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As a dealer, every now and then I don't mind buying a coin for $200 and then selling it for $100
ctf_error_coins
Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭
This recently happened to me on one of my 99 cent ebay auctions. I lost 50%.
But, ........
This made me take a hard look at what I had bought on how it performed. It was a major error coin but it fell out of the parameters of what I usually buy. One influence on the decision to buy was that it was a BIN on an ebucks 10% day.
Constant reevaluation and refinement in my business model has really helped my bottom line.
Think first.
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their have been some purchases I made years ago that i bought with a 10 percent e bucks promo that I would lose money on even if I sold it with a 10 percent seller e bucks promo
You simply made an ....error... in the acquisition.
I think if your are in the business long enough there will be a time or two a coin gets sold by you from cheaper than what you purchased it for.
Stop it!
I can identify with this, I usually do not sell at auction for this very reason. I have lost money and basically given stuff away at times. I have even lost when selling buy it now items.
I actually feel guilty when I win an auction for substantially less than the true value.
It all sort of evens out when I cherrypick a high grade variety that I need or that I can flip.
I see each transaction as a lesson, unfortunately most of my education has come at considerable expense.
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistry/publishedset.aspx?s=142753
https://www.autismforums.com/media/albums/acrylic-colors-by-rocco.291/
The next time you feel a need for a lesson, let me know.
Aspie_Rocco said;
Don't feel guilty. It's not healthy. I know where you're coming from. Better to be happy. Basically, you outsmarted the competition. That's a good thing.
Anyone who hasn't lost some money on coins, is a person who collects his change to roll up.
BHNC #203
Business has it's lessons. I struggle with the same question, every month. "Should I keep paying the rent, or get a job as a greeter at Wally World ? "
Sorry folks...park's closed! The moose out front shoulda told ya!
I have to occasionally decide to take a loss on a coin. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to keep on holding it.
The value of any item is NOT what you think its worth it is what somebody else would pay for it.
Sometimes the best loss is the first loss
....meaning that if buy a coin for $100, thinking you'll
be able to sell it for $125, and all you get (after a certain
amount of time) is an offer of $90, that's better in many
cases than holding the coin, and trying to get $110, then $100,
and then all you get are offers of $80.......
So, in this case, you should have accepted the $90, instead
of trying to make a smaller profit and/or a smaller loss.
Sometimes the best loss is the first loss.
for PCGS. A 49+-Year PNG Member...A full numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022
Interesting. But where's the profit?
Monthly
Boredom breeds brain farts
Very uncalled for. But expected.
Tesla has it down. Lose money on every car and make it up in subsidies.
Do you have one in mind? Please entertain me!
In the words of the Prophet, Clint Eastwood:\
"A man has got to know his limitations."
I buy and sell every day, a non coin type of stuff, where there is no price guide, just past sales on ebay, seat of the pants experience, swings in demand, etc.
I would be NEGLIGENT if I did not buy some stuff on a gamble that it would be profitable, and it was not, If I was that timid, I would lose out on buying a lot of true winners.
Well said. Especially in the case of the OP where error coins are nearly unique and certainly unconventional.
Ebay of course extracts the same percentage whether the coin is a home run or a soft pop out.
Watch out ...... don't whisper to my ear; I need to let go some fume
OP, you could do what several sellers have done to me when I win an auction at a low price and then "can't find" the coin.
It's the only profession I know that if I lose $$$ on a coin it does not bug me to much. I just move on to the next one.
Brain farts do happen.
Hoard the keys.
Maybe it was just a bad auction and the coin really is worth $200. Seems like that happens more and more often on eBay.
The way I look at it is that in order to learn and adapt to the ever changing market I have to take chances. Usually I make money and sometimes I lose money. If I'm not pushing myself to try new things I feel like in the end I'll have a limited area to buy and sell and won't make near as much. That is me. I think the downside of being like this is that I'm more of a jack of all trades and not a true expert in any area.
If you paid $200, and the coin closed at $100 you lost more than half when you account for eBay fees and PayPal fees. This is why no reserve auctions are scary in this market when you are handling esoteric material. There are too many variables beyond your control. I feel for you.
P.S. I once had a coin I valued at $4,000 (not far off from the last Heritage auction records and well below guide value) that closed around $1,500. It's one of the reasons why I am skeptical of people that claim that no reserve auctions are always the best solution.
Anyone who hasn't lost some money on coins, is a person who collects his change to roll up.
BHNC #203
Technically, I have not lost money on any of my coin purchases. Simply because I have not sold them. If I did sell them, I am sure I will lose a lot
Cheers, RickO
Think of the $30 you saved by writing off the loss - you're only down $70!