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Any tips for the "Best offer" eBay option??
toyz4geo
Posts: 1,467 ✭✭✭✭✭
Hi all,
I am looking at a couple of SLQ's on eBay and most of them have a BIN that is higher than the PCGS guide price. They also have a "Manke an Offer" option. What is a good rule of thumb guideline for an offer. I realize that some series/dates might actually command a higher than price guide price and am not that well versed on the specifics of the SLQ series. I am looking at a PCGS MS65FH 1917 Type 2 thru 1924 subtype. Do you start at greysheet? Any tips would be apprciated.
George
I am looking at a couple of SLQ's on eBay and most of them have a BIN that is higher than the PCGS guide price. They also have a "Manke an Offer" option. What is a good rule of thumb guideline for an offer. I realize that some series/dates might actually command a higher than price guide price and am not that well versed on the specifics of the SLQ series. I am looking at a PCGS MS65FH 1917 Type 2 thru 1924 subtype. Do you start at greysheet? Any tips would be apprciated.
George
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Just realize that chances are if the person wanted to sell it at those price levels that he or she would probably just use the auction format.
A lot comes down to how reasonable the BIN is and the demand for the series. There's less wiggle room on bullion.
The PCGS price guide is often right on, but sometimes very off. Greysheet is worth checking. Recent auction results (Heritage, B&M, ebay, etc.) may be your best guide.
Lance.
Check the Heritage auction archives to see what such coins have been selling for recently. Then determine what you feel is a fair price to offer, regardless of what the BIN price is and regardless of what CDN or PCGS price guide prices are. And go for it.
<< <i>Offer 10% of what you are willing to pay and work your way up from there. >>
Your joking..right? I think a lot of sellers would block a buyer for time wasting lowballing like that.
You have to first realize that Ebay is the "Retail" end of the food chain, especially the "Buy It Now" items. Rarely will you find a BIN item at or below PCGS Price guide - nevermind graysheets. If you are looking to buy at a more "wholesale" level, avoid Ebay. Visit the BST here, your B&M stores, coin shows, and maybe place some bids at Heritage or David Lawrence. Honestly, Ebay BIN items are usually overpriced. Not always, but as a rule they are.
You can make any sort of offer you want, but my guess is that graysheet offers will be turned down post haste.
Good luck sir!
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<< <i>Offer 10% of what you are willing to pay and work your way up from there. >>
Your joking..right? I think a lot of sellers would block a buyer for time wasting lowballing like that. >>
Post edited to include the less part left out by typing faster than I was thinking
Just remember you have 3 shots with your offer. I've seen some bidders waste all three offers, too low. You need to go back to school if that is your case.
Also, don't sit there and watch the seller come down more than $50 and you sit there and won't come up more than a paltry $20 or so. Sound familiar, anyone?
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<< <i>
<< <i>Offer 10% of what you are willing to pay and work your way up from there. >>
Your joking..right? I think a lot of sellers would block a buyer for time wasting lowballing like that. >>
Post edited to include the less part left out by typing faster than I was thinking
Kinda wondered lol
My War Nickels https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/nickels/jefferson-nickels-specialty-sets/jefferson-nickels-fs-basic-war-set-circulation-strikes-1942-1945/publishedset/94452
<< <i>Thanks for all the info. I think I will try the BST and see if anyone has a nice SLQ there. >>
Before you buy another FH SLQ, see my reply in your BST thread.
eBay "Make an Offer" guidelines aren't much different from guidelines for negotiating with a dealer at a show. Everyone is different, but for average retail, expect 5% or 10% max discount off of the price, 20% in a special situation. If you're more than 20% off in price, don't bother making an offer. I've noticed many eBay sellers have an auto-reject set up if the offer is more than 5-10% below the asking price. Of course, for a high-priced coin you can always ask the seller if there's something special or extraordinary about the coin (but only in the rare case that their description makes it seem like they actually know something about coins). There could be a good reason for the price.
At Heritage's "Make an Offer" for unsold coins after an auction, they won't transmit an offer that is more than 5% discounted, so that's another data point.
All the above is good advice but I have found that Heritage and other auction houses do not
have vast numbers of SLQs at auction. I find more of them on the Bay and as you say, high BIN
and MAO auctions. Very few are real auctions. So on making an offer I generally use a combination
of a few things. The Greysheet, PCGS price giude and what I feel I can stand or afford to pay
for what I want. Coin shows are IMO the best place to buy any series of coins and more so at the
larger shows since there are simply more people offering coins for sale. I do not want to P O any
seller on eBay with a low ball offer but some times when I see the buy it now price that is as high
as 2 or 3 hundred over any price guide I feel like being stupid and offering half their price but I bite
my fingers and don't make an offer. Another thing you need to remember is " Patience ". I wish I could
do that myself but I am learning.
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Debt
<< <i>"Make Offer" tells you that he knows the coin is overpriced. >>
Maybe in the specific case the OP is dicussing, but in general, it's not always so. Quite often, I have coins listed at what I consider reasonable prices, where I'll take less because I don't have a lot invested in the coin.
They call me "Pack the Ripper"
<< <i>"Make Offer" tells you that he knows the coin is overpriced. Offer what you are willing to pay for the coin. It has been my experience that the PCGS price guide is inflated. Also, keep in mind that the PCGS price guide is strictly for PCGS graded coins which demand a premium over other grading companies. >>
I guess you haven't bought any Seated Liberty coins recently then. I haven't got a Seated or Barber Half at or under PCGS price guide in the last six months or so.
A person can offer generalities, but as you can see from the other replies, the advice varies widely. I see no need to rush in and stumble around. Watch and learn, research the various archives, then watch some more, instead of blundering into mistakes. Too many low ball offers and those sellers with nice coins won't want to ever sell to you. Too many high, over market offers and you might be buried so deep it will take 20 years of price increases to break even.
On eBay, under wholesale market BINs usually get sold within an hour (also be warned this is a favorite trick for sellers of fake slabs). BINs priced at true coin market wholesale levels within a day. Coins priced at realistic retail prices may sell quickly or may not depending if a motivated buyer shows up. On the other side, way over market priced coins often get relisted again and again. By watching you'll learn plenty. The coins will still be there. Rushing is most likely to cost you money, or burn bridges. Quality is another ball of wax, and you will need a good handle on grading as well.
Ron
Edited to add: Have done this both on eBay and dealer's websites.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
<< <i>The 5 or 6 times I have used the Make an Offer option I have always had the offer accepted. I have just discounted the asked price by 10%. If the seller was not willing to accept less he would not use the Make an Offer option. I always do some checking and make sure the coin is not listed at an unreasonable price. I also make sure I am comfortable with the price I am offering. >>
I just had an auto-decline on an offer of $81 on a coin BIN'd at about $85. Not sure why there would be a "make offer" option on this coin if the auto-decline is set so close to the BIN price. But the seller apparently had originally priced this coin at at about $100, which is well over PCGS guide, perhaps forgot to turn off "make offer" when the coin was discounted.
There was a bit of toning on the coin, but it was neither key enough, nor toned enough, to justify the price, which IMO, was intentionally set high to catch a "live one".
I often buy coins on eBay, mostly slabbed, and use the price guides for the respective TPG's, yet it is all too common that I find coins with a BIN 30% or more, with a B/O. I find it difficult to believe the seller is unaware of these same resources (including greysheet), and must conclude that in most cases, an offer based on such resources would be declined, simply because the seller's greed gets in the way of common sense. It is likely the seller feels his/her actual expected sell price IS an offer, as perhaps the buyer will feel they got a deal in having a somewhat lesser offer accepted.
True, a seller can ask anything they want, and I can easily pass up anything I feel doesn't smell right - and I always do. It's also true that if a seller doesn't move the coin, it typically gets relisted at the same pprice a time or two, before the realization must certainly hit them that anyone savvy enough to recognize a typically higher priced coin will also avoid anything over-priced. If one weeds out those knowledgeable enough to recognize this, what's left of your potential buyers are those who are less experienced and/or impulsive.
Another challenge is seeing BIN's only, listed for similarly excessive prices. I may be in the minority here, but I fly right past these, even if it's a coin I'm looking for... I prefer the auction approach anyway, though occasionally I find a BIN/BO I'm interested in, typically because the BIN IS reasonable.
Just sayin'...
A Truth That's Told With Bad Intent
Beats All The Lies You Can Invent