http://www.ebay.com/sch/pennyearned/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25&_trksid=p3686 "pennyearned" has several large cents and half-cents that have a low starting bid. Is there something I don't know about 'pennyearned'? The guy has %100 rating, and is listed as a 'Top rated plus' seller. I just bought an 1809 half cent for $46 that looks to be in VG-to-Fine condition.
But the ones that are (were) close to ending had no bids. I bid on one at the lowest price and got it. Noone else bid on it. That scared me.
I doubt anything is wrong with them. People are not bidding on them because he has them priced pretty high as a starting price. For instance, the half cent you won is corroded and has a couple deep scratches on the obverse. For early copper, condition is a bigger driver of price than detail. Early copper folks generally have both a detail grade and a condition, either choice, ave(+/-) and scudzy. The half cent you bought would be considered scudzy, and would take a significant hit in value because of it.
Maybe it is because his starting price is too high. A lot of people prefer the low start of 99c. Chris
Well, I think you may be overgrading a tad and the seller used a small, poor quality scans (opposed to quality and detailed photographs, which can make a great difference). It also looks to be corroded and scratched. The coin seems more of a crap shoot than sure bet IMO, but I do hope it works out well for you.
Most people don't bid until the last few hours also. I sold a bunch of silver dollars and quarters last week, and going into the last day I had only 3 bids and ended up selling about 25 coins, most with multiple bids.
Because the starting bids are too high on all but one 1854 Large Cent with problems. I start all mine at 99 cents.
There is no such thing as a too high starting bid if the coin offered is worth the price of admission. It might be better to say that this seller appears to want high-to-very-high retail for most of his coins and sets the opener accordingly.
Thanks guys. You all always set the record straight. When I originally bid on it, I didn't think I'd actually 'win' it. I guess I'm stuck with it. Ha. Learning experience. I'll be glad though. It's my first half-cent.
Yup. It may not apply to these coins, but I would say most serious action takes place in the last 7 seconds of the auction. Any time before then is simply displaying your wares, and its actually sold at the very end. I can remember one time in the last couple of years I didn't snipe an item. I won a couple of other auctions from the seller and was on my cell phone, so just put in a high bid with like 4 minutes to go.
Yes, I have bought a few LCs from these people and on most of the LC auctions I watch/bid in 99.9% of the bidding happens in the last 5 minutes or so. This is why I watch maybe 200 coins to get 1-2 a month for my $20 LC set. Sometimes it is just a bad picture other times there are a dozen all closing on the same day. In that case most of the bidding is on the "better" coins and alot of the others slide through for considerably lower prices then they might have if only 1 or 2 were closing that day. Best advice I can give for e-bay is only bid on what you really like and remember not to overbid because 9 times out of 10 there is another as nice if not better selling in a hour or 2
Exactly. I believe it is clear that this seller knows what he/she is doing, so the start prices are nothing more than insurance. He knows most of his offerings would likely bring much less if started at $1, so he prices accordingly. Other than fees and dead inventory, its a win-win for him. I've encountered many sellers and/or dealers of this type over the years, and its almost always the same. Sooner or later someone will bite and they get to walk away with their desired profit margin, or at least close to it. While such a business plan is counterproductive in my eyes, as the old saying goes; it takes all kinds. This is, of course, in a gray area, but I do not recall the seller mentioning anything of the coin's condition in his description. Although I am a firm believer that one should not purchase without prerequisite knowledge, I also believe that it is a sellers (or dealer's) absolute responsibility to properly describe or note any unquestionable issues a coin may have, especially when they choose to use less-than-acceptable photographs, or in this case scans which can be deceptive. If, once the coin arrives, it is as corroded as I think; I would return it and wait on a no-problem example. I understand your excitement in obtaining your first H1C, but there is no reason to bury yourself on a sub-par specimen when the seller knowingly (in my most humble opinion) listed in a questionable manner.
