Buyer with 0 feedback just made an offer on a $5000 item - safe to sell?

[originalskincoins]

I've been selling on eBay for over a decade, and not had any issues with scam buyers so far, but this one gave me a little pause due to the value of the item. Am I taking a high risk by selling a $5000 item to a 0 feedback buyer? The buyer's account was created 6 days ago. 

I could potentially film myself packing the item, if that would help at all with a SNAD dispute. Beyond that and signature tracking, anything else I could/should do to protect myself if I decide to sell? 

[originalskincoins]

Very fair point. 

[dnasilver]

Insure, signature confirmation, research shipping address before sending, offer free returns. The majority of coin collectors have strong ethics especially old timers. We still do handshake deals at shows and have found very few questionable buyers. Of course there are the sellers who will lie, cheat, and rip a person off. They would off been run out of any show, that can operate easily on the internet burning new collectors and giving a bad name to the legit ones.  It is your choice to ship or not. We have not had any issues that could not be resolved so far in the coin world. Good luck.

[dnasilver]

Who melts down a 5K coin? 

[dbfolks166mt]

     An idiot or somebody that has nothing invested in it and is not worried, or doesn't care, about the numismatic value. 

[soh.maryl]

"Unless it's been sitting awhile  . . ." What does that mean?  

[soh.maryl]

Have never heard that registered mail is more or less isolated from other regular mail while at the PO.

What's your source of information?

Reaching out to ilja, a mentor here who works for the USPS, to find out about this.  

ETA:  And, even if all that protection is in place, what's to stop a buyer from opening an item not a described case and returning a wad of gum? 

[hawkwind5454]

You are dancing on the mine field, selling something of that value on eBay. It makes no difference if you've not had any trouble in the past. Remember, the only battle General Custer did not win, was his last one. No seller here is *special*. 😉

[inhawaii]

There is nothing you can do to protect yourself.

You're taking a risk every time you sell something on ebay.

Confucius say: "Not sell anything on ebay that you can't afford to lose."

[lonebuck-books]

It doesn't matter one bit how many feedback the buyer has, selling a $5K item on eBay is a very high risk thing to do.  Plan on losing your money and item.  eBay will not protect you and will happily give your money to the buyer for any complaint they may have.

Years ago I sold plenty of items with 4 figure prices here and did well.  I would never do that today.  Way too many scammer that eBay happily helps.

[dbfolks166mt]

Information is from the USPS web site. I have only used registered mail once and it had nothing to do with an eBay transaction. Nothing about the shipping method will protect the seller from a NAD type claim/scam but given the issues with some USPS deliveries it at least ensures delivery and signature confirmation. 

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Registered-Mail-The-Basics 

[katzrul15]

Would be worried on a $5k coin with a bait and switch. 

It is a lot of money to risk on here, regardless of the item sold. 

[bearswatching]

EBay has made it very clear they will not look at photos or videos as they can be doctored.

[originalskincoins]

Just to give an update here, I did decide to sell the coin after messaging the buyer and learning a bit more about him. He also ended up buying another $1400 coin as well. I used registered mail for the $5000 one, and confirmed with the buyer over messaging that he received them and is "ecstatic" with both of them. 

Did I do something foolish? Probably, but I thought it was worth the risk. There are plenty of online coin dealers who sell coins in this price range or higher on eBay as well as their own websites, so I'm going to do some more research on their best practices (likely private insurance) before listing more high-value items. 

And now, I'm going to take my hardearned money and buy a LoveSac off of Costco 😜