Help for a total Noob

Kick4426

Hey guys, I have been sent here by a buddy that LOVES coins. I work at a pawn shop and we see our fair share of coins come through the door. I have been getting help grade coins and have been pointed in plenty of directions on how get them carded up and price them out. However, I still have questions all the time. Some of the most basic questions I have are:

What pro-tips can you guys & gals give me on photographing coins for ebay and other on-line sales sites?

What other sites do you guys & gals recommend for buying / selling?

I see dealers and other sellers are PCGS and NCG authorized. How do I go about looking into this?

Thank you all for your input and suggestions!

P.S. I have already tried the forum search function and did not get anything for those questions. I hope they have not been asked and answered multiple times before.

joeykoins

Hi and to school! Get prepared to receive a vast amount of knowledge in coins, as well as, many various areas in ethics and manners, etc... Have fun and I hope someone will chime in to answer your previous questions.-joey

Christos

Here is an excellent thread on imaging coins and it shows the set up that they are using. The same Morgan dollar is imaged by many forum members. Also I would recommend going into your account preferences and turning on your private messages.
link to thread for imaging

TopographicOceans

Photography is both an art and a skill that takes practice. If you plan on selling online, good pictures are absolutely essential.

As far as know what to buy and how much to pay also requires experience, and experience can be expensive. For PCGS and NGC coins, you can search eBay sold listings to get an idea of what they are bringing and set your buy price accordingly.

As far as being a authorized TPG dealer, again that requires experience in the business as well as certain levels of capitalization. Think of it kind of like buying a McDonalds franchise. If you’ve never ran a restaurant before chances are you’ll fail.

You should start attending coin shows and talk with dealers to get some tips. Maybe you can find a mentor.

Kick4426

I have turned PMs on. Thank you guys so much for your help. I am going to try to go to a show with a buddy of mine a week from Sunday.

garrynot

<< <i>I have turned PMs on. Thank you guys so much for your help. I am going to try to go to a show with a buddy of mine a week from Sunday. >>



Have a great time!

AUandAG

Welcome to the boards and enjoy the stay!

bob

PS: the biggest tip I can give you as it seems you are in charge of the internet sales for your boss:
take good clear pics and disclose any problems. Start the auctions at .99 and go for a week and
you'll get retail for them.

asheland

Kick4426

Kick4426

Thanks again for all of the advice!!! Some of those picture set ups were pretty impressive!

lordmarcovan

Stick around, fella. This place is like a free Ivy League education if you want to learn about US or world coins. (For top experts on ancients, see the boards at FORVM Ancient Coins.)

When I joined here 14 years ago I had already been collecting for 25 years, but I've learned ten times more in those 14 years here than I ever did on my own or in small clubs in the 25 before that.

(Edited to fix a typo. Dang, I hate typing on a teeny tablet!)

cladking

Welcome aboard.

BryceM

Welcome! One thing you should be aware of is that PCGS offers a photography service called TrueViews when they grade & slab coins. The images can then be downloaded & used on your own website or eBay. They charge $10, which is pretty reasonable unless you can get set up to do it yourself.

If you really want to take nice photos, get "Numismatic Photography" from Amazon. It was written by our own Mark Goodman who was one of the early guys to really figure out the techniques & lighting.

After reading his book, experimenting a ton, buying a decent copy stand, lights, and macro lens, I went from this:



..... to this:



I used the same camera for both photos.