Buying Tips for Coins on eBay

Advice for buying on eBay is about the same advice that applies anywhere else, really. Educate yourself enough to be able to catch the most obvious fakes and problems. Have a basic idea of what coins should be worth before buying or bidding. Check the seller's reputation; if they have low feedback, a lot of negative or neutral feedbacks, or are a very new seller, stay away (unless it's something not of particularly high value anyway). If there's no picture or a very poor picture, they're probably hiding something. If it's a coin that's of high value and/or commonly faked (Trade dollars come to mind, and Seated Liberty dollars especially) only get them if they're graded. Unsearched rolls and bags never truly are; don't fall for that lol...

Anyway I know some would just tell you to steer clear of eBay altogether, but you can find nice coins for reasonable prices if you're careful, and my experience with most sellers has been about as good as a lot of brick and mortar coin dealers. I've yet to purchase a coin that was fake or inaccurately described. Only had any real problems twice; once from a seller that seemed to have disappeared (got a refund eventually) and from one seller that never sent anything and claimed they did (eventually got the item from the dealer, very much delayed). And this is from years of purchases. It's a great place if you collect foreign coins and banknotes, as the selection is far better than what most b&m stores seem to have, that seem to have mostly just US stuff with a very tiny world selection if any at all. Just be cautious and smart about it and there's no reason you can't get decent additions to your collection from eBay.

 

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I've been on eBay since before it was eBay - it was called AuctionWeb way back then. My original account was on AuctionWeb and then I created a new account after the switch over. I've probably spent close to $80K there over the years and only had two bad transactions. I bought (and sold) boats, cars, jewelry electronics and, most recently, coins. I've even sold trees seeds and seedlings! The fees are starting to be a drag on the selling side, but I use bidnapper, set my highest bid, and then walk away. I lost 10 Franklin halfs today doing that but I didn't want to pay more than I wanted to pay.

As has already been said, read the feedback, know about what you want to buy (or educate yourself BEFORE buying), and have some fun!

 

i have bought and bid on some coins on ebay over the past 2 years and i have only found maybe five coins that were worth what i spent on them. most of the coins on ebay are over graded and over priced and many of the coins on ebay are damaged. in almost every auction the ebay buyers will bid more than the coins would sell for anywhere else. i have only seen a few exceptions to this after searching through thousands of listings for coins. maybe it is just me, but does anybody understand what the ebay bidders are trying to accomplish by bidding more for coins in almost every auction than the coins would sell for just about anywhere else? i sure can't figure out their logic.

 

Their logic is convenience, and the have to win attitude. They dont have to leave their houses, period, to win a coin. And they bid them high because they cant stand to loose, even to an unknown person possibly located half way around the world. I almost never use the auction feature, its strictly Buy it Now for me

 

Interesting, but I disagree strongly. One can always buy from a reputable dealer. Or, one can buy a slabbed coin that is verifiable with a photo. NGC has been doing that for years and now PCGS is, also.

I've seen several slabbed coins sell at Heritage, later reappear on E-bay and go for less.

Many "dark-siders" will tell you that there are some slabbed "one of the kind" pieces that can be found only on E-bay.

I can't speak for US or modern stuff (post 1932). Don't know them. Don't care, either.

guy

 

Idk about entombed coins, but there are some series i can only buy on Ebay, even shows like CICF do not have them. Ebay is a source, but should never be the ONLY source.

 

My watch list is always up around 100 items sorted by ending soonest. I make use of saved searches. They are sorted by buy it now and others are ending soonest auctions.
I have a lot of different interests and I surf around with key words and catagories several times a day. I have some searches that I can filter out some sellers so I don't have to mess with looking at thier garbage. Some sellers have a standard description that says certain words like ( purely fictional ) "Visit our coin shop in Mexico City if you happen to be in the area." I just click the box to include description and if I am looking for 1812 coins I enter 1812 -Visit our coin shop in Mexico City and I don't have to sort through all that stuff from that seller.
Sometimes a coin is miscatagorized. Only a few see it. I manually snipe near the end of a lot of listings. Seconds before it ends.
I always add the cost of shipping to my final bid when figuring the value of any given coin. I always look at the sellers other listings before I check out because I might save a lot on combined auctions.
Lousy images are sometimes bargains. With some old copper coins, I have gotten good enough quite often to be able to tell what a coin may look like in hand even if the images is orange, blurred and splotched with black. I am often pleased and seldom disappointed with bad images and what shows up in the mail.
Sometimes, if a coin does not sell I will contact the seller and ask them to let me know when they re-list the coin and ask if they are going to start it at a lower buy it now. I sometimes get a better price and first crack at it.

 

It seems like some collectors obviously grossly over-pay just to get the coin. I'm seeing some coins go for twice their value. That is the frustrating part.

 

if it is damaged, cleaned, overgdraded and overpriced its on ebay.

 

I can only give advice for ancient coin buyers, and that's to stick to a relatively small number of "saved sellers" who you have reason to trust. Personally, I buy from a few sellers who I've personally known (online) for a long time, who have websites off ebay (e.g., forum), are involved in VCoins or a similar website, or are major auctioneers that happen to do some smaller auctions on ebay. I've received inaccurately described coins (to the point of being entirely false descriptions, intentionally deceptive) from one or two professional looking sellers that I didn't really know, and weren't really connected to any online coin community, as far as I can tell (i.e., not part of the more serious FaceBook groups, not involved in discussion groups). Accountability matters: Does a seller try to make themselves part of a community where their reputation will be at stake if they don't operate ethically?

 

NO, John it is NOT Frustating to see them ( BUYERs ) throwing or wasted their MONEY in what they wanted to own it! As IF I am a SELLER I really LOVE all those BUYERs it's help the SELLER pocket and the rest involves of selling it like eBay... Anyway is there own MONEY!

Like recently 1995 w PF70 AME silver Dollar eagle I think was sold for $ 86,000.00 Proof 70 obviously the mintage of this coin is over 31,120.00...

 

I don't buy on the 'Bay much but there was one time I bought a coin with spotty images. It was a Marshall Islands $5 Desert Storm coin, in its mint packaging, selling at BIN for five bucks. The coin had no images; the only photo was of the front of the folder thing. I bought it, and it had the coin - in mint state condition to boot! Of course, it is still best to spend on a properly photographed coin, especially if the coin is more expensive. :yes:

 

My experience is that if you "win" on eBay, you're likely to be overpaying vis-a-vis your local (a relative term in my circumstances) coin shop. That said, for me, factoring in the driving expenses, it's still possible to find some items worth the mouse and click effort.

It'll be intersting to see how the auctions go this week if silver continues its dramatic slide....