I know there is some debate on here regarding the pros and cons of eBay. I have decided to pick up some stuff and see if it is worth it. I am checking to make sure I'm not overpaying. As for condition, the proof will be in the pudding! This week's purchases: 1883 Morgan Dollar - listed in VF cond. 1942-P & 1943-P Walking Liberty Halves - no grade listed, scans looked decent to me 1962 & 1962-D Frankin Halves - listed as AU. The seller has 100% positive feedback, so that's hopefully a good sign. Including shipping and insurance, I paid about $20 for all the above coins. I lost out on some mint sets from the same seller, but the winner overpaid IMO.
If you want to, post links to the ebay listings you won, then the forum can comment based on the pics.
Here are links to two items I won previous to this weekend: 1965 Special Mint Set 1972 Ike Silver Dollar Both items arrived pretty quickly and are pretty much as described. I would say this transaction went well!
Don't ever listen to what they think it's graded as (Unless it's professionally graded) I'm too tired to think so that's the best advice I can give you at this moment.
Don't worry, I have enough experience on eBay to take what ALL sellers say as with a grain of salt. Ultimately every eBay purchase is a risk. Luckily I've only been burned a few times in the past (non-coin purchases).
Overall, looks like you did pretty well. The Ike is right at CDN (Coin Dealer Newsletter) bid, and the SMS looks like was about $3 below CDN bid. The S/H charges looked rather steep, but it looks like you factored that into your bid price. The 99 cents for the padded envelope is ridiculous -- those go for 5 cents apiece when you buy 100 or more. If it is not insured, is he going to send it in a non-padded envelope??? Things like that really annoy me -- he gives the impression that he has to squeeze every dollar he can from the transaction. If you had bought just the Ike dollars, and insured it -- he would have charged $5.30 s/h/i for a $3.50 item, and probably would have spent 60 cents on postage and taken the risk on the insurance.
I do try to factor S&H/Insurance costs into my bids. If I can come within a few dollars of fair market value I'm OK with that. I do know that some $$ padding is put in by a lot of sellers. That's fine by me. I did the same thing when I sold a bunch of my CDs last year. One of the things I look for on eBay are undervalued items. I picked up on the SMS set not just because I wanted one but because I saw it was a bit undervalued. Thanks for the input! Also - I used the 2004 Red Book as my guide for these bids. Is there something else that has more up-to-date pricing? Publication or website?
My most recent purchases.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...&category=39475&sspagename=STRK:MEBWN:IT&rd=1
Yeah, I realize the padding is common, you just need to factor that in your bid (which you did). I just get annoyed when they take it too far like charging 99 cents for a 6 cent padded envelope, or charge for insurance but do not insure the order (because they are willing to take the risk). I just think stuff like that is mildly unethical. But that's just me. Regarding a pricing guide, I usually use the Coin Dealer Newsletter. You can download the latest issue for $4 from greysheet.com. These represent average wholesale (dealer prices) wheras the Redbook is based on retail prices. Another way to estimate current prices is to perform a search of "completed items" for the item you are bidding on, and see what prices were realized on Ebay.
I looked through the info provided here on this thread. When average people sell coins, they often buy padded envelopes when needed or someplace like Walmart. They are paying too much for their envelopes. 99 cents is still too much though. As far as the Ike and 65 SMS set goes. Here is what I see. An average dealer would buy at $3. and $9 respectively. They would retail at $4.25 and $10.75
Here is another recent eBay purchase - feedback is welcome! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...&category=11981&sspagename=STRK:MEBWN:IT&rd=1
Im just the opposite. I usually make sure I talk to the seller after the auction and make sure he understands I'll pay whatever is fair to him as long as he packs my stuff like fortknox and insures it as directed.... Ebay saves me a crapload of money in running and lost time.....especially when gas is $2 a gallon. I have no problem at all paying $5.oo to have a $50 coin i won for $15 shipped to me......... the coin shop up the road would have charged me the $50 for it anyway.....
Edit: I just went to talk to rbm86 about the Morgan in his avatar and saw his last post was in 2010. So I came back here and see this thread is from 2004. Not sure why this one needed to be bumped. Or how it was found!
