How safe is ebay?

[Clens92]

9 minutes ago, Marc said:

I live in Japan, yuo cannot compare with the UK. If yuo want to eat exclusively here yuo are talking £2,000- £3000.

It's also perfectly possible to eat in a good Tokyo restaurant for a completely comparable price to the UK... even easier in somewhere like Sasebo!

[RacerCool]

On 07/06/2019 at 08:03, HighlandTiger said:

I've bought dozens of sovereigns on ebay over the years. I don't worry too much about fakes, if you're paying by paypal you are covered. I just make sure the seller has a good amount of feedback, and see if they are selling other coins/gold/antiques etc. If you find someone with low feedback who has only had a few "private" transactions on the feedback, these are usually fake paid for feedbacks and are to be avoided like the plague.  

HOWEVER.......with slabbed coins, you do have to be extra careful, because you cant take them out of the plastic to check the coin is genuine. This is the reason I wont go anywhere near any graded/slabbed coin. The Chinese are getting better and better every year with the fakes, and with slabbed coins its much easier to fake than a loose coin.

Good advice. This has been my experience as well. Look carefully at the pictures, and ask for them if they're not already posted. Due diligence goes a long way: if it's a common coin (sovereign, eagle, etc) look at the various discussions and pictures about known fakes, and see if that info applies to what you're wanting to buy. Etc.

Also, read the descriptions carefully.  If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.