The State of Ebay
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 7:37 am
oh my, you guys were right! First, I read all the increasing warnings. Second, I've never got dinged....not once, but that is ONLY because of all the warnings HERE...I read.....and second, I think it was Nate from the Cave, who posted that picture of circ 90% American silver coins that were counterfeits.
That picture REALLY got me sitting up straight in my chair...from 2008 until maybe late 2013, I bought a lot of 90%'ers, mostly BU's. and I bought from a handful of sellers, with outstanding feedback and high transparency...coins shown,coins sold, etc.
Now as the years have gone by, (I was also buying rolls of ASES) I've noticed that these dependable sellers (no irony or sarc) DONT sell anymore. Why?....the reasons might many, I don't know. Maybe they've stopped selling, and just stacked, maybe they got sick of either EBay's fees or dealing with the public. I bought primarily rolls, mixed up the range, equally between dimes, quarters, 90 halves and 40 halves, and a lot of Ike brown and blue 40's....as well as ASES.
even if i'm not actively buying, I was always watching where US 90's and 40's traded....and I noticed several things beginning in late 2013.....first, when I started, the auctions most always started at the .01 mark (for rolls) and then the market would find its level.
NOW.....you rarely see a .01 start....these days most start bids are from $129.00 to 255.00 (oh yeh.....$255.00!...the buy it nows get even wackier)
there's a large seller I've done a bit..(emphasis on "a bit", like maybe three rolls in 7 years)....this guy has a seemingly unending supply of walking Lib Halves, which is THE COIN now....and every single roll listed has these rolls as "CH Gem/BU's". These Walking Libertys in the 1940's era, solid date rolls, have traded anywhere from 45 times to 75 times, but what he does is NEVER offers you that Ebay "device" that allows you to scope in on the coins....individual coins....never. just has a picture of the roll spread out front to back. I've watched his pos rating go from 99.9 to 99.7......okay whats .2%?......no big deal?......I don't know, so I look up the 4 negs in the past months...one stood, actually two, but one was so effing egregious I have to tell the tale....some stacker slash numi buyer, paid 3200 plus for a solid date roll of 19th century morgans...they were SF mints....and the guy gave him a negative rating, and here is part of what he wrote:
"Sent 8 of 20 to PCGS- 6-Au details cleaned, 2-Au55, Beware".
Now as you guys know......the market value between AU55 and for a MS64+ is......$110 and $1000....and its probably even worse, with a coin graded as "AU cleaned"
CLEANED!!!....and then advertised as "CH GEM BU"!!!....one of the other neg's was a Walking Lib buyer who wrote this:
"SHINY, BUT NOT CH/GEM BU AS DESCRIBED!! BEWARE!!!"....and THIS guy had over 6500 transactions, which indicates, he's a serious stacker slash numi....and in BOTH cases, the seller did NOT even reply.....which to me is inexcusable. I don't whether either buyer sent them back, the guy who sent 8 to be graded probably didn't, the Walking buyer, who knows, maybe he just ate the "loss", and walked away from seller.
So I want to thank very sincerely the "elder statesmen" of this clubhouse; thank you for helping me navigate dangerous waters, since late 2013, I have confined my purchases to either PCGS slabbed rolls of ASES.....and now I've discovered the 2014-15 .9999 25toz rolls of Maples, with the new radial lines on both obverse and reverse...I deal with one house where I LIKE the folks involved.
and yes, I have a GOOD stack of American 90's and 40's, where every coin has been checked for counterfeits, I have bricks of nickels galore, and buckets of 95% Lincolns....and a growing stack of .999 ASES and .9999 Maples.
in closing, God bless Realcent, and the guys who maintain this low key haunt for those who aint drinking the Kool-Aid, n
That picture REALLY got me sitting up straight in my chair...from 2008 until maybe late 2013, I bought a lot of 90%'ers, mostly BU's. and I bought from a handful of sellers, with outstanding feedback and high transparency...coins shown,coins sold, etc.
Now as the years have gone by, (I was also buying rolls of ASES) I've noticed that these dependable sellers (no irony or sarc) DONT sell anymore. Why?....the reasons might many, I don't know. Maybe they've stopped selling, and just stacked, maybe they got sick of either EBay's fees or dealing with the public. I bought primarily rolls, mixed up the range, equally between dimes, quarters, 90 halves and 40 halves, and a lot of Ike brown and blue 40's....as well as ASES.
even if i'm not actively buying, I was always watching where US 90's and 40's traded....and I noticed several things beginning in late 2013.....first, when I started, the auctions most always started at the .01 mark (for rolls) and then the market would find its level.
NOW.....you rarely see a .01 start....these days most start bids are from $129.00 to 255.00 (oh yeh.....$255.00!...the buy it nows get even wackier)
there's a large seller I've done a bit..(emphasis on "a bit", like maybe three rolls in 7 years)....this guy has a seemingly unending supply of walking Lib Halves, which is THE COIN now....and every single roll listed has these rolls as "CH Gem/BU's". These Walking Libertys in the 1940's era, solid date rolls, have traded anywhere from 45 times to 75 times, but what he does is NEVER offers you that Ebay "device" that allows you to scope in on the coins....individual coins....never. just has a picture of the roll spread out front to back. I've watched his pos rating go from 99.9 to 99.7......okay whats .2%?......no big deal?......I don't know, so I look up the 4 negs in the past months...one stood, actually two, but one was so effing egregious I have to tell the tale....some stacker slash numi buyer, paid 3200 plus for a solid date roll of 19th century morgans...they were SF mints....and the guy gave him a negative rating, and here is part of what he wrote:
"Sent 8 of 20 to PCGS- 6-Au details cleaned, 2-Au55, Beware".
Now as you guys know......the market value between AU55 and for a MS64+ is......$110 and $1000....and its probably even worse, with a coin graded as "AU cleaned"
CLEANED!!!....and then advertised as "CH GEM BU"!!!....one of the other neg's was a Walking Lib buyer who wrote this:
"SHINY, BUT NOT CH/GEM BU AS DESCRIBED!! BEWARE!!!"....and THIS guy had over 6500 transactions, which indicates, he's a serious stacker slash numi....and in BOTH cases, the seller did NOT even reply.....which to me is inexcusable. I don't whether either buyer sent them back, the guy who sent 8 to be graded probably didn't, the Walking buyer, who knows, maybe he just ate the "loss", and walked away from seller.
So I want to thank very sincerely the "elder statesmen" of this clubhouse; thank you for helping me navigate dangerous waters, since late 2013, I have confined my purchases to either PCGS slabbed rolls of ASES.....and now I've discovered the 2014-15 .9999 25toz rolls of Maples, with the new radial lines on both obverse and reverse...I deal with one house where I LIKE the folks involved.
and yes, I have a GOOD stack of American 90's and 40's, where every coin has been checked for counterfeits, I have bricks of nickels galore, and buckets of 95% Lincolns....and a growing stack of .999 ASES and .9999 Maples.
in closing, God bless Realcent, and the guys who maintain this low key haunt for those who aint drinking the Kool-Aid, n