Selling on ebay.

I'm gonna try to sell some circulated silver Roosevelt dimes. I'm gonna give it a one day sale and see how it goes. I wouldn't think anybody would look seven days in the future for a dollar-something coin. If somebody bids close to what it's worth a week in advance, nobody is going to bid much more, I wouldn't think. I don't see much of a bidding war for stuff like that.

 

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Have you checked out what 'lot' silver is selling for instead of individual coins?

 

Believe it or not, I was just thinking about that.

Great minds think alike.:bow::high5:

 

Lots, seem to bring a much better price for sure. I have only sold a couple of coin items, but I spend a lot of time looking and seeing what others are doing. I even low balled a few bids. About all I can add, is that for me, it is something to fill the day. And it does add to it when the item you are selling starts getting bids.

Realistically, if I were anyplace except Las Vegas, I would sell coins to a dealer. Here, I can only get melt value minus about 30-40%. I could make more, shipping them to a smelter myself.

 

For me, I try to sell a coin through regular channels. Dealers , coin shows, etc. If an item languishes in my inventory, I HIRE ebay at 10-12 % to find me a buyer. That's how I like to look at it. Even if I lose a few bucks its worth it to me to move that money into something I can mabe do better on next time. I love ebay (ten years on it) and it is a wonderful, useful tool. It is by far the greatest advancement to the national marketplace the world has ever known. Respect it and be an asset to it and keep it a positive place to do business.

 

Man, that is a great way to view it. I was donating my stuff, until I learned that much was being resold or tossed. Figured I could sell it myself, then I could afford to buy more stuff. LOL

Think I will try and adapt your philosophy, sounds good !

 

Yeah, and when I'm selling at a show and someone wants a lower price I come down what Ebay will charge me and it usually seals the deal. I'll even put it that way to the person and they usually understand or accept the logic and that keeps me from going needlessly lower. Like I said, Ebay is a true advantage if used properly. The discruntleds would do better to get over it and get selling or buying again. JMO

 

Not to change the subject, but today I received a quarter I bought from ebay. It was in a plain white envelope with the edges sealed in tape. The quarter was sandwiched between two envelope-sized pieces of cardboard. The seller wrote the word "photos" on the envelope.
I thought that was a very good idea.

 

If you're going to be selling alot, buy a "Do Not Bend" stamp.

 

Tell me if you think this is bait and switch

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=310213994233&view=all&tid=0

Obviously this guy is getting an income from the 3% restocking fees. I asked ebay if there was any recourse and they only gave me instructions to contact the seller which I have tried already. Should I just not pay and take the negative feedback out of principle? Should I play his game and buy the item and return it with the hassle and fees? What would you do?

 

Here's the problem about the item. The photo and title say MS70 but the fine print description says Proof.

 

Dead link.......

 

They should allow you to use anyone of there services for free! Using
The 99 cent auction feature isnt for everybody, Some of us need to
Make money and most of the time its e-bay and pay pal!!

 

I agree. Why charge anything but a final value fee. If there was a better fee schedule and shipping costs were not so outrageous, I think many more people would take advantage of the site. I have a lot of junk myself that I would like to swap out for other junk stuff, but the costs involved just kill it.

With things that are worth a higher minimum, wouldn't they make more when it sells anyway ? I mean, I have a $20 item that I listed twice and paid the fee. If it doesn't sell this time, I'll just toss it in a box. Why give it away, or keep paying for not selling it ?

 

I am happy with the convenience in buying and selling on EBay but I'm always in for a sticker shock when I get the bill.

 

Heard that ! Since I can no longer drive, I really don't get to spend much time shopping in stores, but I cannot save any money, because I can get stuff delivered to my door. Darn internet ! LOL

 

Yeah ya got that right! I don't print the label and all that extra cost type of stuff. the way I figure it, they are getting enough money from my sale as it is. hya:

 

I love buying on ebay. Hate selling. I haven't tried selling any coins on ebay but I suspect it would be much easier to do right now than many other things. I recently listed some electronics items. Two with a reserve and one with no reserve. The no reserve one sold very, very cheap. Was hardly worth bothering with but, it also had been collecting dust in a room for years.

The other two items didn't even meet 50% of my set reserve which was unbelievable to me. I did not relist. Even though I don't need the items, I would rather let them sit around my house and rot than waste time and hassle on shipping something that has at minimum double the value people bid it up to. FWIW, one of the listed items I was selling was my PS2 slim with many games, 2 memory cards and other accessories. After a 7 day auction, it was bid up to around $60. Which is a joke. Granted, I know they can be had pretty cheap now, but there was no way in hell I was going to let it all go for less than $120 plus shipping. Even at that, that would be giving it away to me. So that was a severe disappointment.

At the end of the month, I find out that I accidentally listed a couple of the items in MULTIPLE CATEGORIES! Which amounts to leaving a box checked that was filled in for you. Well, then I find out that the reserve price fee was $2.00 per item, per category. In the end, after the listing fees, paypal fees, final sale price and shipping, I actually lost money selling 1 out of my 3 items. It was the worst disaster I've had on ebay since signing up in 2000. Normally, you can judge pretty close what you can get, but I screwed up big time this last time. So much for the "No more listing fees" they advertised. That's impossible to do.

The fees amount to roughly 10 to 12% off the top and if you stray away from the higher dollar hobby areas, the buyers get VERY CHEAP and expect you to be their slave until the transaction is complete. Oh yeah, and if they screw you, you don't get to leave negative feedback as a seller.

Other than that, have fun!!

 

I am new seller on eBay too

The way I try to look at the operating costs of doing business on eBay is:

Make sure you paid no more than 50% of the real world value for the item
you intend to sell. Sell the item for 125% of real world value. PayPal & Ebay combined take 25% with insertion fees , enhanced photo fees , combined shipping & combined payment options and finally final value fees. I know that offering free shipping is a real magnet to buyers , but I am not prepared to do that at this time. I use the handy eBay shipping calculator and pass that fee onto the buyer up front. I even allow the buyer to change the checkout total in case they want to select an alternate shipping method. Any way I can make their buying experience a rewarding one for them & a profitable 1 for me , I'll do it. It took me a while ( 2 days ) to discover the option of blocking bidders from every country except those with primary addresses in USA & Canada.

Like any small business that is just getting started , I expect to spend money building my positive reputation , even if it is at a MINOR financial loss on occasion.

I will not be trying to sell anything on eBay that I would not be willing to simply part with at a loss and move on.

If I ever start to acquire high value coins and actually wanted to part with them , I think I will try selling them on the OPEN forums here on CoinTalk or to a local dealer.

 

But they have the policy now of refunding 1 instance of your listing fees when you relist it AND it sells.