Looking for tips and tricks for the best way to bid on coins on the online auction houses. Is it worth it with all of the extra fees? My goal is to pick up bags of common date low grade gold and silver. Thanks!
I think you'll have a hard time finding bags offered by the auction houses. Your best bet for that is to use a dealer. And there are no extra fees. You are of course referring to the buyer's fee and it is quite common for people to think of that as an extra fee. But in reality it isn't. You pay the same amount, and sometimes even less, by purchasing through an auction house as you would if you bought from a dealer. Only difference is the auction house tells you that you are going to pay a buyer's fee and the dealer doesn't. He just adds it to his price.
With these auctions what is the best way to bid. I was thinking of just waiting for the 2nd to last day & bid on whatever's left that interests me. I bid too early it may start a bidding war?
Last time I checked, when Silver was around $11.50 an ounce, I could buy junk 90% for 10x face. Bags of gold? Don't see many people selling those, figure that gold coins are worth very roughly 40-50x face, a $1,000 bag would be $40-50,000 Not sure how big of a demand there is for that.
there is an issue there and its isn't that simple. The coin has a price, and then you have shipping and handling. The price at the hammer of the auction is often the same price that the deal sells at, but with the buyers fees. Ultimately, you should try to figure your entire cost of a coin's acquisition into your bigs and figures, but that doesn't always work out. Ruben
No it doesn't Ruben because it is not a $20,000 coin - it is a $23,000 coin. That is precisely the mistake everybody makes. If a coin regularly sells for $20K at a dealer's shop - then you'll pay $17,392 plus $2,608 (15%) for a total of $20k at the auction house. I really wish people could understand this. Whether you buy a coin at an auction house or from a dealer - it still cost the same amount !
The best way to be successful at auction is (a) do your homework on the price side, (b) have someone experienced assess the coins in-hand, and (c) don't get caught up in "auction fever". If you do (a) - (c) above, yes, it is worth all of the extra fees, in my opinion. Hope this helps...Mike p.s. it is almost always better to wait until the last possible moment to bid -- but this is not always feasible, so a "bid early and forget" strategy works for some.
I am going to wait till the last day. Auction house is actually pretty close to my house to there is no S&H charges LOL I will let you know how i do
Or substitute CAC sticker for (b) have someone experienced assess coins in-hand. PS: I find that sniping is only really necessary on E-Bay. If I get outbid in a Heritage auction, it is almost always by a floor bidder.
well i will say that although technically you are correct. the real world is a different place. i just got to type your post to you welcome to my world or not since i only follow these days and dont buy sigh
I've personally seen coins go at Heritage for prices that line up with deal full prices, and then seen the auction house price tacked on. He here always quote Heritage auction prices and forget the percentage. This is less likely to happen with a $20,000 coin as the bidders get more savey, but it routinely happens so its not just a black and white issue. Also, its been noted here that the Heritage percentage is sometimes split with the seller for expensive coins. That has to be a function of the fact that as the prices go up, the percentage becomes so hefty that it is in Heritages interest to split some of that profit with the coin seller. So in theory I agree with you but in the real world of auction, it just doesn't pan out. In fact when you bid at Heritage, the auction costs are not inside the bid. They are tacked on after the bidding ends. That is not an accident. That is marketing, likely based on realtime marketing data. Ruben
At heritage all these things are right up there for you to do when purchasing and bidding but it is up to YOU to do the math on the percentages. And you can look back at old auctions to access values .... sorry Leigh...no need for the Bogus CAC sticker. Ruben
Still don't get it do you ? Of course the buyer's fees are not inside the bid - they aren't supposed to be. They are separated so the seller (consignor) of the coin knows how much he gets. Bottom line is this Ruben - as the buyer your total costs are the same whether you buy a coin from an auction house or someplace else. Is that simple enough ? If there were extra fees then any coin bought from an auction house would cost more than the same coin bought elsewhere. Since it does not cost more if bought elsewhere - there are NO EXTRA FEES !
You really couldn't be more wrong here, in my opinion.... 99.99% of people realize that the 15% buyers fee is added on to their bid. I'd say 100%, but didn't want to leave you out. That said, you are right it is a marketing gimick, but it doesn't fool many...or at least I thought it didn't.
