There are idiots on ebay

[beauanderos]

People are bidding $12 and $13 dollars a roll, plus shipping for this crap

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0502141013

[NDFarmer]

Pretty unbelievable look at his feedback. Some guys paid as much as $20.00 for a roll that they can pick up at their local bank for $10.00. I like how he opened up those rolls and slipped in some silver here and there to take the picture. I am sure if you are getting rolls producing that much silver you are going to pass them on to someone else.

[PennyPauper]

Sucker born every minute!
I could never sleep at night having ripped people off like that.Hope the few extra bucks are worth it.

[blackrabbit]

Wow that seller ought to get a job working for one of the big wall street banks. They employ all sorts professional rip off artists.

[Pennybug]

While I partially agree with the statement that I couldn't sleep at night knowing I had done that to someone...

A part of me says "hey... that's pretty enterprising of him" I mean... so long as there not really searched by him... he's not being dishonest (minus I think the photos have added silver in them). I mean... I was at wal mart tonight and they sold bottles of water, bags of dirt, and cans of air. Think about that for a second or two. We don't think much of that kinda stuff nowadays with our (and by our... I mean the USA) "ultra lazy ultra ignorant" mentalities. This guy... well... he's just makin money off of someone else's ignorance and/or laziness.

I say if people are willing to buy them... so long as he's being honest about it and not searching them himself (or getting them from someone who he knows has already searched them)... so be it. Yes.. he's mostly a rip off artist, but that doesn't mean he's doing anything wrong here (like Madeoff of Jim Baker).

[aristobolus]

The strong should never prey on the weak. The knowledgable should never take advantage of the ignorant; "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". I understand this man is doing nothing ILLEGAL, but LEGALITY DOES NOT EQUAL MORALITY. We are all ignorant in our own ways.

[beauanderos]

The only advantage he offers, is for those who are very rural or lack transportation to banks, or have no regional banks who will order halves for them. What I'm surprised at, was not that he was doing it, but at the amount people were willing to bid. We should all write to each of his listings stating, "are these the same type of rolls that we can buy at face value at any nearby banks?" I bet he wouldn't include a single response on his listings. Or, as an alternative, someone could begin a listing with sufficient amount between price listed and s/h to break even, and undercut this guy and still serve the public. You could even include some rolls of copper pennies to use the listing as advertising. Think of it as community service to educate the public. For instance, two rolls of halves, plus two rolls of copper pennies for $25 plus $2.99 shipping. Even if you just made a dollar a sale it would be better than what this guy is doing, plus it would be a means of repudiating what he is doing and get the word about copper out there. Maybe I'll write to the guy with Country's averages about true finds in the wilderness and see what his reply is.

[whatsnext]

Wow that seller ought to get a job working for one of the big wall street banks. They employ all sorts professional rip off artists.

He should get moodys and standards and pour to grade them A+

[NDFarmer]

he's not being dishonest (minus I think the photos have added silver in them).

I say if people are willing to buy them... so long as he's being honest about it and not searching them himself (or getting them from someone who he knows has already searched them)... so be it. Yes.. he's mostly a rip off artist, but that doesn't mean he's doing anything wrong here (like Madeoff of Jim Baker).

That is the whole point. I think adding silver to rolls and staging the photos is very dishonest. It gives people the impression that the rolls they are buying from him will be the same way. When anybody that has search silver know that you are lucky to find one roll like that in a $500.00 box.

The other thing that bothers me is no that gets screwed by this guy will leave negative feedback.

[CardsNCoins]

I don't think he is searching them first. More than likely he's weighing all his bank rolls, and selling the ones that weigh under 225 grams (very unlikely to have even a 40% in it).

[beauanderos]

I don't think he is searching them first. More than likely he's weighing all his bank rolls, and selling the ones that weigh under 225 grams (very unlikely to have even a 40% in it).

Of course he isn't searching them. That isn't what we're saying is disingenuous about his listing. The dishonesty comes in dummying up the photos and strongly implying that others can repeat his purported success. He doesn't need to search them, he's making more profit this way than what we all know the real odds of finding them are... like ND said.

[CardsNCoins]

Of course he isn't searching them. That isn't what we're saying........

.........A part of me says "hey... that's pretty enterprising of him" I mean... so long as there not really searched by him...

[Corsair]

People are on eBay looking for rolls of circulated half dollars, apparently. This man found that out, and started selling them. What is wrong with him finding a niche market and milking it?

And please, guys. Every company in the world makes their product look better in ads than in real life. Ever hear of the Campbell's Soup marbles? Or all the work that goes into making a Big Mac look edible? He's using marketing techniques that have been around for hundreds of years. As long as he's not being dishonest in his listing, he's doing nothing wrong. He even states "I WILL BE USING THE SAME IMAGE FOR ALL SALES." So if people take time to even read the first sentence, and not just bid on the picture, they'll see that those results are not typical, and that they are bidding for the chance, and possibly the convenience, of having some circ. halves to open up.

[Mike]

Back in Freshman English in 1974 the Professor asked the class to consider the case of a man convicted of defrauding the public. He had manufactured and sold silver bars inscribed 0.9999% silver, and the bars accordingly contained 1 ounce of silver and 99 ounces of nickel.

Most of the students (this was in an engineering school) thought that what he had done was mathematically correct, and he should not have been convicted of anything.

I guess the moral of the story is to do your research and due dilligence before investing any of your money in anything. For Heaven's sake, don't expect the government to ensure that things are according to Hoyle.

[wheeler_dealer]

Yes. The world is full of naive "ignorant" individuals. When don't know what we don't know until we are educated. Some of us do our research first to find out about things. Some of us actually read the description and understand what we are doing (prior to clicking the button). While his methodology may leave something to be desired he is not misleading in his description. In business class we called this capitalism. For every buyer there is a seller and the market determines the price point.
While it is possible these photos could be doctored, how many of us half dollar roll sorters can't recall the euphoria of opening that coveted roll of halves and having those shiny silver half dollar edges staring back at us. I know I have opened up a few rolls similar to the ones in the photo.
Yes the buyers may be naive, however the seller is creative and a good marketer. Who knows he may even be a realcenter. (Food for thought)

[NDFarmer]

While it is possible these photos could be doctored, how many of us half dollar roll sorters can't recall the euphoria of opening that coveted roll of halves and having those shiny silver half dollar edges staring back at us.

Yes anyone that has sorted halves has had "A" roll like that maybe every 4 or 5, $500.00 boxes if you are lucky. By showing 23 rolls full of silver he is implying that if you buy a roll from him that is what you are going to get.

[JadeDragon]

The guy is a fraud, plain and simple.

[argent_pur]

I agree, he should just post the pictures of the unsearched rolls since that is what he's trying to sell. What he's doing is akin to someone selling a cardboard box on ebay under the title "Mystery Box" and putting a pile of diamonds, some silver coins, maybe a gold bar or two next to it, as if to make bidders think that's what may in there.

The obvious hole in my analogy being that the box has had stuff knowingly put in it by the seller, whereas the rolls are unsearched from the fed, but the shadiness is still there...

The sad thing is that I've seen mystery boxes on ebay and people frickin' bid on them! Or, that guy who sold his soul on ebay A fool and his money...