Inquiring Minds Want to Know: EBay or Teletrade in Selling Your Moderns

Casabrown

What are the views among you experts? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each auction house? Or, alternatively, should you just consign them to a dealer?

Thanks, in advance for your responses.


Casabrown.

haletj

Definitely ebay. Things go too cheap on Teletrade. Teletrade doesn't give the buyer any more confidence due to restocking fees. Not necc great photos. Ebay you can control you're own photos, return policy, shipping charges, and of course lower auction fees, and I think more collectors look on ebay or have never even heard of teletrade.

Casabrown

Interesting points. With Ebay, the seller posts their pictures, while with Teletrade, the auction house posts pictures of the seller. But the other factors may very well tip the balance in favor of EBay.

Casabrown

FullStepJeffs

I hate to say this, but I disagree with the comment that "things go to cheap on teletrade."

IMHO, it really depends on the factors involving the particular coin (date, mint, grade, grading company, eye appeal, rarity, etc).

If you have a coin, like a PCGS graded top pop... or for that matter, a really no frill, but purple, 1961 Proof Jefferson, then Teletrade is your place to sell it. Also, Heritage (and a couple of others) get alot of decent coins that sell for significant percentages over their "normal" prices.

The only decision you might want to consider is... how long do you want to wait to get paid for the auction?
Do you need the money now? Then, Ebay and possibly lower prices and fees, unless you set the price which then might not sell. Of course, you have to do all the work with this type of auction, which is your time. (ain't that worth something?)

But, if you can wait, then I'd submit to the big auction houses and hope you get a good return or submit with a reserve. There is a third option... sell them through the Buy, Sell & Trade section here at the forum. No fees! I recently sold a number of coins through this site, and didn't have a problem at all.

After spending a year building a price guide using all the top Auction sites for my specialty... and with over 11,000 differrent sales, I think I know what I'm saying here. Others may disagree, but I can prove it.

Good luck... and sell me all your Jeffs Casabrown...

Steve

Dabigkahuna

If you are not in a rush to sell then consigning to a dealer would net you more $$$, I think?

Ebay gives you so much more flexibility in listings and the Moderns seem to trade very well. IMHO. There is a lot of "spin off" business when you use Ebay. The million dollar question, knowing the best venue for a particular coin or series.

One thing about Teletrade that I don't like is that it won't let you make the next higher bid. For example, if the current bid is $100 and the next increment up is $10. You would think that you could be able to bid $110 but Teletrade says that you have to bid at least two increments higher or it won't accept the bid. Maybe it's just me???

I feel that even if you are out bid at $110 by a previously hidden bid then that bid should reflect the new higher price. By doing it Teletrade's way, it also doesn't allow the seller to get the best bid. IMHO

Most of the coins I see on Teletrade, that I like, have absurd reserves but then I have also caught some bargains.

I don't remember if Teletrade does this or not but some of the larger auction/galleries are negotiable on the seller fee's and it's also possible to get a cash advance against part of your consignment.

Larry
Dabigkahun

Casabrown

Fellow Board Members,

Your comments are well appreciated. It appears that costs and opportunities come in various forms. There are the costs of efforts spent in taking photos and deciding how to present your coins on EBay, yet there is the benefit of paying lower seller fees and receiving payment sooner (especially if you use paypal). With Teletrade, Heritage and other auction houses, there are the costs of seller fees and the longer periods of waiting before the seller receives payment (if you are not able to receive an advance), but there is the benefit of not spending the efforts to take photos. In both cases, there is value in deciding whether or not the seller will place a reserve on any of their coins (and the amounts of those reserves).

This is only evaluating this question from the perspective of the seller. As a collector (not a dealer), I am mindful of the buyer's perspective as well.

Selling on the BST board has its challenges and opportunities as well. The challenges include the costs of efforts of deciding how to price your coins, whether or not to include pictures (for higher priced coins) especially for the buyers who appropriately desire to pay more attention to the coin than the plastic. The costs include the time spent in communicating with potential and actual buyers and the time and money spent in packaging and sending the coins to multiple buyers.

The opportunities are as rewarding as the challenges are significant. The opportunities include the development of relationships with fellow numismatists and learning more about our hobby thru communication with others and thru participation in research to determine an appropriate selling price. I personnally still have a lot to learn here as I generally sell a coin for less than I purchased it.

As for selling your modern coins to dealers, there is less demand at local coin shows as compared to the larger shows. You have some of the same challenges and opportunities that one incurs in selling on the Boards, although I believe you may receive a higher payment on the Boards (but that also somes with more effort than consigning or selling to a dealer).

Have I generally captured the major issues? Thanks again for your comments.

Casabrown

FullStepJeffs

You captured it... and again... sell me all your Jeffs!

Steve