Yes, the fake 1 oz. gold bars are still on Ebay

[peachypresents]

This is only out of sheer embarrassment and not wanting anyone else to go through this.... but yes I bought a fake gold bar on here in June. I was needing some money so took the "gold bar" to the local coin storefront. Was told it was counterfeit. The bar was too thick and tested not gold on the Sigma machine.

When my husband and I got home he put it in his calipers. The bar is 5.5 mm! It's supposed to be 1.9mm! 

My mind went back to the auction where the seller had it listed with identical ones but $50 less. Yes, I should have just paid the extra $50 bucks. If you do buy a gold bar on here get it tested immediately. I'm sure my hard earned money is gone.

Wondering if there are any fake argor heraeus gold bar auctions on here? Yes...at least 2. I can spot them easily. The peeling cellophane box is also a dead giveaway. Date today is 3-17-24.

[bonjourami]

Its too bad you didnt test it right away, you could have filed a case and gotten a refund. C'est la vie.

[peachypresents]

What I don't understand is you can't sell fake purses or shoes on here but you can sell fake gold!

[bonjourami]

I guess because gold bars are not authenticated like designer shoes and bags.

[eburtonlab]

What I don't understand is you can't sell fake purses or shoes on here but you can sell fake gold!

What is allowed and what someone can get away with if no one notices or complains may be very different things.

People try to sell fake purses or shoes all the time. Some of them may even get away with it if no one notices or complains.

Buy expensive items from trustworthy sellers. If you are not able to verify the authenticity of something yourself, get the item authenticated by someone you trust before you lose your chance to invoke the money back guarantee.

[peachypresents]

Well apparently even J.P. Morgan bank has been duped by fake gold bars so I'm not the only one. See many other posts about it on here also. There is a $10,000 many bid 5 bar auction right now as I'm typlng this!

[soh.maryl]

When any buyer receives any item that is not as described, he has 30 days after receipt to open an item not as described case with eBay.  

With 1578 feedback, I am sure you would be knowledgeable enough to do that.

If, however, you waited past 30 days, then you can open a case with Paypal, if that's how you paid, or do a chargeback on your credit card.  

[beach.gold]

What I want to know is why does eBay continue to allow this.  I keep reporting stuff that is clearly faked, and they keep saying its not breaking policy.  I give up on reporting anything.  People are selling "plated" fake Argor Heraeus gold ozs for instance that in the pictures state its a 1 oz gold bar, but put "plated" in the description.  This is either going to catch someone else off guard or be used to attempt to defraud others (by cheap fake gold and try to sell to someone else as real).  I don't see how this can be allowed.  Not to mention the fake silver eagles and other items - this is considered US Currency, should this not be reported to the secret service?

[eburtonlab]

What I want to know is why does eBay continue to allow this. I keep reporting stuff that is clearly faked, and they keep saying its not breaking policy.

Something that is obvious to you may not be so obvious to someone without your experience in this particular area. And eBay can't possibly employ experts in every conceivable category on eBay; eBay has to rely on reports from users and automation to deal with two billion active listings.

Don't expect eBay to act based on a single uncorroborated report. Lots of unscrupulous sellers would think nothing of reporting their competition if a single report could get a listing pulled.

The more independent reports that eBay gets regarding a listing or a seller, the more likely eBay is to take action.

eBay does continuously remove many listings, though not necessarily as quickly as most of us would prefer. Unfortunately scammers are not likely to be deterred by having a listing pulled. They will try again using different accounts, or other scammers will take their places and continue listing counterfeit items.

[beach.gold]

This all makes sense of course, but they authoritatively respond to the report saying no policy is being broken.  Sometimes its an AI generated response, but other times it actually comes from a real person apparently.  The description being given is detailed as to what the issue is but apparently it is ignored.  This is  probably all an act in futility anyway.

[soh.maryl]

Is there a reason that an experienced eBayer, like yourself, would not enact the MBG and open an item not as described case, which you have 30 days to do after receiving the counterfeit, or NAD, item? 

[soh.maryl]

First of all, you know that no one employed by eBay examines every single item listed here for its authenticity and accuracy of the listing, right? 

And that any buyer who receives something that's NAD can open an NAD case?

[beach.gold]

Course I know that.  I was not suggesting they do.  I was referring to items I actively report.  As a local retail buyer I hear the story all to often about people getting screwed by items this way, and I am reporting what I see as a very weak effort to try and stop it just to be told nothing is wrong.  I have helped people test items they have purchased just to find they are fake and they are able to open an INAD(with in 30 days of purchase), and I have even provided documentation in certain to help their case a few times.  Most people don't get their stuff checked.  I guess that is on them.  Just frustrating.  This is nothing new.  

eBay is a valued business partner that I need, I just want it to be better.  Shrug.

[eburtonlab]

This all makes sense of course, but they authoritatively respond to the report saying no policy is being broken.

I think if you look closely at the wording of that form letter, it probably says something like "We looked into your report and didn’t find the listing to be in violation of our policy". This is not the same as saying the listing is clear or fine or legitimate, it just means no obvious violation was noticed in this instance, whether the determination was made by AI or a person. Another person looking into it later may still find a violation has occurred; that just has not happened yet.

I have reported many listings myself, and I certainly understand how frustrating it is when something that appears to be an obvious case of fraud is not immediately caught and removed by eBay, but if you consider the sheer number of new listings that need to be checked constantly you start to get a sense of the scale of the problem that eBay faces.

[simba6]

The only bullion I would buy mail order is chicken or beef.