Im not to sure how many of you shop on Ebay but I like buying coins that I can see and grade by the pic. I just purchase a 1909 VDB in AU the other day on Ebay. Here was the photo of the coin used on ebay.



And here is what I got



I then checked the past listing for this person and saw he had sold 3 other 1909 VDBs all with the same photo. If a person is selling a coin the photo they used should be of the coin and not some stock photo they pull from somewhere off the web. Just just makes me a bit MAD!!!

id be mad to!!! but its better than giving you a fake.. and then the person who sold it to ya closed his account and ran!!

I would ask for a refund. If he refuses, you can file a report on ebay mentioning that you didn't get what you are supposed to.

I'm with gx. Don't worry about it. Just send the seller a note - via ebay and tell him/her that the coin is not as pictured and you want to return it. Did you pay with paypal?

A lot of this hinges on whether or not he said something to the effect of "What you see is what you get!" Make sure he didn't say that the one pictured wasn't the one he was sending out.

Ebay has a new rule prohibiting use of stock photos on coin sales, or so I have been informed. I would contact him immediately and inform him of this. Hopefully you paid him with paypoo too, so you can file a claim. Obviously he did a bait and switch and sent you the snarfy example.

I did used paypal and it does seem he takes returns. Im just mad it holds up a little bit of cash that I could have used for other things. But then again its only 15 dollars plus Postage. Stock pics suck!!

the first pic has small boxes near the yr (the dirty parts in the coin you got) ....looks like he used photoshop

There are sellers out there that like statements like the above, how else can they get away with the nonsense they do?

Please report this to ebay. The coin you received may be AU, but it is brown. Also, the "stock" photo appears cleaned.

i agree... send it back... along with a little nasty note...

Not so fast -- the one in the original pic looks cleaned -- I'd like to see a better pic of the one you received!

You might be on to something, but the image of the first one is in low resolution too.

if you dont want it ill take it

I am giving him (The seller) a few days to reply. You can PM me your email now and I will let you have it for 15 dollars + postage if he has not replyed to me by this Monday morning. Thanks

One of the many problems with ebay or buying anything via the internet. Most people know and state you pay postage and if returned, again, you pay postage. Some even state there is a restocking fee. Such sellers know that for a, say $15 dollar item, if disatisfied, most will not return the item. It they sell many, many such items, they come out way ahead. Postage both ways, other fees and your out considerably but not usually enough to get caught up in a long term situation so most just eat the thing as a lesson learned. Just one more reason I hate ebay.
I remember one of my only purchases via ebay. I purchased an item that if I had looked into would have been about 1/4 of what I paid. Then there was the postage. I recieved a different item than advertised. I returned it with a large threatening letter. Again, though, as noted on the add, I paid for the postage again. I was notified that there was an error in the add but I should have studied the situation better. Again, I threatened a series of letters to ebay, the better buisness bureu, The state department of business affairs and a few others. Eventually I was returned all my expenses including all postages paid. Was it worth it for a small amount of money. No, but sure made me feel better.

Ah yes...the old stock photography trick! A lot of them do that - they should all clearly state that it is just a stock photograph and not the actual coin and I think this is one of the dirty tricks sellers sometimes use when selling lots...

So... when considering buying a coin off eBay, have the person CONFIRM that the one you'll be getting is the one in the photograph included, and somehow fandangle it so that if they lie you can prove it to eBay at some point?

They usually are quite obvious with a picture-perfect image of the coin that makes you wonder -no harm in inquiring, you could have a ready-made question saved as a notepad file which you just cut n paste each time you get suspicious...
A lot of these seem to sell the same coin every time when you look at the photos in the listings, look to see if the same photo appears further down the listings to sell about a week or so later as this is often the case. Of course that's no good if you've never seen their listings before - just look for the usual signs of a tricky dealer. Over on ebay UK I have a good system where I ignore all the ones that look like they're showcasing their stuff far too much and aim to only buy from the ones who are fellow enthusiasts and not 'professionals' like some of the best scammers out there...

ebay reminds me of a story I heard, not sure if true. Someone placed adds in hundreds of newspapers accross the country stating I can guarantee to tell you how to become a millionair. Send me one dollar and I will tell you how. Many millions sent him one dollar. He sent them all an envelope with one small piece of paper stating "Do as I'm doing".