This topic is to list ebay sellers and items that sell counterfeits knowingly, or post coins not as described. (eg. showing pictures of a nice coin and sending a junk one)
I purchased a 2015 AUSTRALIAN "FUNNEL-WEB SPIDER" 1 oz. SILVER COIN from Ebay seller eliss-evan. I received an empty padded envelope, with no coin or paperwork. When I filed a dispute, Ebay sided with the seller since I received a tracked shipment, and could not prove it was empty. I can not prove fraud, but I will not purchase from him again.
Quote: "muygrandeoso"I purchased a 2015 AUSTRALIAN "FUNNEL-WEB SPIDER" 1 oz. SILVER COIN from Ebay seller eliss-evan. I received an empty padded envelope, with no coin or paperwork. When I filed a dispute, Ebay sided with the seller since I received a tracked shipment, and could not prove it was empty. I can not prove fraud, but I will not purchase from him again.
This is quite a common fraudsters trick unfortunately. Best advice is to NOT open an ebay case, but to open a SNAD case in paypal.
Quote: "Fluke"I might be ok buying coins up to the value of £100-£150, any higher and I won't trust them at all from eBay
That is quite an obvious counterfeit as well, I spotted one image comparison error right away.
Unbelievable that it went for £420 lol. It was at 50 with a few hours to go when I spotted it.
Fake from a mile away, seller with thousands of feedback, buyer with hundreds....
That's scary. I only deal with cheap purchases on eBay but I still get scared that I'm buying fakes. I can't imagine dropping £420 on a coin that isn't the real thing. Maybe this is a good launching point to compare notes on spotting bad deals?
Beyond doing a really good image comparison, if I were coin hunting one red flag I could see here would be that they don't appear to sell many coins and the feedback doesn't include any mention of coin experience. If they were a responsible seller they'd get an item of that value looked at before selling it, or buying it him/herself to begin with for that matter. Unlike a lot of sellers they list the size and weight of the coin (which is almost 7g off the mark) but most don't do that. I also tend to be wary of the listings that only have photographs from an angle like that.
Of course the biggest red flag would be in the Q&A section where the seller says that they think it might be a replica.
What do you do with bad sellers? How do you mark/remember them?
The seller even admitted it was a fake in response to a question! You just can't protect people from their own stupidity. Not a bad return for a $3 Shanghai Special.
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
Quote: "pnightingale"The seller even admitted it was a fake in response to a question! You just can't protect people from their own stupidity. Not a bad return for a $3 Shanghai Special.
You really can't, I don't understand spending that kind of money on a coin and not even knowing what your collecting?
Taking a break from swapping for a while, but still interested in pre 1799 Spanish coins, I will make time for that!
On the whole I've had good experiences on eBay. Sometimes you get to know the sellers quite well I've even dropped over £600 on there. I think it's a case of box clever and know your coins. I've only ever bought one fake which was a rookies error. Everything else has been sound.
One case I did have though was a coin I bought for a bargain sum. It was sent, tracked until it left Canada and it's not turned up. X2 messages to the seller and no response. Opened a case asking for an update and they've immediately refunded me with no message. In my eyes that's suspicious and I believe they may have posted it with an incorrect addres or even an empty packet with that so it doesn't reach me. They can claim back the value and get paid without selling it.
another time I got a NZ 1/2 crown centennial in UNC condition for £15 and when it turned up it was VF+ / EF- messaged the seller, they had a couple of them and sent it to the wrong person. He fully refunded me and let me keep it as a gesture of goodwill. Nice guy.
just err on the side of caution. I don't believe you should treat eBay sellers with any more or less suspicion than you would with a new swapper on here.
Quote: "Mark240590"On the whole I've had good experiences on eBay. Sometimes you get to know the sellers quite well I've even dropped over £600 on there. I think it's a case of box clever and know your coins. I've only ever bought one fake which was a rookies error. Everything else has been sound.
One case I did have though was a coin I bought for a bargain sum. It was sent, tracked until it left Canada and it's not turned up. X2 messages to the seller and no response. Opened a case asking for an update and they've immediately refunded me with no message. In my eyes that's suspicious and I believe they may have posted it with an incorrect addres or even an empty packet with that so it doesn't reach me. They can claim back the value and get paid without selling it.
another time I got a NZ 1/2 crown centennial in UNC condition for £15 and when it turned up it was VF+ / EF- messaged the seller, they had a couple of them and sent it to the wrong person. He fully refunded me and let me keep it as a gesture of goodwill. Nice guy.
just err on the side of caution. I don't believe you should treat eBay sellers with any more or less suspicion than you would with a new swapper on here.
Couldn't agree more. Rabid fact hunting collectors wont get burned, those who don't take the time to at least compare with many other legitimate coin images....will.
Restoration addict : Verdigris Removal : Zinc White spot removal : Iron Rust Removal : Silver brooch/necklace mount Removal
That's entirely true Mark although I wish it was a better world and people didn't screw each over for a few quid.
How dispiriting for new collectors when they realise that a large part of their free time is going to be devoted towards avoiding fakes instead of just acquiring beautiful coins. I wonder how many of these go on to be mindless silver stackers instead of "real" collectors. I don't mean this in a disparaging way, if I was just starting out and facing the daunting learning curve of 2016 I think I might never have progressed beyond the pocket change / silver stacking stage either.
Fakes (as opposed to counterfeits) used to come in two basic forms; cheap and cheerful types which might look like coins from across the room and were meant to adorn costumes or wedding shakers, or very high quality items made by skilled engravers which were good enough to fool museum curators. Fortunately for 99.9% of collectors such forgeries were costly and time consuming to produce so we could collect our crowns and half sovereigns in peace.
Now with the opening up of global trade, predatory regimes allow the mass production of fake coins which have all but destroyed numismatics. Nobody is safe, even relatively humble coins are widely faked and snapped up by unscrupulous dealers. I used to be confident I could spot a fake coin without even having to get my loupe out but not any more. Specialisation is the way to go in 2016 my friends. Pick a series and stick to it, learn everything you can about it and you might be OK. I find the idea of casually collecting, for example, morgan dollars to be very troubling.
A drone strike on the Big Tree Coin factory would go a long way towards fixing the problem. I think I'll suggest it to The Donald.
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
I know and feel the same frustration, it seems most of these sellers are getting away with many auctions. Then if eBay did step in, think of all the commission they would lose out on.
Another comical seller who is using doctored images, claiming they are selling CGS graded coins that are not in a capsule. (Each image with "grade info" has pixelated matter around the text, blatant text pasting from a different image) First image is directly from the listing, second image is a darkened negative to help the distorted area around text clearly visible.
While you may think this is just another typical seller trying to sell a very low value coin with pointless grading, then take a peek at the listing for this coin HERE and you will see exactly why this one stood out.
At first I came across his listings of some pretty ridiculously overpriced coins, not unusual for eBay. I then noticed the images appeared doctored, but thought no real numismatist will be fooled with such a high value coin, none in slabs. But then to see the magical claim for the one above which is preying on the stupid, I had to send a little message, boy was I met with hostility with a pinch of "I am better than you" word vomit. Claims to be in the same league as very distinguished sellers on eBay, who he claims to know very well.
He seemed to believe a numismatist is a coin seller of high standing, so I told him I know many numismatists and reeled of some first names at random, seems my sarcasm was wasted on him. So he demanded I tell him of forums I visit. Let's see if he stops by.
Another seller to add to the naughty list.
Restoration addict : Verdigris Removal : Zinc White spot removal : Iron Rust Removal : Silver brooch/necklace mount Removal
Nono, it has to be exactly 8 birds, otherwise the coin is not LUCKY anymore ...
and WOW!!! the seller hasn't yet discovered that if you take the position in the alphabet of every letter on this coin, multiply it with the position of that letter in the word and then add those values all up, divide that number by itself and finally add the number of days in an average week .... you get 8 ! UNBELIEVABLE !!!! This really is a LUCKY COIN.
Pity I don't have £8888.88 ... but if anybody feels like sending it to me for free, I promise to grant you three wishes and eternal happiness ... and that at the price of a 1953 half crown (also works with 1953 farthing, half-penny or penny)
Just call me Bram
No new swaps for the moment, still too many half-ongoing swaps to clean up!
Quote: "BramVB"And is he calling the young queen a "Bird" ???
I don't seem to find any other animals, but lions on that coin ...
Luckily the law on lèse-majesté was abolished in 2010 in the UK ...
I had the exact same thought.
Restoration addict : Verdigris Removal : Zinc White spot removal : Iron Rust Removal : Silver brooch/necklace mount Removal
Quote: "Stupendousman35"who knew so many 8s was so lucky!
In Chinese, the word for "eight" when spoken sounds roughly like the word for "get rich", so it's considered lucky. In many local coin shops here you can find prices like "88" or "888". The word for "two" sounds like the word for "easy", so 882 (get rich easy) will raise the value of a banknote if found on the serial number.
To the contrary, the word for "four" sounds like the word for "die", so it's considered unlucky. It's the reason why my apartment block has no 4th and 14th floors. The word for "seven" sounds like a swear word. If a banknote serial number doesn't have the numbers 4 or 7, then it might be worth a little more money.
This seller sounds like he/she's from China. Maybe Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan, considering he/she bothered to put traditional characters on the description.
光復香港 時代革命
五大訴求 缺一不可
Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times
Careful with ebay seller
sattar-uk I found out that he tricks people in the sale of his countermarked coins.
he uses real modern Maria Theresia Talers, makes them look a bit worn and then places fake counterstamps on the coins.
Listing the coin as 100% real but unsure about the countersramp and that the counterstamp might be a fantasy.
his coins often seem to sell in the 150 USD + region
If you like coins, medals and tokens with ship motives follow my new instagram account with regular updates @numisnautiker
From time to time I sell some coins on Ebay make sure to follow me @apuking on Ebay.
If I had the time I would like to start a research on eBay sellers and buyers.
I'm afraid that the outcome would be, stupidity pays off or trick and be tricked at wish.
Anyway, I still adore the magnetic Egyptian silver coins I bought there. Yes I was stupid and should have known better but at least I got something for my money.
Quote: "apuking"Careful with ebay seller
sattar-uk I found out that he tricks people in the sale of his countermarked coins.
he uses real modern Maria Theresia Talers, makes them look a bit worn and then places fake counterstamps on the coins.
Listing the coin as 100% real but unsure about the countersramp and that the counterstamp might be a fantasy.
his coins often seem to sell in the 150 USD + region
I keep encountering his store when looking for Arab coins. I think he forges his own counterstamps on real coins and then chemically antiques them... either way his store is thriving. Not a single negative rating and people just keep eating his fakes up for higher and higher prices... Has anyone here had experiences with this seller?
This reply is more than a listing of bad vendors, but it does have some relevance to your topic. On March 23, 2021 I attempted to purchase an Albanian banknote (20 Franka 1926, Pick 3a banknote) from an eBay vendor, Vasil Xhitoni (vasilixh), from Tirana, Albania for US$21.00. However, when I attempted to pay for the note by PayPal I received both these messages: "Sorry, we can't process your payment. Please try again, or select a different payment option." and "We ran into a problem. Please try again." Despite checking that all my eBay and PayPal information match exactly, I continued to get one of these aforementioned annoying warnings from eBay/PayPal. Both messages do not clarify why they are putting a limitation on this transaction (or block). PayPal's 'messenger' service just shut down with the statement that essentially they were too busy to deal with my conflict. After a lot of time spent tracking down a way to contact PayPal directly--and they do make it very hard to do so--I sent them a message to either lift the limitation block or give me a reason for blocking the sale. If this vendor is SO bad as to warrant blocking a small value transaction, why would not PayPal ask eBay to remove this listing from their site? It has been a frustrating experience. Moreover, I made a successful purchase using eBay/PayPal today. That means it is not something with my personal data being out of alignment. I may have to face the reality that this may be a lost purchase opportunity. But I will never know if this was a "red flag" situation and I could have been defrauded by this vendor or not. If the vendor is legitimate then this bureaucratic mess that eBay and PayPal have created is dreadfully unfair to this vendor. While there are obvious advantages of having access to a global market, I believe that one would be able to settle this dispute oh so much easier with a brick and mortar small business than resolving conflicts with these giant Internet corporations.
