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Facebook Marketplace gold: treat it like a stranger with a sack
Parking-lot eagles are how people learn about tungsten and fake slabs. Meet at a shop. Test. Or skip it.
A great price on Marketplace is often a great lesson.
If you still do it
Meet at a coin shop, not a gas station. Pay the shop to test. If the seller refuses a public test, you learned enough. Tests. Tungsten. Fake slabs. How to tell if a shop is legit.
If you are selling
A shop is slower and safer than a stranger who wants your address. Walk-in vs mail-in. What to bring. ID.
Photos
Photos lie. Lighting lies. Worth searches lie. The scale on the pad does not. If the deal only works in a parking lot at night, it is not a deal.
Part of the coin and money library · visitors & collectors
Extra pad history for Marketplace gold
Parking-lot gold is older than Facebook. It used to be a classified ad and a motel lot. The pictures got better. The incentives did not. A seller who needs cash tonight on a “great deal” is the same person who always existed. Tungsten-filled bars and fake slabs just travel farther now.
A shop exists so two strangers do not have to trust each other in the dark. You can still do a private deal. Do it in public, on a scale that is not a kitchen scale, with a test you did not watch on a video.
What a shop will do if you bring the person in
Some shops will test for a fee while both of you watch. Tests in front of you. If the seller refuses a public test, you learned enough. If the piece fails, the shop is not your referee in a fight. They are a scale with a door.
If you are selling, a shop is slower and safer than a stranger who wants your address. Walk-in vs mail-in. Bring ID. Large cash still has Form 8300 rules. Photos lie. Lighting lies. Worth searches lie. The pad does not.
People also ask
Is meeting at a coin shop required? No. It is the least-stupid version of a stranger deal.
Will the shop buy it after the test? If they want it, they will say a bid. That bid is not the Marketplace number.
What if the seller only wants cash in a lot? Walk. How to tell if a shop is legit is the same instinct.
Are Gold Eagles faked on Marketplace? Yes. Weight, diameter, and a shop test still do most of the work.