eBay makes me sick.

Yes, there are many distractions and dishonest sellers on eBay. But there are even more honest sellers, and if you know what you're doing, there are still great deals to be had.
Look at these three listings I missed out on this week. I'm assembling a set of Barber halves. These are three listings for coins that expired two days ago, together these Barber Halves retail for over $500, and they could have been had by a savvy buyer for $30.00. But they went unsold because nobody bid on them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/360417971902?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130617305707?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130616979357?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

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I think that's not exactly what happened. Each of the auctions says "This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available." In other words, they did go "unsold because nobody bid on them" -- because the seller pulled the auctions before anybody placed a bid.

Wise buyers always wait until the last minute to bid, so as not to give information to less knowledgeable bidders. This tends to minimize final bid prices.

Wise sellers hate this -- because it tends to minimize final bid prices. Some respond by pulling auctions that go too long without bids, or canceling all bids and ending the auction if they don't like the way it's going.

Maybe these three coins were pulled because they were no longer available. But that 1892-S is mysteriously available again now, with four bids already. I'm quite sure it'll go for comfortably more than $30, even with that unfortunate obverse bullet-hole -- assuming the seller doesn't yank it again.

There are still good deals to be had. But don't be too sad about these three "missed opportunities" -- because they really weren't.

 

If anyone ever has free time and see's an ebay opportunity like this send me a PM, and I will send 20% of the value you saved me via paypal.

 

That reminds me of the old joke...

 

If you're looking for opportunities, hang out in the "newly listed" Buy It Now list. People sometimes list things for much less than they're worth, but you've got to be quick to get to them before anyone else.

I've gotten silver for less than half melt, gold for hundreds of dollars below melt, and common things like dateless Buffalos for less than half the going rate. Sometimes it's a typo or a simple mistake; when the seller says that, I always offer to let them back out. Sometimes they get hostile before I have a chance to contact them at all; I let it slide, not even leaving negative feedback. Everybody makes mistakes, and sometimes people panic.

It's been a while since I've caught a really good deal this way, though. Lately, I spend more time trawling through the "collection" and "lot" listings, looking for potential goodies that are poorly described. It's inherently hard work, though -- if the treasure is easy to spot, others will spot it, too, and the final bidding will reflect it.

 

Thanks for pointing out that little detail. I feel better already.

"Wise buyers always wait until the last minute to bid, so as not to give information to less knowledgeable bidders. This tends to minimize final bid prices.

Wise sellers hate this -- because it tends to minimize final bid prices. Some respond by pulling auctions that go too long without bids, or canceling all bids and ending the auction if they don't like the way it's going."

I actually had these coins in my watch list and was waiting to bid precisely for the reasons you state above, bidding too early is a sure-fire way to drive the price up. Apparently the seller was getting antsy too.

Good to know the seller pulled them instead of the listings expiring without a bid.



Read more: http://www.cointalk.com/t196669-2/#ixzz1goDBeyod

 

lol

 

My 2cents

:dead-horse:Not all sellers lie to sell.
but in the pass 2 years as a buyer & seller eBay has gone down hill fast!

 

It doesn't bother me. I don't have much garbage come up in my searches. It depends on what you search for. You have to be specific. Unsearched rolls are a joke and should be ignored. The definition of "unsearched" covers such a broad range that anybody buying these are suckers.
The seller's going to believe that they are in the right, by their own definition and the buyer will believe they're in the right by their definition. In the end the seller dumps junk that wouldn't sell and the buyer is out money. Some people are so passive that they get ripped off and thank the dealers anyway. I've seen it in the feedback.

 

All in all, I still like eBay.
If one exercises caution, one can find good coins and other collectible items there.
I won't buy if:
There are no returns allowed.
There are not clear photos of BOTH SIDES of the coin.
The seller doesn't have good (not necessarily perfect) feedback.
Sellers who leave nasty follow-ups to a negative or neutral feedback won't get my business either.

 

Funny, or maybe just a reason to start a thread! Most likely both. :devil:

 

20K+ sales 100% feedback

 

Good advice, wish I would have read this post before trying to sell on ebay.

 

Don't hate me for this but you spelled stupid wrong.

 

Word of caution item selling less than spot which look too good to be true or most often too good to be true, they are likely fake or stolen items. The seller is hoping to get of rid of them asap before it can be detected by ebayers and tagged as a fake item.

 

Not in my experience. I've nabbed dozens of such items this year, and only one turned out fake. As for "stolen", there's obviously not much of a provenance trail on most junk silver you buy on eBay, but that's still a pretty nasty accusation to throw around on the basis of speculation.

 

Right, so what is it about their coins that they can't accept returns? If you're at a coin show and the person sees the coin in-hand, fine. I understand why there would be no returns, but to ask someone to fork over big bucks based on photos that may or may not be a complete representation of the coin in-hand, then no. I don't think that's reasonable. But as was pointed out earlier, Ebay will ALWAYS side with the buyer and all the buyer has to do is say the item is not as described and the seller will be forced to accept it back, so I suppose it's a moot point. Which then begs the question - why bother to say "no returns"?!? You miss out on so much business and you have to accept returns nevertheless? Just doesn't make any sense to me. :rollling:

 

Couple years ago large number of gold coins that were stolen from coin shop ended up being sold in such manner in ebay. As for fakes: a lot of Chinese modern and ancient fake coin are sold with buy it now prices way below their BV you can visit panda forums for more info on that. I was referring to buying in general using the strategy not directed towards junk silver...

 

Handling returns entails significant expense. If you say you accept returns, you're effectively offering to sell coins on approval. That's very different from selling them (in good faith) with a "no returns" policy, and only accepting returns if there's a not-as-described claim.

It's particularly a problem for raw coins -- verifying that the coin you got back is the same as the one you sent out, and hasn't been damaged, adds even more time and risk to the process.

Yes, an unscrupulous buyer can always claim not-as-described, and eBay will likely side with them, but I'd expect that this happens a lot less frequently than voluntary returns.

I've had complete success with eBay Buyer Protection. I've once or twice bought something that I was on the fence about because the seller offered a return policy -- in effect, I was buying on approval. I've only taken a seller up on the return policy once, and in that case, the coins were significantly worse than described anyhow.

I definitely don't view "no returns" as a show-stopper.

 

I generally tend to be more willing to take a chance and bid on auctions that offer returns especially when the seller has few feedback and is overseas.