The BST has slowed down if you are a seller? What do you think?

oreville

Last year it was quite easy to sell coins through the BST.

Selling of coins PCGS or otherwise, was not difficult even through the spring of this year.

Starting this summer, selling has become much more difficult, in my opinion.

Is it due to summer season or a sea change in the attitude of buyers here. Yet Heritage has seen extremely strong bids for the exact same coins this summer. and just this week for me.

What do you think?

commoncents123

Yea I think so, too. Seems like stuff that I price fairly lingers forever unsold...but as soon as I see something I want, someone beat me to it by a few hours. Go figure.

Meltdown

I've noticed the slowdown myself. "Greysheet bid" was the magic price up until recently.
It seems everyone is looking to pay under that now for common or semi-common coins.

jfoot13

I get beat up once in a while but at least I save the gas money and the time of driving to the B&M and getting beat up there... J/k In the last few months I've done very well and have no complaints... but then again the things I sell are extras and I usually price below graysheet bid anyway..

GoldenEyeNumismatics

Unless you have choice AU type coins, it's dismal.

illini420

Maybe all of the coins I just put up last week didn't appeal to anyone, but even six months or so ago I'd be able to put up a BST post with 10-20 coins and on the first day or two I'd get a dozen or so inquiries and 1/4-1/2 of them would sell within a few days.

This last week I put up 17 coins, bumped every day for a week and not even a single response on my thread or even an offer via PM... OUCH!!! Hope eBay treats me better.

That said, I used to make a ton more offers too on the BST but I've slowed it down some as well.

NumisOxide

Same deal here.

soty27

IMO The bst here is very very very slow. Ive put several coins up here all slabbed all priced well. A week on the bst here and nothing, a week on ebay and sold.

BECOKA

I have not had a problem but I also have been listing stuff at half my to do it.

DennisH

Slow almost to the point of pointless.

robkool

Very slow, and difficult to sell anything nowadayz... Even with prices at or near bid on PQ material seems impossible to get any takers. Ohhh well...

coinmanic

Can't speak for the BST, but Ebay had been quite dead this Summer. Seems to have gotten much stronger in the last 2 weeks.

BlindedByEgo

My experience on the BST is very slight, but I guess I should take a good look and see if there is true desperation there yet.

RedTiger

<< <i>Can't speak for the BST, but Ebay had been quite dead this Summer. Seems to have gotten much stronger in the last 2 weeks. >>



Bump up in Cashback promotion likely helped Ebay. Even if the items weren't buy-it-now, some might be looking to buy and quickly resell with a buy-it-now listing. Also if folks have cash in their Paypal after getting cashback, they are more likely to spend it on something else.

The slight increase in Cashback is also a factor in the recent weakness on BST. Folks can often get items a bit cheaper on Ebay after factoring in the Cashback.

Bochiman

My $0.02 as a buyer on the BST (when I find things I want to buy):

* If something is nice AND priced right, I have no problems making an offer (but am usually late in the offer and the item is gone)
* Many things STILL seem to be priced a bit high. I don't usually try to negotiate prices much as I am a take it/leave it type of person. If I am close to the price asked, then I may ask if there is anything that can be done, but usually, if you price it too high (in my mind, maybe not yours), then you won't even know I was interested, I will just walk.
* There isn't a lot there lately (aside from bullion and problem coins). I would like some keys (different series) and in the $200-$2000 range (give or take) and also like nice coins (esp toned).
* I won't pay much premium for nice toning (and no premium, if I even buy it, for ugly toning), yet I still see large premiums being asked for some.
* Stale posts/threads. I looked at a thread tonight, on the bst, that showed coins for sale (pics) and a website. The OP posted it a few days back, while I was on vacation, and then bumped it today. Went to the website looking for some of the coins/prices and, while some were marked SOLD, most of the ones I was interested in weren't even on the website. Big turnoff!
* No problem with ebay sales being posted there but, if you can take pictures for ebay, POST THE DAMN PICTURES in the BST thread. Sorry, but I obviously value my time more than you (generic you) do and I seldom bother going to ebay for your (generic your) sales if you can't be bothered to link AND post pictures.
* Misrepresentation - I saw a thread where coin pics are shown for ebay auctions (that's good!) but there is a blatant AT one (there is NO WAY I would believe it was NT). Coin is raw and the seller talks about how they know it is NT as the toning has changed over time but "AT coins' toning don't change over time".....if you misrepresent like that, you will turn off buyers for more than just 1 coin....


There are more reasons, but I already typed enough, I believe, to give folks an idea on why some folks, at least me, aren't buying up a storm

tonyhar

I bid on a regular basis with Heritage and Lyn Knight because both are happy to deal with me here in Europe while ebay.com and the BST have too many people scared of those strange people who live anywhere other than the US!

abitofthisabitofthat

<< <i>I bid on a regular basis with Heritage and Lyn Knight because both are happy to deal with me here in Europe while ebay.com and the BST have too many people scared of those strange people who live anywhere other than the US!
>>



I had no idea that they allowed those strange foreigners access to this forum! I will have to be more careful not to give away State numismatics secrets here.

InternetJunky

I've made quite a few purchases (almost all of my purchases) since becoming a member here back in Feb from the BST but having funds for $100+ coins just isn't possible for me right now. (even common date Buffalos in MS65 are kind of expensive for me right now - the series in which I'm currently working on)

DwaineO

Same here. I only sold one coin in the past two weeks on the BST. So the rest of the coins went up on Ebay last night.

tydye

I usually have one or two BST posts per month that I may ttt for a few days each. The bust, seated and silver bullion usually sell in that time frame for me. Other items not so much. I would say that it has slowed though. Last year I had quite a few listings where everything would sell in a day or two. As a buyer on the BST forum - I have also slowed down.

BECOKA

My guess is it will pick back up around Christmas when the stock market start making folks money again.

RYK

As one who is much more often a buyer than a seller on the BST, I will say that the breadth and quality of offerings has declined dramatically.

Walkerguy21D

On the other side of the same coin, so to speak, I have not seen that many WTB postings, either. I have done far and away most of my sales by responding to WTB postings, rather than posting items for sale.
A quick look over the last two full pages shows three WTB's for PCGS certified modern proofs, and one long running WTB looking for PCGS certified bust quarters in high grades. C'mon, there must be demand out there for more than that

shorecoll

I'd echo some of the others and add:

I see more lurker postings who aren't regular forum participants (slight bias against).

I agree that a lot of good stuff goes away too quickly.

I don't like Morgans or moderns, so lots of stuff is not applicable to me.

It's hard to tell how much is done in terms of pointing to eBay. I don't buy many coins on eBay anymore but I do look at links from the BST.

I look at the BST as an upgraded club board, if you post something at retail, I figure there's no real hurry.

roadrunner

The current market has certainly slowed down the buying on the BST but probably not the # of listings. I still find most of what I would be interested in to be priced well over market (often over retail). It's tiring to see things like common circ 90% silver priced at 11.5X to 13X spot when the going rate is 10 to 10.5X. If a common circ $20 Lib is worth $1100 you'll invariably find an asking price of $1295. If it's a generic MS64 seated quarter you can find anywhere for $675-$750, the BST ask price will be $825. Many sellers still think this is 2008. The exceptions to this are those seasoned collectors and dealers who are in the market fairly often and price the coins about right the first time. Those usually sell quick.

I concur with the ebay listings. Why bother to list them if they aren't for sale on the BST first.

roadrunner

Blackhawk

<< <i>Slow almost to the point of pointless. >>



As a forum ember who does more selling than buying on the BST, I've found that it's slowed down a lot. It would be a lot easier for people to post what they're looking for IMHO - It takes quite a bit of time to take photos of items to post on the BST if nobody is interested in that particular thing at the time. That being said, I price my items, but am always open to offers.

ElKevvo

I'll buy something in the next few days just to keep things exciting around here...

K

Bochiman

<< <i>I'll buy something in the next few days just to keep things exciting around here...

K >>



Beat you to it...I just agreed to buy something that was listed today....
Hadn't planned on buying anything but had been looking for one of these for awhile at an acceptable price and a nice look to it.

gecko109

My personal experience with listing in the BST has been poor at best. I have listed several coins at what I thought were great prices....bumped for 3-4 days, then gave up and listed them on ebay only to watch them sell for 1.5-2.0x of what I was asking on the BST. It seems to me that the people who consistantly peruse the BST listings looking to buy coins are only looking for HUGE discounts to actual values. Sort of like a giant wasteland of scavengers who only prey on the softest game. Dollar for dollar, you will almost ALWAYS do better on ebay even after fees are deducted for numismatic based items. However, the BST does have its place, and thats for common bullion. Thats the one facet where your return will be higher than ebay.