The discoverers of the Saddle Ridge hoard, the largest hoard of buried gold coins ever found in the U.S., have decided for some reason to sell the bulk of their coins through Amazon.com. This will be the first major sale of coins on Amazon. You can currently find listings of many coins on Amazon, but these are mostly sold by individual sellers and the overall offering pales in comparison to eBay's selection. The hoard will be sold through Amazon's relatively new Collectibles category (link here). It looks like the bulk of the Category right now is autographed memorabilia, though I'm sure Amazon will expand the numismatic selection within that category in an attempt to compete with eBay. Any thoughts on Amazon expanding into the coin business? Do you think Amazon is a threat to eBay and the large national dealers like Littleton and APMEX?
My guess would be that Amazon cut the owners a very low-commission deal, seeking to benefit from the massive publicity and exposure to the Collectibles category. The total realization is a drop in the bucket to Amazon, and the true cost of handling the sale much less than you and I think. Amazon can chirp about this deal for years to come, and I would not be surprised to see them go into the gold and silver bullion business after a bit of experimentation. Their timing would be perfect. Moreover, I wouldn't be surprised to see Amazon build a gold depository, protected by an army of lawyers. Just my opinion.
I have bought coins on amazon before, though in my experience the prices have consistently been higher compared to ebay. Still, I'd be interested in seeing what happens...
Ah, good point. That fits in with Amazon's strategy of placing market share growth above short-term profitability. That would be bad news for most coin sellers. Amazon is even more buyer-centric than eBay - Jeff Bezos' core principle is "customer obsession." That means that buyer satisfaction always comes before seller satisfaction, and Amazon will almost always take the buyer's side in disputes. They also charge a flat seller's fee of 15% for most categories, with no significant volume discounts.
Yes, we don't want anything to happen to eBay. For certain types of collectibles, they are unbeatable. But not as much fun as when I started selling in 1998. To avoid a new eBay stupidity, I just opened an Etsy store today, and want to build Etsy up to include 25% of my sales items. We'll see how it works; I have a good feeling (so far) about Etsy. Any CT-er currently selling on Etsy is invited to PM me, to exchange tips and ideas. I already have an idea for them, which is to include a "free postage" box which the Seller can check off -- to be located directly under the item's price in the Etsy listing. That certainly encourages buyers.
Personally I've never bought or sold a coin on ebay. I bought and sold other stuff tho and I've made no secret for my hatred of them I've boycotted them since 2005 and that will never change. I buy stuff on amazon all the time primarily books and CDs never bought a coin there either. Between ha stacks bowers and you guys here on ct it keeps my coin budget thoroughly spent!!
Just like Wal-mart savaged mom-and-pop retail stores all over small-town America, Amazon has positioned itself as a MAJOR threat to small online retailers, who cannot hope to match its prices, fast delivery, and massive inventory. I tend to believe this is the logical evolution of retailing, not some sinister threat hatched on Wall Street. The Internet has changed everything, and there's no going back.
At one time Amazon sold more coins than ebay did, but that was 15 years ago. And as far as I know they never stopped selling coins. But over time, and for various reasons, customers buying and selling coins gradually moved from amazon to ebay until Amazon sold very few of them.
Great collections putting Ebay out of business is laughable. Great collections may sell between 2,000 and 3,000 coins a week. I have seen Apmex alone on Ebay sell over 3,000 lots in one listing in a 1/2 hour.
