Will Heritage, Goldberg, Superior and B&M eat eBay's lunch?

DesertLizard

After about a year of buying coins on eBay and generally disappointed with the hype from "dealers" and poor quality coins I have stopped buying on ebay although I do unload low priced items for friends on there.

Does anyone else feel the big auctions houses will eventually get the lion's share of the business [if they have not already] leaving eBay for selling low priced, questionable and junk coins?

eBay has steady gone down hill in my opinion as far as creating that "safe" trading environment. Last week's scam artist called MasterCollections is a great example.

coppercoins

Depends on what you are calling low priced, questionable, and junk. I personally generally buy BU rolls of coins and die variety cents - all usually under $50 per lot - and have had very few problems with what I buy because I consider myself a cynical, skeptical, well educated buyer. Basically I only buy what's laid out there and obvious as being exactly what the seller says it is. That is usually accomplished with a good digital photo (not a scan, not a QX3 junk image).

Now...having said that, I do believe there is little place on eBay for some of the real high dollar slabbed coins that would sell on the other sites you mentioned, and the business for such items will likely eventually jump over to the other sites, if it hasn't already - I really don't know, coin collecting has never been a thing in the thousands of dollars to me, so I don't even pay attention to such pieces nor where they sell.

MastaHanky

No.

First off, all the junk has to be sold SOMEPLACE.

Secondly, not everything on eBay is junk. Admittedly, it's not always great stuff, but there is plenty of good material out there.

Thirdly, not all of Heritage's (and other companies) auctions are exactly quality material. Sure, most of it is higher-end stuff, but there's always going to be crap out there.

Plus eBay is often a much more personal buying experiencing, something which is important to a lot of people, including myself.

wingedliberty

I believe the complete opposite. There are many quality coins on Ebay and I have gotten
them for a fraction of the price that the big national dealers charge for their catalog prices. I also
believe that the reserves are much lower than those in print auction catalogs. Smaller shows and
the internet are how people will buy coins in the near future.


Brian.

BigD5

If I'm sitting here with a handful of $200-$400 coins (or cheaper, for that matter), Ebay is probably a better/quicker way to move the coins. More expensive, or specialty coins will PROBABLY move better in a larger auction. I don't imagine modern material does any better in a major auction as opposed to Ebay, but I'm just assuming that. Plus, there are a lot of borderline problem coins that a lot of collectors can "look the other way", so to speak, to put in albums, that a major auction house probably wouldn't want to waste any time with, that would do well on Ebay. Maybe some bust halves with minor rim dings, for instance. Liquidity is a major factor when selling coins, and Ebay's turnaround time (generally!) is a lot quicker than consigning material to a major auction house. Pluses and minuses both ways, depends on the coins.

Bikingnut

No,

As I stated yesterday in a thread, you have to be wary of what you buy on ebay. I have gotten a lot of nice raw Washingtons at very reasonable prices off ebay. But the only way I'll bid is if the coin has a very good picture attached. No picture, I don't even waste my time looking, because even with picture, some coins listed as gem BU are obviously not.

Coulport

Junk sells.
What better venue than Ebay for that.

MadMarty

If it wasn't for E-bay we would not have anything to snipe!!!

CarlWohlforth

The traditional auction houses were here before eBay. eBay now handles a large dollar value of coins every week. Where that business come from?

Does anybody think TeleTrade has less material than a few years back? Maybe eBay will eat TeleTrade's lunch?

Steve27

I believe there will always be a need for both the low-end/high-quantity auction site (eBay) and the high-end/low-quantity auction sites. People will always be looking for a place to unload an unwanted gift, a never completed set, or have estate sales. That's where eBay excels. On the other hand, the auction sites which specilize in coins, and in particular high-end items, will attract a different clientele.

heavycopper

Yep, Teletrade is on its way out. I rarely buy from them since Ebay became big with coins. With Ebay, I can buy certified coins with nice pictures. Teletrade sometimes gives you a picture but it always gives an exaggerated opinion of the coin. I sold a Barber dime on teletrade thinking it would do better there. Then I saw my dime on Ebay about 2 weeks later! I would have done better on Ebay selling it there myself.

coynclecter

I bought over 20 coins off Ebay this year (over 10K). I only bought PCGS, NGC and ANACS coins with good pictures or I asked the seller to send me better ones. I have not been ripped once and the coins I got were as good if not better than anything I bought at a show and they were definitely cheaper. There is a lot of junk on ebay but theres a lot of overpriced junk at the shows too. As far as the other auction houses go I guess they are best for the high end stuff but 10-20% fees are a loser for both the buyer and seller.

Coyn

RotatedRainbows

As long as there are collectors with coins to sell then Ebay will be around, in most cases it does not make sense for the average collector looking to sell a few coins to consign them to an auction house (since most have minimum dollar amounts). Also if you offer the coins to a dealer you will probably get less for them then if you sold direct to another collector and Ebay makes this transaction easier then ever before.

keets

kinda like buying a car-----there has to be a market and an outlet for everything and everyone. i think that the fact of scamming taking place on eBay shouldn't be an overall indictment of the site as an outlet for coins. the auction houses and the major players have something to gain by downplaying other sources which drain off some of their revenue.

al h.

presleyh

It is Thursday at 2:10 edt. There are 78,180 US coins on ebay right now. How does that compare to all the other auction venues COMBINED? And that is just us coins. If each coin averages 12.70 that would be one million dollars a day on ebay in us coins. Does heritage do that?

Lakesammman

Gotta remember...the coin business on ebay is a trivial portion of their overall business....all the big-fish-small-bowl coin companies pale in comparison.

That said, there are some great coins to be had on ebay. I've bought/sold many. What amazes me is offering a high end coin on ebay (like the 1894/94 MS65R PCGS I have currently listed) with no bids....I then consign it to a dealer who sells it for another 10-20% to make their commission....do "high end" buyers actually enjoy paying more?? Is it beneath them to buy a great registry coin on Ebay....will their friends laugh at them???

CarlWohlforth

Collectables are the biggest catagory dollar wise on eBay. Coins are very important to them. Often the highest dollar items on eBay are coins.

I just read a very recent article stating eBay has done very well this quarter. Earnings tripled over last year. There were 160 million listings in the past quarter. Registered users surged almost %50 to almost 55 million! They are growing. Who is shrinking?

keets

do "high end" buyers actually enjoy paying more??

a good summary to a good post. some people will always feel that if they pay more for something it always means higher quality when sometimes all it means is that you've paid more!!

al h.

Lakesammman

Didn't mean to imply that coins weren't a significant category to ebay....just that Ebays potential is so huge in so many areas....never thought I would consider selling a car or house on line but, with ebay and a lawyer, who needs a realtor, for instance?? So, my intent was to say (re: the original thread) that I don't think a pure coin company will be eating ebays lunch anytime soon.

jamesfsm

I enjoy all the talk about eBay. Let me start by saying that I go to shows, buy at the big auction houses, and buy off eBay. In terms of great "deals," eBay has been the best thing that I have seen. I've said this alot but in 1998 when I started eBaying there were mostly collectors selling extras and genuine estate sales and stuff like that. I bought many coins that were inherited, extras, or being sold because somebody needed money. Several wound up upgrading. I almost always did better then with eBay than dealers.

In recent years, eBay has become at least half dealers unloading stress inventory and much less the sad sack who inherited grandpa's slabs. And, the big auction houses have evened it up a little by improving their websites. So, have many dealers. All of this is of course good. Insofar as shows are concerned, the large regional shows have taught me that dealers' cases at shows have more junk than anyplace else. If you want to see alot of lousy coins (and good ones), go to a show. I like shows but the misconception that all coins at shows are gems is false. In my opinion, the coin show has as much bad material as anyplace else. In terms of price, you can't beat eBay or a good relationship with a reliable dealer. The prices at shows are very high and justifiably so as the dealers have expenses in attending.

barney

Interesting,

I have been involved with coins on a quasi-serious basis for only a year but am surprised by the wide-ranging material on eBay. I think it's like free-TV: it's HomeShopping for the masses. Hey, it brought me into the fray and it's a great way to see a lot of coins-the good, bad, and ugly. Now that I've "gotten my feet wet" at shows and learned a bit more about coins I want to go beyond the EBAY scene. However, I DID find that '72-CC NGC 61 Liberty for $30++++K. Why would a dealer post THAT coin there? Publicity for the coin? To try to get the BEST price for it from a less-experienced collector? I wonder...

Thanks,
Barney