I have jumped on the Coinzip.com bandwagon! C'mon over! See my Darkside stuff!

lordmarcovan · February 23, 2008 5:43PM

My first auctions on the new site!

Free shipping and handling to my fellow Coinzip newbies!

I am not affiliated with the site (except as a new seller), but after investigating it and going through the simple registration and the relatively straightforward auction listing process, I'm giving it my full endorsement. I was not asked to give this endorsement, nor am I being compensated for it- I am doing so voluntarily.

Come join up- it won't cost you anything. Even a year from now, when the site has grown and they start charging sellers, there will only be a low flat monthly fee, period. (If I understood what I read correctly).

Are you boycotting eBay? Or just tired of the fees and the growing complexity of the listing process there? Or just wanna try something new, for the heck of it? Come on in, the water's fine!

"Why would I list my coins on a new auction site nobody's heard of?", you might ask.

It's a valid question. Just remember, everybody's gotta start somewhere, and eBay needs some healthy competition. Not that this little site will be in eBay's league for a long, long time, if ever, but if enough eBay members start using other sites, it'll help balance the scales, I think. Ebay's had too much of a monopoly for too long.

If for no other reason, you should support Coinzip as a favor to your fellow Collectors Universe member who started it. There are lots of venues out there, including plenty of big ones, but let's help give one of the "little guys" a start. I see at least one other CU member climbed aboard before I did.

Maybe just list some stuff you'd be selling here on BST, anyway. You can start the auction at whatever price you choose.

Or give a Coinzip seller a bid or two. (Whether or not that seller happens to be me.)

I just listed my first few auctions on a whim. Do I expect an amazing response to them? No. But I just listed stuff I would've stuck here on BST, anyhow. And now I have them linked in two places: there and here. Extra exposure can't hurt.

I do like that I can run longer auctions and/or automatically relist up to 100 times. I was thinking of opening an eBay store to put all my longterm, slower-moving stuff in, but this is better, because it is FREE.

Tell 'em LordM sent you.

coinzip.com

(OK, I heard you yawning out there. Yeah, you. Aww, c'mon... try to be nice, eh?)

newbiecollector · February 23, 2008 6:02PM

Thanks Rob.

I signed up

johnsim03 · February 23, 2008 6:32PM

Hi Rob:

I listed some romans there awhile ago... It is a decent site, and the support is great.
Now, if some bidders would sign up...

John

lordmarcovan · February 23, 2008 7:45PM

That's why I'm beatin' the drum and blowin' the bugle!

AZLARRY · February 24, 2008 1:10AM

Thanks for the information, I just signed up. BTW I like how you listed and imaged your coins.

ormandh · February 24, 2008 1:23AM

I will definitely check it out. Thanks! -Dan

Stork · February 24, 2008 3:49AM

Cool--I signed up and dropped a bid on a liteside coin (

I have a 7070 going...). Who is the guy behind it, one of the CU posters on the liteside right?

Aethelred · February 24, 2008 4:37AM

I'll have to check that out Rob, I am looking for a venue other than eBay to sell my stuff.

ajaan · February 24, 2008 4:43AM

Not to be an a-hole or anything here, but would you list a coin on this site with an opening bid of 99c like you would on eBay? Don't get me wrong, I really hope this site takes off and gives sleezebay a run for their money. But it isn't coins that made eBay into the monster it is today, it's all the stuff you can sell there. Currently this site just seems like an alternative to having a website with fixed prices.

Aethelred · February 24, 2008 4:45AM

In order to see a true competition with eBay I think we'll need to see someone like Google get into the auction business.

ajaan · February 24, 2008 4:46AM

That's what it will probably take. Some already big internet entity would be the only thing that can give eBay a run for it's money.

Aethelred · February 24, 2008 5:09AM

Sad to say this, but all of the auctions for world and ancient coins on Coinzip seem to have the same thing in common....no bids!

ajaan · February 24, 2008 5:13AM

Some of the Canadian coins have bids.

lordmarcovan · February 24, 2008 1:41PM

<< Not to be an a-hole or anything here, but would you list a coin on this site with an opening bid of 99c like you would on eBay? >>

Yes, if it was one of the cherrypicks I paid YOU six or seven cents for in those glorious bulk bags, O Mischievous Mushroom. Seriously.

It should be a good place to put all my slightly better but still inexpensive Darkside stuff. Stuff which is nice enough to be worthy of individual sale (in other words, worth two bucks and up, maybe), and yet with which I have no downside to worry about.

I was just about to do another of my long SSP threads here to sell some cheap coins, and I thought about doing an auction format, right here in the Weekly Swap. I have stuff I've just gotta move, even if it's at a fraction of catalog price. But now that I have found Coinzip, I don't have to run my auction manually and sift through all the PMs with bids.

<< Currently this site just seems like an alternative to having a website with fixed prices. >>

Exactly. And while a lot of y'all have your own websites, I do not. So I figure this can be a good place for me to sell stuff in an auction format, without having to worry about it going unsold, since coinzip will automatically relist it. Basically, this can be the eBay store that I was always thinking about opening, but without the eBay fees.

Heck, if it's free for a year, why not? Even when the free year is up, it looks like sellers will pay a flat four bucks a month and no commission- that I can handle. Most of what I'll sell is just the stuff I would be putting here on the Weekly Swap and the BST, anyway. Now I'll put it there and link it up to BST and Weekly Swap, perhaps.

<< In order to see a true competition with eBay I think we'll need to see someone like Google get into the auction business. >>

I do believe you are totally right about that, O Moldering Monarch.

<< Sad to say this, but all of the auctions for world and ancient coins on Coinzip seem to have the same thing in common....no bids! >>

Give it time. One reason the bidding might be slow is that folks are not brave enough to risk using a true auction format on a new and relatively unknown site. I will try to throw a few out there that WILL be true auctions- stuff that I paid the Shroomdude next to nothing for, that I can afford to gamble with. I think I will have some good 99c true auction fodder soon, though the stuff I currently have listed is not the sort of stuff I can afford to "give away" via true auction.

lordmarcovan · February 24, 2008 1:50PM

I did ask Allen at coinzip one question about the Buy-It-Now option there. I think a Buy-It-Now option should remain in play until somebody's proxy bid meets or exceeds it, unlike eBay, where the BIN vanishes at the first lowball bid.

I was originally gonna do a "buy or bid" sale here before I decided to put my coins there, instead.

I haven't gotten a definitive answer on this one, yet- he's gonna have to get back to me on that one.

Daltonista · February 25, 2008 6:46AM

Rob, is that "free for a year" thing speculative on your part, or is that advertised there as an incentive to sign up? I was thinking as I browsed through Coinzip a week or so ago when I found that pillar dollar listed there that it seemed too good to be true (no commission?), and we all know what that means. So now I'm figuring that whenever something is free on the Internet, as soon as some critical mass is reached in terms of popularity or demand, a fee structure is announced. Take Photobucket, for example...how long can it run for free? Or can advertising support it forever?
Just some ruminatin' on my part...
Best to all ~
Tom

shirohniichan · February 25, 2008 7:24AM

They need to work on their search function. I searched for 3 cent pieces and kept getting "Lot of 500 Bronze or Copper Cents (Pre 1983)". Unless the seller is going to throw a 3-cent piece into the lot, I don't think the Memorial cents have anything to do with trimes.

lordmarcovan · February 25, 2008 7:35AM

<< Rob, is that "free for a year" thing speculative on your part, or is that advertised there as an incentive to sign up? I was thinking as I browsed through Coinzip a week or so ago when I found that pillar dollar listed there that it seemed too good to be true (no commission?), and we all know what that means. So now I'm figuring that whenever something is free on the Internet, as soon as some critical mass is reached in terms of popularity or demand, a fee structure is announced. Take Photobucket, for example...how long can it run for free? Or can advertising support it forever?
Just some ruminatin' on my part...
Best to all ~
Tom >>

Tom, the free for a year thing is true. You're almost certainly right about the "critical mass" theory, though. Once something gets popular enough or in demand, somebody's gonna want to make money on it. But within reason, I guess there's nothing wrong with that. We're all in this to make a little money. (Well, and have fun with coins, too. But money's a fact of life.)

Here:

<< What are the Fees to use this site?

Sellers pay a monthly service fee of $3.99 after Jan 18th 2009

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FEE FREEDOM

1. Listing items FREE list as many as you want.
2. End of Auction FREE
3. Registration FREE no credit card needed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only Fees are Optional Seller Fees:

1. Home Page Featured Item $5.00
2. Home Page Spotlight Item Fee $1.00
3. Category Page Featured Item $0.50
4. Bold Listing Item $0.25 >>

Reading more carefully, I see that my assumption that after 1/18/09 we'll only pay $4.00 per month might have been a misunderstanding. I'll need to clarify that. Hopefully it just means there'll be that flat monthly rate and no insertion or final value fees.

As a seller, I want to avoid final value fees, though I don't mind an insertion fee. A monthly rate would be OK, but what then about the months where one doesn't list anything? Hm.

This "fee freedom" and associated terms may all be temporary, for all I know.

lordmarcovan · February 25, 2008 7:36AM

Oh, BTW, I just noticed that one of my coins (with a $30 starting bid) now has a bidder!

My bidder is not a username I recognize.

ormandh · February 25, 2008 7:41AM

I will be listing some things tomorrow. One thing that everyone has to remember is that this free, regardless how many people are looking at it. You have to start somewhere, right?

-Dan

ormandh · February 25, 2008 7:44AM

Oh yeah, LM thanks for the link. -Dan

lordmarcovan · February 25, 2008 7:48AM

Dan- welcome aboard. Hope you can sell some stuff. Looks I like I have, now. Frankly, I didn't expect any bids on the stuff I had up initially, since they weren't true auctions. I think the starting prices were realistic, for the most part, however.

lordmarcovan · February 25, 2008 7:49AM

One thing to consider is that coinzip is not going to have the global spread of eBay, so we probably won't get very many international bids on our Darkside coins at first. Hopefully some folks in Europe and elsewhere will come aboard.

lordmarcovan · February 25, 2008 11:22AM

I just noticed that the Buy-It-Now option is gone on the coin I just received my first bid on.

This means the Coinzip BIN option apparently works like the eBay one- the BIN option disappears with the first bid.

Too bad. Like I mentioned earlier, I wish BIN stayed active until there was a proxy bid that met or exceeded it.

This would make it more like those "buy or bid" lists I used to get in the mail.

satootoko · February 25, 2008 11:45AM

<< Like I mentioned earlier, I wish BIN stayed active until there was a proxy bid that met or exceeded it. >>

Think about it - that would place a maximum on potential profit, as the coin would be sold once anyone met the BIN price. I've wound up paying significantly over BIN on occasion after someone started the bidding at a lower level.

seemyauction · February 26, 2008 5:46AM

Fee's

On Jan 18th 2009 sellers will be asked to pay a monthly fee of $3.99.

That is it, no listing fees, no end of auction fees, no commissions, no per picture hosting fees.....

The only exception will be the Optional fees, these are if you want more exposure for your item.

1. Home Page Featured Item $5.00
2. Home Page Spotlight Item Fee $1.00
3. Category Page Featured Item $0.50
4. Bold Listing Item $0.25

I hope I have helped shed some light on the Fee's or lack of in this case....

I will be listing NO RESERVE items with very low starting bids frequently.........Some have already sold.... 62 items totaling $3,744.58 sold since 01/18/2008

Alan Stullenbarger

lordmarcovan · February 26, 2008 6:00AM

<< Think about it - that would place a maximum on potential profit, as the coin would be sold once anyone met the BIN price. I've wound up paying significantly over BIN on occasion after someone started the bidding at a lower level. >>

Well, true... there is that. I've had auctions end higher than the BIN I'd originally set, too.

I see there is a "make an offer" option that pretty much does what a permanent BIN option would, anyway.

sumnom · February 26, 2008 6:31AM

I just BIN'd a Lord M coin!

sumnom · February 26, 2008 6:32AM

And Shiroh is right. The search function doesn't work so well.

sumnom · February 26, 2008 6:39AM

When I got an e-mail from coinzip indicated I won an auction it included this bit of information:

Auction End Date: 31, 1969 - 18:59

It really didn't seem that long ago.

ajaan · February 26, 2008 8:15AM

I signed up but I think they should have made the birthdate opional. Why do they need that information?

Doogy · February 26, 2008 8:31AM

<< I signed up but I think they should have made the birthdate opional. Why do they need that information? >>

just tell 'em you're old, we'll vouch for you if they need proof

ajaan · February 26, 2008 8:46AM

Unless they give a senior citizen discount, I don't see the need for this information.

spinaker2000 · February 26, 2008 8:53AM

<< Unless they give a senior citizen discount, I don't see the need for this information. >>

I guess your use to getting those!!

ajaan · February 26, 2008 8:54AM

AARP here I come.

ASUtodd · February 26, 2008 8:57AM

I cast a bid on LordM's 1937 Candian 50 Cent piece. I like Coinzip but here is the deal. We also have www.ilikecoins.com also. If we start making a bunch of different sites then ebay will still be the only true source for obtaining full profit potential. I'm also not sure I like the $3.99 monthly fees but I guess if you are selling a lot of items then it works well. For those of us that simply sell a coin or two here and there it isn't that big of a deal. There are pro's and con's to everything, I guess in looking at not have a commission fee the $3.99 isn't that bad.
Todd

amiller · February 26, 2008 9:58AM

LM, thanks for pointing us to this new site and for being an active participant in helping an ebay alternative get off the ground. I created an account and am going to go see what is available so I can do my part, too.

Aaron

seemyauction · February 26, 2008 6:53PM

<< Unless they give a senior citizen discount, I don't see the need for this information. >>

By placing a bid on an item, both you and the seller have entered into a contract, therefor you must be at least 18 years of age to register.

Bailathacl · February 26, 2008 8:49PM

Instead of requiring a birthdate, perhaps a simple checkoff box to certify the person is at least 18 years of age? We live in an age of justified information paranoia.

Minor complaint, I like the site and have won three auctions there.

ajaan · February 26, 2008 9:41PM

I agree with Bill.

lordmarcovan · February 26, 2008 9:54PM

That's a good idea, particularly as it isn't a secure site.

seemyauction · February 28, 2008 12:51AM

<< And Shiroh is right. The search function doesn't work so well. >>

I did some work on the search function, give it a try and let me know how it works......Good or Bad I want to hear it.....if its good I'll smile, if its bad I'll fix it........

Alan

lordmarcovan · February 28, 2008 1:32AM

I think that as long as people are allowed to list in the top-level category without choosing a subcategory (which eBay forces you to do), things are gonna be a mess.

As we discussed, I discovered this by accident- apparently I had mistakenly forgotten to choose subcategories on some of my coins, so when I went to look at the "Africa" subcategory, I found that in addition to my Tunisian coin, which along with my Egyptian coin should be one of the very few coins in the Africa category, I was seeing my GERMAN coins, too. And on to the other subcategories, there they were, as well.

Because I had apparently not picked a subcategory for these coins (by mistake), I ended up only listing them under World Coins, the top category, and now they will appear under ALL of the subcategories?

If this happens, it would be in my interest as a seller to list all of my coins in the top category alone, so they'll show up everywhere in the subcategories. This is good for me as a seller (more exposure), but bad for the bidders who want to search by category or keyword, I'd imagine, since they'd be tripping over German and French and British coins while searching for Japanese coins, for example.

Perhaps you should force folks to choose a subcategory, or do away with the subcategories altogether and have one huge world coin category.

seemyauction · February 28, 2008 9:50AM

"I think that as long as people are allowed to list in the top-level category without choosing a subcategory (which eBay forces you to do), things are gonna be a mess."

I think I have fixed this problem. When you look at world coins all items in all sub cats are shown. You can noarrow the field by going into one of the sub cats.

johnsim03 · February 28, 2008 9:59PM

<< "I think that as long as people are allowed to list in the top-level category without choosing a subcategory (which eBay forces you to do), things are gonna be a mess."

I think I have fixed this problem. When you look at world coins all items in all sub cats are shown. You can noarrow the field by going into one of the sub cats. >>

Hi Alan:

One thing that I have also noticed. The first time one clicks on the "Exonumia" category on the front-page left hand menu, nothing comes up...

John

sumnom · February 28, 2008 11:38PM

<< 

<< And Shiroh is right. The search function doesn't work so well. >>

I did some work on the search function, give it a try and let me know how it works......Good or Bad I want to hear it.....if its good I'll smile, if its bad I'll fix it........

Alan >>

It is much improved. Thanks for your work!

mgoodm3 · February 29, 2008 1:19AM

I bought a coin from LordM

I have jumped on the Coinzip.com bandwagon! C'mon over! See my Darkside stuff!

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