Buying numismatic items, like coins and paper money on eBay, can be a very enjoyable and successful venture. In order to be successful, you need to know what to look out for so you do not end up scammed by some con-artist. The truth is, there are some people who try to make a living by swindling the less informed. That being said, not everyone on eBay is trying to scam you. In this post, I will give you some tips and some red flags to look for so that you get the most out of your eBay experience.
Avoid Sellers That:
Don’t offer a return policy- No returns is a meaningless policy for sellers. Paypal will refund you as a buyer in a problem case, but it is still best to avoid sellers who do not offer a return policy.
Don’t show a clear picture of the item- This one is pretty much a no brainer. If you’re thinking about bidding on a raw coin (one not graded) and there is a bad picture, don’t bid! The only exception to this is if the coin is in a slab from the top three grading companies, PCGS, NGC and ANACS.
Don't reply to your e-mail inquiries within a few days- Yes, many sellers are busy people and yes, seller aren’t primarily focused on eBay sales, but if you ask a seller a question and they don’t respond for five days, I’d be wary of their integrity.
Have several recent negative feedback ratings- First of all, I would avoid a seller with negatives in the first place, but even if you are considering bidding on a coin from a seller with numerous feedbacks, consider this. Consider this, you are about to bid on a coin, but decide to check the feedback score of the seller before doing so. You see that a few of their recent transactions received a negative rating, but in the past they were highly praised. This could be evidence of a hijacked account and it is better to avoid this seller.
Are selling a vast amount of slabbed coins that aren’t graded by the top three grading companies- Most of the time these are either raw coins or have been graded by a third tier grading company such as SEGS, ICG, PCI, NTC, ACG, ANI, or any other random array of letters*. DO NOT trust the grades on these holders and DO NOT take their supposed values to heart!
*A note on the aforementioned “grading companies.” Typically, these coins are put into commercial holders and have a random grade slapped on. If you are considering a coin that is encapsulated by one of the prior companies, ask yourself this, “why wasn’t this coin good enough to be graded by one of the top three companies?” Usually these coins will have problems that affect the value of the coin.
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