What else would sell good.

Another quick story.... at a garage sale, one of my friends bought a large box of pliers for $100. His cost per item was .50. He figured he'd flip them at auction for at least a couple of bucks each. No brainer. Easy sell. The sale went badly and the auctioneer would up selling them at four for a $1 to one bidder because there was no interest.

 

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Oh see I thought he was saying he was pulling them from circulation. It's hard to lose of things that you pay face for.

 

In that case, how about canned elephant poop? That would really interest a newbie I'm sure.

 

Now we're talk'n!:yes:

 

I would imagine this would drive sellers bonkie if they tried to think about it. I have a ancient dealer who puts on auctions, and I bought a nice Hormizd II from him in one for $90. The next auction he had another, same condition, and he had 2 bods over $300 for it. He said the one before mine he also sold one for well over $300, and basically I got the deal. You simply do not know who will show up and participate.

This is why if you are a buyer it pays to be knowledgable in many areas, and if you are a seller it pays to have a wide variety for sale at every auction.

 

I thought auctions allowed a seller to put a reserve price on their items if they wanted to.

 

As well as know who the bidders are and if they're collectors or bullion buyers :thumb:

 

You can.

I've been to live auctions that have had reserves on motor vehicles and if the highest bid doesn't match or exceed the reserve price, the item is not sold.

 

You can try, but auctioneers hate it for many reasons. One, they may do a lot of work for no pay. Second, auctions with reserves do not draw the same attention as non-reserved sales. If the buyers know it will have to sell to the highest bid, they are always more interested. Personally, I do not mind sales that will only open at 60% of estimate or so, but if a sale is reserved I usually ignore it. Many others do the same, so the auction proceeds to the auctioneer can be much lower.

 

You can put a reserve on anything.... that is if the auctioneer will let you. If you show up with a handful on Indian cents and tell the auctioneer that you want to put a reserve on them he will probably tell you to get lost. Reserves are usually only for high dollar items that the seller doesn't want to lose on and that the auctioneer will agree to put a reserve on.

 

That's correct. For low dollar items, it's frowned upon to do that because it's a waste of time for the auction house.

 

I see your point. Actually I've bid on something on ebay a few years ago (not sure how it works now, but back then you didn't know if there was a reserve price on something until you bid), and it said "reserve price not met," and I didn't bid on it again.

 

The auction house I frequently visit, here are some trends I've noticed:

Buffalo and V nickels do NOT sell. Unless it's close to MS state or a rare date, forget it.

Wheat cents tend to sell for more than I'm willing to pay. Not sure why they go so high?

IHC later dates sell really low, usually $1 a piece. I got some really nice '09 cents that had full LIBERTY on the headband for $4 a piece. Early IHC don't seem to go for much either. I've gotten all the copper nickel IHC for like $4 to $5 each. I've sold those at my local antique store booth for $15 a piece easy.

FE cents really don't go for much either. Similar to the copper nickel IHC.

Morgans and Peace dollars usually sell around $35 to $40.

Silver dimes, really doesn't matter what type, go for around melt if not a little bit higher. Now granted, a higher grade one will go much higher, but common low grades will not. I've picked up bust dimes for dirt cheap.

Same way with silver halves.

Good quality standing liberty quarters sell at decent prices, however I rarely see them at the auction house I attend. Kind of disappointing.

Gold rarely sells much higher than it's melt price. If I had the money, I'd be buying up all of it as there has been some good stuff go through.

Proof sets, and I'm referring to the clad sets, typically sell around $4. Mint sets are around the same unless it's a set that has several dollar coins in it. Auctioneer will not start the bidding at less than face value, though I have won some sets just a quarter above face!

To me, if you're selling at an auction, I don't see much money in it. As you can tell from my post, a lot of it goes cheap. I usually buy from them but sell at a local "antique" shop via booth and I do alright. It's not a second income or anything, but it does fund my hobby.

 

There is one guy I know who seems to get top dollar for most of the stuff in his auctions. I've always said to my wife, when I'm gone, have Rich sell my stuff. Again, though, it depends on... whatever. There really isn't any rhyme or reason as to why these things go the way they do. Silver seems to be king at these auctions, however.

Another thing to consider. If you're going to place a small amount of items on consignment, be prepared to wait for any money. The auctioneer will usually place small lots together, and wait until he has enough items for a profitable (for him) sale. And he won't hand you cash at the end of the auction. You'll wait for a check. From what I've seen, $2 apiece for common date IHCs is not unrealistic, but for the amount of money we're talking here, minus fees and time waiting for payment, is it really worth consigning these things to an auction?