There is a coin listed on Ebay, starting price $10. I have 3 of them from the same year, they are one of coins that are rare but not very valuable, and I figure it is worth about $20. Thing is, he's charging $12 for shipping! Holy cow Batman. OK, I just needed to vent. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380218224545&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Maybe he justifies it because he's in Canada. I don't. I bought a huge stuffed Pokemon from China and got free shipping.
Since you still have time before the auction ends, send the seller a message and ask about the shipping fee. Explain you want to bid on the coin, but that the shipping fee is holding you back and even throw a number out as to what shipping charge is fair in your opinion. See what happens. I've done this many times, you'd be surprised how many people make adjustments for you on the final invoice. The worst thing that could happen is he'll email you back saying "shipping is what it is".
I noticed that the shipping fees for all his other coins are just $3 - so I don't buy the whole 'he's in Canada thing'. I took Rhino's advice and sent him a friendly note to inquire about it. He replied "Due to the value of this coin, shipping is by registered tracked mail only". Maybe he is expecting his $20 coin to sell for $200? I'll send him another note *if* it doesn't sell, make him an offer to buy it and pay $3 for shipping.
Good idea. Make sure you mention that if it gets no bids, here is your offer. A lot of sellers will kind of ignore you, but in my experience as soon as that item ends with no bids they quickly realize they better sell to the 1 person who is interested, or they're stuck with their item that is bringing them $0 in sales. I recently had an experience with a seller who listed 3 banknotes that I wanted, but the starting price was a bit high on each one. After all 3 got no bids, I negotiated with the seller for a couple days and ended up getting the 3 notes for 40% off the starting prices.
Yeah, and he really thinks he hit the jackpot now! The listing only had 17 hits before I posted a link to it on here. It's up to 45 in a matter of hours! Quick, get the guy a napkin, he's starting to salivate.
The seller JUST put a reserve on the coin. I think he's afraid his $20 coin might sell for just the opening bid of $10 - not the $200 he thinks the coin is worth.
I wish the photo was better, as it is hard to tell if it is the pointed transitional bust or not. If it is , the variety value should be higher than the normal. Jim
Yes you see it there but the point of this is that his shipping is excessive for a coin that weighs a few grams. He is making profit on shipping which is against ebays policy