Thread: What about eBay?

Got a question about anything concerning eBay?
You might want to ask the people that spend the most time there.
Here are a couple of excellent forums (no buying or selling) that can get you answers to most all your eBay questions.

http://forums.ebay.com/db1/forum.jsp?forum=8

http://chatboards.ebay.com/chat.jsp?forum=1&thread=27

Excellent!

I use ebay alot to buy but rarely to sell in part due to ebays greed. Who do they think they are raising their fee's 50-60%! As if they aren't getting enough money. They can get away with it too cuz people will just keep on selling and listing.

Originally Posted by NOS

I use ebay alot to buy but rarely to sell in part due to ebays greed. Who do they think they are raising their fee's 50-60%! As if they aren't getting enough money. They can get away with it too cuz people will just keep on selling and listing.

I didnt sell much prior to the fees going up but I agree with your observation. I bought a sealed mint box of Silver Eagles and sold off what I didnt want to keep and I wasnt looking to make a killing just a bit to help lower the cost of the rolls I kept and I have to say I am going to try it one more time but between EBAY FEES and PAYPAL FEES I felt like it was not worth it.

Paul

Indeed. If I sell again I might not accept paypal now.

I haven't checked in awhile, but I thought Paypal only charged about 2% + .30 for each transaction. 2%, heck, I'm lucky if I see 55-60% of my payroll checks. 2% is nothing!!! Ebays fees are about the same, let's see, you can run an auction for well under the cost of a classified ad, but the classified ad doesn't take a final value fee. But then again the classified ad does not have a circulation of 54 million (the # of registered ebayers, last # I have heard) And how many times might you have to run the ad before it finally gets noticed and sells? Don't forget that you don't have to pay rent or utilities like you would for a brick & mortar store. I too used to think that the fees were a bit excessive, and then I realized they aren't too bad at all. Just my 2 cents.

Well yes those are some good points. I remember though when I listed a poster for $9.99 it got a bid and was flawless and then a few days later I got an invoice notice that $1 was going to be charged for all their stupid fees! That is a rediculous amount and imagine listing 50 auctions.

i have thought about selling on ebay, what would be better?

going straight to a dealer?

Originally Posted by leatherface

i have thought about selling on ebay, what would be better?

going straight to a dealer?

It all depends.

Are you an experienced EBayer?

Do you have enough information about your individual coins to

• Properly set opening bids?
• Know when (and when not) to use reserve prices?
• post listings which will attract the attention of knowledgeable buyers?

If you have answered no to any of those questions, are you prepared to take the time and invest the effort to change your answers?

Do you understand that dealers will

• Buy at prices that enable them to anticipate a reasonable profit on resale?
• Not spend a lot of time and effort cataloging, grading and evaluating your coins before making an offer (unless you agree to pay them an appraisal fee)?

In numismatics, as in other areas of life, there are very few easy, cut and dried, answers.

Roy makes some good points. Another option is to consign them to someone who will list them on ebay and take a portion of the proceeds. If you have only a small number of less valuable coins, it may ,make the most sense to have a dealer buy them at wholesale. Higher value coins may do better on eBay or one the the auction sites.
Don

Wow, injust fiveminutes my clarity came in the form of sahred experiences. Thank you all so much. I have acquired some coins and been cleared to investigate the sale of them, only I didn't have the fainest idea of where to start. I went to e-bay as recommended but was quickly overwhelmed, as it was my first visit. So, again, thank you very much. I will continue to seek guidance and insight from you all.

RevAl

How come no one brought up the thing that turns me off as a buyer on e-bay and that's the obvious over charge for S&H. It is apperent to me that sellers are tring to recoupe loses this way. Everytime I hear e-bay is charging more I see the S&H fees go up across the board. It makes it hard for collectors to want to shop there versus going to a dealer and paying his mark up. At least at the dealer shop you can look at the coin first hand.

I sell quite a bit on ebay, at realized prices of $10-$100. My overall fees are about 10%, which I find to be the least possible overhead for a sales operation. Beats flea markets, shows, newpaper ads and b&m hands down. But I'm sure that's not the case for many of you. Do I hate to get that monthly ebay statement? SURE DO. Do I flinch when I see the paypal fee? SURE DO. Do I cry and complain to the wife when a good item gets low-balled? YEP. But I've tried every sales method known to man, and still come back to ebay. LOL.
JMHO!

I should have mentioned that my comments apply to part-time sales. Full-timers and serious dealers probably find other methods superior, and seem usually to use all the means available!

It is true that nothing is free. If I list an item with a very low opening bid (far less than it's true value) I will increase S&H to cover at least my cost to ship, the ebay and pypal fees, and at least something for the item. This is a very common practice and wise buyers will always verify the S&H before placing a bid. Also, the Final value fee does not apply to S&H so the seller saves a little there.