Best marketplace for $5K-$10K rare coin
jmm2562
Posts: 113 ✭✭
I have decided to sell a $5000-$10,000 uber rare coin and started looking at various marketplaces to get the best value. It seems they all have their respective pros and cons. I'm only aware of the following...
EBay - 13.25% on sale price, tax and shipping, listing fees and more fees and more fees...
Heritage - 10% seller's fee, 20% buyer's fee, but likely the best marketing to attract bidders
Stacks - ?? Seller's fee, 20% buyer's fee
Great Collections - 0% seller's fee if sale over $1000, no buyer's fee (can this all be true???)
icollector.com - cannot find any information on their website!
Can anyone confirm Great Collections is really that inexpensive, essentially $0 for this coin?
I assume all of the above handle collecting and remitting sales tax and collecting money before shipping.
Are there other major differentiators that I should take into consideration?
Thanks for any guidance!
Comments
It depends. What's the coin (along with grade/holder information)?
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
Great Collections has a 10% Buyers Fee. 12.5% if you pay by credit card.
eBay's percentage steps down on higher value sales.
GC is far from free lol....a 12.5% buyers fee.
Really depends on what the coin is regarding the best venue?
Is it a coin that only a couple people would want (some obscure variety) or is it well-known and in-demand coin?
Yes, ebay does step down... 13.25% up to the first $7500, 2.35% of amount over $7500
Thanks, I finally found it with a site search of "buyer's premium". I cannot understand why these auction houses hide/obfuscate their service prices. They all make it difficult to find. IMHO, 20% is highway robbery!
As I mentioned in the first post, I'm exploring the best venue to sell this coin, given it's likely price range. Marketing to drive awareness among collectors is a definite plus. But it is really worth seller's/buyer's fees totaling 30% plus all the handling fees when all is said and done? Handling sales tax and safe escrow for proceeds are also important considerations.
I have an uber-rare R6+ Vermont early copper from Machin's Mills. 1776 Small Date "CEORCIVS" 1/2 Penny, a.k.a. "Vermont Enigma" as named by Eric Newman in his famous 1958 article...
https://archive.org/details/arecentlydiscove1958newm/mode/1up
I've read there might be less than 2 dozen specimens out there. I believe the one I have is a new and heretofore undiscovered example.
It is slabbed and graded FINE DETAILS with some minor environmental damage on the reverse. It is in better condition than both these auction references on Heritage for $4920 for G-4 in 2023 and $5400 for Fine Details in 2020...
https://coins.ha.com/itm/colonials/-1776-1-2-p-machin-s-mills-halfpenny-small-date-vlack-9-76b-w-7800-high-r6-good-4-pcgs/a/1364-3367.s
https://coins.ha.com/itm/colonials/-1776-1-2-p-machin-s-mills-halfpenny-small-date-ceorcivs-repaired-pcgs-genuine-fine-details-vlack-9-76b-w-7800-r/a/1311-3021.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515
Only a handful of other auction results exist, at least that I can find...
https://www.pcgs.com/auctionprices/details/1776-machins-mills-small-date-ms/463
For such an esoteric and damaged piece, the widest audience is crucial which would lean towards HA or SB. Regardless of fee structure, eBay and the various auction houses on icollector are poor choices. GC is a great firm but this is likely not the best coin for that model.
However, given the small size of the consignment, you will probably not get very favorable terms at HA or SB. Also, they are a bit slower in getting proceeds to you as the auction would likely be 1-3 months in the future.
I think that either consigning or selling outright to a dealer is far and away the best option. I have no experience with this type of coin but there are likely very good resources and dealer contacts at www.eacs.org Members of that organization are likely your target audience.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
Attributed by you or by the grading company?
From a fairly exhaustive search, I can find just a few references to possible mintage. These are mostly from auction house descriptions and sales promos. The highest estimate is that two dozen specimens may exist. As no one really knows for sure, any pitch might be puffy to make the coin appear more rare and thus more valuable. From all I can see though, the R6 is accurate.
NOTE: I do not know what the W-7800 means
You said you believe that the coin you have is a new example of this rare variety. Has the grading company attributed the variety, or is it just your attribution?
Ah, the grading company slab states...
1776 SM DATE 'CEORCIVS' 1/2P
MACHIN'S MILLS
FINE DETAILS
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE
It's the real deal.
I'm guessing it is a new specimen as I found it mixed in with thousands of other unremarkable foreign coins.