I hope that the following information will be helpful in making it easier for you to make a purchase on ebay please understand that these are my opinions only and hopefully will be helpful as a guide in helping you make an informed purchase the first purchase could be a book on currency to help you make a more informed purchase.

Categories:

1. Buying Graded Versus Non Graded Currency

2. Risks In Buying Non Graded Currency

3. Scans What to Look For

4. Pictures What To Look For

5. Descriptions What To Look For

6. Return Policy (Most Important My Opinion)

7. Feedback Rating

8. How To Pay For

9. Currency Literature To Help Make Purchases

1. Buying graded versus non graded currency

     The safest most reliable way in my opinion to ensure getting exactly what you want is to buy Third Party Graded Notes these notes have been certified by a third party grading company and typically are more valuable than ungraded notes due to the fact that they are guaranteed by a third party to meet a certain standard of quality on the other hand it is usually easier to get a bargain on ungraded notes. Typical grading as an example would be as follows: Starting with lowest to highest Grade.

A.Poor: Typically the lowest grade of note you can purchase unless a note is extremely rare these are generally the least desirable to own and collect and once again unless rare will not appreciate in value as quickly as higher grade notes due to lesser quality.

B. Fair: Better than poor but just a little same thing applys to these notes unless rare or if you are just trying to start a collection on a budget typically not what you would be looking for.

C. Good To Very Good: One more step up but still at the bottom of the spectrum for collecting purposes as an example most people would not consider buying a 2003 one dollar bill that is in this condition unless it had a major printing error that would make it rare but again as an example someone might easily pay three figures or  more for a 19th century note that was listed in good to very good condition or rarity these notes could still have major flaws such as small tears or soiling on the note.

D. Fine: Another step up but still considered at the upper lower end of the spectrum for purposes these notes should not show heavy soiling or staining but can show many folds or can have no paper crispness left.

E. Very Fine: Usually considered the middle of the road more acceptable to most collectors especially when collecting large size notes or rarer notes that have a smaller printing run these notes should still have paper crispness and will have folds or creases and might have some smudges or small imperfections that you normally wouldn't see in higher grade notes.

F. Extremely Fine: This of course is is again more acceptable to most collectors especially when dealing with older or rarer currency, paper should not have any defects such as tears or holes or stains some think pinholes are acceptable on this grade but others do not just depends on preferance paper should be white with crispness and without numerous folds I don't like placing a number on it but my opinion 3 to four at most and should be light folds here again this depends on the rarity and age of note a 1995 not with four folds even if light would probably not grade ef but an 1869 note might grade ef or higher.

G. Almost Uncirculated: This is a note that usually has seen little and I maen very very little circulation to none at all and may have just been mishandled in someones collection just enough to drop it out of the uncirculated category it should have very crisp paper no pinholes or tears maybe one fold or corner bend some people feel if a note has three very light folds it can still be about unc. but most do not my opinion anything more than a cornerbend or maybe single fold drops it to extremely fine.

H. Uncirculated: These are the cream of the crop and usually command higher prices accordingly my opinion can not have any folds or imperfections other than centering Crisp unc may have something other than centering but all should have stiff crisp paper the more near perfect the centering of the note the closer to gem uncirculated a not is there are three different categories of uncirculated notes Crisp Unc. 60-62 Choice Unc. 63-64 And Gem Unc. 65-70.

2. Risks in buying non graded currency are obvious first and foremost is the quality of the note can only be determined buy the scans or pictures that are provided and the description of the seller you should always look for scans or pictures that look real if it is real bright where it lightens the overall appearance of the note it is more difficult to see any imperfections such as folds light stains or even small nicks in the paper the same goes if it is to dark.

3. Scans what to look for: Scans as mentioned previously should be realistic and not extremely bright or blurry unless a scanner is malfunctioning it should scan the note exactly as it is with at most only minor variances in color or brightness the better the scanner the truer the scan unless it is accidentally or intentionally altered always look for large scans or closeup scans but just not closeups of one peice of the note but all sections.

4. Pictures what to look for: Pictures are good to use but there again you have to depend on the picture to show the note as true as possible if a camera uses a flash it will naturally brighten the note and of course make it more difficult to notice any imperfections the note may have, just remember if someone uses a flash camera the note might not be as bright when you receive it.

5. Please always read descriptions carefully and completely always looking for any imperfections that might be listed or a determination of the quality of the note  and email the seller with any questions you may have like are there any pinholes or tears a lot of sellers will give you an opinion of grade but understand it is their opinion of grade and might be less than or more than the actual grade of the note it is just their opinion and might not be the same as yours or a third party grading company so always us the description in unison with the scans or pictures to help determine the grade thats why large or closeup scans are helpful.

6. RETURN POLICY: This is in my opinion the most important part of the information to look for the more liberal a return policy the better some sellers have a sold as is or do not list a return policy so understand that if sold as is once you get the note whether you like it or not you most likely are stuck with it sellers without any return policy might accept returns but just don't advertise it you should ask before you buy if you wan't to be able to return the item some have it listed with the description and how many days you have to return the note or any exceptions to their return policies like whether its money back or merchandise credit or if there is a restocking fee or other fees please read this part carefully if you think you might wnat to return an item make sure you do not handle it improperly or damage it in any way it may jeopardize your opportunity to return it shipping and insurance are usually not refunded because of the cost comes right out of the purchase price of the note.

7. FEEDBACK RATING: In my opinion when buying the most important thing is the buyer feedback rating there are two categories buyer and seller feedback rating if you look at a sellers feedback rating there will be three subcategories buyer feedback seller feedback and left for others buyer is the most important in my opinion the the higher the % the better example a seller might have sold 100 items online and bought 25 buyers gave  100% positive and sellers gave 1 negatives and the rest positive buyer feedback would be 100% satisfied but overall feedback would be 99% or better always look for the highest possible buyer feed back another example seller might have bought 100 items on line and sold 25 with 1 negative from a buyer overall feedback would be the same but buyer feedback woud be 96%. the higher a positive rating the better my opinion only.

8. How To Pay For: There are numerous ways to pay and each has its benefits and drawbacks it really depends on the buyer and what you consider the easiest or the safest way to pay.

9. Literature: An informed buyer is a good and smart customer and better yet a buyer that most likely will not make mistakes when buying ungraded items as often as an uninformed buyer I really dont like to list examples of books or literature you can buy because each person has their own preferance as to which one is the best when it comes to currency there are literally hundreds of different publications just go to any bookstore or search online for currency books they will usually have estimated values their opinion on grading and the rarity of certain type notes and lots of other useful information that will help you make your purchase a more pleasurable one.