Man, why haven't people learned yet?

[JerrySpringer]

Look at the bids for these 100 mill silver bars:

http://shop.ebay.com/bruceg601bruce/m.h ... ksid=p3686

[justj2k78]

Something that's obvious to us might not be quite so to the regular Joe. As far as I'm concerned, this is dishonest.

[Neckro]

How? The listing clearly shows 100mills .999 fine Silver Clad on the bar, and the listing. It's the buyers own ignorance. As with anything, you do your own research before you do a purchase.

[NDFarmer]

How much silver is actually in one of those? It is very misleading that he advertises them as 1 troy oz 999 fine silver.

[NDFarmer]

It is misleading because of the way he words it.

1 Troy Oz 999 Fine Silver
100 Mils Art Bar No Reserve

If he took out the words 1 Troy Oz 999 Fine Silver and just advertised them as 100 Mils Silver Art Bars there would be no problem. But people are only going to see 1 Troy oz 999 Fine Silver and bid them as 1 oz silver bars.

I know it is buyer beware and you have read every auction description carefully but this guy is intentionally doing this to deceive people.

[Corsair]

Nothing dishonest about his listing. More power to him for playing off the idiots in the country.

[JerrySpringer]

Nothing dishonest about his listing. More power to him for playing off the idiots in the country.

I wouldn't have a problem with the auctions if they went for peanuts in the final price. I mean, those bars would make great decoys if you had to distract someone away from a real stash. It is disturbing that PT Barnum's axiom never got added to death and taxes.

[Corsair]

Why do you have a problem with it? People are taking the garbage they hear on TV directly to their pocketbooks. Not spending any time doing any research whatsoever. Their money is as good as my money is as good as Donald Trump's money. If you can find a way to give them what they want for money, why not do it?

[JerrySpringer]

Fascinating. The seller was selling these bars for over $50 the other week. Prices on them have tracked silver more or less. Tell me if this description from one of their earlier bar auctions was not disingenuous:

"Up For Bids One New Uncirculated One Troy Oz .999 Fine Silver Canadain Maple Leaf 100 mils Art Bar-No Reserve With a reasonably low start price.A true low cost investment for the future or the next generation,and like land there only a limited amount to be able to invest in.Thanks for stopping by and have a nice day."

I don't know, this does not bode well for the general IQ of silver buyers.

[justj2k78]

Advertised as "1 Troy Oz 999 Fine Silver 100 Mils Art Bar No Reserve"... 1 Troy Oz 999 Fine Silver are the first 6 words. 100 Mils? What the hell are 100 Mils? It should say "100 mg". Mils is not an abbreviation for anything. 1 "Troy" Oz is generally used to weigh gold, platinum, silver and/or gunpowder - given that it is plated in silver, should one assume the bar itself is either gold, platinum or gunpowder?

It's dishonest. Or course you and I know what it is. But the wording of the title is an intentional "slight of hand" to trick someone who doesn't know better. Where I come from, taking advantage of the un/misinformed doesn't make you a hero, it makes you a jerk.

[coppertone]

These are listings are meant to confuse and deceive and prey on the ignorant. Why do people feel it is OK to take advantage of a fellow human being.

[JerrySpringer]

Why do you have a problem with it? People are taking the garbage they hear on TV directly to their pocketbooks. Not spending any time doing any research whatsoever. Their money is as good as my money is as good as Donald Trump's money. If you can find a way to give them what they want for money, why not do it?

Hopefully the marketplace will make these bars go down in price. 'Tis a bit of money to put into look-a-likes.

[NDFarmer]

You would think it would kill his feedback rating. One negative from someone that realized he is selling junk. But he has about 30 listed and if he is getting $40.00 to $50.00 dollars for each one maybe he doesn't mind trashing his feed back percentage.

[justj2k78]

Why do you have a problem with it? People are taking the garbage they hear on TV directly to their pocketbooks. Not spending any time doing any research whatsoever. Their money is as good as my money is as good as Donald Trump's money. If you can find a way to give them what they want for money, why not do it?

Because you're not giving them what they want. You're tricking them into thinking it's something it's not.

[beauanderos]

Why do you have a problem with it? People are taking the garbage they hear on TV directly to their pocketbooks. Not spending any time doing any research whatsoever. Their money is as good as my money is as good as Donald Trump's money. If you can find a way to give them what they want for money, why not do it?

This type of listing damages the integrity of ALL who deal with silver. It smears OUR reputation, and to think otherwise is naive. So... you would like all of us to be tainted with the deceptive listings that one individual is posting? This is no different than SLV claiming to be backed by real silver bars. Actions like these demonstrate contempt for people who are ignorant the finer points of silver investing... but you were all there once. How did you learn? From people who arrogantly laughed at your stupidity for bidding on an item like this? Or perhaps you benefitted from someone who patiently took the time to explain that listings like this are preying on people's ignorance, taking blatant advantage of them, to further their own cause. This guy will just take his profits and buy more "art bars" and perpetuate the problem, and other leaches will see what he is doing and imitate him. This siphons off real money and indirectly suppresses the silver price!!! And takes advantage of the disadvantaged to begin with. Someone at the lowest end of the economic scale slaved hours at paltry wages just to afford what appears to be an inexpensive means of providing them a bit of financial security... yet they are being duped. And yet, some can defend this? And even applaud it? Unbelievable.

[JerrySpringer]

These are listings are meant to confuse and deceive and prey on the ignorant. Why do people feel it is OK to take advantage of a fellow human being.

There is a bit of Darwinism with these auctions. I just thought they would plum go away by now. I was amazed to see them still going strong. It tells us something about Ebay and this market for silver in general. That is why I am not totally sour on silver getting back in a high price range again. There is a great deal of greed undercurrent with markets and that will never,ever change.

[blackrabbit]

I applaud your post Beauanderos! I totally agree.

[misteroman]

guy is making an absolute fortune doing so but it baseline unethical

[IdahoCopper]

If one hundred RealCenters emailed eBay's fraud department with the facts, they would probably shut him down................

[Snake42]

This is extremely misleading. Buyer beware I guess.

[marhjan]

Why do you have a problem with it? People are taking the garbage they hear on TV directly to their pocketbooks. Not spending any time doing any research whatsoever. Their money is as good as my money is as good as Donald Trump's money. If you can find a way to give them what they want for money, why not do it?

Because at best it's dishonest, and at worst it's outright theft. I would think most people on here have some sense of moral decency, auctions like this are just wrong. yes yes, buyer beware, but when the seller is corrupt there is plenty of blame to go around. No one can possibly 'know everything' these days, and I'm not arguing that buyers shouldn't DYODD, however sellers such as this make me sick. Just my two cents

[OtusLotus]

It is the same thing as the Wireless companies offering buy 1 get 1 free cell phone in all of their advertisements... they all fail to tell you that you need to have the 2nd phone activated...

It is just par for the course, right or wrong.. America is built on trying to make money at all costs, which has led to the debacle of our gov't and the rise in PMs.

[justj2k78]

It is the same thing as the Wireless companies offering buy 1 get 1 free cell phone in all of their advertisements... they all fail to tell you that you need to have the 2nd phone activated...

More like the 2nd phone is actually a cellphone-plated wad of spaghetti.

[Corsair]

Why do you have a problem with it? People are taking the garbage they hear on TV directly to their pocketbooks. Not spending any time doing any research whatsoever. Their money is as good as my money is as good as Donald Trump's money. If you can find a way to give them what they want for money, why not do it?

This type of listing damages the integrity of ALL who deal with silver. It smears OUR reputation, and to think otherwise is naive. So... you would like all of us to be tainted with the deceptive listings that one individual is posting? This is no different than SLV claiming to be backed by real silver bars. Actions like these demonstrate contempt for people who are ignorant the finer points of silver investing... but you were all there once. How did you learn? From people who arrogantly laughed at your stupidity for bidding on an item like this? Or perhaps you benefitted from someone who patiently took the time to explain that listings like this are preying on people's ignorance, taking blatant advantage of them, to further their own cause. This guy will just take his profits and buy more "art bars" and perpetuate the problem, and other leaches will see what he is doing and imitate him. This siphons off real money and indirectly suppresses the silver price!!! And takes advantage of the disadvantaged to begin with. Someone at the lowest end of the economic scale slaved hours at paltry wages just to afford what appears to be an inexpensive means of providing them a bit of financial security... yet they are being duped. And yet, some can defend this? And even applaud it? Unbelievable.

Ray, Ray, Ray. First, major logical fallacy in red. I don't know how my support of something that breaks no laws and is not deceptive leads to me also wanting all of our reputations to be tainted. Second, in blue, how did I learn the things I know? I learned by asking questions. I learned by keeping my eyes open. I learned by reading and thinking critically and contemplating my actions and listening to very wise people, like yourself. Do you want to know how I didn't "learn"? I didn't "learn" by hearing that I should by gold and silver from the television, rush like a zombie to my computer, and bid on as much silver on eBay as possible. That isn't how I learned. Third, in green, I think even you can say that it's a stretch to believe that this kind of action lowers the price of silver. Seriously, Ray? One eBay seller throwing up his few dozen of rip off art bars will hold back the price of silver? I know what you'll say. "But his actions lead to others selling the same crap and ripping more people off and driving down the price!!!" You can't blame the seller for the actions of other sellers. You can't blame Sean Connery for making me weary of people with white cats. That's ridiculous. And lastly, in purple, you make the assumption that the buyers are in the lower class of society. But if you check the seller's feedback (positive feedback, mind you), many of the satisfied buyers have ratings in the 400's, 600's, and 800's. It's absurd to think that the only people that buy from him are those who work "slaved hours at paltry wages." And maybe, Ray, maybe you're right. Maybe it's the very poor people who are buying from this guy. Maybe they are those people who have to take on a third job to pay for the gas to get to the other two. What in the hell are they doing buying silver from eBay for $50/"oz" without doing any research at all? That's shameful! They could buy a tank of gas or a week of food off that money. And what do they do with it instead? They listen word for word to the drivel that comes out of their television, obey it to a T, and blow their money without doing a second's worth of homework. Now that, my friend, is pathetic.

I would never engage in this type of business. Hell yes it's a rip off! But it's not unethical. It's not illegal. You want to protect those potential buyers by filing reports against this seller, be my guest. But these people need a lot more help than one less scam artist on eBay. A lot more help.

[999Ni]

you would think as a buyer that "100 mills" would kinda ring a bell!?....maybe go investigate what this means first.