People overpay for coins on ebay

Pricing for Graded Coins, at least.

I agree that the risk of buying non-graded coins from eBay has gone WAY up in the last half decade. And, like others, I rarely buy non-graded coins on eBay anymore. The biggest issue left is that valuing those prices is a bit tough too.

I use www.shoeboxcoins.com for this - they trend the prices of NGC and PCGS coins and you can see graphs of this data. There is a link to a report on the examples page.

For me - more of an armchair collector - I just can't keep track of what a certain coin is worth over time. Just not into the knowledge as much as I could be - but MAN - I do LOVE owning these gorgeous pieces of history, you know it?

I also have to agree with some coins going WAY over value on eBay, but yet - I don't think I could bare with selling one of my pieces. We need to get over that as collectors, and allow our coins to be sold high and then later we buy low. Might as well get some coins into our collection at no cost, you know it?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

We already have our own "SS" in place here to Keep The Commander_in_Chief and Currency current.

Plus some folks just can't get Out & About to do all their shopping 1st person.
So having USPS drop off your order (or tote it back if it is Bogas) is not an awful option.

 

Kent
CDN is "the Coin Dealer newsletter" also called the Greysheet.
See : http://www.greysheet.com/ Dealeers use this as a pricing aid. The prices quoted are not intended to be retail, in the fine print it says "The prices in this newsletter are from Dealt-to-Dealer transations; you should expect to pay a premium above Ask when purchasing coins in a retail transaction..."

The electronic version is inexpensive and worth the cost to help set realistic cost expectations for collectors.

 

I don't buy many coins off ebay but I've bought some 2000, 2001,2003 ect. silver proof sets and got prices same as the mint or lower , been lucky I guess no problems. : )

 

I put...-rep* -cop*...in the search line and that gets rid of most of them.

 

But if 10 million idiots are paying $x for a coin, isnt $x the new price?

 

The world is coming to an end....Toad is buying silver.

I am always searching ebay, but bid on very few coins and then win even fewer. And yes some of the ones I want the most tend to attrack the real collectors who know what the coin is worth. Just another outlet, but I use online dealers more.

 

I stumbled on eBay in 2005 and I couldn't believe it...I could buy 50 year old OBW rolls for near melt! Now they're selling for twice melt...and melt has doubled. I gotta think eBay has brought a lot more new collectors into the market place...that's a good thing, right? ...or maybe we only want them in the market place when it's time for us to sell.

 

I can't imagine any one of us can say we haven't overpaid for a coin. Most of the time we do so because we have no choice, because of demand, or because they just don't come up for sale often. I think a lot of people pay more on the Bay not because they don't know any better, but because a lot of us don't live in or near cities with coin shops and shows, and have no options to buy except online. If you had the choice of paying 25% more for a coin or taking a day off work to drive 400 miles to the city to a shop that may or may not have what you're looking for, the choice is obvious.
Guy~

 

Isn't this the reason that most people overbid -- in any kind of auction -- they want it, can afford it, and don't care if they overpay? It's the reason so many otherwise affordable coins have increased in "value" by ridiculous amounts. People with more money than good sense ratchet up prices in auctions. It has put many good coins way out of reach for most of us. The law of supply and demand, in coins, is out of control.

 

It could be but it almost changes too much with way too many variables. It can depend on the day listed, the time of day listed, and ends up being the luck of the draw whether several people are looking for something at that particular time or not. After that, you have to factor in how desperate the least educated bidder is who wants to buy it. Obviously, this can lead to major price swings from day to day. Of course, some things stay in a general range.
One anomaly I'd like to use is the 1938-D/S buffalo nickels. I've watched many high grade examples sell on ebay over the last couple of months. People consistently pay $150 for MS-65 examples. But then I've also watched many MS-66 examples also sell for $150! So are people overpaying for the 65s or stealing the 66's? It makes no sense. This happens on a routine basis.

Another thing I've noticed is that a lot of people here laugh at Red book prices and tell people to ignore them. That's fine. But when it comes to Ebay, a lot of stuff sells very close, +/- 10% to red book prices on average. I've watched many Morgans sell within a few cents of redbook. I'll even say more often than not. When it comes to lower grade stuff, people will often pay 2-3x red book on there. I've done it myself.

I've heard several people say they expect to be able to buy a coin at 10-20% below red book but it doesn't happen very often on Ebay. It does happen at shows but not the rule.

Maybe people pay out of frustration or maybe it's simply convenience because they don't know anywhere else to go. Besides Heritage, for better or worse, I don't know anywhere that has the typical selection that Ebay has on a daily basis, all in one place. Probably for lack of other sources, people are willing to pay the premiums from the comfort of their own home. If it's a good coin, maybe it's worth it.

I just think that many times people end up getting in bidding wars over stuff that really shouldn't be fought over and likely wouldn't be if the majority were able to grade or identify problems. It's definately something to consider before hitting the bid button.

It's almost like a chaos, where good deals are born out of pure luck by bidding at the last second and hoping the goof ball you're bidding against has already went to bed. Which can make the end price very inconclusive in the grand scheme of things. I guess maybe just another number to throw in the moving average.

 

Completely agree and I'm in this group you speak of. Even if I had a coin shop nearby, the chances that they may have even one example of a lower mintage or rarer coin is slim. The odds they would have several examples to pick from would be not likely at all. Well said.

 

I have also heard of people bidding up prices for their friends and then retracting bids when they have gone too high. I personally lose alot of auctions because I have my price set that I am willing to pay and stick to it. Really clutters my email inbox though! It is easy to get caught up in the you've been outbid, don't let it get away!!

 

How about this thought? Maybe the reason buyers are bidding higher on Ebay is they are rationalizing the buying 'there' instead of driving to a show?
I always try to get my coins from local dealers but even then that relies on what comes in their stores.
I rarely ever bid a coin on Ebay and if I do I place my max bid including shipping at CDN prices; if the bid exceeds that, then, well, I don't need the coin.
However, I always followed this philosophy in the past because I had the time and ability to go to at least 20-24 coin shows a year.
The past year my situation changed so without the ability to go to shows as often, I have wondered about pursuing a coin or two on Ebay knowing full well it may cost me more than it would at a show but I'm saving the travel expense.
I don't have that much Ebay experience but I wonder if the buyers are exceeding reasonable bidding limits because they rationalize that extra few dollars for one or two coins is more economical than a tank of gas to drive to a show?
Just a thought.

 

Last time i checked its what an auction is all about , do you expect sellers and bidders to abide by what you feel is the fair market value ?

 

Well as that may be true in most cases, I try to sell coins sometimes on ebay at a fair market value which is almost always lower then book value and let them grade it because what one person may see another may see it another way and guess what they don't sell. But you can bet that if I would put it on there for a very low starting bid I will almost always lose money, so why bother. It works both ways for sellers on ebay that try to sell nice grade coins that aren't slabed it's a big risk for them to. Not all sellers on ebay are rip offs, but they still get ripped off themselfs sometimes. Some of us are just trying to help people find some nice coins there looking for. Believe it or not I even get griped at for $2.00 shipping because I use bubble wrap mailers that cost me .44 cents and then there's a little thing called postage charge of $1.41 so after all that and paper and ink I'm not making any money off shipping, but I see people buy coins all the time with $4.95 and higher shipping whats up with that? Oh I forgot just like the coin shop you go to if your now happy I hope they will refund your money well if your not happy ebay will refund your money even if the seller won't.
Bob

 

I'm doing it just for kicks. I'll be selling it off soon.

Ribbit

 

Just being a smart*** here, Doug, but don't people pay on a daily basis in excess of $1000 for what is essentially 1 cent coins? Whats the difference? It's supply and demand, whether it's a key Lincoln, or a piece of junk.
Guy~