Bits of capitulation on eBay

I've hit the newly-listed Buy-It-Nows on eBay for a couple periods of 5 or 10 minutes this evening, and I landed 15 silver dimes for $13 + $1.93 shipping, and 8 Franklin halves for $40 shipped. Pretty small-scale, but the 10x face price point has been hard to find, so two in one evening is a bit of a surprise. I wonder if more people are starting to give up and bail out...

 

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Wish I had the money, 1/4oz of gold for under melt and a 1.5oz silver coin to boot!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-1-4-oz...5017?pt=US_Canadian_Coins&hash=item19f72c4129

Bought 283 shipped, 1/4oz of gold is about $300

 

Nvm, seller has 0 feedback.

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

 

Everyone's gotta start somewhere. Of course, some start with fraudulent auctions.

I've bid on a couple of auctions like that that worked out. Most, though, provide Buyer Protection practice.

 

True, but it still would take a week plus to get your money back if indeed a sour deal. I wouldn't mind buying a cheap (under $20) coin from a new seller, but I'd be half-scared to plunk $250+

 

Ya know, if someone was good at programming, I suppose one could write a program that would "Snoop" eBay buy it nows as soon as they are listed, and if the price is low enough, buy them, a set it and forget it kind of thing.

 

Well I'm gonna quit for the night. Spent 2 hours hitting the F5 key like a mad man on 3 different tabs, no good deals.

 

Well crap, make that 4 hours. This is addicting! But I'm going to bed for real now. Still no goodies.

 

It's like playing the lotto... I've been doing this for years. Seems like a lot of people are doing it now so you have to be able to make sound decisions super fast. That being said, I have gotten a handful of ridiculously crazy good deals, like the type people probably wouldn't even believe, over the years. Like 4 figure coins for 2 figures, in legit slabs (I released them from their coffins of course). Happens one or two times a year, but I also don't sit there for hours, I just check in every now and then. Sometimes there are a bunch of people viewing, sometimes you see one that was listed 10 minutes ago and no one viewed it. Sometimes you catch a dealer listing a string of coins cheap, so just sit there and refresh and grab em up until they are no longer listing. It's very random.

 

Yep, make decisions fast and also be secure in your knowledge. I had a period of time certain sellers would just list group lots, every week. On Ebay these tend to go lower and lower over time. I just kept buying, knowing every purchase was a good deal and not worrying about how many total I got. I ended up with 23 Cleopatra VII bronzes from Cyprus this way from a single seller over the course of 2 months. Point being, if you have the knowledge, and surety of your convictions, you can act quickly and continuously, and make some money still on Ebay. Some of the greatest purchases of ancients I have ever made were on EBay.

 

Sure. All you need is a program that can read an auction description, determine what coin or coins are listed, determine their fair value, and purchase the ones that are priced below fair value. Remember that many of the "bargains" are listings with poor or inadequate descriptions, which as a result don't attract much attention.

As it turns out, if you were that good at programming, you'd have much bigger fish to fry than eBay sniping. Human-equivalent artificial intelligence is kind of a big deal.

 

True, but such a script for something like bullion could possibly be written to narrow down items that needs to be looked at. I have some cheesy search parameters built into some of my searches to help me in this way, a good programmer could do better than I. But, in the end, at least for now it would need to have a human give final say IMHO. Any script written can be gamed if the sellers figure out how and no human reviews it.

 

Something I've noticed is that the new listings do not appear in order, if you refresh it, 3 new listings might pop up under 3 old listings.

 

Very true sir, like sellers putting junk coins in 2x2's so people think they were better coins, or using blurry photos on purpose, etc. I was thinking more some script to pick up quantity and a few key words and performing the math, to winnow through the listings. You very well could be correct though.

 

I think part of what I do is looking for things that would escape the notice of "typical" searchers.

Any "coin-finder" script that grew into wide use would quickly become the target and victim of "search-engine optimization" attacks. I'm pretty sure it's impossible to write an algorithm like that that can't be deliberately targeted.

That's right. When you're running an operation the scale of eBay, you can't have everything funneled through a single system. There are multiple systems accepting and posting new auctions, and it takes time for the new listings to get copied across to all the different systems that are serving search results.

One of the scripts I did want to write was one to do repetitive queries, and then sort the results not by "newly listed", but by newly received on my machine. That way, new listings that showed up buried further down the list would appear at the top of my list, and maybe I could react to them before others noticed them. I haven't done any work in that direction yet, though.

 

Good job on picking up a couple of good deals. I've noticed that a lot of the silver stuff I usually look for was easier to find for a cheaper price 1-2 months ago. It seems as if the average asking price on ebay has gone up as the price of silver has gone down. Go figure.

To elaborate, I typically snatch up silver proof sets if they are around 10% above melt value. I know that as the price of silver comes down, it will get harder and harder to find them for melt because the numismatic value becomes more of a factor. But what I saw was the lowest asking prices following the spot price down to $18 or so, where they then rebounded a bit to $20 or so levels.

What I'm seeing today is not only is it pretty much impossible to find them for 10% above spot, it's hard to find them for 10% over $20/oz., but I had no problem buying as much as I wanted to at 10% over spot at $18/oz.

 

For example, the full ten coin 2003 silver proof set was one of the easiest to find for less than 10% over melt. Melt plus 10% today would be $25.55. Nearly impossible to find at that price of course.

Melt plus 10% when silver was $18/oz. was $27.85. I snatched up quite a few at that price a couple of months ago.

Melt plus 10% with silver at $20/oz. would be $30.79. Not that I'm buying at that price today, but it's hard to find them on ebay at that price right now. Out of 131 results on ebay right now, there is only one that is less than $30.79 shipped ($29.22). The lowest recent sold listing I see is one that sold for $28.99 shipped. The next one was $29.95 shipped.

The floor, I get. What I don't get is why they briefly dropped below the current floor, but are now selling for more than they were when silver was $2/oz. higher than it is now...