Don't you just hate selling expensive coins when some numbskull asks....

Wolf359

Ok, imagine this.

You've just placed an expensive coin for sale on eBay in a 7 day auction. The starting bid is not 0.01 or $9.99, but market value. There is no "Buy-it-Now" option. In 1-1/2 days, you don't have any bids, but over a hundred "hits", ten watchers, and a couple of emails from people asking for larger photos, questions, etc. Then a new email arrives from someone you never heard of and the question is:

"What's your best price?"

What do you tell him?

ziggy29

I tell them to pound sand.

Then again, if starting bid is market value, it sounds more like a fixed price sale than an auction.

jbsteven

sell them the coin for the opening price.

keets

hey Wolf

i'll ask a seller where the reserve is at and also tell a potential bidder what my reserve price is when i run an auction like that. my reply to the e-mail you received would be "Whatever the winning bid is" since i don't close an auction in the fashion he's alluding to. that's getting more prevelant on eBay, i wish they would start penalizing both parties when they can substantiate that it's happened.

al h.

kieferscoins

I tell him its a no reserve auction and he can bid his best bid and hope he wins.

Cameron Kiefer

CarlWohlforth

I would mention the starting bid and state I was hoping it would sell for that much on eBay. If there were lots of watchers I may also mention that there are lots of watchers interested in the coin.

mozeppa

999 quintillion dollars is my BEST PRICE

....as i do not know what comes after quintillion!

Shamika

Ignore his question until after the auction ends. If it sells, then too bad for him. If it doesn't sell, then you can proceed accordingly.

UncleJoe

My response is always "I do not sell outside of eBay".

Joe.

MadMonk

I would tell him that revealing that would not be fair to the other bidders.

onlyroosies

That actually happened to me with an offer under But close to my opening bid. It was a fair offer
so I replied I would sell him the coin if the auction closes with no Bids and the coin does not sell.
He ended up bidding on the coin and won the coin as the only bidder.

Nick

alergar

Tell them to watch the auction and when it ends they will know what the best price was !!!!!

jbsteven

keep in mind most coins with a opening bid of what the coin is worth is usually the only bid you will get.

SDCollector

<< <i>keep in mind most coins with a opening bid of what the coin is worth is usually the only bid you will get. >>



I agree!

saintguru

I'd tell him my best price...FILL OR KILL. Offer's good for 30 minutes.

rhedden

Report the offender to ebay. I guarantee he/she is a dealer who was trying to rip it from you cheap, anyway. This kind of nonsense is against the rules, and it's ruining ebay as a marketplace. I am so sick and tired of watching an item and seeing "seller ended auction early because...." before I can put in a bid.

BAJJERFAN

Well it would depend on the value of the coin and how much eBay fees were.

rhedden

You shouldn't even consider ending the auction early to avoid ebay fees. Again, it's against the rules. It's this kind of crooked behavior (in addition to the growing number of scammers) that's spoiling ebay and turning it into "sleaze-bay."

Tonelover

This one is a different situation because I started it at $.99 with no reserve but within an hour of listing a guy wanted me to sell it to him. First for $400 then after telling him no a few times he inched his offer up to what was his "final offer" of $500. I told him I'd pass on his "final offer".

Auction

Bochiman

Well, at the risk of raising a lot of ire here, I disagree that the person is a numbskull and that he should be told to take a hike.

Not everyone who lists a coin high has listed it at the rock bottom they will accept. Some dealers list the coin, and when it doesn't sell, list again with a lower price. Unless you state in your auction that that is the minimum you will accept, no matter what, I think the person asking the question is legit.

Matter of fact, I did just that months ago with a respected board member. He listed a coin I had interest in, and I respect his eye and his coins (not bottom level junk), but it was priced out of what I was comfortable paying. He had a number of people that had viewed his auction (according to the counter)...not sure of watchers since non-seller can't view that).

I watched as it went initially unsold.

So, I emailed him asking what the best price he would take would be. It was within what I was comfortable doing for that coin (on the highend still, but you pay for quality, right? ) and the deal was done.

So, what is wrong with someone asking about your best price that you would take?

Now, if you were complaining about someone seeing you list your coin for $1000, and like coins on ebay have been going for around that range, and the guy offers you $200, then I can understand. But, he is asking you what the bottom line that you will take. Maybe, you would be ok selling for $950???

Again, I see nothing wrong.

I like what Carl posts about telling the person if there are a lot of watchers...that's fair.
For UncleJoe....no where did he say it would be outside of ebay...I had a seller set up a "private" auction for me somehow where everything I had asked for, at the price I wanted, was posted and I was the only one....so, it can be within ebay and to report them without all the facts is spiteful and childish
I like what onlyroosies did as well
Rhedden....sour grapes? I don't like seeing something I was interested in going away either, but if there were NO bids, then I think it is fair. If there were existing bids, then I am with you. In this case, Wolf states "you don't have any bids", so, I think the person asking the question is within rights.

sliderider

Tell him that what he sees in your listing, IS your best price, then refer him to all the available price guides and other similar coins and what they sold for, and if they still try to lowball you, THEN it's time to get rude.

Edit:
Upon viewing the actual listing, and doing some research, you were right to tell this guy to take a hike. I believe the final price was fair, and in line with current trends for an XF piece. Your net grading was good, and you were honest about the cleaning. A buyer couldn't ask for more than that.

rhedden

What I am talking about is the first case Bochiman mentions: when an item has several bids, then it suddenly disappears. This is unfair to the people who were bidding on it, and is nearly always a ruse by a dealer to get the coin cheaper than what it would sell for at true auction. One specific person who does this is victimizing sellers in the large cent category. When a rare (R5 or higher) large cent appears for sale, and the seller is unaware of what he has, the item will suddenly end early to be sold to the high bidder. It's the same guy over and over again. Do you think he would be doing this unless he was stealing the coins cheap?

I really laughed at the "final offer" of $500 on the 1894 Morgan listed by Tonelover. The person making the illegitimate offer was trying to sucker him our of the coin for less than half its value. This was a case of a scammer attempting to rip a coin from someone he was hoping was unknowledgeable. Tonelover: good for you. Hope you reported it to ebay.

sliderider

rhedden,

What I see sometimes, is that unethical sellers will put a disclaimer in their listings stating that the item is subject to previous sale in their physical store and that the listing can be ended at any time. What this really tells me, is that if I email the guy with a good enough offer, he'll sell to me outside ebay and screw the people already bidding. Some sellers legitimately do sell their coins in their shops before the auction ends, but I think that once a dealer lists an item on ebay, it should be taken off his store shelf until the auction ends.

jbsteven

I agree that a seller should not end a auction for a offer when there are bids. For the record I have never done this nor ever will.

flaminio

This is a situation where expanded eBay functionality would help. Specifically, I would like to be able to bid less than the opening price of an item. Let me explain...

Say you list a coin with a starting bid of $500. I would like to purchase that coin, but am willing to go no higher than $450. There's no eBay-friendly way to communicate this desire to the seller, short of the conversation referred to by the OP (which many here have found abhorrent ("pound sand")). However, what if eBay allowed me to bid the $450 anyway, with the following rules:

1) The seller is, of course, under no obligation to accept my bid;
2) Overbidders always win, so if someone bids $475 they beat me (bidding over $500 turns it into a real auction);
3) At the close of the auction, the seller has the option to sell to me at my bid price. If so, I am obligated to buy the item ("your bid is a contract").

This is not dissimilar to the "Second Choice" feature, where a seller can offer an item for sale to someone who did not meet a reserve price.

rhedden

I love flaminio's idea. That would protect the seller's investment, and give an opportunity for bidders to say "that's a little too high." I think it would make sense for ebay, too, and would increase sales.

Russ

Wolf359,

I can see why somebody would be interested in buying the coin. The images are magnificent!

Russ, NCNE

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>You shouldn't even consider ending the auction early to avoid ebay fees. Again, it's against the rules. It's this kind of crooked behavior (in addition to the growing number of scammers) that's spoiling ebay and turning it into "sleaze-bay." >>



HMMMM!! Don't think I said that. If a seller is willing to pay X amount in fees if the item does sell for his first bid, then he should be willing to deduct a like amount from his first bid if the item does NOT sell on eBay.

mrearlygold

what's your best offer?

Tom