I'm glad you made a little sense from my babble FatMan. Like I said, I'm a grumpy old time collector. I would really hate to be an eBay seller all the time, it sounds so easy, fast $$ and all that but I tried it several times. I'll share my experience & facts:
When I sell a coin I can only do about 10 at a time:
The time it takes me to sell a coin:
60 minutes to make 10 scans of each coin till 1 turns out looking like a coin rather than a flat round turd. 40 minutes to write each ad 5 times because it sounded stupid the first 4. 80 minutes to upload auction I keep forgting to fill in LOCATION and when I hit BACK I lose everything and have to start over. 30 minutes to edit the already listed auction because I forgot to put the date and used wrong pictures. 60 minutes to sorting email to figure who won what. 60 minutes figuring who paid with PayPal & who's mailing checks. 60 minutes to print 20 envelopes because my printer munched 10 of them. 60 minutes to pack the coins. 90 minutes to open & repack because on the last package I realized I put the wrong coin in somebody's envelope. 10 minutes to fill out the insured mail reciept (the easiest part of the whole gig) ½ minute to decide to just mail them all whether the buyers paid yet or not just to be done with it. 20 minutes telling PO clerk I can indeed insure a silver dollar because it's not money, it's a collectable.
So that's like 10 hours per coin. I could be out doing a service call @ $49 hour. Like an idiot I put FREE SHIPPING in my listing so that another $2-$10 per coin. Like a bigger idiot I paid $240 for the coin on Teletrade (not counting their fees) listed it on eBay @ 1¢ no reserve and it got sniped for 39.99. I didn't realize my pop3/0 higher coin was now a pop43/19 higher coin. I have no idea who PayPal'ed me with a credit card but I got $100 in fees took out.
And then I scratch my head and get all dozzy eyed, dazed & confused trying to figure out how those dealers on the board run 100s & 1,000s of auctions at 1 time.
And just think, I'm not even a dealer trying to make a living, I'm just a collector doing this for fun. I don't want to sell my coins to a dealer because everybody says they rip you off.
Change that we can believe in is that change which is 90% silver.
The thing is, nobody cares about you or your time or your expenses. Except me. I feel your pain.
Right or wrong, eBayers expect cheap shipping. That's probably because there are so many individual collectors on eBay selling stuff. Those collectors aren't necessarily looking to make a profit, rather they just want to get rid of their duplicates at a better price than a dealer would give them. So that's your competition. And it's tough competition.
As a seller, your goal is to put as much money in your pocket as possible. On eBay, I believe the best way to do that is by keeping your shipping charge low, because you will get more people to bid. In the long run it will be much more profitable to have one more bidder show up to the party than to get $2 more for shipping.
So, you can huff and puff and be indignant and "right"... or you can go with the flow and make more money.
But, it's still tough. The 10,000 Best Ways to Make Money book doesn't list Coin Dealer in its pages.
40 minutes to write each ad 5 times because it sounded stupid the first 4.
I've learned. Extremely short descriptions work best. Seriously! I used to write fairly long descriptions. Now I'll write: "Brilliant. Nice Luster. Well Struck. Finest known." and that is it.
80 minutes to upload auction I keep forgting to fill in LOCATION and when I hit BACK I lose everything and have to start over.
Try MisterLister or TurboLister.
60 minutes to sorting email to figure who won what.
Have PayPal send them the end of auction notice with all your info in it. This will cut down on your time by 90%.
60 minutes figuring who paid with PayPal & who's mailing checks.
See above. Don't respond to any emails from them for 24 hours. Force them to read the PayPal email that has all your information.
60 minutes to print 20 envelopes because my printer munched 10 of them.
Buy a pen.
10 minutes to fill out the insured mail reciept (the easiest part of the whole gig)
Damn you're slow. You can also save time by just putting last name, zip, and insurance amount on the receipt. Don't bother filling out the actual address.
½ minute to decide to just mail them all whether the buyers paid yet or not just to be done with it.
When I get their mailing address, I pack the coins. Those who haven't paid I put the total due on the reverse of the mailer. When I get their payment, I scratch it off. That way if I'm ever in line at the Post Office and the mailer has an amount on the reverse, I know I made a mistake and I don't send it.
20 minutes telling PO clerk I can indeed insure a silver dollar because it's not money, it's a collectable.
Why tell them what is in it? Besides, I usually lie. I just shipped 170+ rolls of coins last week (by UPS). I wouldn't be dumb enough to list coins on the shipping slip. I listed "Metal Washers". Who is going to steal 65 pounds of metal washers?
Yeah, Supercoin, and it's dealers like this that make it hard on everybody else check this guy Look at his shipping terms. $1 for shipping. Another $1 for insurance. Notice he didn't give me a choice or make it an option, he REQUIRED it. I received the coin in a safe-t-mailer in a #10 envelope. No problem there. He charged me total $2 for shipping but the postage only cost $1.79 according to the PO sticker. WOW!! he made 21¢ profit off me!! But that's what makes him a favorite dealer of mine. He's been getting my business way before eBay was even invented and he hasn't gone broke yet.
Change that we can believe in is that change which is 90% silver.
Hey Dog, I am in that dealers shop every day. Heck, I am in his mail right now. But the Post Office is right accross the street from their shop and the lines are not that bad (except last Saturday).
Collector and Researcher of Liberty Head Nickels. ANA LM-6053
Comments
I would really hate to be an eBay seller all the time, it sounds so easy, fast $$ and all that but I tried it several times. I'll share my experience & facts:
When I sell a coin I can only do about 10 at a time:
The time it takes me to sell a coin:
60 minutes to make 10 scans of each coin till 1 turns out looking like a coin rather than a flat round turd.
40 minutes to write each ad 5 times because it sounded stupid the first 4.
80 minutes to upload auction I keep forgting to fill in LOCATION and when I hit BACK I lose everything and have to start over.
30 minutes to edit the already listed auction because I forgot to put the date and used wrong pictures.
60 minutes to sorting email to figure who won what.
60 minutes figuring who paid with PayPal & who's mailing checks.
60 minutes to print 20 envelopes because my printer munched 10 of them.
60 minutes to pack the coins.
90 minutes to open & repack because on the last package I realized I put the wrong coin in somebody's envelope.
10 minutes to fill out the insured mail reciept (the easiest part of the whole gig)
½ minute to decide to just mail them all whether the buyers paid yet or not just to be done with it.
20 minutes telling PO clerk I can indeed insure a silver dollar because it's not money, it's a collectable.
So that's like 10 hours per coin. I could be out doing a service call @ $49 hour.
Like an idiot I put FREE SHIPPING in my listing so that another $2-$10 per coin.
Like a bigger idiot I paid $240 for the coin on Teletrade (not counting their fees) listed it on eBay @ 1¢ no reserve and it got sniped for 39.99. I didn't realize my pop3/0 higher coin was now a pop43/19 higher coin.
I have no idea who PayPal'ed me with a credit card but I got $100 in fees took out.
And then I scratch my head and get all dozzy eyed, dazed & confused trying to figure out how those dealers on the board run 100s & 1,000s of auctions at 1 time.
And just think, I'm not even a dealer trying to make a living, I'm just a collector doing this for fun. I don't want to sell my coins to a dealer because everybody says they rip you off.
Right or wrong, eBayers expect cheap shipping. That's probably because there are so many individual collectors on eBay selling stuff. Those collectors aren't necessarily looking to make a profit, rather they just want to get rid of their duplicates at a better price than a dealer would give them. So that's your competition. And it's tough competition.
As a seller, your goal is to put as much money in your pocket as possible. On eBay, I believe the best way to do that is by keeping your shipping charge low, because you will get more people to bid. In the long run it will be much more profitable to have one more bidder show up to the party than to get $2 more for shipping.
So, you can huff and puff and be indignant and "right"... or you can go with the flow and make more money.
But, it's still tough. The 10,000 Best Ways to Make Money book doesn't list Coin Dealer in its pages.
I've learned. Extremely short descriptions work best. Seriously! I used to write fairly long descriptions. Now I'll write: "Brilliant. Nice Luster. Well Struck. Finest known." and that is it.
80 minutes to upload auction I keep forgting to fill in LOCATION and when I hit BACK I lose everything and have to start over.
Try MisterLister or TurboLister.
60 minutes to sorting email to figure who won what.
Have PayPal send them the end of auction notice with all your info in it. This will cut down on your time by 90%.
60 minutes figuring who paid with PayPal & who's mailing checks.
See above. Don't respond to any emails from them for 24 hours. Force them to read the PayPal email that has all your information.
60 minutes to print 20 envelopes because my printer munched 10 of them.
Buy a pen.
10 minutes to fill out the insured mail reciept (the easiest part of the whole gig)
Damn you're slow. You can also save time by just putting last name, zip, and insurance amount on the receipt. Don't bother filling out the actual address.
½ minute to decide to just mail them all whether the buyers paid yet or not just to be done with it.
When I get their mailing address, I pack the coins. Those who haven't paid I put the total due on the reverse of the mailer. When I get their payment, I scratch it off. That way if I'm ever in line at the Post Office and the mailer has an amount on the reverse, I know I made a mistake and I don't send it.
20 minutes telling PO clerk I can indeed insure a silver dollar because it's not money, it's a collectable.
Why tell them what is in it? Besides, I usually lie. I just shipped 170+ rolls of coins last week (by UPS). I wouldn't be dumb enough to list coins on the shipping slip. I listed "Metal Washers". Who is going to steal 65 pounds of metal washers?
I received the coin in a safe-t-mailer in a #10 envelope. No problem there. He charged me total $2 for shipping but the postage only cost $1.79 according to the PO sticker. WOW!! he made 21¢ profit off me!!
But that's what makes him a favorite dealer of mine. He's been getting my business way before eBay was even invented and he hasn't gone broke yet.