My recent coin selling experience and perspective
ElmerFusterpuck
Posts: 4,733 ✭✭✭✭✭
As a rule, I don't sell coins all that often, but when I do - I definitely will include Great Collections as an avenue. @ianrussell runs a tight ship and dealing with his company has been great! I dropped off 30 coins to consign at the 02/18 Long Beach show, all were already graded by ANACS, NGC or PCGS and were purchased by me over the past couple of decades or so. All the coins were to start at 1 buck, and I did not feel any of them really needed the CAC sticker trip. The reason for me selling was to get rid of dups due to upgrades and to tighten my focus a bit. As some of you may know, they were listed on the BST over the past week, which is also a great free advertising option offered here. After resolving some login issues, I managed to post the auction at the Coin Talk forum on the last day.
What I did I learn/observe?
The market for the coins I was selling was fairly good, with the toned Morgans (no monsters) going for more than I paid for them. The 1937-D Walker in an OGH graded 64 did very well, maybe someone saw some potential for an upgrade. I was selling my MS-64 Walkers since most were replaced by 66's - which have really come down in price. over the past few years.
The Franklins and nickels were basically break even, don't think that segment is all that hot. My one lone bust half in VF-35 ended up doing pretty blah, lost a little on that.
The two large cents did OK, broke even on both (plus in the PCGS, a minus for the NGC coin)
My lonely (but nice white) 1955-D quarter in PCGS MS-65 actually broke even. I thought it was a steal in 65 way back when, not so much now.
Where I took somewhat of a bath was the 1895 Barber half, graded MS Details/Cleaned; it was in an old MS-62 ANACS holder and had picked up some decent toning. The coin did have an old cleaning, no disagreement there. I lost about 40% on what I paid for it, but at least I got way more than the offers from local dealers.
Old holders did attract some interest no doubt, but I don't think the ones I sold had a major added premium.
The GC fees were very reasonable, and I think they come out less than Ebay for an occasional seller like me. The images they took for my coins were pretty much spot on.
Overall, the market for what I sold is there but I wouldn't look to it to make a big killing. Selling without added pressure does make a difference for sure.
I know some people on this forum only collect and never sell, but IMHO they should give selling a try (at GC, Ebay, a show, to another collector) if they feel like unloading some excess or just for fun. It will be eye opening - both good and bad!
10-4,
Erik
My registry sets
Comments
I certainly would not hesitate to recommend Ian and GC anytime to any seller.
bob
I've used GC on many occasions and have always been satisfied with Ian's service
Have sent 3 consignments to GC last few months and very happy with the process and results.
Thank you for this detailed write-up. This type of info helps the newer collectors a lot.
Sounds like you did well. Most collectors don't experience results like that when they go to sell. I made it a point to learn how and where to sell just as quickly as I started buying for my collection and stack. Certainly saved myself a LOT of heartache not to mention tens of thousands of dollars. I agree with you 100% every collector needs to figure out how to sell as it is just as important as how to buy. Congrats
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
Sounds like you did really well overall. For the types of things you were selling, it sounds like Great Collections is a pretty painless way to go.
I've never used this service, although I too have thought of doing so. Instead I've simply consigned to members here who run stellar eBay coin businesses. If you don't mind me asking, what is the turnaround time from them receiving your coins to actual auction to payment? is it weeks or is it months?
Once they receive the coins they're usually listed in around a week. Auctions are two weeks long. From my experience I've had a check in hand as soon as one week after the close and as late as two weeks after the close. So beginning to end from them receiving the coins to getting a check in hand has been 4-5 weeks for me.
+1
+1
Thanks so much for posting this, I appreciate all the insite as I’m thinking of selling some
slabbed material and I may give them a try.
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
Whatcha got for sale? Tokens, or better yet, electrotypes?
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Looking through my records I’ve sold roughly 2-3 slabbed coins for every one I still have. It is incredibly informative and really changed the way I approached buying. Even if you’re a “buy & hold” type it’s still valuable to guide your buying strategies.
I’ve had good luck with GC and not-so-good luck at different times. Timing, photos, the coins themselves, and a bit of randomness can do crazy things.
Never sold through GC, but I've met Ian and Co at shows and used their customer service. Somebody on one of the boards reported a problem so I dropped Ian an email on a Sunday night and he responded back and fixed the issue in like 11 minutes. Pretty hard to beat that given today's customary definition of "customer service".
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
As the Ebay ship lists, GC continues to shine. Even for the top rated sellers, the fees are close to what it costs to have Ian do most of the work.
Great resource.
It is really good to hear the many positive reports about GC....Certainly should give confidence to those who want to sell but lack the experience. Cheers, RickO
I've had only positive experiences with GC as a seller and buyer.
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
Including BOTH the buyer and seller premiums? Can't be. My top-rated seller costs are under 9% (shipping not included). The GC buyers premium alone is more than that.
The buyers fee at GC is 10% when paying by check/echeck/wire or 12.5% if paying with a credit card. So on higher priced coins most buyers are factoring in a 10% fee. Coins that hammer over $1000 have no sellers fee. If you want your coins sent to CAC first, they charge a fee of $13.50 per coin.
So when you factor in that you can ship off several coins for one postage fee and not have to deal with any returns, it's a pretty good deal. Especially if your photo taking skills suck
Ian is great, his staff is great, I used to work with him years ago at Teletrade and he is still a winner.
They are fantastic people from start to finish.
It's always a good idea to dip into the selling arena once in a while to gauge the market in areas you are active as a buyer.
Especially in thin markets like exonumia.
You may be 1 of 2 buyers interested in a specific piece. Take yourself out of the equation, and you have a disastrous auction outcome if you are offering at no reserve.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I said close. On a mixed order to GC of $500-$1500 coins, total fees (buyer and seller) would be in the 12.5% range. His shipping fees are well below insured shipping rates offered on Ebay plus you are paying $20-25 a month for the Ebay store.
For the extra 3-5% in fees, he is imaging, listing collecting the payment, packaging and shipping your coins.
I still DYS on Ebay but scratch my head as to why.
Just curious, why did you crack the 1895 50c? Was this the coin? https://www.greatcollections.com/Coin/562413/1895-Barber-Half-Dollar-PCGS-Genuine-Unc-Details I can see the reason for that but when it was graded there were some pretty graders with Anacs.
The buyer's premium is 12.5%. What is the seller's premium? It can't be zero. Well, it could be zero, and if it is I'm sending him every slab I have.
The sellers premium is 5% on sales less than $1,000, higher than $1,000 on there is no fee.
There is a listing fee that is around $2-5 depending on list price, I can't remember exact amounts as it has been awhile since I cosigned to GC.
Thanks!
Erik was also great to deal with on the BST forum ... I would buy again from him.
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Fees have never been the issue at GC. Selling prices were. In a spot check on a common date Morgan, 1879-S PCGS MS-66, the last 4 non-CAC sold in a range of $198-$216 on GC. The same exact criteria on eBay, last 4, sold in a range of $242-$267.
That is an average of $47 more per coin on eBay, or a mind blowing 23% increase, not counting the 15% fees at GC. In this case, you would be netting about 30% more on eBay, with a store. 26% more, without a store.
I like Ian just fine, nice guy the couple of times I have talked to him. I can live with a 5 or 10 point extra fee for someone doing the images and shipping, but 30% is significant. Of course this is just a random example, but it does seem common date coins sell for less there.
Now, if I had a 1947 Lincoln Cent in 67RD, I would overnight it to Ian right now!
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/996414/6-500-for-a-pcgs-1947-lincoln-cent-in-ms-67-red-ogh#latest
When you total up all the fees for say a $200 coin...it could be up to 22.25%. That's one potential reality.
Listing fee -$5 ($100-$999 valued coins)
Buyer's fee- $25 (buyer pays by c/c)
Seller's fee- $10
Shipping - $4.50.
Highest "potential" fee is 44.50/200 = 22.25% ....net of 77.75% to seller. Of course this ASSUMES bidders back off their bids by the buyer's fee and postage....which I certainly do EVERY time I bid. I figure the total cost to me....I don't want to pay $5-10 for shipping....let the seller have that. In doing so, seller's assume ALL fees. To those that don't factor in shipping or buyer's fees, the sellers thank you for giving them 2-15% back....so that they can net up to 92.5%. Probably doesn't happen often as it would take 2 bidders with this exact same mindset to produce such a perfect storm.
https://www.greatcollections.com/forms/coins.pdf
For a $200 coin.........22.25%.
For a $100 coin ........ 27% (listing fees are $3 for all coins under $100).
For a $50 coin...........32.5%. Your net slides down quickly.
For a $25 coin..........47.5% in fees.
For a $15 coin..........67.5% in fees.
For a $10 coin..........92.5% in fees.
Selling MS64 or lower common Morgans worth $65 and lower would take a big bite. If you can net the same price on the BST for generics, your only expenses are shipping - so around 10% there.
For over $1,000 per coin.......around 14-15% in fees. You net 85-86%.
GC is a great service, alright, and reliable as rain.
Still and all, I've generally netted better on Ebay, despite all their hassles. It may be because Ebay has a wider audience.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
Interesting comments and inputs from all, and educational as well. I have sold on Ebay off and on and have done reasonably well too, and I don't have a storefront. As for my fees, Ebay takes out 9%, Paypal another 3%, then the fee for the "free shipping" (labels, envelopes, bubble wrap or other cushions. plus time) can be anywhere from 3 to 6 bucks on average per package. If someone wins multiple coins from you, then the net shipping price per coin does drop, but that is hard to predict. My fees for this auction were $3 per coin and 5% of the final selling price per coin. It is cheaper to start them at a dollar and have no reserve.
@logger7, that was the coin. I cracked it out add to some other coins that were being graded at the time and was hoping for a straight grade. That was my first Genuine is several years of submission, though I wasn't totally shocked. Now I'm thinking I could have left it in the ANACS holder for selling, but can't go back now
I did sell some things on the BST before moving the rest to GC, along with some other stuff. It's very rare that a coins sells there without some sort of haggling (sometimes more than once), so maybe that can be a hidden cost too?
Considering how the buyer pretty much has the edge and them some on Ebay, consigning to a place like GC sure takes the worry and hassle out of worrying about slow or non-paying bidders, negative Nellies or whether a package arrives safely or not. That's hard to assign a price to.
It's too bad you can't run the same coin in GC and EBay at the same time to compare prices! We know that will never happen, so we'll never know which avenue would be better at a given time.
Have yet to try selling on Instagram, but might give it shot for some cheap toned coins just to check it out.
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
OK, thanks, I was wondering and understand how old cleanings and retoned may pass muster with the old Anacs, possibly the new one, maybe ICG too. But NGC takes the cake on rejecting coins with light "cleaning". What is market acceptable anyway and where to draw the line?
Ebay is a loser on true auctions unless you have something really rare and desirable with 100 watchers on an auction. Buy it now with offers is the only way I would go. GC equates to quick turn arounds and is very customer friendly compared to the big boys.
I follow Morgan's extensively on GC and am able to buy very, very few at under market. The 15% Ebay bucks promo last week influenced many coin categories significantly. Go back a few weeks, check the Ebay prices on the 66's and repost back.
You're correct. If you hang around here for any good length of time, you're going to find the posts very helpful.
Pete
WE are talking about selling here, and feel free to go back a few weeks yourself! I saw enough in my spot checks on COMMON coins.
Have never heard of anything negative about Ian, and GC. Love their website (it's so well thought out), and I bid there regularly. I do plan on selling some dups soon on GC, as a test. I have also seen the quality of coins in their auctions improving regularly.
While GC fees are lower, remember that auctions are still ALL ABOUT EYEBALLS. eBay rules in this area now, but GC is slowly changing that. I wish them nothing but the best. Great to have alternatives to The Bay, HA.COM, etc.
Dave
Just went back a month on Ebay. 1881-S in PCGS MS66. No sticker.
Following prices.
$208
$184
$207
$203
$202
$188
$181
$190
One outlier coin in old plastic brought $330.
Do some research before you toss out fake numbers.
Ummm...his numbers were an 1879-S not an 81-S. If you go backwards, the eBay prices (66 no PL, no CAC, PCGS only) are:
March 25th 267 (possibly eBay 15% promo)
March 24th 275 best offer (possibly eBay 15% promo)
March 22nd 242.50 (before eBay promo)
March 14th $248 (different eBay promo or just the price?)
March 11th $224.50
March 4th $252
March 3rd $274.95 (some toning, not a monster)
February 24th $300
So, while I'm not looking for a fight, the original poster's data is correct and the prices are higher on eBay - unless all of those sales are promos.
I'd also point out that the GC fees relative to the "hammer price" are going to be higher on the $200 coin relative to eBay, even without an eBay store.
Not that I don't like GC also.
@roadrunner Appreciate the information.
Hey knucklehead. Do some research before you misquote me! 1879-S is not 1881-S.
So you want to slam Ian on four examples of juiced coins. I went further and checked out the 79-s date as well. As common as it gets.
Rather shallow to denigrate a mans business reputation with incomplete as well as erroneous data.
By the way, the lowest selling 81-S on GC during this time frame was $152. Seller got $135. (Or less if the fees in the earlier message are correct)
I already said I like Ian but you will make more money on eBay selling your common coins yourself.
That is silly. How does Ian not being the best place for all coins denigrate his business? In fact, as a buyer I might prefer the place with the best deals. But regardless, I would never send an 1881-S Morgan $ to Heritage or Stacks either. That is not a denigration, just a fact. I also would never sell gold bars on eBay because of the fee structure.
The fact is that eBay is cheaper for a seller of inexpensive coins relative to GC, Heritage, or Stacks. It's a simple fact, not denigrating anyone.
And I'm not sure why you are taking this so personally. You are trying awfully hard to oversell the GC case. They fill a niche, not every niche.
After wading through the pettiness, there is some good info here.
Thanks.
Everyone should have a GREAT day today
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Excellent write-up and great advice...thanks for sharing!!!
I've learned much about demand, scarcity, and pricing when selling. Very eye opening for sure.
Dave
The same held true for Teletrade, back in the day.
I started changing my own oil again in 2009. Not only because it's far cheaper, I get a better end-product and I know things were done right. No longer trust the wrenchers at the quick lube places...either to put in the right oil, right filter, right torque specs, or even remember to put the oil in....heard about too many horror stories. For what it's worth, I buy my oil net "free." In fact after promotions/rebates, I recently picked up 53 quarts of Quaker State syn blend/synthetic oils - and they paid me $53 to buy it. Even the QS/Pennzoil/Castrol Edge/Mobil1 synthetics I get for for no more than $2 per quart. Many cars you can change the oil without even jacking/ramping the car up. Can't afford one of those places costing me a $3K-$4K engine job. I have no problem spending 2 hrs per year under my cars changing oils ..while inspecting for other issues.
Maybe I should give it a try - I last changed my oil in 1986 when I was in college . . . . . NAH. However, I do my own landscaping, which I enjoy, and the savings are not chump change!