Just want to complain about this ...

For me it looks like classical 419 scam in some way. He found that you are smart so he wanted to find some other victim.

 

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Let's go back to the original post:

So it is not "tangential" to the original purpose of your complaint. And I do understand your point of view, I just don't agree with it.

 

You just have to accept the fact that you're going to attract that type with lower valued auctions. You aren't always going to get the refined, serious, ethical, courteous collector. Many people are cheap and only think of themselves. Many have no consideration for the seller's time and effort. That's just a given. It would be difficult for me to want to deal with that for the $$ gained. Especially after ebay and paypal take their cuts.

 

Well, your a better person then me.

 

What, exactly, is a "refined, serious, ethical, courteous collector"?

Low value is low value, and no matter how much spin you put on it, it's worth what it's worth. How much time and effort are we really talking about here? You buy, move it from one hand to the other, list it for sale, pack it and ship it. You do not put any effort into improving the coin, like you would restoring a car. So you do nothing to increase it's value (the fact that you own it does nothing for the value). Let me cite another, personal example. Another of my hobbies is woodworking. I have a sister-in-law who makes her living running a ceramics shop from her basement. All of her income comes from teaching art classes at the shop, and selling what she makes at various craft shows. Attending some of these shows, I noticed woodcrafts being sold as well. She once asked me to make things for her to sell. The problem is (and ask anybody who does this) buyers look at the finished product and only want to pay slightly more than the material costs (you got about 5 bucks in wood, I'll give you 7 dollars) for an item. No consideration for the 20 to 40 hours it took to cut, sand, assemble, and finish the piece. Needless to say I declined, as it is a hobby, not a part-time job.

The trick to making a profit is to buy low, sell high (I don't really need to say this, do I). If you buy high, you are not very savvy as a business person. I'll say it again, it is completely unreasonable to expect a buyer to cover your losses and include a profit (especially at 10 times the actual value) because you bought near or at retail. And that's what we're talking about here. The trick is to sell in lot quantities, less work (fewer listing, less shipping) and better chance to make some money in the process.

 

Omaha, if you think there's no work that goes into eBay auctions then that just shows that you don't sell on eBay in any serious way. If I list 100 coins, I have to scan or photograph each of them, then I have to edit them with photoshop so that the front and back image are on one photo, because eBay only gives me one photo per listing for free. Then I list each of them individually, type a description, and store the photos and coins in a way that I can find them when they sell. When they sell, I print out the shipping information, label the envelope, pack the coin, make a trip to the post office and wait in line. Then I drive back home. I might spend several hours a week on all this stuff. Add the fact that when I bought the coins I sorted through the value bin at the local coin store finding them. If you think that isn't worth me charging a dollar for a coin, so that a person can find the exact coin they want for their set, then that's your opinion. Don't buy from me - I'm sure you wouldn't anyway. But a lot of people out there do recognize the value, and you seem to like to argue for the sake of arguing. Buying lots is great when you just want some coins and it doesn't matter that much what they are. You might say "Hey, I'd like some British pennies," and you can find a bunch of lots out there. But when you say, "I need a 1948, 1921, 1915 and 1906 British penny," good luck finding a lot with those coins. Maybe, just maybe, it's easier for you to find that exact coin, pay $1.75 for the coin and shipping, and have it show up at your door, in a 2x2 ready to insert into your set. Just imagine the possibility.

 

My even getting into this discussion was not over your pricing policies, but the fact that you expect that buyers should accept overpaying for low value coins. I countered with they do not, they can always move on to the next auction. What you're telling me about above is the cost of doing business. You make the ad look good, but you put no work into the coin to improve its value. It's worth what it's worth, and no amount of advertising will increase the value beyond what either the experts say it's worth or what a buyer is willing to pay. Any legitimate businessman will tell you that while they try to pass the costs onto the customer, if you set your prices too high there won't be any customers. So a lot of what your saying you do is actually written off at tax time by those guys. If it's convenient to buy using your philosophy, okay. But the buyer doesn't have to accept it, and can move on to the next coin. It's all about competition. Me, I go where I get the best deal. My guess is so do a lot of others.