Ebay "Dealers", Your Cell Phone Pics Suck!

Green papers are all 1866. Plus they are all on extremely thin paper; one look at that paper of the stamp he is selling is enough to prove it has zero chance of being a genuine green paper. It is also the wrong shade of green.

Same seller?

http://goscf.com/t/81104

Seems to be. Not sure exactly how believable it is.

http://goscf.com/t/74585

Hardly the first time.

His BOGUS Series1940 are what got me banned.

So many trimmed revenues it is amazing any perf'd ones (R-Xc) are left... Doesn't even bother to "see" the remaining perfs left on the "imperf" stamps...

For the love of all that is holy...

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse.

Maybe a pumpkin? Those are some mad carving skills.

"I got a rock."

I reported him to the APS and Ebay after taking a look at his Hawaiin stamps which are all crude fakes. In fact, he has one listing for a Hawaii Scott 24 that is blue instead of black and either way is a piece of junk. Enough already.

Not to belabor this topic but the seller just messaged me multiple times with everything from "get a life" to "harassment" with the last one blaming auction company descriptions for the bogus listings even when a stamp design is not even the correct color.

This provides a good opportunity to discuss some of the things wrong with the philatelic/internet marketplace interface that has never changed.

There are similar characteristics amongst these sellers of dubious materials.

1) Thousands of positive feedback ratings
2) Hang a society logo out to lend gravitas
3) Sell little to no certified material even for multi-thousand-dollar stamps
4) If somebody calls you block or insult them
5) Provide poor quality images
6) Start bidding for said multi-thousand-dollar stamps at 99 cents
7) Build a customer base of the uninformed and newbies that leave the positive feedback that entices more uninformed and newbies to keep the cycle going
8) Bask in the aura of legitimacy that a well-oiled Ebay seller feedback account lends to an otherwise clueless or shady operator
9) Rinse and repeat

Obviously, there are great sellers, some of them from this forum, that have some of the attributes listed above but not all and they deserve to be praised for their honesty and professionalism. But make no mistake that the bad sellers are damaging the hobby irreparably and there is no way to quantify the number of collectors that walk away in disgust when and if they finally realize the extent to which they have been ripped off.

Finally, yes there is a responsibility on a buyer's part to know their material and their limits but sellers that prey on the uninformed are odorous people in general.

We don't need sellers like that in our hobby - it is just bad for the hobby. My experience GENERALLY is that sellers on SAN are respectable and trustworthy - there are exceptions, but generally the statement holds. Whereas on eBay, every Tom, Dick, and Harry is trying to sell their grandfather's collection. They are blinded by the POTENTIAL money that can be made and, frankly, go to the dark side. These are people with little integrity that are in it for a buck. Caveat emptor are the first 2 words all eBay buyers should know. There have been numerous times over the years when I have had collections of 'this type' of material brought to me and the owner is simply insulted that I am not interested or that my offer is so low - "But the seller sold it as a # so-and-so, and you don't know what you are looking at!" Their problem is that I DO know what I am looking at. So often, the rip-off happens and it isn't until years or decades later that the owner finds out. With eBay, you don't even know what the person looks like, or whether he was the rip-off artist that you stumbled over 5 years earlier under another seller ID. EBay is an easy forum to buy from - access to material is incredible - very much unlike going to a stamp show and wandering from table to table and building relationships. The people on SCF have all read abut these horror stories. The problem is that most people with a small passing interest in the hobby don't bother to get on these forums. They just go directly to eBay and start spending. We can squawk all we want here, but the problem is that the people that need to hear the squawking aren't here.

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Not everyone might use this forum but many people use Google, if anyone Googles 'Boots4222' this thread will come up right at the top of the search page.

If people do not bother to do ANY research into who they are buying from, then there is not much anyone can do to help them.

This seller knows of this thread, he was here yesterday. Folks can draw their own opinions on the fact that he did not bother to defend his listing practices.
Don

To be fair, there is another category of seller in this regard: those that simply don't know any better. They just inherited their parent's/spouse's/friend's collection and they now have to or want to dispose of it, and after years/decades of being regaled with fantastic tales of inestimable rarity and wealth, bring those tales to the table when it comes time to sell.

While you or I would perform due diligence and research before making claims or establishing asking prices, many of these people do not. They're not collectors; that methodology isn't in them.

I don't know that eBay actually provides any tools/aids for "the newbie seller" in this regard, nor are there any requirements to go through any form of online onboarding tutorial or educational process (that I'm aware of, but I've been on eBay for 24 years... eBay now is a far cry from when I joined).

eBay markets itself as a platform where you can sell your kids' outgrown jammies and Grandma Edna's antique vase in 2 minutes from your cellphone. Easy peasy! Well guess what... that same approach applies to stamps, coins, and all the other collectibles out there.

All that said, when it comes to this sort of seller, there's no excuse. As we've seen time and time again, size/stature is no barrier to the lack of morals and ethics. How many high-profile ASDA-endorsed multi-page Linn's advertisers have we talked about here with the most abhorrent business practices?

Any appearance of integrity or policing thereof amongst many national dealers and auction houses is IMO illusion. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"

We just tend to be more outraged when it's on eBay because that's where people go dumpster diving for bargains (myself included).

We have to acknowledge just how well eBay has done its marketing; they had to overcome decades and decades of consumer common sense thinking like:
- "don't buy stuff sight-unseen"
- "be careful about buying something from someone you do not know"
- "build solid business relationships"
They have brain-washed many into not caring who the seller is and trusting eBay's moronic feedback system (where eBay has a huge vested interest in keeping good scores) and 'money back guarantee'.

The solution is simple, education. We have to promote consumers investing time in learning WHO they are buying FROM and as well as doing their homework on what they are buying.

Education is the only weapon in the war against online deception and fraud.
Don

A couple of auction listings from the seller in question ending this weekend. All 3 stamps are completely bogus and the bidiots have already given this charlatan an undeserved windfall. P.T. Barnum was right.

Another spate of bogus revenue imperfs and part perfs from this same seller going on right now... seems to be a pattern.

And yet, sprinkled within are numerous legitimate stamps... but the horrific 2005-era Nokia flip-phone pics do the material no justice whatsoever.

Case in point, this R132 looks to be very decent stamp, probably why it garnered the ending bid it did, at roughly 70% of Scott... but how can you truly tell from those images?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/234844543905

I made a purchase from this seller a few weeks ago, here was the listing which mis-identifies the catalog number.

I was happy to win an OX1 at that price which often sells in the $50 range. The seller used the eBay tracking packaging which was well sealed when it arrived. It included cardboard stiffeners, a glassine envelope and a packing list; but there was no stamp!

I sent the seller a message with a few photos, he replied he was sure that the stamp was in there. He refunded my money, but I wish I had gotten the stamp.

It sometimes feels that more often than not when I find a good deal on eBay it always falls through without me getting what I purchased.
Don