Why even BUY coins off eBay?
topstuf
Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭
With any coin interest whatever, I'd think collectors could find reputable DEALERS and at comparable costs.
Why mess with PayPal and crazy lookie-loos and stupid questions?
You can call and TALK to the seller. 
Get descriptions and be able to ask how the image compares to the piece itself.
And bullion especially! There are so many easy to work with wholesale bullion dealers that it's bordering on crazy to risk payment and delivery on higher dollar purchases.
If "dreck" is the specialty, fine.
It just don't make a whole lot of sense to me. 
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Comments
I will say, after saving my annual coin budget prior to the last FUN show, I MUCH prefer to buy in that format over online or any individual dealer. Unless you are looking for something uber rare, you can look at a dozen examples of the same coin, grade, etc. at a large show like that and have a great perspective to make the best deal.
I mean you have 12,251 posts on here, but is this really a serious question?
Dealers oftentimes have very high prices compared with eBay auctions and sometimes you have to struggle just to have them give you a minute of their time at a show. Pretty easy to negotiate via buy it now and messaging on eBay. The selection on eBay is huge. The buyer protection on eBay is strong. And you can oftentimes return if you don't like it. As an eBay buyer, you are the lookie loo, you don't have to deal with them yourself. You are the one asking the questions.
Successful transactions with: wondercoin, Tetromibi, PerryHall, PlatinumDuck, JohnMaben/Pegasus Coin & Jewelry, CoinFlip, and coinlieutenant.
Maybe for generic stuff. But for what I collect will never appear in a shop.
Most times I can’t even find it at coin shows. So, Ebay, stacks and heritage it it for me.
Unless some member here collect similar and offer super nice items
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
I am not talking coin SHOPS.
That's almost an embarrassment nowadays.
I've found incredible coins on eBay. Most of the time, the great stuff I find is at ridiculously low prices being sold by non-coin people liquidating estates. The kinds of coins you would never get for a good price anywhere else.
Seeing the coins in person prior to purchase is best, of course.
I have soured on local coins shows because I believe that several persons in attendance are simply sizing up the attendees for possible future unannounced and uninvited visits.
EBay is one alternative to running that gauntlet.
The wholesale bullion dealers when subsidized by eBay are hard to beat even on their own website. You get free shipping, reward points for CC use, plus their insurance coverage for shipping.
Yeah why look on eBay.
If sales tax are going to be collected on ebay, then perhaps shows might be a better alternative....
I don't have a problem with taxes, it is just that the application is inconsistent. I want to know the full price of something up front, not the price and then have the sales tax spring up at the end.
BST: Tennessebanker, Downtown1974, LarkinCollector, nendee
BST baby. No fees and I have never had a hassle with buyers or sellers.
Sad but true.
Collectors are looking for bargains on eBay. Most dealers want full retail or close to it.
Also, many times the BST is a good place to buy coins from. Collector to collector transactions cut out the middleman.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
As a dealer I can say only 1 thing. I buy coins all the time for less....sometimes much less than I would pay if I were offered the coins at a show!
Why even BUY coins off eBay?
Agree, why would you when you can get 1889 CC's for $1.64 from Ali
Why even BUY coins off eBay?
the short answer is that I'll buy coins wherever I can find them at reasonable prices and reasonably nice quality. strangely, the last two coins I purchased on eBay both came from solid, National dealers who are members here.
Should I delete this thread?
Because we want Widgets and Dreck
I have bought a lot of great coins, PCGS slabbed Morgans, gold $20, etc. far less than any dealer I found.
This post is gonna be anathema to Errors on Coins.
For the oddball stuff I am looking for, eBay is about the only game in town.
Even for the tiny bullion orders for silver baubles that I occasionally make, I can hit "Buy It Now" on an MCM listing and it shows up a few days later for a pretty decent price.
Don't get me wrong - if I had other good options then there are lots of reasons I would try them first.
disclaimer
No words of my OP were influenced by Laura.
Feebay does have its wort's and flees, however the selling prices offered by dealers at any show big or small are usually much higher than what I would pay on ebay. And those ebay prices are often multiples higher than auction prices; I get it show costs are high but the super high retail ++ pricing that you see at most shows is why show attendance is slowing. Sure its different if you have a dealer or two at shows that you've cultivated a long standing (read that to mean that you have most likely spent significant monies with them before) relationship with who may be willing to give you the regular "shop" price discount. But by and large buying at shows is more expensive in many ways, for one thing many collectors forget to include the hidden costs of show purchases such as travel and meal costs. It does have the advantage of seeing the coin in hand and perhaps for some the higher price is worth the in hand look.
I do not buy as much on ebay as I did but it is still a huge marketplace for a great many coins, and while it may not suit the needs of those who consider themselves "elite" collectors who only seek out 5 and 6 figure coins it does serve well for the meatiest portion of the coin collection population.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Ebay USED to be a GREAT place for cherrypicking nice varieties. Not so much anymore, not for 7 or 8 years.
How long have you been waiting to use that word in a thread?
I shop on ebay and visit a LCS once a week. More options means more opportunity
Dude, well, like, forever man!
I am looking for a Classic Large Cent PCGS VF 30 original chocolate brown problem free at a fair price. I do not care where I find the coin - dealer, BST, coin show, Heritage, GC, Internet, eBay. There is more selection for this large cent on eBay than all the others combined.
With still less than a year in this hobby I have purchased about 40 PCGS holdered coins. Probably 75% EBay, 15% Coin Shops, 10% Coins shows. And I’ll take EBay all day long. I’m not so sure about buying raw coins from EBay but of course there is their return policy. I would spend 3-4 hours at show and walk out with one coin and be pretty frustrated trying to get ear of a dealer. Have not tried the auction houses yet but plan to.
DiggerJim
BST transactions - mach1ne - Ronyahski - pitboss (x2) - Bigbuck1975 (x2) - jimineez1 - nk1nk - bidask - WaterSport - logger7 - SurfinxHI (x2) - Smittys - Bennybravo - Proofcollector
I don’t think it’s been said. I can shop on eBay in my underwear.
I think I just deathwished myself with this thread.
I have done it a few times at coin shows.... I get very strange looks.
does a coin shop have 15 percent off anything coupons, 10 percent e bucks? and buying most coins below gray sheet is common on e bay
One plus for ebay is the sheer amount of material that's there. If you pay attention you can still find nice stuff there, mostly undergraded material.
Just start another thread..... oh wait
And I can fart as much as I want and no one cares. Well, except my wife. LOL
BST transactions - mach1ne - Ronyahski - pitboss (x2) - Bigbuck1975 (x2) - jimineez1 - nk1nk - bidask - WaterSport - logger7 - SurfinxHI (x2) - Smittys - Bennybravo - Proofcollector
I've bought many great pieces on ebay.
Did you get burned or something ?
No. I avail myself of return policies.
Ebay wil only tax you if you are in a state that taxes coins. So, you're going to have to leave the state for the coin show because the show dealers also have to collect tax.
Very nice coin!
I recently bought a coin on ebay, and it is from a long time board member (did not know the board name as it related to the ebay name). I have already found numerous cherry picks on Ebay this year. Some from well known dealers, who did not have it listed on their web site. Why would you "not" check ebay?
I don't think that needed to be said, at least not by you.
PF, on the other hand....
If you don't like shopping on eBay, don't? Why are some people always trying to convince the rest of us to stop?
Because I have cherrypicked 2 of the 13 known 20c 1875-CC BF-1 off ebay in the last few years.
Why? , for the ebucks of course ....
That's because you have more competition! I remember a 54-O quarter years ago listed by a seller in France. Stayed at 75% of grey sheet bid until the last minute or 2. Then Bam! Sold for all but what the Huge O it was would sell for at the time. Sure that surprised the crap out of the seller!
Cause my nearest dealer is over 100 miles away with a limited inventory.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
Topstuf, I follow many of your postings, this one I am not sure that I follow your concern. There are many reputable dealers use eBay. Many of them are brick and mortar, and have been doing business long before eBay. They use ebay as a vehicle to get their product in front of the eyes of masses. I would agree with you 100% there are many bad players on EBay. Coin buying by any venue, you need to do your homework. This would include EBay, coin shows, B&Ms, or any others.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
It’s a place where I find the stuff I collect there’s no way I could put my Beaver collection together with out it even being in the northwest doesn’t help. It’s a whole country in one place you can’t beat that for finding the hard to find stuff
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/publishedset/209923
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/album/209923
If you don't like shopping on eBay, don't? Why are some people always trying to convince the rest of us to stop?
Ebay, like it or not it's a world wide market.