Venues for an individual to sell coins other than eBay/Craiglist?

Hey all:

I was wondering if you could share with me any experiences you've had selling at venues other than eBay/craiglist. I haven't had any bad experiences with craigslist, but I am not too keen on meeting strangers to sell items valued more than $50.

I'm trying to get rid of parts of my collection that don't interest me and I've sold about 30 items on eBay in the past 2 months. However, out of those 30 about 5 have been problem transactions that really become frustrating and have cost me a good amount of money. 4 of the 5 problem sales were with gold coins, which I think might be more prone to buyer scamming.

The 5 problems I've had:
1) Buyer threatens not to pay unless I give him/her free express shipping
2) Canadian buyer claims the item never arrived and paypal forced a full refund. The USPS tracking has no info once the item was in canada but the Canada Post tracking (using the same number) says the item arrived. No headway with eBay yet...
3) Buyer claims a coin in sealed mint packaging has fingerprints on it (impossible) and demands a partial refund
4) Buyer actually got a coin from me at under melt value. He/she then sold it for scrap and claimed that the scrap dealer gave him money on only 80% of my stated gold weight. eBay/Paypal sided against me since I stupidly admitted to not having weighed the coin in one of my emails. This is because the coin was in sealed packaging and I wasn't going to open it - plus a government issued coin is not going to be underweight by 20% (foreign gold but still). Either this person is outright lying or the scrap dealer scammed him (gave him a lowball weight). Doesn't make any logical sense to turn around and sell something for less than you paid for it 3 weeks earlier...
5) This is just today and I feel like this is the last straw for me on eBay. I sold someone a coin that was PCGS certified AU55 and got lucky as the coin was bidded up above what I consider to be market value. The buyer then contacts me saying "the coin is not the stated condition and is not worth what I paid so I want a partial refund". I ended up actually giving him a partial refund just to avoid negative feedback and since I doubted I would get the same amount if I relisted it. A few days later he asks for a full refund and sends the coin back. I give him a full refund and he gives me a negative feedback without ANY comment. This kills me since I have such low total feedback.

All of this time I had an unconditional 10 day return policy.

I don't know if other people here are having similar problems...I'm guessing a combination of bad economic times, the fact that I'm selling gold, and that I'm a new seller makes me a prime target for these people.

Sorry for the rant.

Anyway, like I said, I was wondering if you had any experience with other venues and how you feel they compare to eBay in terms of convenience, price achieved, and seller fees. One venue I'm looking at right now is Teletrade. Anyone have any experience with them?

Thanks!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Not sure if you've just had a run of bad luck, but I've sold several hundred pieces on Ebay and have never had any such problems.

 

I've sold ~50 items on eBay in the past; though most were good transactions, a couple were down-right horrible. I even had on person that was so intent on stealing from me he kept changing his story.

In this case, I had sold a box of 2009 Lincolns; first he claimed some were missing (~10 rolls if I recall correctly), and sent a picture of a busted box. He claimed my packing was the problem, and that I had wrapped the coins in some plastic - and he of course had pictures. He wanted me to send him another box to offset the shortage and compensate him for the problems....

Luckly, this person demanded Priority Mail, and I packed the coins at the PO in front of a clerk I knew. She offered to attest to the fact that the coins were not only packed very well, but, that there was no plastic. The seller then claimed (a couple of days later) that I had sent him a box of rocks.... And, as you might guess - he had pictures! Luckly he didnt pursure it and make me fight with eBay (I think he tucked tail and ran when I copied his first emails and threatened to report him to eBay and attempt to pursue criminal charges for extortion).

 

Wow, yeah it's quite amazing how imaginative people can be with their claims. I think some scam buyers realize what they can get away with though. For example, if they ask for a partial refund for something they claim you did wrong...there really isn't much you can do to pursue them criminally. Even now with no negative feedback able to be given to buyers you'd think that some of them would show a little more fear. I mean you have their address. If I ever was scammed by a buyer for a large amount of money I would absolutely go out of my way to pay them a visit with their local police.

Like you say...most are good transactions. There's just nothing quite like that sinking feeling of getting an 'item not as described' e-mail.

 

I'm buying like crazy on eBay, but I haven't been able to bring myself to start selling again yet. Things are just weighted too heavily in the buyer's favor.

 

I've considered making a video recording of the packing process -- all in one take, showing a close-up of the item(s), showing them going into the box, sealing the box, marking across the seals. Then photographing the box at the PO, marked seals intact, with the insurance and delivery-confirmation stickers affixed and legible. I've also considered doing the same for unboxing a purchase if I'm uneasy about it. But I don't think eBay would pay any attention to evidence like that in a "he said/she said" dispute.

 

I haven't had those kinds of problems selling on eBay, but I do agree that it is weighted heavily in favor of the buyer right now. When eBay took away the power for sellers to even leave feedback, that was a huge red flag.

Have you tried the classified listings on this forum? I haven't used it myself, but I think it neatly does away with the paypal/ebay double fee whammy.

What are you looking to sell? If you send me a list on a private message, I'll be happy to make fair offers for anything that I'm in the market for.

 

I prefer selling coins on craigslist. No fees, no shipping charges, and no crazies asking for refunds they don't deserve. The biggest problem I've had with Craigslist has been no-shows (or the odd person who offers me ten percent of what my coins are worth.)

My favorite eBay horror story was a box of 2009 Lincoln cents I got from a bank. It wasn't pure 2009 Lincolns...there were a few mixed coins in the rolls. The ad was clearly titled "mixed." I took all the rolls out and photographed them, clearly demonstrating that they had a few old coppers. I even went so far as to COUNT the total number of coins that appeared circulated...described all this in my item description, even going to far as to state "please read the ad fully before purchasing - these are sold "as is" and there will be no refunds offered."

What happens? Some guy buys them within 20 minutes of my posting it as a buy it now. Gets the item...then proceeds to curse me out because it is mixed and I misled him. I refuse to give him a refund because I described them as partially mixed about 5 times in the ad. He gives me negative feedback, calling me a liar and a fraud. eBay does absolutely nothing to assist me in clearing my record - even though I am 100% in the right. THAT is modern American customer service, my friends, and why I sell on craigslist. That and I hate paying those jerks fees.

 

As a seller on ebay (I haven't sold much, 20-30 items), I only had one bad experience and it was my fault, kind of. I had to give a refund and didn't get the item back, but it wasn't a ton of money. No negative feedback though. And as a buyer, I've only made 1 claim in the past few years, when a package came ripped and empty. Again, no negatives, seller was awesome about it.
And no feedback issues recently.
But, sellers can't leave negative feedback now?
6 or so years ago, I had a bad experience with a seller selling some of the westward journey nickels that he pre-ordered (It wasn't stated in the auction). He didn't get his shipment on time, so I didn't get mine for a long time. After about 2 months, and very little response from him, I posted a negative feedback. He did the same ("This guy has no clue about e-bay...throws around the word BEWARE" was his comment; kinda lame). Then we mutually withdrew the negatives.
You can't do this anymore?

 

I’ve sold a few (250-300) things in the past on eBay with mostly favorable results. Every once in a while I’d have someone complain that shipping took too long or that the price wasn’t fair. Mind you, I’m anal and I usually have the items waiting in a box; once the auction is over, I place the receipt in the box and seal it and ship that day or the next business day using the PayPal shipping method. I also charged actual shipping from my location to theirs.

Overall, I don’t have much negative input with regards to eBay as a seller… As a buyer, it’s another story! LOL…

 

Snip, back to your question I would try selling on this forum or other Coin forums. The people are great and it does save you time and $ not selling on E-bay. Plus in order to buy on most sites you need to have been a member for a certain period of time and have x# of posts, that way you get someone that is actually interested and not some fly by night person.

 

You can rent a table (or share a table) at a local coin show. You can also just walk the show floor & offer your coins to the dealers. You might post your nice material here at CT in the classified section.

Almost forgot to mention- You can place a classified ad in a numismatic publication.

 

I have had similar Ebay experiences - but not so drastic. I now only use it for inexpensive lots that if "lost" won't have a large impact. Currently I use Teletrade and have no complaints with their service. Just go in with your eyes wide open. You pay a 10% sellers fee on the hammer price and you won't recieve a check for 30 days. Over the last 18 months I've noticed a significant upward trend on the average prices. Meaning I now buy very few items - just sell. Ian Russel's new auction site Great Collections is just getting started but offers the lowest sellers and buyers fees of anyone out there. I just sent them a dozen lots to test the waters and I'll report back to CT when I have results. If you have any significant $ amounts (you mentioned gold coins) you might give Heritage a call. I have used them sparingly for significant coins and been very pleased; once again, know the ground rules before committing.

 

I've sold coins at a local flea market before. They're only open in the spring / summer months, so as you can see, I don't make a living, but it does help with the hobby. Speaking of, it starts back up in a few weeks and I have quite a bit of inventory this year, so I'm hoping business will be good.

 

I've started selling on eBay recently as well. I've probably sold 30-50 coins. The only problem I've had is buyers who won't pay after they've won an item. So far I've had two of these turds.

As a seller, you can't even leave neg feedback on these deadbeats. Ebay won't open the neg feedback option for a seller to leave on a buyer until they pay. What kind of sense does that make? The only obligation the winning bidder has is to pay for the item.

I've got to agree, eBay is now weighted in favor of the buyer. Not to mention the 9% they knock off all my sales, plus 3% from paypal, and the nickel and dime listing fees.

All that being said, I think I'm probably still getting more than if I took the coins to my local B&M shop.

 

You can never leave negative feedback -- or even neutral feedback -- for a buyer. That's one reason I don't sell there any more -- there's no way to tell who's going to be a problem buyer.

 

To the OP: What a string of bad luck.

I have sold on ebay for going on 13 years. Operating an ebay store helps. I don't usually sell big ticket stuff there over $300 (do it at the shows). I resent ebays high fees and their favoring the buyer along with their stupid feedback policy (violates free speech) - a seller cant leave negative feedback. It costs me 12% of sales to operate on the bay - I list stuff I can buy low and sell high. As a paying customer, I resent the Bay meddling in my business. I give customers "free shipping" but put ship cost in price of item to shut up the shipping cry babies. Lately I have been buying all the silver proof sets and mod silver commems close to melt I can on the bay and been pricing them in the shop at cost + 35% or more.

Table fees at show are expensive but with the volume I usually do buying and selling its usually worth it but it takes up your weekend. I usually can sell a coins at a show for at least 10% less than what I would have to have for it on the Bay. I allocate the show costs between the sales and purchase activity. Then the sales piece is treated like a commission and the purchase allocation is treated like buyers fee and added to the cost of the inventory. To really make it work on the show circuit it probably takes an inventory investment of $100-200K at least then the show expenses aren't such a big hit. Thats not enough by itself because it takes good skills of buying low and selling high - thats what the coin business is all about. I have seen people who had strong numismatic knowledge and skills fail in the coin business bc they could not master the business end (buy low / sell high) and others who succeeded greatly with only just basic knowledge but had strong business skills. It takes cost plus about 40% to make it in the coin business.

 

I'd love to sell some coins on here, but I'm not sure anybody ever really looks at the classifieds much.