Foreign Sellers on eBay

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

Folks,

I've been looking to expans my collection with some Dominion of Canada notes.  So far, I've only got two shinplasters 1900 and 1923.  Next, I wanted to get the 1923 $1.  I'm not particular about seals or letters, but I am interested primarily in eye appeal.  So, I'd like a decent one.  Then I'd like one of the 1917 Princess Patricia $1 and 1923 $2.

As I was looking through eBay, I noticed a few Princess Pat notes for sale.  I was dumbfounded when I saw that the seller does not ship to Canada.  I figuerd it was a one off.  But, then I found another with the same selling restrictions.  I've noticed a few US sellers on eBay, and they tend to charge $25 for shipping on orders over $25, so I tend to stay away from US sellers in general.  That just seems a bit excessive.  I've paid a lot less for way better packing and shipping within the country.

But, why the heck wouldn't they sell to Canada?  Seems Canadian currency would be more collectible for Canadians?  Unless there are an abundance of expatriot collectors in the US that have some sort of unwritten code......   

In any event.  I did find a black seal DOC $1 for what I thought to be a steal.  $35 shipped in what looks to be almost EF condition!  Won't be able to tell until I get it, but either way it looks nicer than some of the similar notes I've found locally for way more money.

Just a few thoughts!

For your sake I just hope the note is legit!

And your whole experience is positive.

Please put up pics when you get 'em!

Many US sellers are willing to ship to Canada.  They just forget to specify this in their shipping options.  As for the price of shipping... I'm not entirely sure what is going on, but I think it has a lot to do with the eBay shipping tools and the prices associated with certain services.  Many US sellers who have been in the business for years know better.  They know they can ship notes by lettermail for a couple of dollars tops.  They don't need ebay or the USPS telling them the cheapest service they can get is $7+.  But many US sellers don't do their homework since they have a large domestic market, so they don't think they need to appeal to international buyers.  That's a stark contrast to here in Canada where we intuitively know that we must prepare to sell to anywhere in the world given that our domestic market is a tenth the size of the US market.

There is also a comfort factor when it comes to shipping.  Some people are willing to ship items worth hundreds of dollars without tracking.  Others require tracking on stuff as cheap as $25.  It's mostly a personal choice mixed with paranoia and distrust, but there are some places where problems exist at the post office.  I'm very leery about buying stuff from sellers in California, for example, due to problems in the past.

I see often Canadian sellers who list on the US eBay site and who forget to specify shipping to Canada, so it appears they are snubbing their own country folk! 

A 1923 horseblanket for $35 in close to EF?  I'll believe it when I see it!

Okay, so I'm beginning to think maybe the note was pressed / cleaned.  After reading up a little on the 1923 notes I'm going to say it's processed.  Has a few folds, but nothing major.  I may be a little too forgiving and shouldn't be a grader!  But, the note looks relatively crisp and nice.  And I've seen ones that didn't look nearly as nice for $70 - $90, but I can't remember if they were black or green or blue seal?  But I feel that they fell in that VG-VF area, and this one looks nicer than those!

eBay auction was # 251317265031

If that helps anyone?  I'll take scans when I get it.  Worse comes to worse, I'll just hang on to it and I'm out the $35 for a processed note.  Since I don't own any of these, I'm sure I can deal with it for the time being.  But, it looks like it could have been bleached?

Definitely been washed and pressed. I see 3 Vertical folds and one horizontal fold.

Still ok price for what it is imo.

Out of curiousity.  How does one wash a note?  Is the note literally submerged in water / with bleach?  Or is it a light amount of bleach applied to a cloth to wipe it?

Also, the term pressed or processed, does this include placing a note in a heavy book for storage?  I know my father had some Devil's face notes a long time ago and had them placed in a bible somewhere in the house to keep them crisp and flat.  But, my idea of pressing a note would require heating and maybe moistening it with some sort of iron?

Also, I still think 35 shipped is a decent price for a 1923 note.  Would rather have one that is unprocessed, but if it is, it still looks decent.  I just don't want it to be larger than it is supposed to be due to pressing.  And I don't want the colour to fade due to bleaching.  But, in any event...

If you are a member of the Canadian Paper Money Society you can access their past publications. Although I can't list which issue it was off the top of my head but their was quite the detailed articled explaining step by step how to clean and press notes. At one point this was a very a common and acceptable practice.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
MG

... step by step how to clean and press notes. At one point this was a very a common and acceptable practice.

That said, the tides have completely reversed since then.  It is not at all considered acceptable to clean or press banknotes, and doing so reduces the value of your note rather than improve it.

It's funny.  In almost every other area of antiques and collectables, it is acceptable practice to restore old items.  Cars, furniture, old documents, paintings, you name it.  I think the problem with paper money is not that restoring is taboo, but that most of the people who do it are morons, and as such, they make notes worse instead of better.

It's funny.  In almost every other area of antiques and collectables, it is acceptable practice to restore old items.  Cars, furniture, old documents, paintings, you name it.  I think the problem with paper money is not that restoring is taboo, but that most of the people who do it are morons, and as such, they make notes worse instead of better.

I have to disagree that restoring antique furniture is an acceptable practice...In most cases certain restorations tend to devalue an item and in some instances make the item extremely less valuable...if not worthless....sorry only my opinion...and not coin/papermoney related

A 1923 horseblanket for $35 in close to EF?  I'll believe it when I see it!

Okay, so I received the note yesterday.  Looks great in my opinion!  The pictures didn't do it justice.  Though it may have been treated, it still looks great!  Also, not to point out the seller's loss, but he included a receipt from his eBay purchase of this note.

#161058521252 is the auction he won for $86 + shipping.

I think I got this note for a steal at $34.99 shipped!  Pretty happy about it.

You should not use the previous sale of this note at $86 as evidence that you got a bargain.

The note is the previous sale is a decent-looking original note without design missing along the major folds.

What you bought is a flat damaged note with design missing along the major folds on both sides.  Those white lines where ink has been rubbed off the folds are one of the most telling signs that the note has been highly processed.

The seller of the note is clearly one of those morons I talked about in my previous response.  He took a note that did not need improving and tried to improve it.  Big mistake!  He got what he deserved... a big loss on investment.

If you are happy with the note, it means you like your notes flat and bright, and chances are you will be buying similar processed notes in the future.  I don't think you will lose money on that particular note, but I would never pay $30 or more for something like that.

Just so others can see the actual note before and after without visiting that auction site, I copied and pasted the available images from the actual listings...

Original note:

{http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/7253/tfae.jpg:http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/7253/tfae.th.jpg}

Processed note:

{http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/4372/blg3.jpg:http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/4372/blg3.th.jpg}

You should not use the previous sale of this note at $86 as evidence that you got a bargain.

If you are happy with the note, it means you like your notes flat and bright, and chances are you will be buying similar processed notes in the future.  I don't think you will lose money on that particular note, but I would never pay $30 or more for something like that.

Wow!  I had looked at it and thought there were differences but never did an A / B comparison like that.  I feel like an idiot now!  In the beginning I had just bid on the note and didn't think I'd win it for $32.  Of course, it was not until after when the seller had sent the note with an attached receipt for his original auction that I realized he had paid more for it.

Looking at the two pictures, I greatly prefer the original condition.  By a mile.  The only thing that was making me worry about the note I got were the lines where the fibers were broken.  And some friends said the note didn't look as dark for the portrait.  Once again, I didn't bid high because I was unsure about this seller.  May avoid this seller in the future.  Kind of weird that he even let me know of his purchase.  Kind of makes me weary now.

Thanks for your insight!

The other thing you did was place multiple bids on top of your $32, bid. In my opinion you leave yourself open to be run up by someone else that was watching that note or possibly by the seller with another ebay account. It's easy to run your bid up in $2. increments to see how far your willing to go without committing to buy the bill yourself
Just make 1 bid at your max. value that you are willing to pay.
I see this type of biding all the time and wonder if people think this scares off other bidders or??

Frankly, I am stunned that the previous owner of the note would admit to where he got the note since it was an eBay purchase with the same account.

The other thing you did was place multiple bids on top of your $32, bid. In my opinion you leave yourself open to be run up by someone else that was watching that note or possibly by the seller with another ebay account. It's easy to run your bid up in $2. increments to see how far your willing to go without committing to buy the bill yourself
Just make 1 bid at your max. value that you are willing to pay.
I see this type of biding all the time and wonder if people think this scares off other bidders or??

True, but different bidding strategies work for different items.  I looked at the auction in question.  When the high bidder's bid was flushed out by the underbidder, he placed another bid.  His third bid was a snipe.  The strategy of bidding early and often (called the "MINE ALL MINE" strategy) can discourage marginal buyers who will see the price going up quickly and use simple logic to deduce that the final sale price will be too high for them, thus they give up early.  The closer the bid price gets to a person's maximum buying price, the less likely they are to place a bid.  This could be more effective on common less popular material.  Doing that on popular items could be futile as it will just stoke the flames of buyers' interest to see other bidders who want the same material, thus making some bidders reconsider what their maximum should be.

The other thing you did was place multiple bids on top of your $32, bid. In my opinion you leave yourself open to be run up by someone else that was watching that note or possibly by the seller with another ebay account. It's easy to run your bid up in $2. increments to see how far your willing to go without committing to buy the bill yourself
Just make 1 bid at your max. value that you are willing to pay.
I see this type of biding all the time and wonder if people think this scares off other bidders or??

I find eBay to be a bit peculiar when it comes to bidding.  Some items, I don't mind bidding my maximum at the beginning, and see how it goes.  But, often times, I'll end up bidding low on something (possibly not even getting a winning bid out of it) just so I can get updates on my phone and look through easily rather than watching an item.  That way, when there's 15 minutes left, I get a notification so that I can take a look and see how the bidding is going, and decide whether or not to big last minute right there.

Sniping an auction, on the other hand, is  good when you are up against someone who only bids in tiny increments.  Then you can usually put in a bid of a few dollars more to outbid them.  But, my bidding style varies all the time.  Depends on how bad I want it also! 

I have actually purchase a number of notes from the united states that are well below their book value. I have a few more I am waiting to review once they arrive at my American P.O. Box. I am surprised at the number of international sellers with notes from 1900-1954....

-Chris