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Great Values Can Be Found on eBay If You Play It Safe
By Carl Wohlforth
Lots of people from all over the world sell coins on eBay. At any moment
there are thousands of coins for auction. It is possible to find good deals as
long as you remember that in the coin business there is no Santa Claus. If a
deal looks too good to be true it is. Please take care out there.
Hall of Shame
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Many Estate Sales
I recently sold a roll of 30
circulated Wheat Ear Lincoln Cents on eBay. They brought about $10 including
shipping. The winning bidder then turned around and listed them as an unsearched
roll from an Estate. Somebody paid over $50 for the exact same roll. I could
tell it was the same roll because the serial number on the roll in the photo was
the same. I estimate that 30 average circulated Wheat Ear Cents are worth $10 or
a bit less. Now I know for a fact this roll didn't come from an Estate because
it came from me and I haven't passed away yet. Could there be a rare key date
coin in the roll? Maybe, and I could win the lottery next week too.
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Unsearched Lots
It is unrealistic to think the
coins haven't been searched at some point. People buy coins by the pound and
look through them for key dates. Even if they are just starting out and need all
dates they will keep the best coin for themselves. Then they need to get rid of
the rest. Would you pay more for unsearched cents? If they really are unsearched
you would because there is always the chance you might find a 1909-S VDB or a
1914-D. Are you sure the coins haven't been searched? No. If you buy an antique
candy machine from a very old person who stashed it in his barn for 75 years you
might conclude any coins found in it are unsearched. Most every batch of coins
has been searched over again and again.
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Unopened Proof Sets
The idea here is there might be
some valuable Deep Cameo proofs in sets from the 1950s and early 1960s. If they
were never opened you have a chance of finding a valuable coin. However
reproduction envelopes are readily available and are often auctioned off on
eBay. People will take proof sets and seal them in these envelopes and sell them
as unopened. Sets that really have never been opened could be worth a tad more
because of the slight chance of a DCAM coin. I would never buy "unopened" sets
for much of a premium over opened sets and then only after I inspect the sets in
person and am pretty sure they are in original, not reproduction, envelopes.
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Optimistic grading
There are two scams here. One is to
say "It looks like a 70 to me, but I'm no expert you judge by the photos". Now
the photos might be small, blurry or distorted or they might even have been
digitally edited to obscure problems. You can be sure the coin will grade far
less than is stated and may have been cleaned or is otherwise not certifiable.
The second is to take advantage of
the fact that not all grading companies use the same standards. So a seller will
say this Third Tier Certification holder says 66 and the PCGS price guide says
66s should be worth $8,000 but my starting price is only $2,000. It often
happens the coin would be graded 64 by PCGS and is really worth $500. New buyers
often get fooled by this as they think one company's 65 is the same as all the
others. The most blatant example of this scheme is when someone buys a Coin
World holder and prints their own label.
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People who write bad
checks
It often happens that several
people share the same name. In the example below I am only talking about one
specific person and not about anybody who shares that name.
A Mr. Makarewicz won an auction of
mine on March 27, 2005. He paid $75 by check which I received on April 5. I
shipped his winning lot to Joseph Makarewicz, 101 Memorial Highway, Dallas PA.
18612 on April 6
and left positive feedback. The check was returned to my bank due to NSF (Not
Sufficient Funds) on April 13. To add insult to the injury I was charged a $10
bad check fee from my bank. Mr. Makarewicz has not responded to numerous
attempts to contact him. He has also been booted from eBay and is no longer a
registered user.
Other people may send counterfeit
money orders, though I personally have never received one. The safest thing for
a seller is to wait until the bank clears any and all checks, money orders or
other instruments.
Do people really do these things?
I'm sorry to say it, but yes they do. I am a trusting fellow. I honestly believe
the vast majority of people are good and mean well. I have had thousands of
successful transactions and only received one bad check. However there are people out
there with no integrity who are willing to lie, or stretch the truth, if they
can make money. I don't know how they can live with themselves.
Tips for Buyers
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Check the sellers feedback
You want to see %100 positives
and over 100 transactions. If there are negatives are they deserved? Run away
from negative feedback like "item never delivered".
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Look at payment policies and shipping costs
Always factor in shipping costs
to your max bid. Always look at shipping costs before you bid. Remember your
cost is the winning bid PLUS shipping costs.
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Insist on a return policy
Even the best photos can't show
everything about a coin. If you don't like the coin when you first get it you
won't grow to love it later.
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Beware of differing standards
See the optimistic grading
paragraph above.
Tips for Sellers
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Be a buyer first to
build up your positive feedback
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Hold your item until
the check clears
See the paragraph about Joseph
Makarewicz above.
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Always ship with
insurance
If you use the blue insurance forms
which are required when insuring for $50 of value or more the recipient must
sign to receive the package. It is worth something to know they must sign before
they get your coin.
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Supply good photos
and accurate descriptions
And allow returns if the winning
bidder is not happy. Good sellers are good for this hobby.
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