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Author Topic: Why are Lot Never Guaranteed?  (Read 660 times)

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Offline Virgil H

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Why are Lot Never Guaranteed?
« on: June 29, 2022, 02:24:44 am »
This question has been bothering me a while. It is a big deal in the ancient coin dealer world to guarantee all coins as authentic and all that stuff that is made a big deal. Yet, the convention with 100% of dealers and auction houses is that group lots are never guaranteed and never returnable. I mean never. I buy group lots quite often, I also buy single coins even more. Why should the coins in my group lots be not guaranteed? I realize that lots have lower value coins, that is why I buy them as I get a better per coin price. But, if one is fake, I should have some recourse. Seems like a lazy practice to me and, if I was a conspiracy theorist, it would be a great place to seed a few fake coins (to my knowledge I have never bought a fake from the dealers/auction houses I trust, so this is kind of hypothetical). And everyone does it, I am not singling anyone out here. As a customer, it seems to me I should get some kind of satisfaction if I get a fake in a group lot. It should be no different than a single coin purchase. I would be interested in hearing why this is such a convention when, at the same time, guaranteeing coin authenticity for single purchases is made to be a huge deal. I also get the impression that group lots are not looked at as seriously as single coins by dealers, making the probability of fakes more possible,

Thanks,
Virgil

Offline Pharsalos

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Re: Why are Lot Never Guaranteed?
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2022, 04:06:56 am »
I think it probably is fair. You are buying a group of coins almost always at a very significant discount to what they would be if the dealer individually photographed and described each coin. If the dealer had to spend time checking each individual coin minutely, there wouldn’t be much point then selling them in a lot.

I suspect one reason for the no return policy is speculators buying a large group hoping for a hidden bargain, not getting what they thought was there, and then trying to return the whole group because ‘one coin looks funny’. Especially when a lot photo is just a pile of coins, it would also be super easy for a dishonest buyer to keep or swap out a couple coins.

Offline Lech Stępniewski

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Re: Why are Lot Never Guaranteed?
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2022, 06:40:21 am »
I agree with Pharsalos. This is similar to when someone sells a used smartphone cheaply and writes: looks good, but hasn't been tested, may be defective, no warranty.
Lech Stępniewski
NOT IN RIC
Poland

Offline Virgil H

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Re: Why are Lot Never Guaranteed?
« Reply #3 on: June 29, 2022, 07:09:45 pm »
Makes sense, thanks for responses. I understand that.

Virgil

 

All coins are guaranteed for eternity