Fishing Raw on Ebay and your Catch was a Keeper?
Broadstruck
Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭
I read the 93-s Morgan thread "Are people seriously this uneducated?"
Where someone mentioned they feel sorry for the bidders whom are bidding on a counterfeit coin.
This hobby has changed with the Vice Pres. Gore's discovery of the worldwide web, and information is only a Google or Yahoo search away.
No longer is one forced to buy the book first (but you should), visit a coin store, or library for research.
Should one feel sorry for the collectors who are buying Cleaned AU coins in Gem or Superb Gem BU "Third World Party" holders also?
Just like anything else in life if it smells to good to be true... it's Fishy!
As there is no free lunch in numismatics, or as y'all here on the forum say "Nice coins aren't Cheap, and Cheap coins aren't Nice."
Anyhow I've been Once (actually a lot more) Bitten, Twice Shy on buying anything Raw via a Digital Image on the web.
As it's normally had to be returned prior to leaving the Post Office parking lot do to having issues.
Thankfully the sellers had good feedback, and a return policy!
Anyhow this is the only item a HT-M21 I've ever kept, and invite others to share their Raw Treasures.
Note: I hope I'm not coming across as cold, but I may be a bit numb from watching all this idiocy unfold.
As you can only give back to the hobby if the other party is willing to lend an open ear.
Where someone mentioned they feel sorry for the bidders whom are bidding on a counterfeit coin.
This hobby has changed with the Vice Pres. Gore's discovery of the worldwide web, and information is only a Google or Yahoo search away.
No longer is one forced to buy the book first (but you should), visit a coin store, or library for research.
Should one feel sorry for the collectors who are buying Cleaned AU coins in Gem or Superb Gem BU "Third World Party" holders also?
Just like anything else in life if it smells to good to be true... it's Fishy!
As there is no free lunch in numismatics, or as y'all here on the forum say "Nice coins aren't Cheap, and Cheap coins aren't Nice."
Anyhow I've been Once (actually a lot more) Bitten, Twice Shy on buying anything Raw via a Digital Image on the web.
As it's normally had to be returned prior to leaving the Post Office parking lot do to having issues.
Thankfully the sellers had good feedback, and a return policy!
Anyhow this is the only item a HT-M21 I've ever kept, and invite others to share their Raw Treasures.
Note: I hope I'm not coming across as cold, but I may be a bit numb from watching all this idiocy unfold.
As you can only give back to the hobby if the other party is willing to lend an open ear.
To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
0
Comments
It was a lucky draw from a very honest seller.
But, I would never try that again.
The bad sellers get their junk back in the mail.
That's how it should work
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
I'm still looking for AU examples on ebay ... someone has to have found one or two by now
HE>I
Lincoln set Colorless Set
I don't have a picture, but I picked up a very nice raw 1921-S Lincoln cent that would grade MS63RB (or better). There was no image in the auction so I bid XF money. Needless to say, I was shocked when I recieved the coin although I'd never do it again. Some times you just get lucky.
The further you go from the 3rd tier holders, cleaned, damaged, and sometimes even fake garbage to true quality, undervalued bonafide treasures, the exponentially narrower the odds become. If you like gambling, the idea is educate yourself, devise a strategy, minimize your downside risk as much as possible, and when you are ready, place a bet.
If you don't like risk, by all means, you can go to Heritage and pay + or - 20% of 63 money for a certified 63 that is most likely + or - 20% quality 63; not too much risk, not too much upside potential. And in the near future, it sounds like there may be stickers on some of those 63 slabs that minimize those parameters even further. It is certainly easier to loose money buying raw coins than it is to make money, but if you are willing to play those odds the upside can be tremendous.
Compared to most of you, I buy VERY few coins a year - maybe 3 to 5 - so I am by no means an expert buyer and seller. However, of the few coins I do buy, several were purchased raw from Ebay, and for the most part I had very good experiences. By qualifying the sellers (asking pointed questions, checking to see that their histories matched their stories, etc.) and by being very specific about what I was after, I was able to build a collection that I could not have afforded by any other means.
>>>My Collection
I have bought hundreds of US coins on eBay, mostly in the $10-150 range,
that have sold for multiples of what I paid. That includes probably a roll of AU-BU+
Barber dimes for $10 or less. With the explosion of storefront eBay consignment
stores Ray Charles could make a good living just buying and selling on the 'bay.
Sure, you have to wade through a lot of crap, but there are many treasures out there
waiting for a knowledgable bidder. You have to be able to do refined searches and
be able to tweak lousy scans to your benefit. Here is just one of the many advanced
techniques I use -- When a scan is too dark to see the detail level I save the scan and
kick it into Paint. Under IMAGE there is an INVERT COLOR button. Then blow that image
up. Works especially well with copper coins scanned too darkly.
So quit complaining and hiding in the bushes. If you don't trust your eye to grade
properly you will be looking at just a small fraction of the coins out there, those in
plastic.
Big Steve