What about eBay?

Discussion in 'Frequently Asked Questions' started by jody526, Jan 30, 2005.

  1. jody526

    jody526 New Member

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  3. cdb1950

    cdb1950 Senior Member

  4. NOS

    NOS Former Coin Hoarder

    I use ebay alot to buy but rarely to sell in part due to ebays greed. Who do they think they are raising their fee's 50-60%! As if they aren't getting enough money. They can get away with it too cuz people will just keep on selling and listing.
     
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  5. mrsushi66

    mrsushi66 New Member


    I didnt sell much prior to the fees going up but I agree with your observation. I bought a sealed mint box of Silver Eagles and sold off what I didnt want to keep and I wasnt looking to make a killing just a bit to help lower the cost of the rolls I kept and I have to say I am going to try it one more time but between EBAY FEES and PAYPAL FEES I felt like it was not worth it.

    Paul
     
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  6. NOS

    NOS Former Coin Hoarder

    Indeed. If I sell again I might not accept paypal now.
     
  7. ndgoflo

    ndgoflo Senior Member

    I haven't checked in awhile, but I thought Paypal only charged about 2% + .30 for each transaction. 2%, heck, I'm lucky if I see 55-60% of my payroll checks. 2% is nothing!!! Ebays fees are about the same, let's see, you can run an auction for well under the cost of a classified ad, but the classified ad doesn't take a final value fee. But then again the classified ad does not have a circulation of 54 million (the # of registered ebayers, last # I have heard) And how many times might you have to run the ad before it finally gets noticed and sells? Don't forget that you don't have to pay rent or utilities like you would for a brick & mortar store. I too used to think that the fees were a bit excessive, and then I realized they aren't too bad at all. Just my 2 cents.
     
  8. NOS

    NOS Former Coin Hoarder

    Well yes those are some good points. I remember though when I listed a poster for $9.99 it got a bid and was flawless and then a few days later I got an invoice notice that $1 was going to be charged for all their stupid fees! That is a rediculous amount and imagine listing 50 auctions.
     
  9. leatherface

    leatherface New Member

    i have thought about selling on ebay, what would be better?

    going straight to a dealer?
     
  10. satootoko

    satootoko Retired

    It all depends.

    Are you an experienced EBayer?

    Do you have enough information about your individual coins to
    • Properly set opening bids?
    • Know when (and when not) to use reserve prices?
    • post listings which will attract the attention of knowledgeable buyers?

    If you have answered no to any of those questions, are you prepared to take the time and invest the effort to change your answers?

    Do you understand that dealers will
    • Buy at prices that enable them to anticipate a reasonable profit on resale?
    • Not spend a lot of time and effort cataloging, grading and evaluating your coins before making an offer (unless you agree to pay them an appraisal fee)?

    In numismatics, as in other areas of life, there are very few easy, cut and dried, answers.
     
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  11. SFDukie

    SFDukie Member

    Consignment option

    Roy makes some good points. Another option is to consign them to someone who will list them on ebay and take a portion of the proceeds. If you have only a small number of less valuable coins, it may ,make the most sense to have a dealer buy them at wholesale. Higher value coins may do better on eBay or one the the auction sites.
    Don
     
  12. RevAl

    RevAl New Member

    Wow, injust fiveminutes my clarity came in the form of sahred experiences. Thank you all so much. I have acquired some coins and been cleared to investigate the sale of them, only I didn't have the fainest idea of where to start. I went to e-bay as recommended but was quickly overwhelmed, as it was my first visit. So, again, thank you very much. I will continue to seek guidance and insight from you all.

    RevAl
     
  13. walterallen

    walterallen Coin Collector

    How come no one brought up the thing that turns me off as a buyer on e-bay and that's the obvious over charge for S&H. It is apperent to me that sellers are tring to recoupe loses this way. Everytime I hear e-bay is charging more I see the S&H fees go up across the board. It makes it hard for collectors to want to shop there versus going to a dealer and paying his mark up. At least at the dealer shop you can look at the coin first hand.
     
  14. CoinGremlin

    CoinGremlin New Member

    Reluctantly sticking with ebay

    I sell quite a bit on ebay, at realized prices of $10-$100. My overall fees are about 10%, which I find to be the least possible overhead for a sales operation. Beats flea markets, shows, newpaper ads and b&m hands down. But I'm sure that's not the case for many of you. Do I hate to get that monthly ebay statement? SURE DO. Do I flinch when I see the paypal fee? SURE DO. Do I cry and complain to the wife when a good item gets low-balled? YEP. But I've tried every sales method known to man, and still come back to ebay. LOL.
    JMHO!
     
  15. CoinGremlin

    CoinGremlin New Member

    I should have mentioned that my comments apply to part-time sales. Full-timers and serious dealers probably find other methods superior, and seem usually to use all the means available!
     
  16. blueshound

    blueshound New Member

    It is true that nothing is free. If I list an item with a very low opening bid (far less than it's true value) I will increase S&H to cover at least my cost to ship, the ebay and pypal fees, and at least something for the item. This is a very common practice and wise buyers will always verify the S&H before placing a bid. Also, the Final value fee does not apply to S&H so the seller saves a little there.
     
  17. Indianhead65

    Indianhead65 Well-Known Member

    These sellers on Ebay are charging a high amount for S&H to stay away from Ebays sky high fees. Say the seller has a 1888 Liberty nickel "Buy it now" for $1.00 but S&H is $45.00, Ebay cant charge fees on your shipping amount but they can on the selling price, as strange as it is, thats the way they dodge Ebay fees. I have never sold anything on Ebay myself but I do buy alot there.
     
  18. tradernick

    tradernick Coin Hoarder

    Between ebay and paypal or visa/mc (I don't accept paypal and I'm damn proud of it), the fees usually run about 8%. Sure some folks still send checks...we encourage that. But when I list something I assume that 10% (round number) will go toward fees. It stinks but there's no online alternative, really. So I keep plugging away :)
    Nick
     
  19. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author Thalia and Kieran's Dad

    I stopped selling (not coins, wasn't back into it at that point) after eBay more or less mandated that you had to "upgrade" to accept credit cards on your Paypal account (I will skip the ugly details of that unless anyone asks).

    That meant Paypal got a chunk of EVERY transaction of yours whether the buyer used a credit card or not. Dirty pool in my opinion.

    However, many, many buyers skip listings if the seller doesn't accept Paypal. The result is a lower gross amount for the item.

    In terms of buying coins, we are still at the low end, and S+H pushes the "to my door" price way above what I could get the coin for at my local dealer... plus I get to look at the real thing first. I am not at the point where I trust the listings for coins (unlike model trains, where I can spot bunco from a mile away).

    So the net of it is that I mostly "window shop" on eBay for coins. Kinda the opposite of what the "norm" is eh?
     
  20. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author Thalia and Kieran's Dad

    Hmm, for some reason I can't edit my previous post. I left out a key word in one of the sentences: it should read:

    "I am not at the point where I trust the listings for higher-priced coins"...

    I don't worry so much if it's a $5 coin for Thalia Elizabeth, since the downside is, well, $5, but the shipping usually pushes me right over to the local coin dealers.
     
  21. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author Thalia and Kieran's Dad


    eBay claimed that it would be cracking down on this practice, which shows up in other categories as well. Obviously that would be to their benefit...

    Amazon.com's used book mart mandates what the shipping charges are to be. No wiggle room. I like that as a buyer but it's not so good as the seller, I suppose.
     
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