I wanted to share this to illustrate how random sale prices can be on eBay. There just happened to be two examples of a coin I need for sale ending within a few hours of each other today. The coin is a 1968 New Zealand 50 cents with mintage of only 35,000. Here's the first auction, which I didn't win: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...sspagename=STRK:MEDWX:IT&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc. This one sold for $4.76 plus $2.99 shipping. Here's the second, which I did win: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190712852665&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:US:3160 It sold for 99 cents plus $1.25 shipping. The coins are for all intents and purposes in the same condition. One person spent almost $8 on it, and the next spent a little over $2. It just goes to show that you can get deals if you are lucky. It just depends on who sees that coin at that time. This is the only way I've been able to get so many good coins that I could never afford at their book price.
Two words: bid war. Back in my eBay selling days, I could put 3 identical items in separate auctions, and one item could sell for twice as much as the other.
Plus things like making sure its in the correct category, the reputation of the seller, what other coins he sells, etc. I have been known to buy coins simply because I was also buying something else from that seller and figure might as well combine postage. I just did this a couple of days ago, buying a Indo-Greek coin simply because I was also buying an indo-scythian coin from the same seller. Lots of reasons things happen on Ebay, and many times "stupid buyers" have their own reasons.
The $4.76 coin definitely got a better looking luster and more vivid photo. Might be another reason for final price. Or there are just 3 guys nowadays who want that coin, and 2 others were not around when you won.
I also noticed that while both sellers ship outside the U.S., the guy selling the one that sold for more money ships everywhere, while the other only ships to a few countries, and New Zealand is not one of them. I've read in other places that New Zealanders buy a lot of their own coins from U.S. auctions.
Which is why I try to schedule my sales far ahead or way back of the next similar type coin. If for example, my VF 1855 Large Cent ended an hour ahead of another example in the same grade and date, more than likely I won't get nearly as much as the one that will end an hour later. Why pay all the money or go into a bidding skirmish when I could wait for the "Plan B" auction. It's all about timing and doing some research in advance.
In my case, I have limited time to shop for coins, typically an hour or so every night, which is early morning U.S. time. If I see a coin that catches my eye I'm going to bid what I deem a fair price. If there is someone else with the same idea, I'm going to keep pushing until it hits the price I've determined it to be worth. Typically if it's something I want and the difference is 1-3 dollars of what I determine it to be worth, it's going to be mine. My 6 year old is having a blast checking the mail every day for Daddy's coins and after he's inspected what it is, he helps mom take a picture of it to send me and then puts it in Daddy's coin drawer, which he knows they will be when I get home in February and we'll pull them all out and play with them. I've been drawn to circulated very old copper coins because I dont have to worry about him wrecking them and they are quite affordable. I'm buying some silver, but I make sure it's already graded prior to arriving or in some other type of case. We both LOVE proof coins as well and I'm getting them cheap enough that if he were to get antsy and take one out of it's 2x2 it wont break my bank.
This is a good point, and I knew that both coins were available which is part of why I didn't bid aggressively on the first one. I liked that the second one had lower shipping and didn't seem to be receiving any interest, while the first already had several bids. It's bad luck for the seller since this is a low mintage coin and I don't recall seeing one listed for sale before. He should have gotten a lot more money for it.
It really does work. And like you pointed out, the lower mintage coin auctions will get stung more if it has to compete with a comparable coin just hours apart on the same day. As for the common date/scrap pieces, it won't matter what time or day you post those. They all sell pretty similarly.
There is a very apt saying about Ebay, its like a lake miles wide and a foot deep. Very much volume of almost anything scarce will quickly drive down prices. I have used this fact to buy up truly rare items for pennies on the dollar. First item might sell for $100, second $80, but 5th or 6th item might go down to $40 or so, when it really is a $100 coin, just too many on the market right now. An example would be Hormizd II Sassanian coins last year.
A few weeks ago I was on the other end of this. I had listed about 20-30 Australian coins for sale and was hoping I'd find a collector trying to complete their collection who would buy a whole bunch of them. Unfortunately, ending about a day before mine another seller had listed a huge group of most of the same coins. Most of mine ended up not selling because that person trying to build the collection had those others to pick from first.
I have always thought this topic was interesting. As a seller, I find it too funny when I have something for sale and have relisted it a couple times at the same price and buy-it-now and it ends with no bids, then there will be less than 10 minutes left (one time 1 minute) and the item still doesn't have a bid, and someone will come along and use the buy-it-now. They will pay 10% more just because they couldn't wait a couple minutes. Also, its weird when I'll have something listed with buy-it-now and I'll check completed listings and during the time when my item was listed, another of the same item will sell for considerably more. I have checked the bids on those items and there are at least 2 people who had bid up the price well over my buy-it-now price. So I'll guess that the person who didn't win that auction will still be interested in that item, so they'll buy mine right? Nope.
Which would be a wise idea to research other "like" auctions before listing yours. It would only make sense unless the other auction has a day or two to go. Often times it's not necessary to drag an auction past 3 days unless it's a rarity or a high grade item that makes sense to market 5-10 days. My experience is you don't see a lot of looks/action until the last 3 or 4 days anyways. And I always make it a habit to end an auction on a weekend day in the late afternoon. Perfect time? Between 3pm-7pm pacific time on a Sunday when everybody is winding down and relaxing.
It takes just two people to bid something up big time. Interests can be obscure and relatively unique. Every once in a while, however, someone's interest might intersect with another's. An unfortunate biding war can begin...sometimes in the last few seconds. It's always fun to see an item start in low 100's with a few seconds to go and get bid up to a couple grand in no time. guy
