RIP

[robman6868]

Ebay  should  throw all  gold  specimen  sellers  off Ebay  who offer  tiny little  gold  specimens  that go from less than 1 gram to  maybe  4 grams,as these people are  asking  outrageous  prices, like  40 to  120 dollars  for  nothing!!! This is  classic  fraud!!

When  an expert( the  seller), asked outrageous  prices for  something  to  a non expert ( new buyes)!!

I worked  for  Caterpillar tractor co. & traveled the world & have  seen  thousands of  ore samples ( specimens)& these specimen sellers are  plan ripping  people  off!!!

Also, there's a  seller of " Alaskan gold nuggets that  sells 5 pieces of  gold  for  6 or 8 bucks & the pieces are  so small  they  probably  aren't  even mesh 50!! This  seller has  lots of these  type  adds for  " Alaskan  gold nuggets  that very  in the  number of  pieces of  gold, but also are microscopic!!

He's  from  south  Carolina & Ebay  should  throw  him  off of  Ebay  for  deceptive  advertising!!! 

He's  been  getting  away with  this for years!!

What do you think  about  professional  gold  sellers taking  such advantage  over  non professional  gold  buyers??????

[12345jamesstamps]

I sold a few gold items as buy it now....They all sold in 1 minute on Ebay.

[divwido]

Maybe he traveled from South Carolina to Alaska where he mined those nuggets. 

And I believe the entire world is buyer beware.  Not just gold and eBay.

[kensgiftshop]

@robman6868 

I don't buy or sell gold, but like anything else, buyers should do some research before buying anything online.

[kathiec]

Ebay's premise is now and has always been 'caveat emptor'. If you think gold specimens are the only place where there are sellers taking advantage of inexperienced buyers you are seriously deluded. It happens in thousands of categories.

But here's the problem. There are 25+ million sellers on eBay and more than a billion listings on any given day. Do you seriously think eBay can police that? So they have a comprehensive money back guarantee to protect buyers when they receive an item that's not as described. 

[downunder-61]

@robman6868 

If I knew nothing about a particular product, I would not be buying it on eBay. Research is your friend.

[robman6868]

Research  is my friend,but fraud  is still illegal and  bad actors  should be  removed from  Ebay!!!

[kathiec]

---

@robman6868 wrote:

Research  is my friend,but fraud  is still illegal and  bad actors  should be  removed from  Ebay!!!

---

And they are. Every time a 'not as described' case is opened against a seller it is noted in their account. If eBay sees a trend of a seller having cases opened they will indeed suspend their account. If you have a way to police a billion listings for 'bad actors' in real time, please do share.

[maxine*j]

Any adult who buys anything, anywhere, for any amount, for any reason, is expected to know what he is buying.  Doesn't matter if it's carrots or calipers, socks or scimitars, guppies or gold. 

Any adult can easily find the current price of gold.  When he does, he can calculate what he ought to be paying for it, with the premium to be expected in a retail transaction.

There is no such thing as a "professional buyer" or a "non-professional buyer."  There are only buyers who choose to be knowledgeable before entering a market and those who choose to be ignorant. 

As for the latter group, there is nothing that their moms or their bankers, you or eBay can do for them.

-

[ittybitnot]

who offer  tiny little  gold  specimens  that go from less than 1 gram to  maybe  4 grams,

@robman6868 

I checked just this minute 5/6/2022  7:20 eastern time and the spot/melt for 4 grams of 14K is $141.29 That is a 'high' depending on your quantity. 

If you doubt the veracity of the seller, that is fine. Why would anyone consider a listing that does not post the dwt or gram weight?   eBay has not disabled the "back button" or the "X"  in a couple of years. You are not required to purchase.  You are not anybody else's caretaker.  If you see a totally fraudulent listing, use the REPORT ITEM feature on any scam listing you come across.  

I used to SELL scrap gold here, and did quite well.  I quit because of scam buyers and now am totally happy to sell it local for 5% under spot.  No fees, no worries. 

[7606dennis]

If you think that a seller is asking too much for whatever it is that they're selling the wise thing is to not buy it from that seller.

[placerminer]

There are plenty of legitimate sellers of gold specimens, and as specimens yes they go for much more than the gold price, sometimes 2 to 4x gold price-this is simply supply and demand, and collectors will pay a premier for unique specimens or from certain locations-these are pieces that are meant to be displayed as is and not crushed or processed..   That said, I see countless sellers listing fools gold (pyrite, chalcopyrite or arsenopyrite) and selling as rich gold ore or gold -platinum ore full of metals!  (yeah mostly iron! )  Since "gold ore" is not a really a definitive word-just usually means material that gold can be extracted at a profit, but very hard to prove.  Just because it came out of a gold mine and is called ore, doesn't mean there is any gold in it. Blatant scams usually say gold and platinum!  This is a big red flag, as the 2 metals rarely occur together. Got XRF data to prove it!!!!!  Another widely used statement in the scams-(I don't have the room here to explain all the issues with XRF).   I have reported dozens of these, and for the most part ebay does nothing.  Many of these rocks are simply easily collected off the waste piles of abandoned mines and sold here for impressive prices--many of the buyers are ignorant of what they purchased and think they just got a deal! Educate yourself, many of the sellers are new, or have spotty feedback- some continue with good feedback -and proof that the buyers are ignorant of the deception, and cannot identify real gold verses fools gold.

[ebooksdiva]

This thread is from 2022 

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.