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Will the continued erosion of the Ebay venue hurt the remaining sellers?
Coinstartled
Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭
Talking about coins here. Beanie Babies are probably doing ok. 
As competitive listings decline* will remaining sellers suffer, or will they do better with less competition?
*there are probably more coin listings than ever on the site, but most are overpriced with little chance of transacting.
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LOL, get a life.
I'm really really really not sure why you are on this constant jag of ripping on eBay.
It works well for me and I am still very happy with it.
Gotta admit, I buy seven or eight coins for every one coin I sell. Yeah, the sell fees are higher than they used to be. Yeah, Sunday night isn't what it used to be. Yeah, some sellers/ folks have unrealistic price expectations.
But if I want a slabbed gold widget, or a specific modern world coin, eBay can make it happen at a very decent competitive price 98%+ of the time.
I really like the USPS too.
Sellers have been suffering for the last several years on ebay.
But the gravy train for the buyers is bringing in more and more of them.
Ironic.
If there's less rain there will be less erosion - provided there are no landslides on ebay.
I sell way more now than I ever have on eBay. This is already my best year ever.
Is it the extremely hard work that I put into my business or is it the platform or both? Both!
I think now that eBay collects tax on every purchase, it cuts even more into seller's profits. In NJ, that's 6.625%.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
By that logic, It helps legit resellers on the buy side
So it's a wash.
eBay is a great place to find stuff get over it
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
I went shopping while you have become well invested in this thread.
I have been on EBay since 1998. I have done shows since 1990. I have had success on both. Goal is quick turnover.
eBay great sales venue (worldwide exposure) for me but bay selling exp about 15 pct sales - fees, PayPal, shipx cost. Shows a fixed table fee / mixed bag. Both have their pluses and minuses.
I recently retailed 2 Pcgs coins on the bay had had only about a week picked up from another online source realizing cost plus around 40 pct. The Bay has worked well for me but takes a solid markup to clear selling costs. However I may blow out material out on the Bay and shows say whsl bid plus 10 pct.
For both venues combined it takes cost plus around 40 pct make the coin biz work for me. Bigger ticket material over $300-$500 I prefer selling at shows (risk mgt, can sell with cheaper spread) sort of like smash mouth vs spread depending on what type of defense facing.
I buy on eBay frequently where room for profit / coins and currency along with other stuff take advantage bay bucks.
With the market in a stall the biz has become more like a smash mouth game / tight margins.
But is it a great place to sell stuff? The thread was posed as a question for Ebay participants past and present.
There is a seller for every buyer.
If that seller isn't you, then you must have the wrong stuff.
So have I, Just have not bought anything yet.
You should see what I bought yesterday, a coin dated 2000000 graded MS67
I refresh my very narrow internet searches about 500 times a day cause of OCD.
Well that is true but when the lions share is going to the sellers with deeply discounted fees, (Apmex, MCM) the rest of us either have to leave or be satisfied driving around in an 18 year old truck.
Wow, nice dig.
Since you went there so will I. Buying a 2002 4wd V8 Toyota Tundra with 30,000 miles is a buy of a lifetime, thank you very much. I new similar truck is 50K. Best truck buy ever.
Complaining constantly about eBay only shows YOUR lack of business sense.
I do not think you have it in you to be a coin dealer. It takes hard work and skills beyond you.
What is it that you can't understand? Yeah, eBay treats the big boys differently. That is the very nature of life itself. Horribly horribly unfair.
If you can't get a sufficient margin/ return, a savvy businessman pursues different offerings, or even a different product line.
I prefer older Nissans, they run forever with very little maintenance. I am impervious to criticism of my vehicle, I won't offer rides to the bitchers.
I buy and sell on eBay, I sell mostly old books but sell some coins as well. I buy most of my coins on eBay that I resell on eBay, there are a ton of deals mixed in with the overpriced dealers. I've built a nice collection while making nice profits on what I resell. There are and will always be people desperate for cash or ignorant about current valuations that list on eBay where you can pick up a deal. I'm not sure what all the complaining about eBay is all about. Yes fees suck but show me a quality venue to sell anything that is free. Meanwhile I drive a 19 year old truck but that's just because I'm cheap and it still runs good.
I been around the business world for nearly fifty years. Getting shafted by Ebay is no surprise. Their invited political speakers at $320,000 a pop is evidence of there deception.
Ebay was launched on the concept of the level playing field. It was. Apmex was no better than Shmendrick coin. Plenty of individual left their day jobs and prospered. I know half a dozen unrelated to coins. Then the hammer came down fees doubled and tripled. hell, quadrupled for the non store users.
No big deal. We get hosed everyday. Time to move on. Most of my bigger stuff is going to GC while I wind down on the lesser priced inventory on Ebay. It was a good run.
I drove my last two Toyota Tacoma trucks 14 years each. Replaced one starter...that's it. Incredibly reliable rigs. Only upgraded because I got bored. Will try and keep the current 2012 model 18 years. Will report back in 10 years or so.
Dave
Do you sell on any other venues like GC, HA, SB or BST? If eBay isn’t working for you, they aren’t the only game in town.
GC. Should put some stuff up on BST.
I've been on eBay since November 1997, and NO, Beanie Babies are not doing well but when they were I was selling them faster than I could buy them and made a ton of money. Trends or fads ebb and flow, what sold ten or twenty years ago may not today and visa versa.
My experience is that if you have what people are looking for it will sell for a fair price, especially coins. Many coins listed at fixed prices today are overpriced, verified by the fact that they relist month after month, after month. If you expect things to consistently sell for more than they are worth I can't think of a venue that will work.
Fees may be high for a small seller like me (10% eBay FV and 2.9% plus $.30 PayPal) but I don't know where I can get as many eyeballs looking at my stuff and never have to leave the house to make a sale.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
what's BST, may I ask?
Buy, Sell, Trade on this venue.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
aha....thank you!
I have a problem with this statement! It's called net neutrality and ebay is all but that these days! I monitor my pet peave everyday and regularly crap sells for more than my comparable or better offerings while mine sit idle. I would say more than 50% of my ebay sales now come from regular customers I steer to ebay from meeting at coins shows etc. I also at times have nearly double the inventory now available on ebay than I did a couple of years ago.
Ebay changed there search model 2 or 3 years ago. When they changed it I went from $200,000+ sales a year to where I am now just over $50,000 per year. Personally I don't understand ebay as I just sell my stuff at shows etc. if they don't sell on ebay. I have also been a seller on ebay since 1998!
Edit to add.... When I click on one of my completed sales it always steers the buyer to another sellers active listing. More times than not if I click on an ended listing that is not mine it steers me to an active listing of the seller who sold the item.
Buy sell trade forum
my answer is .....
BaaaaaaaWaaaaaaah!!
I like eBay
as a buyer
and as a seller
you cannot please everyone
just try to work within the system
a.k.a "The BUFFINATOR"
I have found that as a buyer, Ebay no longer works for me. All retail, no auctions. As a seller, coins purchased and resold within the last year - 18 months break even when I sell them at auction...if I first bought them at auction. Ebay coins purchased and resold again on Ebay lose money.
Ebay is still the best venue to sell coins. GC, Heritage and a few specialty dealers are the best to buy IMO. Any dealer who sells on Ebay can sell those same coins 10% cheaper on their own web sites, which is now where I go.
Same comment, over and over.
20+ years, 100K+ per year.
Easy Peasy, know your market, know you stuff, ebay is a cash cow for those who can think.
Those that can, do.
Those that can't, post over and over that ebay doesn't work.
Got it. You don't understand how, and can't be bothered to learn.
I've been selling my coins on Ebay in nearly all auction format, with $.99 starts. My experience is that they draw the largest number of eyes that way. There's been a rip or two, but rarely. In nearly every case, I've regarded the final sale price as a fair approximation of true market.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
Fair enough. The system is that i have moved my bigger stuff to GC and am closing out the slabbed remainder.
David! You are lucky! I've had 99 cent start auctions that have $5 worth of silver go 10 days with 0 views in the past!
for the variety of Numismatic items available on eBay there is simply no match. other sites may have more high end items but never the constant variety available at eBay, that in itself will allow it to survive.
I love eBay. I just bid and lost on an auction with multiple people over $3k. I also just picked up a BIN at $40. There's just so much stuff on eBay that it can't be beat for variety.
i stay in business mainly from e bays buying and selling promos. if it wasn't for that, I would probably be on the sidelines right now
I have cases and cases of Bennie Babies let me know if you need any. I did sell all my Christmas Teddies though!
I'm interested in win-win situations where I provide a decent quality PCGS coin at a fair price and the earnest buyer is pleased his BIN purchase.
I have no use for the cheap offer bargain hunter.
Understood, but I wonder if anyone has use for these people?
It used to be a great venue (speaking as a seller.)
Not anymore.
They're great when selling ugly, problem coins in straight graded holders or for over graded coins.
I guess the next step in that chain of things is counterfeits... ugh.
I like that I can buy off other collectors.
It feels like I'm helping them as well as myself.
My Saint Set
Can you provide documentation that eBay coin sales are eroding? From what I've observed this is not the case.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
You want facts? It's much easier just to spout an opinion. LOL
eBay retail coin sales have been strong for me this year. It has outperformed shows.
I win many items on the Bay retail at shows too.
I found 2013 data by category - still looking for 2018 data:
https://statista.com/statistics/242246/ebays-total-gross-merchandise-volume-by-category/
What might be of interest from this chart is what a small part of the business coins represent. At the very least, this is the counterargument to all the threads on this forum talking about the coming death of eBay - whose quarterly sales volume continues to increase, by the way.
I'll look more later. Just got an 8% ebay offer and I need to see if there's any deals.
Topics like this with the extra toppings of snark are why I come here a bit less often and hang out on Instagram more. Continued erosion of the forum...
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets