People who use E-bay as a Pricing Tool

Actually, if they query the page at intervals once they have seen a given listing once, they can capture the current bid... which would give them the history, might miss a bid or a few, but pretty neat. Thanks.

 

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Not for BIN/BO, I think. Offers aren't published while the auction is still running.

For that matter, auction bid histories are available while the auction is running, just anonymized.

 

Maybe, but there are other features that they've disabled after tolerating them for several years. "Old-style" search was one; for a year or two after it was retired, Watchcount exposed it through their tools, allowing you to keep using wildcard searches (among other things).

It really cramped my style when eBay discontinued that API, because it actually displayed new BIN listings more quickly than the standard search, effectively giving me a headstart on other buyers. I got some excellent deals out of that. Now they're much harder to come by, because getting to them first is strictly a matter of luck (and willingness to spend time compulsively pounding the refresh button...)

 

Low price outliers are a problem as well - when selling. The other day I was at a show trying to sell a couple old type coins of mine that I had recently upgraded. The dealer pulls up an eBay auction for an NGC MS66 that sold for $25 recently and uses this information to price my other coins.

Here's the thing, I was the buyer of the MS66 for $25, and that's why I was selling my old examples! $25 was already cheap for a raw MS66, plus grading fees, I would have readily paid 2-3 times as much.

The point is, a lowball like that is not a market indicator. Both my old type examples graded MS64 and MS65 were each worth more wholesale than what I paid for the MS66 in this case. And it's not that uncommon either. There are plenty of times where I've upgraded a coin and come out ahead dollar wise after selling my old example.

 

Oh, no. Offers are private, I believe, except accepted ones of course, then that's just sales history. Hmm... make me wonder, is that visible after the sale on a Best Offer? A seller who offers the same coin in multiple quantities available, wouldn't that basically reveal their acceptable $$.¢¢ for the item, in which case a smart buyer would not offer above that?

 

If you look on the original sales page it shows the item selling for full price

 

One can only hope this isn't in reference to @Blissskr, and simply because he was in no way criticizing you. In fact, his posts read as if he's gone out of his way to hopefully help you.

As for your contention that the rules are "hypocritical", please check this out....

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/cd...cussion-here-at-cointalk.272720/#post-2311610

Assuming you know who this gentleman is, perhaps simply consider following his lead and ask if you've any concerns. If truly not a commercial venture as you've repeatedly claimed, I personally don't see why they'd have a problem with it. In fact, if doing it for the right reasons, I think it a commendable effort.

Perhaps you could clarify exactly what you mean by "basics"?

My point in asking is that many, many collectors, and particularly those with limited funds, would be wise to consider spending their money elsewhere; all depends on the individual. Just one example of many could be quality reference material, and if you've ever known someone who insisted on buying coins they knew little about, you'll surely know why this is.

 

That shows what the buy it now price WAS. You just have to know that. When you search "sold items", it shows the actual sale price. That is how you should use ebay to price items.

 

The guy you are quoting is a scam with shill bidding - there is only one bidder bidding on his items, and he has a feedback rating around 80%. A few weeks later the "sold" items are right back on ebay.

 

I see absolutely no problem with going by Ebay as a guideline to see how much a 1885 Morgan CC graded MS 65 by PCGS would cost or sale fore, it's the easiest and current method to find out info on any particular Coin, I can look at a price guide all day and say we'll I know I'm gonna make 500 on this particular coin lol give me a break

 

Sold listings can be used as a pricing guideline but sometimes it can be used inappropriately.

A while back when I was selling Chinese coins, there were a couple that were somewhat scarce and rarely appear online for sale. An interested buyer sent me a message saying that my prices were too high. I was puzzled over his comments and he sent me links of sold COUNTERFEIT coins. Needless to say, it was sold to another buyer who know what he was getting.

Now how frustrating would it be if you are a seller?

 

I'm not a fan of some of the search changes they've made either. Some of their changes have seemed like change for the sake of change

 

If your going to sale on Ebay I would start my price out at exactly what you paid for that particular coin and do it as a auction, if you start a 500 dollar coin off for .99 cents with no reserve you have no one to blame but your self if it sales for 350

 

Yes, but you're not considering the psychology of eBay bidding.

If I start the coin at 99 cents, it will get bids, and more bids beget more bids. This increases the chance that it'll go well over $500.

If I start the coin at $500, there's a very real chance that it won't sell at all, or that there will be exactly one snipe that takes it for $500 and no more.

If I start the coin at 99 cents with a reserve, there are many people who will refuse to bid until the reserve is met, and again I'm reducing my potential upside.

There is no single winning strategy for maximizing the sold price on eBay. That's why we still see a variety of approaches, even after 20+ years, and even among experienced sellers.

 

eBay is not a true auction in my mind, in that I can just make a bid of what I am willing to pay and go away. If someone beats my bid, so be it. I made my judgement already. The drive to WIN is not in my decision. The desire to buy at MY price is. I may not win as many auctions as others, but I'm bidding against a larger clock, that of time itself. There'll always be another coin of that date mint and condition that comes along. I am bidding against probability. In fact, I can probably even calculate how long before my bid will be a winning one, but that I'm not concerned about. There's a price for impatience, and rather than pay it, I am lucky enough to want any number of coins at any given time, and if I win one auction a week? It's usually something I really want and I get it at a very good price.

 

You're describing a rational bidding process. Many (most?) eBay bidders are not fully rational.

Suppose you've been looking for a particular coin for a while. You've bid on many, but you've always lost, sometimes by just one bid increment. Are you sure that you'll never cave in and bump up your bid just a little bit, at the last minute, in hopes that this time you'll come out on top?

If so, congratulations -- but I'm pretty sure you're in a small minority.

 

As long as your smart enough to use a reserve that will work as well

 

I'm rationalizing, not rational. Of course I have. but if you really think it through, and have proof that now and then a coin of a given grade DOES sell at a given value, you can do alright my way.

 

Plenty of sellers just cancel the sale when something like that occurs with some type of canned response to the buyer and Ebay doesn't give a care.

 

Pretty much this. Very few sellers can make the .99 cent work unless they're shill bidding it. Everyone else is going to eat it a lot of the time with those sales. Too many games are played with listing visibility and to many buyers lose interest in the auction now that eBay makes you use a 5 day or longer time frame.