Reporting Fake Coins on eBay

[AppleZippoandMetronome]

I've seen a few topics covering the odd fake coin that has popped up through eBay but was wondering what people who use eBay tend to do when you notice a clearly fake coin on there being sold as a legitimate one? Do you report it? Do you contact the seller?

I make most of my purchases on eBay so have become pretty good at spotting the fakes. One really got under my skin yesterday though which you can see here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/canada-fine-silver-1-oz-argent-pur-5-dollar-2015-/163212094039?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137

I reported the item and sent the seller a message. The seller confessed (legitimately or not) to not knowing anything about the coins and saying they would end the item. At that point the auction was at £5.50 so I assumed enough people realized it for what it is and walked away. Sadly the seller never seemed to pull the item and it sold for £16. eBay seemingly did nothing.

Is there any way to force eBay's hand in situations like this or particular complaints that could be made about eBay allowing the sale of counterfeit goods even when it is brought to their attention? Curious as to what others thoughts are

[matrawr]

Thing is you can tell ebay about forgeries but unless they had a dedicated team to detect forgeries and someone who specifically knew about gold and silver I don't think there's a lot they can do I mean I've seen a 1oz JM bar which to me is blatantly fake but to a member of the ebay team they wouldn't know the difference you would actually have to give them a lecture on the subject! imo

[SILVERFINGER]

They dont seem to give a toss as long as they are making money, some scrote was selling scanned pages from a mates book on there on a dvd, I notified him straight away, he complained to ebay, it took them 3 weeks to make the seller take them down, he wasnt closed down or even suspended as he had other tat on there for sale still, but during this time this scumbag had sold 17 dvd's.

[Goldhooked]

eBay generally won’t do anything if you report a listing that you ‘think’ is a fake item.  You know you know but as far as eBay know, you don’t know...if that makes sense!  As above, they don’t have the knowledge or resources to investigate and they never see any of the items in person.

They will take action if you receive a fake item.  Usually you can just raise a return case stating the item is fake but then the buyer could just relist it.  However if you can get some sort of official report stating the item is fake, eBay will usually force the seller to refund you without you having to return the item (they may ask for proof that it has been destroyed).  The seller will also receive a black mark on their account and any identical items they are selling will be removed.

There is also the train of thought that eBay don’t really care about fakes being sold because they still get their fees from the sellers!

[KelvinM]

How widespread is fake coin selling on eBay?

[Goldhooked]

I received a fake JM 1oz bar when I first started collecting.  I better know the signs to look out for now but it’s fairly easy to get caught out as a beginner.

Its not just fakes either.  There are lots of creatively worded listings that are trying to make plated or base metal items look like 925 or 999 silver.  Same for some gold too.

[dicker]

There appear to be a significant number of obvious fakes on eBay and I suspect nearly undetectable fakes. It is not just precious metals that are counterfeited but also error coins, standard circulation coins that are “rare” in the mind of the public.

I don’t buy from eBay as is too risky now, plus prices are not cheap

 

[matrawr]

It just depends what you're more knowledgeable about. In my experience and I do shop alot on ebay I haven't seen that many fake JM bars and if you do get caught then you're really unlucky with morgan dollars it's a whole different matter seeing as there are so many varieties of the genuine coins that leaves more opportunities for the counterfeiters but I've only been caught once or twice. Before buying talk to the seller ask about the item and maybe ask about the seller, and look at what other items they've got listed and of course their feedback if there's one that mentions selling fake coins/bars that's enough to deter me from dealing with them.

[Xander]

Here is a warning on how to identify fake £5 Gold Jubilee coins. 

This coin or similar also looks like the one for sale on eBay. 

Never take anything for granted. We owe it to ourselves to be vigilant, considering the cost of these coins. 

Also some fake tans by the look of it.

[TheNose]

I interesting enough had just been in a situation where the coin that I had purchased did not fit the description ( another coin ). I had contacted the seller and had told them of the different coin and sent them pictures. They denied the coin being different in any way. I immediately opened a return for the item and sent eBay pictures as well. The seller insisted if I wanted to return the item I had to pay for the shipping. ( I’m in USA seller is in Canada.). I then called EBay when I was told that they will contact the seller and let them know that they are responsible for the return shipping and if they do not supply the return shipping by the date then I would be keeping the coin and will be reimbursed by eBay. So far the seller has not supplied a return label or provided funds in order to do so. In two days I will find out the outcome. 

Seems by calling eBay and supplying supporting documentation almost always ends positive. Pics included of the coin that I purchased. 

[TheNose]

1 minute ago, TheNose said:

I interesting enough had just been in a situation where the coin that I had purchased did not fit the description ( another coin ). I had contacted the seller and had told them of the different coin and sent them pictures. They denied the coin being different in any way. I immediately opened a return for the item and sent eBay pictures as well. The seller insisted if I wanted to return the item I had to pay for the shipping. ( I’m in USA seller is in Canada.). I then called EBay when I was told that they will contact the seller and let them know that they are responsible for the return shipping and if they do not supply the return shipping by the date then I would be keeping the coin and will be reimbursed by eBay. So far the seller has not supplied a return label or provided funds in order to do so. In two days I will find out the outcome. 

Seems by calling eBay and supplying supporting documentation almost always ends positive. Pics included of the coin that I purchased. 

Black background is obviously the coin I was  supposed to get   

[SILVERFINGER]

1 hour ago, KelvinM said:

How widespread is fake coin selling on eBay?

ITS THIS BIG

[Goldhooked]

28 minutes ago, TheNose said:

Black background is obviously the coin I was  supposed to get   

Looks like they used a stock image instead of photos of the actual coin.

Is the one you received a fake, or is genuine but more worn than the stock photo?

You should be fine, eBay are normally good when you provide decent evidence.

[TheNose]

4 minutes ago, Goldhooked said:

Looks like they used a stock image instead of photos of the actual coin.

Is the one you received a fake, or is genuine but more worn than the stock photo?

You should be fine, eBay are normally good when you provide decent evidence.

looks genuine but i feel more awkward about possibly getting the gold coin for free now. why would one not send the appropriate documents to reclaim there item is still a mystery to me. and I'm sorry if i was off topic a little, thought this might help pertaining to eBay and all. 

[Goldhooked]

5 minutes ago, TheNose said:

looks genuine but i feel more awkward about possibly getting the gold coin for free now. why would one not send the appropriate documents to reclaim there item is still a mystery to me. and I'm sorry if i was off topic a little, thought this might help pertaining to eBay and all. 

The seller has brought it on themselves.  If you do get the refund just make it clear to the seller you are more than willing to return the coin on the understanding they send enough money first to cover the shipping.

If it’s a genuine coin they would stupid not to!

[SILVERFINGER]

On something second hand/antique/valuable like that there is no excuse for not showing the item they are selling, its either lazyness or being deceitful

[SILVERFINGER]

I bought the mint condition holster from Ebay pictured on the left (or so I thought), instead I was sent the shitty one with holes and repairs on the right, I took a picture of what I had received and put it alongside what was being advertised (mint holster on left I bought later on) and contacted the seller and ebay, after several days the seller claimed there had been a mix up and I had been sent the wrong one and did I want this at half price, no I said, it was garbage, they then contacted again to offer it me at a quarter the price because this was the last one they had,  I complained again to ebay and suddenly I was re-embursed in full including my postage and they didnt even ask for the holster back.

 

 

[Xander]

52 minutes ago, SILVERFINGER said:

I bought the mint condition holster from Ebay pictured on the left (or so I thought), instead I was sent the shitty one with holes and repairs on the right, I took a picture of what I had received and put it alongside what was being advertised (mint holster on left I bought later on) and contacted the seller and ebay, after several days the seller claimed there had been a mix up and I had been sent the wrong one and did I want this at half price, no I said, it was garbage, they then contacted again to offer it me at a quarter the price because this was the last one they had,  I complained again to ebay and suddenly I was re-embursed in full including my postage and they didnt even ask for the holster back.

 

 

5

I hear they are looking for a new Bond. 

[SILVERFINGER]

30 minutes ago, Xander said:

I hear they are looking for a new Bond. 

 

 

The first Bond had a Beretta model 418 pistol , much smaller than this model 1922, then he went onto the Walther PPK for years, until the modern times.

 

 

 

[CleanUpEbayCoinSales]

On 28 August 2018 at 15:53, AppleZippoandMetronome said:

I've seen a few topics covering the odd fake coin that has popped up through eBay but was wondering what people who use eBay tend to do when you notice a clearly fake coin on there being sold as a legitimate one? Do you report it? Do you contact the seller?

I make most of my purchases on eBay so have become pretty good at spotting the fakes. One really got under my skin yesterday though which you can see here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/canada-fine-silver-1-oz-argent-pur-5-dollar-2015-/163212094039?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137

I reported the item and sent the seller a message. The seller confessed (legitimately or not) to not knowing anything about the coins and saying they would end the item. At that point the auction was at £5.50 so I assumed enough people realized it for what it is and walked away. Sadly the seller never seemed to pull the item and it sold for £16. eBay seemingly did nothing.

Is there any way to force eBay's hand in situations like this or particular complaints that could be made about eBay allowing the sale of counterfeit goods even when it is brought to their attention? Curious as to what others thoughts are

I thought eBay use to show all questions sent to a seller and the corresponding replies from the seller.  If eBay still did this then prospective buyers would be made aware of any concerns.  eBay should also not allow Private Buyers as this prevents other buyers from seeing if coins they wished to purchase were from a suspected buyer of fake goods.

[DarkChameleon]

On 28/08/2018 at 13:04, SILVERFINGER said:

They dont seem to give a toss as long as they are making money, some scrote was selling scanned pages from a mates book on there on a dvd, I notified him straight away, he complained to ebay, it took them 3 weeks to make the seller take them down, he wasnt closed down or even suspended as he had other tat on there for sale still, but during this time this scumbag had sold 17 dvd's.

I've done the same, thinking I was buying a rare dvd to find out it was a copy, the seller kept on selling and I got,a refund...that's not the ooint, you are to stop pirating, not just refund the victim when they get caught.

[AppleZippoandMetronome]

On 07/07/2019 at 22:44, CleanUpEbayCoinSales said:

I thought eBay use to show all questions sent to a seller and the corresponding replies from the seller.  If eBay still did this then prospective buyers would be made aware of any concerns.  eBay should also not allow Private Buyers as this prevents other buyers from seeing if coins they wished to purchase were from a suspected buyer of fake goods.

Sadly I don't think that has been an option on ebay for a long time and even when it was in use it was down to the discretion of the seller whether to show it or not.

I've seen a countless amount of fakes since I started this topic. At this point I've given on reporting - ebay doesn't seem to care and I've yet to see a seller pull an item that I've questioned voluntarily. As ever avoid ebay unless you know the coin(s) you are after well enough to spot the obvious fakes.

[Kookaburracollector]

Fake bidders are starting to irk me...just reported a very large seller of coins for using other accounts to bid up his prices...or am I just being a little too suspicious..what would you think looking at this persons bidding activity!

 

[SILVERFINGER]

Yup looks like a shill bidder to me.

[motorbikez]

@Kookaburracollector Yep definitely shill bidder, I see it more & more on ebay & from people you might not expect, best thing to do is exactly what you are doing, look closely at buyers & sellers & spot patterns & connections.Then only bid up to the maximum you'd be happy paying.