How do you get the best price for a coin?

It was raised in another thread that a lot of well known dealers sell with large mark-ups on their coins.

So, how does one manage to buy a coin at a price closer to what the dealer paid for it?

Where are these auctions that the dealers participate in, and how does one get involved?

Sorry if these are 'noob' questions.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Watch PAWN STARS and do what Rick does!!

 

I usually ask for (and get) 10% off on vcoins, but it's clear the dealer can go lower.

At the same time I don't want to offend the dealer. I was selling a $1000 tet on eBay once, and someone made an offer of $100 which I thought was really disrespectful.

 

There are oodles of auctions every month and two major auction consolidation sites are a very convenient way to keep track of it by creating watch lists and want lists. Creating want lists will generate notifications when a coin matching your specifications is listed in an auction.

The two sites are Numisbids and Sixbids. They are redundant but there are a few auction houses which only participate in one or the other. I find Numisbids easier to use but there are a few companies which don't participate with Numisbids, so I always check both. My watch lists are comically long .

For many auctions (all?) you can submit your proxy bid through those websites. I've only done that twice and once my bid wasn't registered. I prefer to bid live online when possible or submit proxy bids directly to the auction house.

As for getting the best price, I'm probably not the best person to answer that since I tend to spend whatever it takes that day to get a coin if I really really want it. I fail to win ~80-90% of the coins I bid on though. In general, target your coins, then find recently auctioned comparisons using CNG's archives and acsearch.info. Check Vcoins to see if any are currently for sale; see how they compare in quality and price. Determine your maximum bid. Stick to it. Note: the auction houses' estimates are often very low (I like it that way).

As for best price, sometimes you can snag relatively good deals by targeting coins in auctions which follow on the heels of a busy or major auction week. There was a huge round of high-profile auctions this month, for instance... perhaps now is a good time to pick up some coins without as much competition, if your competitors have blown their budgets.

Start registering to bid with many auction houses. Most of them ask for references (cite other auction companies you've purchased from). I suspect they don't bother to check those since I usually get my bidder approval immediately or within a day of the request. Many auction houses also ask you to submit your requested bidding limit. The amount I enter probably doesn't make them look to closely-- they probably only look carefully if you're asking for many tens of thousands of dollars/euros/pounds. Ask for far more than you think you might spend though, just in case. If I were to approach my limit at any given auction house I'd be in BIG trouble! They're pretty generous with the credit limits.

 

'Block' those types Greg..........

 

Hell with the dealer - I'm sure they ripped off some old lady to get the coins to sell them to you at a high price - NOT ALL dealers do this but they are out there!!

 

... And always factor the buyer's premium on auctions.

 

Thanks for the advice TIF!

And here I was buying mostly from vcoins like a schmuck!

 

Oh so true. I won an auction two weeks ago that I forgot to factor in the BP and the state tax........ouch.

 

I don't like auctions very much because I lose coins I fall in love with. Then when I lose an auction by very little they upset me even more.

Did I mention auctions are fun?

Jeeze. It's bedtime.

 

Well - always research what you want to buy first (condition, price, slabbed, raw) and then shoot them an offer - don't ever buy what dealers ask unless it is a very good price from the start. Better to buy of a private collector than a dealer!

 

So true! On Numisbids and Sixbids you can easily find the "Terms of Sale" link for each auction. Sometimes its difficult to glean all of the fees. Buyer's premiums can range from 10% (unusually low, rare) to 23.5% or more. 15% to 20% is common. Most places will charge an extra fee if paying by credit card or PayPal. Bank transfers also incur fees on both ends.

Some auction houses even charge an extra fee if you are bidding live online (Boo! Hiss!!)

 

OH NO - Like Shirley Q Liquor would say - WHAT????

 

If it is any consolation, even if you lose by one increment, you really don't know how high the winner was willing to go (assuming the auction has a timed closure). Most e-auctions have a set time of closure. A few will add minutes to the closing time if a very late bid is placed, allowing the underbidder to reconsider. Of course, there are still some "real" auction formats, with live bidders in a room (and folks bidding live online and by phone). In those, the bidding continues until no one else challenges the high bidder.

 

There's nothing wrong whatsoever with buying at vcoins! There are plenty of good coins and deals to be had on vcoins and the most important part is that you can typically return a coin for authenticity issues and probably even if you don't like it when you get it. Auctions you can only return for authenticity and even then, some auction houses can give you a hard time. The key with buying anywhere really come down to buying from a reputable source. Not all auction houses are reputable IMO either.

TIF is right on with his recommendations.

 

Yep...that's what I tell myself.

 

I couldn't agree more, and I fixed if for you!

 

A word of warning... those auctions can be terribly addictive! Checking for comparable hammered prices on acsearch will help with arriving at your maximum bid at those auctions, but don't forget to check in on Vcoins at the same time. While deals can be had at even large auctions, you'll often find that coins eventually end up selling for prices higher than what coins in comparable grade list for at Vcoins.