ENRB eBay Numismatic Registration Board
An eBay group called the ENRB (The eBay Numismatic Registration Board) purports to exist to establish a set of standards for eBay coin sellers. It is much needed but possibly ineffective, judging from the first few examples we have noticed.
Fisch Tester Expert
The first time we can remember seeing an ENRB logo was in a listing for some gold coin or other, and the seller stated that he knew the coin was genuine because he had checked it on a Fisch tester. We also fell off our chairs laughing. We are sure that Fisch testers have their place in helping the new or inexperience collectoe to avoid some of the more obvious fakes, but no real dealer or expert would give it pride of place in their diagnostic armoury. Most real dealers do not own one, and would probably never use it if they did.
Group Leader Barnowl Not a Registered User - Curious and Curiouser
When we clicked on the ENRB logo on goldguinea's item listing, it took us to a welcome page which stated "Welcome to ebay Numismatic Seller Registration Board"
Group Leader barnowl (9074)  .
When we clicked on this link, we received an error message "Input Error", a typical eBay message implying that we the user had made a mistake in our input, rather than the truth that the error was within the eBay system. This is typical of the cheap, nasty, shoddy way eBay appears to be run.
To find out more, we used a eBay "Advanced Search", which required us to enter a "Verification" code. On the "Find a member" results page, it showed that barnowlc had been a member for 13 years 3 months, and had a feedback of 9137. It offered us a "me" link wich took us to the same error page, but clicking on his feedback link showed "Not a registered user". This would probably surprise most people, but very little about eBay surprises us nowadays.
The last feedback entry for barnowlc was dated 5th January 2009. We are editing this page on 28th March 2011, so the information on the ENRB Groups page appears to be 2 years and 2 months out of date. eBay do not state when members ceased to be registered users.
There is a discrepancy of 63 between the two different reported figures for barnowlc's feedback, it would be possible to do some detective work, and work out when the ENRB Leader page was last updated. We did this very quickly, and arrived at the conclusion that barnowlc's feedback was 9074 around the 7th October 2008, making it about 2 years and 5 months out of date.
Another curious feature is that Welcome page states that it was last updated on 14th September 2010.
Can a non-registered eBay user stll be a Group Leader?
How many members? On the "Home" page there is a "Registered Dealers List" which contains 71 entiries, however the "Members" page, reported that there were 1300 members, despite its link showing only 1299 members.
Replica Sovereigns Sold on eBay as Restrikes
Many eBay members offer imitation sovereigns misleadingly described as a restrikes.
This was one of them:
goldguinea Selling Replica Sovereigns on eBay as Restrikes
eBay member goldguinea was offering an 1818 and 1819 imitation sovereign each misleadingly described as a Pobjoy Gold Sovereign.
Misleading Descriptions
We noticed at least one ENRB member using misleading descriptions.
ENRB Member
We noticed this eBay member had an ENRB logo in his listing, which claims "Integrity & Confidence in Numismatics
The eBay Groups ENRB page states:
Welcome to ebay (sic) Numismatic Seller Registration Board
The purpose of this group is to establish a set of standards for eBay coin sellers to meet, and then to certify all eBay coin dealers who wish to be certified by us, and comply to (sic) the standards for certification.
The ENRB "Charter" includes:
8. All registered dealers must agree to never knowingly
misrepresent any coin/bullion/exonumia they sell on eBay.
17. Registered sellers if selling copies reproductions or
alterations, will mention in the lot title and body that it is a copy
alteration reproduction forgery or similar widely understandable
terms. For example if the term "fantasy" is used, it should read
modern or recent fantasy if modern or recent.
In the case the buyer is not a native speaker of the language used
in the description, unless it was sold in the reproductions
category, the buyer will be emailed (sic) before shipping, to confirm they
understood the item was not an authentic / unaltered item. In case
they did not understand, the sale will be canceled (sic) on the sellers (sic)
initiative.
ENRB Charter
Charter for "ebay Numismatic Seller Registration Board"
ENRB registered dealers ethical standards can be found here..
1. Once a member has been notified by the group leader /moderator that they
are accepted as a registered dealer, they will then be required to place a link to the ENRB in all future
coin offers they list on eBay.
2. By agreeing to be registered as a dealer, dealers agree to comply to the
standards here. Violators risk being removed from the registered
dealers list, suspended for a set period of time, or even being permanently banned from the group.
3. Processes will be put in place by this group to arbitrate disputes
between registered dealers only, and those winning bids or buying
from any of their eBay offers only.Registered dealers, only after a dispute, when officially instructed to do so by this
group, will grant refunds on any coins they have sold on eBay, less
actual shipping costs (full refund at the sellers discretion).
.
4. Upon request, all registered dealers will provide their legal
names to this board for inclusion on the registered eBay dealer
identity list.
5. Dealers may provide up to three areas of numismatic / bullion /
exonumia selling interest for publication upon the list. They can
also provide their email address, mailing address and / or phone
number, if they wish for inclusion on the list.
6. Dealers who register will not be required to pay any fees for
registration or any services offered by this group.
7. Any member that is found guilty selling known counterfeits/alterations/forgeries etc.. in violation of eBay policy, will not be eligible to register as a dealer for this group, or will be removed from registration when/if found in violation of this policy.
8. All registered dealers must agree to never knowingly
misrepresent any coin/bullion/exonumia they sell on eBay.
9. Registered dealer identities agree to not knowingly conceal any
defect or other information which negatively impacts the fair market
value of any coin(s), in their item descriptions.
10. Registered dealers agree to cancel any auction of theirs on eBay
found, by board of this group to be fraudulent, or to amend the description as directed.
11. Registered dealers will not use concealed eBay user
identity in their feedback profiles.
12. Registered will not use concealed eBay bidder identity in their eBay auctions for coins
bullion and / or exonumismtic items.
13. Registered dealers will advertise in all coin sales they place
on ebay, after they have been notified they are accepted for
registration, that any of their buyers may appeal to this board for
arbitration of any dispute they have with the registered dealer. In
regards to any coin, bullion, or exonumismatic sale they have made
while they are registered by this board. ...Struck.
14. (struck)
15. There will be no requirements for dealers to be registered by
this board, except as appear on this list of standards.
16. Registered dealers will not post stock photos of coins / bullion /
exonumismatic items, only the actual items for sale in the offer,
except when it is expressly mentioned in the offer that the coin(s)
shown in the photo are not the coin(s) any buyer will get. This does
not apply to border or header photos, just to the photo section for
the merchandise for sale.
17. Registered sellers if selling copies reproductions or
alterations, will mention in the lot title and body that it is a copy
alteration reproduction forgery or similar widely understandable
terms. For example if the term "fantasy" is used, it should read
modern or recent fantasy if modern or recent.
In the case the buyer is not a native speaker of the language used
in the description, unless it was sold in the reproductions
category, the buyer will be emailed before shipping, to confirm they
understood the item was not an authentic / unaltered item. In case
they did not understand, the sale will be canceled on the sellers
initiative.
18. No registered dealer will knowingly make false accusations of
fraud, or the sale of misrepresented merchandise, against any other
registered dealer.
19. No registered dealer will in any way knowingly falsify the
pedigree / history of any coin / bullion / exonumismatic item for
sale. For example if they know the item was recently purchased in
one nation, they should not claim it was recently purchased in
another nation instead.
20. No registered dealer will sell items authenticated or graded by
any service on the SSS list by the CFE group, unless they follow ebay guide lines for this policy.
21. In case this board ever decides any coin sold by any registered
dealer as authentic/unaltered, is in proven fact, a forgery or alteration, that
dealer will give a refund of the full payment amount to the buyer,
upon the request of the buyer, or be permanently banned from the group.
22. No registered dealer will knowingly buy any coins stolen from a
person, corporation, or institution, except with the intention of
returning them to their rightful owners.
23. Any dealer ever convicted in any court, for fraud, forgery
or alteration, will not be eligible to be registered as a dealer, or will be removed
from registration upon conviction.
24. Registered dealers will mail any coins within 10 days of receipt
of payment, or give a full refund except by written permission of
the buyer.
25. All registered dealers will indicate the nation in which the
coins are stored at, upon the time of listing them on eBay, in the
lot descriptions.
26. Registered dealers will not bid upon their own offers, or direct
anyone to bid upon them who is not going to pay for the coin(s) and
take delivery. NO SHILL BIDDING.
27. Registered dealers will not threaten to bring bodily harm upon
any member of this group, any other registered dealer, or anyone who
has won /bid on one of their offers on eBay.
28. Registered dealers will not offer any item for sale on eBay
which they do not legally own or are licensed / permitted, in writing
or speech, to sell by the legal owner of the item.
29. Registered dealers will not knowingly misrepresent the age,
composition or weight of any item they sell on eBay.
30. Registered dealers will not falsely claim membership in any
numsimatic organization.
31. Registered dealers will not sell coins they know which have been
purchased from persons engaged in coin alteration or forgery,
without mentioning such pedigree in the lot description.
32. In case where any registered dealer is systematically over grading coins above fair market standards,(Grade Inflation) based upon buyer
complaints to this board, the dealer will be subject to removal from the
registered list.
33. At the discretion of this board, failure to comply to the
standards stated within, will result in warnings or removal from the
registered dealer list, or, possible suspension or even being banned from the group.
34. No registered dealer will make any claims that this board has
authenticated or any way certified, the grading of any items. This group
does not certify the authenticity or grading of coins, it can however in certain circumstances, make
decisions that coins have been incorrectly authenticated/graded.
Pattern Sovereigns on eBay - Fools Gold
Every month another eBay crook (member) seems to have the bright idea of conning mugs and punters into buying these silver medallions as "Pattern Gold Sovereigns".
Other Copyright Abuse
Buying Gold Coins & Bars on eBay
Selling Gold Coins & Bars on eBay
Copyright Thieves on eBay
We already have a page naming and shaming dealers using our images without permission. It's time we did the same for eBay, although if we include them all, this could be a very long page.
Alphabetical Listing of Other Copyright Theft Sites
Other Scams
Other Web Sites
All comments about copyright also cover content of all our other websites including, but not limited to:-
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ENRB Logo
Welcome to ebay Numismatic Seller Registration Board eBay Groups Page
barnowlc - Not a Registered User
eBay Index
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