Selling gold on Ebay

[AndrewC]

Has anyone sold gold bullion on Ebay?  I am considering selling a 1 ounce Kruggerand there, but have never sold gold on Ebay before.  What are some do''s and don'ts of selling gold on Ebay?  I don't want to get scammed.  Let me know, thanks.

[MancunianStacker]

Do you have any feedback at all for anything so far? If not, then I wouldn’t be bidding or buying. I only buy from coin sellers with last feedback. I’d sell on here or via a dealer.

[Clockpuncher]

EBay’s buyer protection is also quite biased against the seller and can be exploited by scammers.
 

I wouldn’t sell an ounce of gold on eBay given the value at risk and the ease with which somebody could just complain, say you sent them a fake and keep your coin and the refunded cash. eBay would likely side with them and leave you to prove you didn’t sell a fake!

[Midasfrog]

Ebay is a minefield for anyone selling the risks to the seller loosing out are high. A common scam is the buyer saying that parts of the order were missing there is nothing a seller can do about this . Much better to sell high value items on the forum 👍

[Tangomachine]

I certainly wouldn't sell precious metals on ebay but I might be tempted to buy once my sigma tester is here

[Zimmerman]

Just sold some sovs recently, no takers from the forum.  Yes there are risks, but not as many would have you believe. I recently had a buyer state that the package was empty (1 sovereign). eBay case opened, I had my tracking with proof of delivery and case was closed in my favour in a matter of hours. Made a Royal Mail claim as recommended by eBay to do everything I can for buyer. Requested pictures of package etc from buyer, never heard from them again. You can protect yourself further by what accounts you have linked to your PayPal and personally I don’t keep any funds in my PayPal account. 
You can always sell as collection only but it will be harder to sell. 

[ChrisSilver]

Feel free to list an item on The Silver Forum’s trade section if you like.

There are no fees to list an item and no selling fees  

The trade section here is important to the survival of TSF, so thank you to members who choose to buy and sell on the forum  

[BobnotTed]

44 minutes ago, Zimmerman said:

You can always sell as collection only but it will be harder to sell. 

Presumably there are also risks associated with this, in that others who are relatively local are made aware that you potentially have bullion in your house.

[InvestInCoins888]

I would 100% recommend selling here rather than ebay. Gold sellers are targeted by fraudulent buyers who use PayPal charge back to their advantage.

Remember also fees mean you need to add nearly 15% onto the price to cover PayPals and ebay fees, makes it hard to advertise at a sensible price.

Only accept PayPal from well established ebayers who have plenty of feedback! 

Why not list here? No fees, much less worry! 

[cornishrich]

fraudulent buyers who use fake PayPal email's I had that happen loads of times and just time wasters, even people saying my ngc graded coins were fakes. Won't be selling on ebay just too much hassle and would rather sell to a member on here 

[InvestInCoins888]

46 minutes ago, cornishrich said:

fraudulent buyers who use fake PayPal email's I had that happen loads of times and just time wasters, even people saying my ngc graded coins were fakes. Won't be selling on ebay just too much hassle and would rather sell to a member on here 

Yep! Sadly the worst trick is abusing the returns. A buyer, once received can make up a reason to return. All they actually need do is send a registered envelope as all ebay require is proof of delivery. They say beyond that it’s impossible to prove either way so order in favour of the buyer.

Its a well known scam. The buyer then has to refund, money taken directly from PayPal. 

As a seller you d lost your gold and had to refund the buyer. 

A fraudulent buyer has been paid to steal your gold.

Ive first hand experience of this and ebay don’t care, they told me outright a buyer was statistically less likely to make another purchase on ebay if they didn’t receive a refund they requested. Where as a seller would generally continue to sell. Never mind the details of the case!

[dicker]

I agree with all of the above.  My opposite number at work sold a watch for 500 quid on ebay two months ago.

He sent it SD very well packaged and a few days later he got a message to say it “didnt work”. 

So he requested it back and all that he got back was an empty box.  

The buyer of course said that it must have been stolen in the post...

So as per the above post, he paid someone for stealing his watch.  
 

People target high value, portable, saleable items for sure.  
 

Best

Dicket

[AndrewC]

Wow.  Thanks so much for responding guys.  That helps a lot. 

BTW, How is the Silver Forum a more reliable place to sell?  Would there not be the same issues as Ebay in selling my gold kruggerands?

[5huggy]

1 hour ago, AndrewC said:

How is the Silver Forum a more reliable place to sell? 

JUST checkout Forum members reputation - it "SPEAKS" volumes! 😉

But also "IF " in doubt about  -"ASK" the Forum for advice ! 😉👍

[5huggy]

Thanks @Airhead - 😉👍  -  "that's what make this Forum so GOOD!"

We all tend to look after "OUR own reputation's and that of the Forum"! 😍😉👍

[InvestInCoins888]

1 hour ago, AndrewC said:

Wow.  Thanks so much for responding guys.  That helps a lot. 

BTW, How is the Silver Forum a more reliable place to sell?  Would there not be the same issues as Ebay in selling my gold kruggerands?

It’s a very wise question, especially as there are non of the safety nets offered by ebay & PayPal (hence non of the fees). However it’s those safety nets and the ease of exploiting them, that makes it a tricky and potentially dangerous place to trade.

Ebay is faceless, millions of buyers and you are somewhat out of control.

TSF is a community and you are in complete control. The vast majority of us trade without safety nets, no PayPal (making things as cheap as possible as there are no fees) and your reputation is everything.

Id advise if worried to hang around a little and get to know the community. 

When it comes time to sell, your in the drivers seat. Your biggest challenge will be to convince members you are a genuine seller as people are rightly going to be wary about handing over money to someone with no reputation here, no trader feedback.

Luckily @BackyardBullion Offers an ‘escrow’ service for a small fee which takes away the risk for buying from a new seller. He’s 100% trustworthy and will manage the deal, sending the coin to him and once the funds have been collected by yourself he sends it on to the buyer.

Theres no real risk for you here as a seller in that sense, unlike ebay where as a seller you actually assume all the risk (thanks to the safety net!). It’s the buyer that shoulders the risk here.

Best of luck, do ask for more help and support if you need it, most of the community is more than happy to help.

[The1GramMan]

I have never had a problem buying from The Silver Forum, eveyone I have purchased from has made the process smooth and effortless and the item is always better than originally expected. 

The Products I have brought here have always been well packaged and protected, although this can be a pain when trying to open them in a rush before your wife gets back from work and realises you have spent more money lol. 

I truly could not fault the community, administration and moderators of whom work very hard and dedicate there time to making this a wonderful place to enjoy stacking/collecting. 

The Sellers on here are also a credit to themselves, always giving good advice and are true to the value of what they are selling and at no point have I paid more than I should for any coin or bar.

Being totally new to this myself I could not have found a better place to feed my coin addiction  than here.

I hope this helps and thank you everyone!!

Liam

 

[AndrewC]

Thank you for responding.  And I'm going to take you up on that suggestion regarding the escrow service.  I want buyers to feel safe about buying from me.

And It sounds like its much better than eBay. I think I found a new home. Thanks for all the prompt responses.

[The1GramMan]

Welcome to your new home @AndrewC you won't regret it this place is awesome!!!

[BobnotTed]

On 25/08/2020 at 12:55, InvestInCoins888 said:

I would 100% recommend selling here rather than ebay. Gold sellers are targeted by fraudulent buyers who use PayPal charge back to their advantage.

Remember also fees mean you need to add nearly 15% onto the price to cover PayPals and ebay fees, makes it hard to advertise at a sensible price.

Only accept PayPal from well established ebayers who have plenty of feedback! 

Why not list here? No fees, much less worry! 

By which means do people here on the forum pay for goods bought from others here? Is it through PayPal, or is it some other means?

 

[Tangomachine]

34 minutes ago, BobnotTed said:

By which means do people here on the forum pay for goods bought from others here? Is it through PayPal, or is it some other means?

 

Bank transfer. Check theyre legit first. If i can't find that out then no deal. As for selling I always specify bank transfer

[BobnotTed]

2 hours ago, Tangomachine said:

Bank transfer. Check theyre legit first. 

Reminds me of a woman who was on the news a couple of years ago. She was in the process of purchasing a house. She received an e-mail from her solicitor to inform her of his bank details to which she should forward the payment for the house. Turned out the solicitor's e-mail address had been hacked and it wasn't his bank account details stated in the e-mail.

 

[Tangomachine]

1 hour ago, BobnotTed said:

Reminds me of a woman who was on the news a couple of years ago. She was in the process of purchasing a house. She received an e-mail from her solicitor to inform her of his bank details to which she should forward the payment for the house. Turned out the solicitor's e-mail address had been hacked and it wasn't his bank account details stated in the e-mail.

 

I meant put a post up asking for vouches. I tend to juat buy off the same people these days so they're all set up as payees anyway 😂😂

[RedDragon77]

On 26/08/2020 at 11:36, AndrewC said:

Thank you for responding.  And I'm going to take you up on that suggestion regarding the escrow service.  I want buyers to feel safe about buying from me.

And It sounds like its much better than eBay. I think I found a new home. Thanks for all the prompt responses.

Welcome aboard AndrewC! Good luck with your sales (GLWS)

[Chorlton]

The observation I would make generally for higher value items is always take plenty of high quality photo’s to prove in detail what you have. Next video in HD or better packing the item ready for posting making sure it is well packaged. Then consider posting using an insured , signed for postal service such as special delivery from Royal Mail. For low value items simple signed for 2nd class is cheap enough and has minimal insurance may be appropriate. Make sure any returns come back in good condition, well packaged using the appropriate postal service. Never sell to someone you have any doubts about or meet anyone in person. This means you are less likely to have problems and more likely to be able to deal with them if you do.