Murphy's guide to Ebay Bidding and Selling

Coinsponge

1. No matter how uninterested you think the general public is in an item there will always be JUST ONE person to outbid you by $5 or less when you don't watch the auction to the end.

... any others?

sinin1

2. the worse the photo, the greater the speculation for the buyer

sonoranmonsoon

3. If it says "From an Estate" anywhere in the title or discription, you should bid double the listed value in order to win, because there is always some naive buyer that thinks stuff from estates are worth more.

sonoranmonsoon

4. Even if you offer free shipping, someone will think it cost to much and ding your stars.

jessewvu

4. If the item is clearly described with good pictures, expect at least one person to ask you to cancel their bid because they thought they were bidding on something else.

5. When #4 occurs, you can expect it to happen with less than an hour left in the auction causing your auction price to plumit with little or no time left to recover. Unless you observed #3, then you will be OK.

Coinsponge

5. On the selling side- Just when you decide to sell something, all of a sudden there are twice as many of that same item for sale as there was last week.

jessewvu

6. Expect at least one bidder to try to pay for your auction rarity with crumby coins in a beat up album whos value doesn't even come close to your sale price.

MORGANHUNTER2

6- If it LOOKS to good to be TRUE-it probably is- pass on it for the real thing.

razzle

7. If two items you want are going off at the same time, you will get your bid in on the one less desired.

OnlyBuffalos

8. If you wait until the last five seconds to bid, your computer will crash simultaneously with your hitting the enter key.

MadMarty

9. If the item offered is from a state agency, it will fetch 3X what it's really worth.

howards

10: Amazing fact: L@@K - all coins are *RARE*.

mbogoman

"Bestest, othentic, rar deel for you money now. I haev manny moor just like this won."

The worse the English, the worse the deal.

jt88

<< <i>8. If you wait until the last five seconds to bid, your computer will crash simultaneously with your hitting the enter key. >>



I found this is very true.

jt88

<< <i>If the item offered is from a state agency, it will fetch 3X what it's really worth. >>



I found this is very true. >>

Silverstate

11. As soon as you win an item. The exact same items sells minutes later for a lot less.

jt88

12. When the item is very good with low bid price you can bet all the snippers are waiting to bid on that item in the last second.

jacksongto

13. The odds of getting a genuine American coin from a Chinese seller are similar to winning the Powerball Lottery (176,000,000:1)

cars

You pay $22 for shipping and it shows up in a tampon box with 4 stamps on it.

True story

19Lyds

14. Always check the reserve price in case you were entertaining the thought of dropping a large nuclear snipe as the two may just coincide!

NeoStar

15. More often than not, "L@@KY L@@KY: Monster Rainbow Toning" means "Mad Photoshop Skills".

mozeppa

# 86.

just when you're about to sell some stuff ...ebay rules out all cash paments, personal, checks, bank drafts, certified checks, money orders, hogs , chickens

and nearly anything else that ISN'T pay plop.

and if you want protection...you can rule them out too.)

cars

eBay/Paypal will always rule for buyer in dispute

The one item you ship without a tracking number will get "lost in the mail"

JustaRookie

<< <i>

<< <i>If the item offered is from a state agency, it will fetch 3X what it's really worth. >>



I found this is very true. >>

>>



Tis why I am consigning all of my coins to a state agency.

WaterSport

A tinkle contest always occurs between two bidders for the same coin you are bidding, but not when you are selling.

WS

Spooly

<< <i>You pay $22 for shipping and it shows up in a tampon box with 4 stamps on it.

True story >>



Now that's funny!

shorecoll

It doesn't matter if the "estate" being sold is that of a mediocre coin doctor, the estate rule still seems to hold

vplite

If a group of coins is described as "Unsearched" you can be certain the seller is a liar and thief, at best.

ElKevvo

15: Claims that 'I am not a dealer and know nothing about coins' are often suspicious due to the fact that for the last 5 years every one of the persons 5,000+ auctions have been coins and start with titles like 'L@@K...MS 64 1878 Morgan Dollars Rare VAM 136-A CDN Bid of $625.00 PCGS Pop 450/625'

K

I just made that VAM # up BTW...

NeoStar

16. When a seller quotes a price stating that the coin trends certain price, he is actually using the PCGS Price Guide to sell a coin slabbed by anyone else but PCGS.

tjkillian

<< <i>15: Claims that 'I am not a dealer and know nothing about coins' are often suspicious due to the fact that for the last 5 years every one of the persons 5,000+ auctions have been coins and start with titles like 'L@@K...MS 64 1878 Morgan Dollars Rare VAM 136-A CDN Bid of $625.00 PCGS Pop 450/625' K I just made that VAM # up BTW... >>




Now that was funny!!!

ArizonaJack

Two words: " Possible SVDB " will add at least 20% to the price realized.

Coinsponge

If an auction says "Full Bell Lines or nearly so" or "Full Steps or nearly so" it will be "nearly so" every time.