This may begin a debate but here goes. I have been seeing less items in an auction and more in BIN. My suspicion is that with the economy now, the auction prices are not fetching the prices the seller expects. I recently saw a medal that should have fetched about $200 going for about $130. Also, on whole sniping tends to keep prices down. If no one bids until the last second, possibilities exist to keep the prices super low. My other observation is that more coins in BIN are at a reasonable price and decent condition. Another result from lower auction prices?
Ebay also changed their fee structure so your first 50 auctions listed a month are free no matter what extras you add on, so people can now get buy it now without paying more for it. I started using it for my auctions and never did before. One of the reasons I decided to was I'd list coins and it would show people watching them and then no one would bid, so I thought maybe if I did BIN, more people would do the spur of the moment buy instead of waiting to consider it.
Too many auctions that used to start at 99¢ ended at 99¢. Don't pay to sell if your giving it away. Better to list at least at a break even point and pay the higher fees with the BIN format. And yes eBay is letting non store sellers have 50 listings per month with a anywhere start price and BIN at least 10% more for free now.
I have chosen to only buy on Ebay. I have never received a fair price for any item I have sold on there.
Exactly my point. Sellers are not making the price they expect. My question is how much of this is due to sniping. If people do not bid until the last second, the price will not go up as a normal auction would. Seems as if the snipers maybe pushing people away from placing coins or anything else up for auction.
Sellers can start the auction at any price they want though, so it's not like you either use 99 cents or buy it now. For the small time sellers like myself, eBay used to give a certain number of free listings at 99 cents per month, so that's one incentive, but now that's gone. Sellers don't need to use BIN, but they should set the starting price at a point where they'd be comfortable selling it.
That's how all auctions work. Unless you have 2 or more bidders who are willing to spend top dollar for an item, it is going to sell cheaply. That's why I love auctions because there is a chance at getting a good deal.
I may want to eventually sell some things on EBay. If I do, I probably will use the BIN with the make an offer option. Recently, I have twice used the make an offer option as a buyer and bought the coin/medal at a lesser price. I suspect it gave both the seller and myself happy to make that transaction.
I don't even waste my time with BIN's.. those are generally dealers looking to retire early. If you notice, you'll see roughly 450,000 coins on the 'bay at any one time. Filter away the BIN's and you net roughly 100,000k, get rid of the overpriced crap. Then you have the good stuff, much higher content of collector based selling. From there, depending on the amount of time I have, I'll either search by denomination by ending earliest for those auctions closiing within 24hrs... or, if less time, then I'll filter down to certified only, netting around 13k coins at true auction and certified... that's what I do a lot. Then search those closing earliest up to 24 hours.... I do best with that method for good certified coins from collector to collector at good discount. That said, searching the ending earliest with "no" certification spec'ed has netted me my biggest scores over the past 15 years or so. Many collectors, being collectors and not dealers looking to retire early, forget or overlook the certification option when selling.... I've found many nice certified coins (and some raw) searching the basement of the 'bay,,, takes a LOT of time, but you can win and put together a nice collection of coins at profit/investment if you put the time in. Net, BIN's = lost $$ on the investment side of coins,, but as always, when you gotta have it <spike lee>, then go ahead an pay it if you can ; )
Yeah, it is noice as a buyer to not have to wait x amount of days to bid and maybe lose when you can just make an offer and perhaps BIN. When it comes to deciding what sell feature you want to use, it depends on the item. Some items always have plenty of bidders and will always sell for fair price like gold and silver bullion and some coins and others need more time to attract a couple potential buyers who will offer a fair price.
Lots of lowball bids over time within the true actions will net you some profit.... I have over 20oz of silver bullion under spot, and more coins than I can list under bid... Put the time and effort into you hobby and you'll win both nice coins, AND investment potential... Buy from BIN's and dealer's and you lose the investment side "instantly" and the coin collection activity become a pure "hobby" <cash flush>, although it's still better than other hobbies with no return at all.
Lots of camping out on the "Buy It Now"/"newly listed" page will also net you some profit, if you're quick and decisive (and lucky). So will asking questions of people who list poorly-described or poorly-photographed lots. Exhibit 1: Mercury Head Dimes.1961 - 1945d 76 Mercs at $2.50 each, when melt value was closer to $2.90 each -- and one of them was a 1921, AG, but still a nice filler. The lot also contained a couple of other better dates in nicer condition. Exhibit 2: 75 Kennedy Half dollars "I have a bag of 75 Kennedy half dollars ranging in years from 1964-1999." I send a message asking if there were many from the 1960's. No response for over a day, and then: "I have 20 ranging from 1964-1969". As it turned out, there was only one 1964 -- but that still brings the lot's total resale value to somewhere north of $130. I'm not especially fast at thinking or clicking, so I frequently miss deals much better than these. They are out there.
Mom always said, 'it's only worth what somebody else will pay for it'. Ebay auction prove that all the time.
My Ebay store makes good money with BIN or BIN / Make offer. While many Ebay Buyers are Cheap A's it is possible to move good material at retail. It just takes the right kind of buyer. It takes a markup of 40% over cost to make it in the coin business. So if you cant easily get retail, then you have to buy it right. For Blowout material that walked in the shop at 60% of CDN Bid or less I will start it at auction at say 80% of CDN to flip it. I dont start auctions at 99c (your risking giving it away) - If they are too ignorant, greedy, or broke to bid on it at 80% of CDN I wil simply relist it later. The Summer months are a bad time to sell on Ebay but can be a good time to buy.
