Beware Ebay and Craigslist Sellers

[beauanderos]

Think about it. It has to be obvious to an ever larger growing body of stackers, even if the public (and even LCS) is unaware of the issue, that
junk silver is growing scarce and harder then ever to source. True sources of authentic ninety percent junk are drying up, according to many
in the industry. So if this is the case, then where is an ever larger proportion of available silver offered on ebay and craigslist originating from?

You guessed it... China. Desperate times will lead to desperate measures, and opportunity to flip cheap fakes is going to attract some of the
criminal minds that learn of the potential to buy cheap, sell high. If a craigslist deal looks too good to be true... it is! And steer away from any
ebay seller that states "no refunds," has low feedbacks, or already has some negatives posted (read them(.

I expect this to be a growing problem with the passage of time. Always buy from trusted sources, and if you have access to a precious metals
analyzer... use it!

Check out alibaba.com and look at all the fakes being produced... and the volumes they can fabricate monthly. Those who want to ruin stacker
sentiment are probably well aware of the situation... and intentionally averting their eyes, as it suits their purposes.

[beauanderos]

Ok, LB... this seems like a perfect project for SuperNeil, ebay counter-intelligence surveillance specialist non-pareil!
Neil, since you already spend a part of your day watching developments on ebay... why not develop a watch list
of sellers to beware, offering junk silver? I'm talking about sellers with VERY low feedback, that suddenly seem to
be offering large lots of silver? We can probably ignore the "trusted" sellers with high positive fb's, but any new
seller with low fb... offering rolls of dimes, quarters, halves, mixed lots, at prices that raise suspicion?

[pennypicker]

Just recently spoke with someone in my town who purchased some 1 oz englehard silver bars from a person on craigslist. When he returned home he weighed them and saw the weight was off. He then cut one with a hacksaw and it turned out to be silver plated brass

[silverstacker]

Never been to alibaba.com until you posted this Ray and I went there and typed in "silver bars" and this was the first thing that came up.


http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wholesal ... 5,201409_2

[beauanderos]

Never been to alibaba.com until you posted this Ray and I went there and typed in "silver bars" and this was the first thing that came up.


http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wholesal ... 5,201409_2

Too bad that's fake... that's a nice looking bar! Where can we get the real ones? So they're selling these for that price, and anyone can sell them for $17? Too great a temptation for thieves to resist.

[beauanderos]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-5-Liberty-Silver-Eagle-999-Silver-Clad-Art-Bars-/141769551335?hash=item21021fade7

[Recyclersteve]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-5-Liberty-Silver-Eagle-999-Silver-Clad-Art-Bars-/141769551335?hash=item21021fade7

It is amazing the lengths devious people will go to in order to make what is actually a very small amount of money.

I understand why someone might try a one-shot high risk crime that paid so much money that, if they were not caught, might give them enough money so they'd be set for life. Oh, by the way, I couldn't even do this. My guilty conscience would cause me to say something stupid that would incriminate myself if I even tried such a stunt. That helps to keep me from even being tempted.

But 'cmon, something this cheap. Even if my cost was zero, just the time spent creating a listing, possibly communicating with the seller, packaging the item and shipping it would make me want to charge a much higher price. I just don't get people sometimes. Oh well...

[InfleXion]

I don't do much on eBay, occaisonally a kook or lunar if they're priced nicely. Never have and never will use Craigslist, too many horror stories. It's hard to believe Alibaba gets away with what they're doing. I'm really glad my stack is older than that company. I believe the Chinese fakes that were produced en masse were 90% dimes and quarters which were sandblasted to make them look aged, but you can tell it's fake because it is aged the exact same amount on the entire coin which is not normal. Usually there are some areas that are more worn than others. That doesn't help with the Alibaba stuff though since they fake pretty much everything.

[90Percent]

So far i have not had any trouble buying 90% off of Craigs List. Out of all the 90% i have gotten so far I have had one 1930 D mercury dime. I carded and marked it counterfeit.

[daviscfad]

Like someone told me beware of silver bars that are dressed up to well

[natsb88]

I haven't heard of any major incidents with fake 90% yet (other than dollars and numismatic fakes), but it definitely exists and is visually passable.


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