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Just some notes to consider
numonebuyer
Posts: 2,136 ✭
Over the past three months, I offered 38 PCGS Morgans for sale. The coins were from the PCGS Registry set that I was selling because I upgraded. I originally offered the coins on the BST board and then finally on eBay. Pictures were provided for each coin. The prices I wanted were included for all. No additional fees were asked for or charged for shipping, handling or insurance.
Prior to posting on the BST board, I contacted a couple of dealers from this forum
Here are the facts...
1. The value of the 38 coins (according to the Grey Sheet ASK price was $3,897.75).
2. One dealer never responded to my requests. Not even a PM to say "No thanks".
3. One other dealer offered me $1,900 and continued by stating a profit of $150 would be obtained by the dealer.
4. Another dealer offered me $3,300. Although much closer to the amount I wanted, $600 is a pretty big percentage when compared to ~$3,900.
5. Still others (dealers and collectors) asked if I would take MUCH less than I asked.
6. Most collectors that made purchases paid what I asked and were very pleased with the coins.
The break downs...
1. Gross sold for $3,813.84 (37 of the 38 sold - 1 remains unsold)
2. Fees I paid (but did not pass on) $62.46 eBay, $78.19 PayPal, and $156.50 for USPS Priority Insured mail.
3. Net sold for $3,521.79.
4. It took me three months to sell the 37 coins.
So, I still made more selling them myself.
I like dealers and collectors, but honestly if you want to make any money at all when selling your coins as you upgrade them, you would be well advised to contact collectors rather than dealers.
Prior to posting on the BST board, I contacted a couple of dealers from this forum
Here are the facts...
1. The value of the 38 coins (according to the Grey Sheet ASK price was $3,897.75).
2. One dealer never responded to my requests. Not even a PM to say "No thanks".
3. One other dealer offered me $1,900 and continued by stating a profit of $150 would be obtained by the dealer.
4. Another dealer offered me $3,300. Although much closer to the amount I wanted, $600 is a pretty big percentage when compared to ~$3,900.
5. Still others (dealers and collectors) asked if I would take MUCH less than I asked.
6. Most collectors that made purchases paid what I asked and were very pleased with the coins.
The break downs...
1. Gross sold for $3,813.84 (37 of the 38 sold - 1 remains unsold)
2. Fees I paid (but did not pass on) $62.46 eBay, $78.19 PayPal, and $156.50 for USPS Priority Insured mail.
3. Net sold for $3,521.79.
4. It took me three months to sell the 37 coins.
So, I still made more selling them myself.
I like dealers and collectors, but honestly if you want to make any money at all when selling your coins as you upgrade them, you would be well advised to contact collectors rather than dealers.
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All this WANNABE stuff is a big cover for the real issue. It is far better for the REAL dealers if us collectors stick to collecting and leave all the profit to them!
But........In the example given, the seller netted $3521, against a $3300 offer from a dealer. However, if you factor in 1) the extra three months to get the coins sold and receive full payment; 2) the time and effort involved and 3) the fact that if the entire group had been sold to the dealer, the $156 spent on postage would have been reduced by more than $100, I don't think the seller did any better than if he had accepted the $3300 offer.
The seller netted $221 extra, but factoring in the savings that could have been achieved on the postage by selling to the dealer, the true net difference amounted to approximately $100. How much time (I would guess it was several, if not many hours) and effort were expended to end up with the extra $100?
Also, from my experience and that of many other dealers AND collectors, the "facts"/complaints noted about the other dealers (low offers, lack of a reply, etc.) could just as easily have occurred with other collectors.
This may not be the best example and there may well be times when it is easier and more profitable to sell to a dealer. However, the internet and eBay are great ways to sell your coins directly collector to collector and calling everyone that does so names does not change this fact.
This may not be the best example and there may well be times when it is easier and more profitable to sell to a dealer. However, the internet and eBay are great ways to sell your coins directly collector to collector and calling everyone that does so names does not change this fact.>>David, regarding the shipping - it was apparently deducted from gross sales to arrive at the $3521 net proceeds. If it cost him $156, he spent $100+ more than he would have selling to the dealer.
Good catch and my apologies regarding the one unsold coin - depending upon its value, that could affect my conclusion. I agree with the majority of your post.
I just posted this thread because you can get very close to what you want (if you are realistically pricing your coins) if you don't need the money immediately.
Just to add on to the thread, we need to educate some of our fellow collectors on how to read the grey sheet. An AU-58 price is not listed on the grey sheet, but rather the grey sheet AU is for an AU-50 coin. I had a couple of high end AUs that I sold that I was given offers by collectors that were for AU-50 prices.
That said, precisely where, in between AU50 and MS60 depends upon the coin type and the actual coin in question. In some cases an AU58 is worth little more than an AU 50. Often times, however, a really nice AU58 example is worth as much as or more than a not so nice MS60.
<< <i>you would be well advised to contact collectors rather than dealers. >>
This is the beauty of the net. Since the introduction of easy collector-to-collector deals, we have seen many worthy collectors "setting up" at shows. In truth, collectors are cutting into the dealers income. In the past we have heard "coins are not an investment" from the dealers, who invest in coins on a daily basis. "Hold for five years" was their credo. We know better. Small margins on "modern crap" doesn't even compare to the vast mark-up of upgraded classic coins "given" the upgrade is due only to grade-flation. Yet now the classic collectors complain of no fresh material. Well, you upgraded it all to its Peter Principle, and screwed yourself out of business. So get mad at those who saw the future, who did better, and will continue to do better.
Just some notes to consider.... Thank you.
PCGS THE ONLY WAY TO GO
Ed
and you even got some money for your time
did you figure out your "wage" ?
with listing time, e-mails, postage supplies, trips to post office. etc
you probably made $1 AND MAYBE $2 / hour
The only point I was trying to make is that you have multiple ways to sell your coins.
1. Sell to a dealer and take what they offer and be done with it. You will probably lose a lot of money on the deal, but you will have your money and move on.
2. Sell to multiple collectors and take the time associated with the effort. You will make more money, but it takes longer.
These are the choices we all must make as we improve our sets.
The most interesting thing I have noted about the dealers is their short-sightedness. It is pretty obvious I continue to upgrade my sets. You can look at my coins on my web page (see sig line below). It is also pretty obvious that as I continue to upgrade, I will have some pretty nice coins for sale. Just because I did not have coins in this set of 38 that are worth thousands of dollars each does not mean in the future I will not have coins for sale that will be worth thousands of dollars each.