Most coins sales on ebay piss me off.

clackamas

There seems to be so few actual auctions anymore on ebay. Everyone starts thier coins off at some price that is usually too high. It annoys me to see very few "true" auctions. Anyone else have this gripe?

shirohniichan

My biggest gripe is that too many coins are overgraded by a full grade or more. If you want a VF coin, expect it to be at an XF price or more.

K6AZ

The problem is that there is so much garbage being sold, and scams going on, that legitimate sellers offering nice coins get murdered by "true auctions". Anything I put on eBay these days start at the lowest price I will accept.

haletj

Well, lately I've been doing more selling than buying, and I've learned not to risk my expensive coins going for too little. I've seen some coins go for 1/2 or 1/3'd of what they should have recently. I would hate to be the sellers of those coins and have had not gotten a fair amount just due to the possibility those who actually would have been interested in those dates were away that week, or just couldn't afford it that week (that was my situation).

Coinosaurus

This is like some SNL thing.......

So, I was, uh........

"Surfing for lame coin auctions on ebay?"

Yeah! And then, I was getting like uh..........

"Really pissed off at everyone selling coins on ebay?"

Yeah, and then I sat in front of my computer all night and I uh......

"Looked at all 3000 coin auctions and posted something on the PCGS boards about EVERY one of them?"

Yeah!

"Oh man, I HATE it when that happens........."

thebeav

<< <i>
So, I was, uh........

"Surfing for lame coin auctions on ebay?"

Yeah! And then, I was getting like uh..........

"Really pissed off at everyone selling coins on ebay?"

Yeah, and then I sat in front of my computer all night and I uh......

"Looked at all 3000 coin auctions and posted something on the PCGS boards about EVERY one of them?"

Yeah!

"Oh man, I HATE it when that happens........." >>



Very clever....I had a good laugh. Although, hard times for coins on eBay is never a laughing matter !!
Paul

ARCO

Yes Ebay can be very bad. Overgrading makes the flea market sellers look downright respectable in comparison. Go take a look at the bullion coins. Shipping is more a gouging method and if you can find a single bullion item including the 1oz gold gram bars with shipping less than $5.00 per item I would congratulate you on your unique find.

Tyler

clackamas

<< <i>Well, lately I've been doing more selling than buying, and I've learned not to risk my expensive coins going for too little. I've seen some coins go for 1/2 or 1/3'd of what they should have recently. I would hate to be the sellers of those coins and have had not gotten a fair amount just due to the possibility those who actually would have been interested in those dates were away that week, or just couldn't afford it that week (that was my situation). >>



I have had the same thing happen to me on occasion but for the most part you get a nice surprise on a different coin and it seems to work out in the end. I sell most of mine on Ebay with a .01 start. Currently I am selling a 66FS 1938-P Jeff. The last one sold with Heritage for over $600 and mine currently has a $202 bid with almost two days to go, so we will see if someone gets a bargain or I get a fair price. Its a risk for the seller but these auctions are also the "true" auctions that has made Ebay the fun place to snipe. If I want retail prices I can go to any number of dealers online.

sliderider

It pisses me off more when a seller cancels a real auction minutes before closing because the bids aren't high enough. Guess they never heard of snipers.

relayer

Perhaps the buyers have become too cheap?

Cladiator

My pet peeve is the lack of photos and even if there are pics 99% of the time they complete suck a$$. Some nights I will search for hours and be lucky if I find 1 or 2 auctions with well done photographs. It is such an easy thing to do and they would get so much more money...I just don't get it.

Wolf359

legitimate sellers offering nice coins get murdered by "true auctions".

That's true. I've tried true auctions several times and been mostly burned.

sliderider

There's also people like me on ebay, who run a search of all US coins ending in the next five hours and if there's something going off in the next few minutes without a bid, will try to snipe in the minimum bid at the last second and hope to pick something up cheap. I can see dealers being frustrated by putting up a coin worth hundreds or even thousands and having the auction end with a high bid of a dollar. I did it a couple of times to one seller and got a nasty email back that he was not going to sell to me at that price and that the auction was void. As winning bidder I could (and SHOULD) have left him a neg, but didn't (coz I'm such a sweet guy ). That's why they are using minimum opening bids and reserves more and more.

mr1931S

Why start an ebay auction at a penny? Why not start at the minimum you will accept and maybe put in a "Buy it Now?" Buy it Now listing fee is 5 cents.

Is it worth sweating what you will ultimately get for your coin by trying to save a few cents on listing fees?

nwcs

>The problem is that there is so much garbage being sold, and scams going on, that legitimate sellers offering nice coins get murdered by "true auctions".

I do tend to agree with that

Barry

Regarding Buy It Now, I think it's mostly useless. After the first bid, it's gone (unless a reserve auction). If BIN stayed there, I'd use it all the time.

When I sell coins that doesn't have a big following (eg., Seated Dimes) I usually start the auction at the minimum I would accept. For more mainstream coins, I usually start at $1.00, and can't recall ever getting killed on a coin.

mr1931S

I once sold a coin with "Buy It Now" about 20 minutes after listing it. Cost me a nickel. I think that nickel was well spent.

I'm convinced that ebay venue is not "true auction." Never was, never will be. Don't get pi**ed at me, potential buyer, if you think I want to much for my coin. Answer the question for yourself, "can I afford this thing?" and go from there.

IrishMike

If you are going to list coins for sale on ebay for over a couple of hundred dollars, I don't think you can expect to receive what the coin might bring at a national auction conducted by Ebay. I've got five selling this weekend and all have met my reserve and the one that had no reserve (a PCGS graded 1909s VDB) is starting to get active bidding. I arrived at my reserves by looking at trends, Heritage sales, and Superior and discounted them from that price. If demand is there it will exceed the reserve price. The least price one is willing to take may not be reality.

I am not familiar with the Jefferson market so I don't know how active coin sales are in that price range. Good photos will tend to sell a coin better than a long winded dicsussion about the coin or yourself (selling history, practices, etc.) One or two sentences that are to the point seem to work best for me. Most folks who are going to be bidding $600 I would think would know the rarity, approximate value etc.

Lastly I don't look at Ebay as an auction, even the online sales conducted by the Heritages of the world have reserves. If you have a fairly high price item that has a relatively small demand I don't think selling it without a reserve is the way to go.

catfish172

<< <i>Regarding Buy It Now, I think it's mostly useless. After the first bid, it's gone (unless a reserve auction). If BIN stayed there, I'd use it all the time. >>



I agree totally, I think eBay should raise the BIN fee to 25 cents and leave the BIN there until the "auction bidding" reaches the same level as the BIN. That would be fair to the Buyer and the Seller I think. The seller has a better chance at receiving his "stated fair price" as a BIN and the buyer has the option of "letting his bid ride" or taking the item off of the table by punching the BIN button.

my3cents

I go out of my way to look for bad pictures. Pictures are everything on E-bay and a sellers skills in that regard may not be that good. Sometimes you can get a real jewel, but then sometimes the pic is bad because the coin is too

Anyway - when I sell- I may have to take 10 or 20 photos to get just the right one. I always start out at 99 cents, no reserve, and I have done okay on just about every coin - except maybe a couple.

UncleWiggly

<< <i>The problem is that there is so much garbage being sold, and scams going on, that legitimate sellers offering nice coins get murdered by "true auctions". Anything I put on eBay these days start at the lowest price I will accept. >>



I agree completely. You have to wade through a whole bunch of garbage to find a nice coin you might like.

Jerry

ziggy29

<< <i>

<< <i>The problem is that there is so much garbage being sold, and scams going on, that legitimate sellers offering nice coins get murdered by "true auctions". Anything I put on eBay these days start at the lowest price I will accept. >>



I agree completely. You have to wade through a whole bunch of garbage to find a nice coin you might like. >>

I got reamed on a couple of NGC-graded coins, both solid for the grade in any holder, which I sold recently with no reserve and basically nothing starting bid. I sold a 1935 MS-64 Peace dollar for $108 and an MS-641884-CC Morgan for $188. Once upon a time, I think it was easier to start at one cent with no reserve. But there are so many scams and so much trash now that an honest seller, even with great feedback, minimal hype and good pictures, risks getting ripped by selling that way.

I think some folks with less integrity would have cancelled all the bids and ended the auctions. I sucked it up and considered it a learning experience.

sliderider

I think if you start a no reserve auction, you should have to follow through. You should not be allowed to cancel once it's started and you should be obligated to follow through once it ends, no matter what the final price is. If you don't have faith in the bidders to make reasonable offers, then set a reserve or a minimum opening bid. Don't list an item, then back out at the last second because there wasn't enough interest in the item to cover your costs. If my bid is a contract, then so is your listing. It works both ways.

MSD61

What gets me are some of the strong prices that copies and repos are selling for on ebay. It's crazy to see pay people the money for a copy or repo from some scammer when they could have bought a nice original coin, slabbed by a good service from a honest seller. I also can't get over people who pay big money on a desrciption only coin or a seller with bad pictures.

Things I sell on ebay will always have a clear picture I will not settle for less. I know I don't offer big time coins but I am honest and fair but still get hammered by scammers.

IrishMike

Ziggy if you had put a reserve on those coins the winning bidder might have kept bidding to meet the reserve. This is one arguement for a reserve. In defense of Ebay, I just sold about 2 hours ago that I had offered here on the BST board for $950. It brought $1146 on Ebay with a $975 reserve.

(Someone here was kind enough to offer me $900 for coin for inventory)

ziggy29

<< <i>Ziggy if you had put a reserve on those coins the winning bidder might have kept bidding to meet the reserve. This is one arguement for a reserve. In defense of Ebay, I just sold about 2 hours ago that I had offered here on the BST board for $950. It brought $1146 on Ebay with a $975 reserve. >>

I know -- learning experience. There's just so much scamming and misrepresented junk now that even good stuff from honest folks are often getting killed (or so it seems in everything except that which I want to buy!)...

I consider it a cheap re-education in how to sell. I'm not sure I'd use a reserve, but at least I'll go back to starting it at the minimum I'm willing to sell for. If I'm not willing to sell for less than most folks can get from a reputable dealer, there's not much point in even trying.

my3cents

I just received an "AU" seated half in the mail that I purchased on E-bay. The pics LOOKED AU. It's EF-40 at best. I left the guy positive feedback (I bought it for EF money) but also put in the feedback that it was a nice EF-40 coin

Iwog

- Always sell PCGS coins.
- Never use reserves
- Never use high minimums
- Always use excellent photographs and good descriptions.
- Have good feedback.
- Tell everyone on the boards your intention to sell quality coins on an upcoming ebay auction.

By using this formula, I've sold 100s of coins on Ebay. I get "burned" on about 10% of them, I get market on 80% of them, and get much more than I expected on the last 10%. If you only buy certified coins in true auctions, on the average you will always get your money back minus shipping when you go to sell. Even more if you put up better pictures. The same buyers that bid against you when you bought are still going to be there when you sell.

If people stopped trying to be dealers and simply enjoyed the hobby, they would be a lot more relaxed and actually have some fun with this.