A Madison man who sold coins on eBay for several years until he suffered losses in commodity trading and gambling pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in connection with defrauding customers of $171,000. Between May 1 and Dec. 29, 2006, John E. Paul took payment from 24 customers for collectible coins he auctioned on eBay’s Web site without sending them their merchandise.

Paul, 51, had been a successful coin seller on eBay, listing coins under the registered name “badgerbay.” But by 2006, eBay began receiving numerous complaints about “badgerbay” not shipping purchased items and being nonresponsive to inquiries, Assistant U.S. Attorney Grant Johnson said.