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A lesson learned .
DUIGUY
Posts: 7,252 ✭✭✭
Placed a bid on an ebay live auction that ran yesterday . Funny how the floor bidders bid right up to my max then stopped .
This will not happen again without searching for info on the seller on this forum . Somebody KICK me , KICK me HARD !!
This will not happen again without searching for info on the seller on this forum . Somebody KICK me , KICK me HARD !! “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly."
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
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–John Adams, 1826
I'll never participate in an eBay live auction again. My only experience was horrible. The Button was at $50, and between the time my brain thought "bid" and my finger clicked the mouse, the Button shot up to $2400. I instantly owned a $2400 coin for which I had intended to pay $50. I disputed it, and the seller graciously let me off the hook (we even gave each other positive feedback!), but it could have been awful. Never again...
to explore every other avenue.
1) Buyers premiums are usually high. I've seen as high as 22.5%, and I haven't even looked at that many. Don't make assumptions.
2) Shipping costs are usually even higher. On one recent four-coin lot I had the sense to check the shipping charges before I bid, and it's a good thing since the shipping alone would have cost at least $35. Don't make assumptions.
3) Be sure to read ALL of the terms for absentee bids. This isn't eBay any more. The auction houses can put whatever conditions they want. Don't make assumptions.
4) Although I don't think the auctioneers have access to your highest bid, neither are they constrained to honor the earliest bid in the case of ties. It's to the auctioneer's advantage to award the lot to an in-room bidder if someone can match the absentee bid, since they get their cash immediately and don't have to worry about shipping hassle. So you're pretty much automatically at a disadvantage when placing absentee bids.
5) Read the descriptions CAREFULLY. The Live Auction sellers seem to be more set up for people to inspect the lots in person. I've found an error rate much higher in the Live Auction listings than in the regular listings. For example, I hope it's not news to you that the "Erie Canal Medal, H & K 4" not only isn't HK-4 (which is a medal for an unrelated event), but isn't even a copy of HK-1 (the So-Called Dollar that's really for the Erie Canal). The listed item is 3+ inches wide -- much larger than a So-Called Dollar. Compare lots 53-55 versus 56-57 in the Stacks May 2005 auction.
On the plus side, you can get good deals from eBay Live Auctions. My most-recent eBay Live Auction purchase what the Pan-American Exposition Award Medal that I posted earlier. I just today sold another item from that same lot, which gets me back to break-even in terms of money spent -- and I still have the award medal to boot. But it's easy to get yourself messed up as well. You have to be careful.
jonathan
<< <i>And the lesson learned was that everyone seems to have an incredibly accurate feel for the true market value of a coin... right?
Wow. What was the $2,400. coin you thought you could win for a $50. bid?
<< <i>
<< <i>And the lesson learned was that everyone seems to have an incredibly accurate feel for the true market value of a coin... right?
Wow. What was the $2,400. coin you thought you could win for a $50. bid? >>
Yes xphobe, sounds like an interesting story.
Apropos of the coin posse/aka caca: "The longer he spoke of his honor, the tighter I held to my purse."
<< <i>Placed a bid on an ebay live auction that ran yesterday . Funny how the floor bidders bid right up to my max then stopped .
This doesn't seem unusual as it is common for bids to stop around the coin's max value... Whats the issue?
Holy crap!! More details please!
<< <i>More details please! >>
OK I wasn't gonna talk about this because it makes me look like a moron, which is true, so you don't have to tell me. But by popular demand...
I was bidding on an 1804 half cent for my type set. I thought it looked nice, and the seller's description said estimated value $100-150, so I thought $50 to start would be a reasonable bid.
Except at that time I knew absolutely zip about die varieties. Turns out it was a Cohen-7 R4. AND it was double struck. AND the planchet it was struck on was itself a reverse brockage of another strike. Now that I know more, I realize what an astonishing, unique coin it was. If the seller had insisted on holding me to the deal, I would have had no savings, but would own a nice rarity.
I learned a lot of lessons from that one. Mainly, pay attention to details, do my homework before bidding, and don't bid on eBay Live auctions.