Fake silver

[thc9]

What is wrong with eBay that it allows people who are obviously selling fake silver to be selling fake silver?
So many people selling fake silver coins the company has lost credibility.
Poor business model on eBay's part.

[sandypebbles]

Not rubbish at all, just because you don't like a factual reply

Every listing has 'seller is responsible for all listings'

Please do go ahead and report them, nothing is stopping you

Also report the buyers buying the fakes, knowingly

They are supporting the grubs, knowingly 

Rubbish that buyers who buy obvious fakes for $$$$$$$$$$$$ off sellers registered in China with feedback in the gutter 'don't know' what they are buying 

Fine the sellers and the buyers

[domino-710]

Name one silver coin that is legal currency - now - in Australia.

Don't bother with the 1966 50 cents - you'd be more than hard pushed to find one circulating.

[springyzone]

I'm not convinced that most buyers do know they are buying fakes.

Probably half of them don't even realise they are buying from China.

You and I would be more wary, for sure. We'd check seller location and read the actual ad.

I don't know what is going on in some buyer minds though. They see an ad, look at the pictures and the title maybe and that's it.

I doubt a lot of them even realise they have received a fake.

They probably give good feedback, if anything.

I agree, lots of buyers are just not taking care who they buy from or where.

I don't think some of them really know how to check properly.

If there is a problem (and fidemaster seems to have uncovered that there is), then maybe ebay needs to step up a bit. Do a bit more.

I was reading recently that sites such as facebook and paypal are facing increased scrutiny now & suggestions are being made that they need to do a lot more to weed out the obvious scams.

So it may be only a matter of time before ebay has to lift its act.

[sandypebbles]

My point is, they don't care

They don't care what they buy nor from whom

Which is a choice

If someone doesn't know how any site works, or what they are buying, or who they are buying from, or what red flags are screaming in their face or what to do when they do buy rubbish from scammer sellers, no amount of educating or protections or tools is going to help

They will always have a 'not my responsibility to know any of that, it was listed so I had to buy it

Ebay needs to weed out scammers

Just as buyers need to stop helping scammers stay in business and by not accepting any responsibility whatsoever for poor buying choices

[domino-710]

I don't understand at all - how these sellers are managing to get away with listing 1oz 99.99 ' solid ' silver coins for around 12 bucks - with free postage to boot - when the current price of an ounce of silver is around AU$58.

But there you go.

[sandypebbles]

Guessing those that do it are mostly after the names/addresses etc of those who happily buy the 'little fish' so they can hit such people with whatever the bigger part of their scam might be

eBay don't care, just as they don't/didn't care about all the accounts that were hijacked by the scammer in Brazil, happy to let them go for it

Buyers ought to care

As I've said, there more than enough red flags for one to engage common sense on these listings

[siddieswans]

Because if you scroll down to the description you will find terms like "Steel core silver plated" (949 sold) or "Material:Alloy Silver Plated". In other words what they are selling is silver plate, not solid silver. So their title is mis-leading, but the description tells it all. Presumably if someone raised a case with eBay they would be OK because they could always say it was correctly described there. It is really no different to someone having a title that says "Rhoda Wager Brooch"and a description that says  "In the style of famous Australian jeweller Rhoda Wager." 

What the buyers of the  "1oz 99.99 ' solid ' silver coins" think they are getting I have no idea. Do they bother to scroll down to the description? Possibly the price is fair for the silver plate souvenir coins they are selling - I wouldn't know.  I fully agree that no amount of attempted education will deter people who think they are buying the bargain of the century. 

[countessalmirena]

That’s the bewildering part of it; the buyers in the main genuinely think they’re snagging a tremendous bargain, who don’t think carefully, who (increasingly) don’t want to be bothered with reading the full description. To me, it’s both frustrating and saddening. Part of me wants to knock their heads together, while another part of me empathises.

The main reason why the phrase “Caviat emptor” is employed so often centuries after it was coined is because buyers often don’t beware. It’s part of human nature to be able to be fooled, which is why scams are big business and cons have always been run.

Some people are more wary than others and are less likely to be fooled, but it isn’t straightforward.

Because it’s so intrinsic, I believe eBay (for example) should be doing more to weed out sellers who are obviously fooling their buyers - in concert with buyers employing more diligence and being sceptical of things that are too good to be true.

To the tune of “Don’t be cruel”…

🎶 “Don’t be fooled by a coin not true…”

[domino-710]

I'll up your ' Caveat Emptor ' - with - ' Nimis Bonum Ut Verum Sit '. 😀

[countessalmirena]

Very true - and in concert with that, nullum gratuitum grandium!

🚫🆓🥪