Has anyone ever bought a mixed eBay lot?

I keep seeing these auctions on eBay for mixed lots of coins. They range anywhere from $30 - $50 roughly. They usually state that you are guaranteed something like 1x Merc 1x silver Roosevelt, 2x War Nickle, 5x full date Buffalo, and 25 or more wheaties. One even said you will get 10-15 20-22k mini gold nuggets. The one in particular that mentions mini gold nuggets is $37.95 starting bid but the same person has DOZENS of the same listing.

Here is my deal: Do they EVER work out? They claim to never pick through their lots for rare coins, etc etc. They even have testimonials like "I got a 1909-S!" and "1921 Mercury!" "1955 double die!" etc etc. Personally I think this is a bunch of crap, as they are just trying to sell. I am sure you will get the guaranteed coins, but the rare dates I highly suspect. However, if you guys/gals have ever tried it first hand, and it worked out I would also be willing to give it a shot.

Also, WTF is a mini gold nugget? By definition, as I was told by a gold panner, a nugget is a piece of gold that you can drop in a vile, shake the vile, and it will make noise when hitting the walls of said vile. I would imagine that 10-15 of these would be worth MUCH more than $37.95.

This may sound stupid...but hey maybe it is legit?

Tanks!

--Rob.

 

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guaranteed coins unsearched by human hands!

 

Ones like that: NEVER - you always overpay and the gold is negligible.

Any gold they offer has a value of a couple cents

 

They don't have to pick through their lots for rare coins because there aren't any..........just a few junk older coins.......which have been salted into the mix.......to make the sucker.....er......I mean buyer think they are getting a good deal.

As for the mini gold nugget, it's probably like that tv ad for the "recreation" of the gold Buffalo coin that is covered with 14 milligrams of 24 carat gold......which is worth about 80c.

These SleazeBay sellers aren't giving away anything, and the sad part is that there are plenty of stupid......er......intelligence-challenged suckers........er.......customers who will fall for it.

Chris

 

I fell for a vial of gold flakes. Paid like $12, found out later that many tourist shops retail them for $5. Ouch. I've also bought some mixed lots, mostly years ago. Pickings are likely slimmer now, especially if a seller has multiple lots for sale. One mixed lot of circulated Indian cents was pretty good. There were no great finds, but a few tougher dates in low grade, overall, not bad for the money. Another lot was mixed silver coins and wasn't as advertised, but I felt was okay for the low price I paid. The coins were supposed to be .750 or better, but there were quite a few .500 (50% silver) coins in the mix. There was also a 50 mm medal that I can't confirm is actually silver. The silver lot wasn't that much money either (this was years ago when silver was much cheaper) so I kept it. There were a few old old Spanish colonials and UK coins in the batch that made it interesting enough to keep. That and I hate to return stuff. These lots can be cheap entertainment, but don't look for anything spectacular, because that is unlikely. I would avoid the "bait" lots such as those with gold nuggets, or a roll of cents with an Indian cent showing. Those are almost sure losers, but again, cheap entertainment in the grand scheme of life.

 

They don't really work out. The thing about gold nuggests is, no matter how big they are, you don't really know what you're getting. Is it 20 carrot gold? 8 carrot gold? Pure gold is worth a lot of money, but that's not what you'll likely be getting. If you want to bid on a cheap mixed lot when you're just starting out, say $10 maybe, and it's just coins, that's fine. You'll pay more than it's worth, but it's a fun way to aquire a few basic pieces. But don't drop $30 on that sort of mixed lot, it's not going to work out. These people in particular may not have searched them (how would you know?) but I guarantee someone has at some point.

 

These are all good points. I was curious because eBay really regulates what is sold and if the description accurately portrays the item received. Or so I am told.

 

It's true if ebay acts on it. They don't like to bite the hand that feeds them.

There are dozens of scams that are posted daily. Educate yourself and remember.....if it's too good to be true etc., etc....

 

I bought a pound of wheats that had a 1912 D that would grade MS63BN. I paid $8.95 plus shipping for approximately 100 wheats. I'd say I got a good deal but this is not necessarilly the rule.

 

i have seen them to.
One offered a guaranteed PCGS or NGS silver dollar coin, at least 5 other (non slabed) silver coins and some random coins.
This for only $32

Altough the slabbed took my intrest, i dont buy stuff like that.
I only want to buy when i am sure what i will recieve, and not from some big lot "non searched" coins

 

You have to remember that these people are in business to make money not to lose money. They will not give away anything just because they are nice. You'll do far better with a local dealer who will want to make you happy for your return patronage.

On ebay, they are playing the percentages. How many people fall for the unsearched roll scam regardless of how often it's been posted here and on other forums that if you buy these rolls you'll be disappointed?

 

Yes, and I NEVER will again.

The one I bought had 4 silver dimes, and the rest were junk coins - common date wheats, '38-'60 jeffersons, no-date buffaloes, cleaned coins, etc.. The book value was like 1/2 or 3/4 what I paid for the lot. I learned the hard way on that one.
I'm now very careful what I buy on ebay, and who I buy it from. Been burned too many times (and not just coins).

 

You're talking about the true-value content of the lots, but you're missing the other half of the equation: the buyer's knowledge and expectations. If the buyer only has a few 1940's and 1950's wheats from circulation, they might be ecstatic over twenty or thirty low-grade common dates that they don't already have. If they're a beginning collector, a bunch of cleaned and/or damaged coins might seem like treasure, and they might never learn enough to see it differently. In that case, both buyer and seller are happy.

 

Any dealer will have buckets full of '40s and '50s wheats for a far better buy than on ebay and you get to pick your dates.

Heck, I'm not even a dealer and I have buckets full of these.

If the buyer of these wants to pay extra, I'll make up a story like they were my Grandpa's and he was far-sighted and never checked these coins ever and he's had them for 50 years in a bag in the attic and we just found them. I'm sure somebody would pay $5-$10 a roll because you just never know what could be in there!

 

They can sometimes be nice....look at this thread! http://www.cointalk.com/t150596/

 

The only thing that comes out of those lots are a big "SIGH" followed by " Atleast i got SOMEThing for my money". The only winners in those lots are the sellers. I advise against...

 

And one out of 25 million wins the lottery every week, but there are 24,999,999 that don't.

 

My dad and I bought a lot of four mixed date stading quarters for $8 on ebay ($10 w/shipping) in 2008. I still have them today.