Seller's Auction Rules And Certification

Post the ebay item #?
Lets see this item???

Howell, Your buying habits sound a lot like mine. Under those circumstances I will almost always pass. Very seldom, I'll take a chance on something like that.

Matt

Is it possible that a certificate providing agency or business provides customers with a stated or suggested statement covering the time allowed for a transaction to take place with them?

Every expertising business could be different depending on many factors.


A risk is assumed with every transaction. Risk versus expected returns as sometimes the buyer uses terms that the seller describes to himself differently than the buyer expects, and vica versa, also in return.

The hunt is the thing.

"... I also have a pretty good idea about what actions by sellers should send up red flags, which certainly exist ..."

Red flags as to whether/not to buy something? Sure!

Red flags as to the seller's character & motivation? Not so much.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

The whole point is that in the end it does not matter what caused the red flag or why one is uncomfortable about making a purchase. All that matters is the discomfort, and the feeling that something is not right.
And sometimes reading the sellers description can give one a very good idea about the seller's character & motivation. And level of knowledge as well.

I can't think of many stamps that cat for hundreds of dollars that are so rare that you'd HAVE to buy this one and not wait for one available under better circumstances to pop up.

Period.

I mean, is it a well centered 24c Blackish Violet? A 90c 1861 with a supplementary mail cancel? A 90c 1869 with a Hiogo, Japan CDS on it?

No?

Pass.

It closed this morning. I didn't bid on it.

OK....what was the item #?

Can you do a screen grab and show us what it was? Did anyone bid on it?

Terry

I guess inquiring minds want to know. I really don't mean to imply anything about this specific dealer because if you took a poll I think you'd find that the VAST majority of sellers have similar terms and do not allow enough time for certification for whatever reasons. That being said, I would have bid more than what this lot went for although I'm not sure about the condition of the gum so I don't feel too badly about not bidding. Anyway...without further ado...... the item number on ebay is/was 380874021917

howell1018....
I have checked the sellers feedback...
On Jan 26, 2014.....one of his negatives....he states
"All our item are life time guaranteed"
Guess he changed the rules...You did right by not bidding.

I sent a follow-up message to the seller reiterating my concerns and pointing out that even with a 3 week timeframe I would be unable to receive the item, submit to expertization service, receive back a potentially defective item and would they or would they not refund the cost of the item. This is the response I received (I copied and pasted so grammatical errors are theirs: Sure, only we do refund when a quality problem occurs and buyers are response for the return shipping fee. Thank you
So maybe they do refunds....or maybe not.

As it happens I know this dealer casually. He is honest but English is not his first language; also he knows more about Asian material than US stamps. In my opinion he would never knowingly perpetrate a fraud, but as I said his knowledge level on US material is not the best although it has gotten better in some areas.

I can tell you several things about ebay sellers in general. There are sometimes legitimate reasons for not allowing sufficient time for expertization, one is that the material could be on consignment and the seller needs (or wants) to settle quickly with the consigner. But I do not consider this (or any) reason that a seller won't allow sufficient time for expertizing to be acceptable ethically. To me, ANY product that is sold should be guaranteed to be 1. genuine and 2. "As described". If no faults are disclosed, then a buyer has the right to expect a 100% sound stamp.

This is a HUGE subject and I don't have a whole lot of time, but here are several more points to consider. There are a number of ebay sellers who won't allow adequate time for expertizing. Even though some of them are basically honest overall, I still consider them at minimum to be ethically-challenged if they won't. But there are several ways to BEAT their restrictions;

1. My expert services include an express service which is guaranteed for 3 days from day of receipt. That costs only $5. in addition to the regular fees (see www.stampexpertizing.com for fees). This service allows buyers PLENTY of time to meet the time restrictions imposed by these sellers;

2. Find out if the seller is an APS member. If so, he *MUST* abide by the Bylaws and Code of Ethics. This means that if you buy a stamp from him and it is repaired or altered, he MUST take it back, even if the time limit for returns has passed.

It happens that the seller of that stamp *IS* an APS member. His name is J. Sun. That seller lists a lot of stamps (US) that have undisclosed faults. I advise anyone buying from such sellers to be very careful. This stamp (the #460), for example, appears to me to be reperfed at bottom, and possibly elsewhere. You made a great decision not to bid. I have reported it to try to stop the sale. I may or may not be successful, because this seller is one of those given special status by www.ebay.com/b/260/" rel="nofollow">ebay, being big enough that he has his own Account Manager, who insulates him from the usual procedures followed by www.ebay.com/b/260/" rel="nofollow">ebay for removing fraudulent stamps from their site. It is therefore difficult to get corrective action against his listings, which is even another reason to be cautious - www.ebay.com/b/260/" rel="nofollow">ebay coddles him and other BIG sellers.

Last, the best advice I can offer anyone buying from ANY seller is to avail themselves of professional expert advice and services if they are spending decent amounts of money for their stamps. Also always ASK a seller what his policy is BEFORE you enter bids on his material. If he does NOT allow expertizing, my advice is to forget about doing business with him, as stated earlier, there is NO reason that is acceptable enough to deny a buyer the right to get the material expertized. If they have TOUGH restricted limits on the days you can return misdescribed items, then either use my express services or forget buying from such sellers too. There are LOTS of honest dealers out there. Seek them out and patronize them and forget about the ethically-challenged ones.......

Thanks Bill. All good points and excellent advice. You assisted me when I purchased a fraudulent #519 a number of years ago. I was stopped before payment was made. I told the seller I would not be paying and he never said boo.