Little Old Lady Estate Sale! -- not hypothetical
CarlWohlforth
Posts: 11,074 ✭
I know what little esteem this forum has for estate sales. We all have seen the over hyped eBay listings that are supposed to make us feel sorry for the widow. Most of them are so obviously frauds it really turns us off. For example we see a coin we sold on eBay show up in the "untouched for many years" estate.
Well I am in the process of purchasing a collection from a nice woman. Her son had a coin collection and he passed away. It is a small family and the mother wants to sell the collection. It is my responsibility to get her as much money as possible for this collection.
So the question is will telling the story in the eBay listings help the auctions? Will everybody think I'm just another rip off? I mean even I have a warning about estate sales on my eBay tips page on my website.
I ask because I know the story is true and I really do want to get the widow as much money as possible. If the story helps sales I need to consider telling it. I sincerely want to help her, but since I earn a percentage of sales I also want to realize as much as possible so my take home is as much as possible.
What say the forum?
Well I am in the process of purchasing a collection from a nice woman. Her son had a coin collection and he passed away. It is a small family and the mother wants to sell the collection. It is my responsibility to get her as much money as possible for this collection.
So the question is will telling the story in the eBay listings help the auctions? Will everybody think I'm just another rip off? I mean even I have a warning about estate sales on my eBay tips page on my website.
I ask because I know the story is true and I really do want to get the widow as much money as possible. If the story helps sales I need to consider telling it. I sincerely want to help her, but since I earn a percentage of sales I also want to realize as much as possible so my take home is as much as possible.
What say the forum?
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photo's do the talking. Good luck,
bob
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BTW...my sympathies to the family of the deceased...
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<< <i>Leave the story out. That's my opinion. Just describe honestly and let your
photo's do the talking. Good luck,
bob >>
I agree. Just mentioning a estate sale with turn people off.
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<< <i>Leave the story out. That's my opinion. Just describe honestly and let your
photo's do the talking. Good luck,
bob >>
I agree. Start at 1 cent and leave out the rest.
overpriced
cleaned or other problems
and a no return policy
Let the coins speak for themselves......forget the story.
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Steve
and they'll sell at what the market dictates no more or less.
keep it short, simple and to the point.
hype is hot air.
-RG
I feel the same way, that is why I warn about estate sales on my website. However I was thinking that sellers keep doing it so it must help bids in some cases. What do bidders think when they bid on estate sales? Do they think they are ripping off an old lady? Do they think they are helping a family in their time of need? Do they think they are getting to bid on a coin from a seller who doesn't know what he has?
More about the coins later. I'll make a decision as to what coins to send to PCGS and suspect it will be the largest single order I've placed. There are no pre Civil War $5 gold coins (sorry RYK!).
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I agree with the consensus and for sure, if I would have come across any type of estate line in your auctions, I would have passed and missed out on a great ebayer.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
that so might not be best). I've built a really nice Lincoln set buying collections for 1/3 of what the
individual coins might bring and picking out the best ones to keep and selling the rest. Still have a long way
to go on that end. I consider them an investment.
This is my opinion. Now I'll read what the others said.
JT
I collect all 20th century series except gold including those series that ended there.
JT
I collect all 20th century series except gold including those series that ended there.
U.S. Nickels Complete Set with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes
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Liquidating Collection on Consignment - or something similar.
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"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
For what it's worth, I'm more likely to *avoid* bidding where claims of an estate sale are being made.
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I have a similar situation at this time. I am selling a large estate on eBay and part of the agreement is that the collector be memorialized in the process. The alternative would be to throw his many items on eBay with the other schlop and treat it with little or no dignity. The result of my auctions have been fantastic, often realizing more than the items would have in any other venue. For items that I am selling that are not part of the estate, I have a simple description and a nice image. To keep the estate listings short, I use a link for those who want to read the whole story.
Here's an example of how I treat the "estate story"
Conclusion: go ahead and mention the estate story in a tactful manner. It is true, so where's the harm?
Carl, if your descriptions are good and the photos reflect the coins fairly, the rest will fall into place. If you provide history and/or data on the coins themselves, a bit of history on the previous owner wouldn't be inappropriate either. Be direct and accurate - you will do fine, I am sure.
I knew it would happen.
If the estate you're selling is anything like that (better quality material, not a bunch of circulated Indian cents and Liberty nickels), I'd say if you feel strongly enough about it, to go ahead and do it. I'm not sure it would generate higher bidding, but as long as it doesn't look like the typical eBay "Selling Grandpa's estate- I don't know anything about coins- judge the grading for yourself from my crappy pictures" listings, it shouldn't hurt you.
and driven by a touch of paranoia. Terms like "estate sale'. "widows sale",
"coin in the family for 100 years" and "newly discovered hoard" are veiwed
with contempt.
Example -- the Omaha Bank Hoard -- "from original rolls", "stored in bank vault
since the 1930s", puchased from owner on promise of annonimity.
I was gonna say that your name alone should suffice. Ive known you for some years and would purchase just about anything from you sight unseen. But then I rememberd that others do not know you as well. Having said that, I think putting estate sale info in ebay listings would cheapen it to say the least in my eyes. The people who constantly do so have forever wrecked that option IMHO.
any jefferys in the lot?
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