Couldn't believe the fee....

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

9% is pretty cheap, IMO.

Find a cheaper alternative with a wider audience.

I'm waiting.

 

This.

Also, having Ebay has enabled many more collectors to demand your goods. People hate on Ebay a lot, but should know that it is probably singlehandedly helped coin collecting 10x more than any irritation they have caused.

 

No... I just saw the 3%--- $7 on the paypal (you're right)... so yes, it was more... Total after shipping was $35 of the $48 "profit" There is no wrong answer here. Some are willing and "grateful' (as I heard) to have ebay and pay their fees while others such as myself are not.

The shame of it is we, as a group of collectors, don't NEED the 7 million person base. We just need other collectors. Suzi Gumdrop buying DVD's would no more look at coins than I would look at buying comic books. It's too bad such a captive base doesn't have a better alternative ---- that I'll give you!!

 

ebay is a pretty good deal. It allows a wide audience to view and bid on your coins without the 10% buyers premium. Furthermore, you don't have to pay state tax, which costs many of us seller another 5-10%. Most sellers are quite savvy and understand the extra costs from buyers premiums, taxes, and shipping and calculate it into our bid for the product. If a business can reduce their sales and marketing to below 25%, they are doing well. I would think that 9% is at the very low end of sales and marketing.

 

Have to agree. You're paying for the ebay name and recognition. I used to complain but anymore, I think you guys are right. We're lucky it's this cheap. Ebay is worldwide and just about everybody on the planet knows what it is. They don't have to let you use it for free.
Look at it this way. You could have a stunning, $1500 coin in your collection that you want to sell this week. Set up a yard sale at your house. Take off what would be 12% in ebay fees and try getting $1320 for it. Advertise like crazy. Sit there for a month. Work,work,work to get it sold. Burn up all your time. And it probably won't sell. Especially in a lower populated area. Or, take it to a dealer and get offered $800.

At ebay, at least you can safely sell it in a reasonable amount of time at a decent prices. You can usually find a buyer or buyers, somewhere, in 1 to 7 days. Paypal also is a familiar face with a fee for saftey and convenience that few places can offer.

 

Well, you can always list something in the classifieds here. But then you might be lucky if a couple hundred people see it, at best. The classifieds on a forum will never be equivalent to ebay's coverage, which you pay for. Every auction house charges buyers and sellers.

 

quick grandpa before the red takes over the forum there is no such thing as red whatever

here let me help

ri·dic·u·lous
   /rɪˈdɪkyələs/ Show Spelled[ri-dik-yuh-luhs] Show IPA
–adjective
causing or worthy of ridicule or derision; absurd; preposterous; laughable: a ridiculous plan.
Use ridiculous in a Sentence
See images of ridiculous
Search ridiculous on the Web
Origin:
1540–50; < LL rīdiculōsus laughable, droll, and L rīdiculus (adj. deriv. of rīdiculum ridicule); see -ous

—Related forms
ri·dic·u·lous·ly, adverb
ri·dic·u·lous·ness, ri·dic·u·los·i·ty  /rɪˌdɪkyəˈlɒsɪti/ Show Spelled[ri-dik-yuh-los-i-tee] Show IPA, noun
hy·per·ri·dic·u·lous, adjective
hy·per·ri·dic·u·lous·ly, adverb
hy·per·ri·dic·u·lous·ness, noun
qua·si-ri·dic·u·lous, adjective
qua·si-ri·dic·u·lous·ly, adverb
un·ri·dic·u·lous, adjective
un·ri·dic·u·lous·ly, adverb
un·ri·dic·u·lous·ness, noun

there hopefully that takes care of it other members are also starting to use it inspired by you

 

Well, that's something I'd like to see...

 

Ebay costs less in many instances, but certainly nowhere near all. So saying "No auction house is ever going to allow you to sell that cheaply" is incorrect.

I am able to consign to the major auction houses for 7% or 8%, depending upon the consignment specifics. And I'd much rather do that, where much of the audience can view the coins in hand and is therefore more willing to bid at sight seen (rather than sight unseen) levels.

 

Mark,

I am sure there are many high end coins better served by coin auctions. The clientelle is different and probably have deeper pockets. Most of the items sold on Ebay though would not really be welcome at traditional auction, especially at a low 7-8% rate. What Ebay charges, though I know they make a ton of money, is relatively inexpensive in the scheme of things, for most of the types of items sold there.

 

No doubt, many of the coins sold on Ebay would not be well suited for the auction houses I deal with. But, my main point was that it was overly broad/sweeping and incorrect to say "No auction house is ever going to allow you to sell that cheaply".

 

I think most meant "of the products that are best sold on Ebay" as the subject of that statement, but point taken. I would not sell my 1795 flowing hair dollar or Roman gold on Ebay, as I would consign that to Heritage or similar auction house.

 

I have consigned a good many coins valued at under $1000 (and even under $500) to auction houses at the rates I noted. I wasn't just talking about four and five figure items.

 

Alrighty then but next time you think of selling a tab full of $2 bills, maybe you should start with the $23 fee added to your starting price, that way things will work out better for you.:thumb:

 

An Exception Without Specifics

Although you have no specifics in your "exception", I believe that any consignment of such size or prominence upon which you could realize 7% to 8% total gross fees through a major auction house, I could probably better that by a couple percent on eBay. Ebay has numerous mechanisms for selling, and once you exceed the nickel/dime low end auctions there are many buyers willing to spend multiple thousand dollars for "quality" material, competitive to auction house gross pricing.

If you are an "established" (i.e. with longevity/feedback/accreditation) seller on eBay, especially when selling "certified" or "quality" material, offering a reasonable return option, at competitive pricing, there are many exuberant buyers on eBay.

I believe statistically, there are considerably more serious buyers than those viewing major auctions, who are prepared to purchase upon receiving "preferred seller" listing notifications by eBay. On items listed by "established" sellers, eBay buyers probably recognize greater safeguards/options/security than those provided by auction houses (i.e. discussed in other threads).

I'd be very pleased to sell whatever Numismatic items would garner the abnormally low gross fees you've cited, at less than gross auction house costs.

As with your unsubstantiated exception/opinion, mine respectfully, is also just one based on my personal experience.

:thumb:

 

In doing so, you only increase your selling cost's , not reduce them. You can make money selling on EBAY provided you are selling over priced items ( I hate the use of the word " Junk " ) . One mans junk is another's treasure. With all the add on's, auction houses tack onto a sale , it is terribly difficult , first to win an item at a price that possibly could resell in a venue such as EBAY at a profit. One is fortunate to break even on an EBAY resale. What EBAY Seller Tools overcome those Auction House add on's ?

 

My experience with ebay suggests that getting 75% of bid for most coins is the norm. If it isn't in high demand (i.e. three cent pieces) it often goes for less than that. So I wouldn't say that ebay is the greatest place to drop your coins. I had a complete set of barber dimes last week that I took to a show to shop to some dealers. I know from watching ebay that they have been going in the $725-$750 range for AG-VG sets. you take $750 and say you charge $5 for shipping, ebay takes their $50 and paypal takes about $23 suddenly you've got $677 left over. I took that into account and a dealer offered me $650, about $30 less than I could net on ebay AND I didn't have to ship it, track it, wait for the buyer to leave feedback, hope the buyer didn't try and cheat me, etc.

 

Makes perfect business sense to me.