
1947-P & D; 1948-D; 1949-P & S; 1950-D & S; and 1952-S.
Any help locating any of these OBW rolls would be gratefully appreciated!
Velocity, Not Valuation Defines A Bubble.
<< <i>Never respond to an e-mail. >>
Communication through eBay can be a hassle for sellers due to the limitations of eBay's system. If you (as a buyer) refuse to respond to emails, please at least have the common decency to not complain if the transaction takes longer to complete because of delays due to your choice to limit the means of communication to methods which may be less efficient for the seller.
<< <i>I know you're trying to help, but this one bugs me...
<< <i>Never respond to an e-mail. >>
Communication through eBay can be a hassle for sellers due to the limitations of eBay's system. If you (as a buyer) refuse to respond to emails, please at least have the common decency to not complain if the transaction takes longer to complete because of delays due to your choice to limit the means of communication to methods which may be less efficient for the seller. >>
I believe he meant to never respond to an email that does not come to your ebay "messages."
Velocity, Not Valuation Defines A Bubble.
e-mail is tricky. As a buyer or seller, and as a computer user with a junk mail filter, i've had problems before with 'missing' messages.
You need to CHECK your e-mail.
eBay sends you lots of e-mails. It is best not to answer these through the default methods. That involves clicking on a link in an e-mail which is a huge security risk, as you never know where that e-mail really came from. You can READ them. Responding to them takes some care.
Simply replying to an e-mail is safe. It's clicking in the body of that fancy e-mail...hittting a link...up comes a browser...who knows where you have just been directed!!!
If someone asks you a question, yes, there is no harm in replying to and answering that e-mail. Some folks do not use the PayPal message system and that by itself is not an indication of fraud.
But, clicking on a link in an e-mail? That is a generally forbidden thing to do. All sorts of phishing scams occur that way and there is always a way to just launch a browser, navigate to the correct website and deal with it that way.
Never trust a link in an e-mail is what I should have said.
<< <i>I believe he meant to never respond to an email that does not come to your ebay "messages." >>
None of the email I send to my winning bidders shows up in their eBay messages. I still don't see why replying to an email message from the seller of the item you just won (you know you had the winning bid, right?) is going to get you scammed.
US and British coin collector, and creator of The Ultimate Chuck E. Cheese's and Showbiz Pizza Place Token & Ticket Guide
1. Does not take paypal.
2. Low and/or old feedback.
3. Only feedback as a buyer, now used as a seller.
4. Requires payment by certified check or money order only.
Never pay by certified check or wire transfer - almost assuredly someone working for an overseas mafioso.
History of the US Constitution Coin Set
<< <i>e-mail is tricky. As a buyer or seller, and as a computer user with a junk mail filter, i've had problems before with 'missing' messages. >>
Which is why the comment below is included in all my listings:
"Due to the increasing use of spam filters, the notifications I send do not always get to the buyer's inbox. If it has been over 3 days since you made your purchase and you have not heard from me, check your filter settings and/or spam email folder."
<< <i>You need to CHECK your e-mail. >>
Absolutely.
<< <i>Simply replying to an e-mail is safe. It's clicking in the body of that fancy e-mail...hittting a link...up comes a browser...who knows where you have just been directed!!! >>
Don't click links in an email? Absolutely squared.
<< <i>Never trust a link in an e-mail is what I should have said. >>
Agreed.
Buying top quality Seated Dimes in Gem BU and Proof.
Buying great coins - monster eye appeal only.
I purchased some ASEs from Silver State, a company that doesn't take PayPal, but I trust them.
So, I send them a money order. It is bullion and time is of the essence. But I slip a digit and underpay by $18.
I wait two weeks. Then I send an e-mail asking where my ASEs are.
Then...to my horror...I find that they mentioned the underpayment two weeks ago and it's been sitting in my spam filter.
***EEEK****
Feeling bad, I send them another money order, this time for the $18 I missed plus an extra $20 because I feel so bad about the situation and bullion prices have moved.
What do they do? They send me an extra ASE. I probably was alot more trouble than I was worth as a customer here.
I'll try to make it up to them in the future. They have stuff I want from time to time.
You can buy raw as long as you follow all the other points given AND you are familiar with the series and it's grading, PROVIDED the pics are EXCELLENT and the seller has a great feedback score INCLUDING the star on " accuracy of description" in the feedback.
Many a great raw coin sells on ebay every minute of every day, but, many many are also sold that are cleaned problem junkers...be careful
Please do not become a "if not slabbed, I can't buy it" mistake
<< <i>Ignore the 1 comment I find kinda misleading....Dont buy raw coins EVER.....
You can buy raw as long as you follow all the other points given AND you are familiar with the series and it's grading, PROVIDED the pics are EXCELLENT and the seller has a great feedback score INCLUDING the star on " accuracy of description" in the feedback.
Many a great raw coin sells on ebay every minute of every day, but, many many are also sold that are cleaned problem junkers...be careful
Please do not become a "if not slabbed, I can't buy it" mistake >>
Fully agree, but the original poster asked for tips on how to avoid getting scammed. Never buying a raw coin will help him meet that goal, but like you say, it will also result in missing some good buys.
Velocity, Not Valuation Defines A Bubble.
Use it and you will be surprised how many 99.6 - 99.9% 200-300 plus feedback sellers you'd not want to do business with.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
Matching forum members here to their auctions on eBay is good advice!