Buying and selling coins on ebay: Lessons learned

As I have said in the past, I'm a coin hoarder like many here. I have a hoarder mentality when it comes to coins. Once in a while, a new expensive toy catches my eye and the best way to obtain said toy is to liquidate a few things and just get it over with. Then it's like trading one toy for another without cutting into my paycheck. Then I don't get in trouble! But when it comes to selling coins, I always have an excuse over why one coin or another is "sacred" and can't be sold. I have a long list of excuses.

Anyway, others have mentioned on here, it is good for anyone who regularly buys coins to also sell once in a while in order to get a real "feel" for what things should sell for. Especially if you're going to use ebay. If anyone here has never tried selling, you might be shocked at what it's like. Let me just say we are fortunate there are as many sellers left there as there are.

It is not fun being a seller. People are rude. People are CHEAP. They expect perfection. They expect the World from you. Once they buy they think they own you. Everything is taken for granted. They don't care that you are losing a total of 12% of the sale back to ebay and paypal. They don't care that you are also losing shipping out of the sale. They just want to buy that coin as cheaply as possible. Once you pay everybody for their services, and ship away your beautiful coin, you almost feel violated. It feels like you've been robbed. You feel like you may as well have just saved the coin like you originally intended to. lol

I've also learned that you almost always get burned on buy it nows. I've convinced myself before that a buy it now was a fair price. A couple years ago, I paid $290 for a coin. Some of that went to shipping of course. I listed it the other day, willing to take a loss on it just to liquidate and recoup some cash. I conceded. I set a reserve on it of $260. Now keep in mind! If it sells at $260, after fees and shipping/insurance you're left with about $220. So I went in WILLING to lose $70 on the coin. Even though I've held on to it for a few years.

It was bid up to $212 and ended without meeting the reserve. lol Ok screw it. It's going back in the box. I'm not that desperate.

Then, some of you may have noticed I tried selling my MS Franklin half set. Kind of wanted to sell, kind of didn't, but I felt if I got a fair price for them, I could let it go. AGAIN, I conceded that I will give people a break. I won't try to get the full cash value out that I had in it, which was well recorded. Selling a set is NOT fun. Even though, that is what many people here are trying to do as a goal. Putting sets together. There should be a premium on a full set because of the work involved. Instead, there's a huge discount! Because they get too expensive. Nobody has the money and people tend to work on their own sets one coin at a time so it's affordable. Take this into account if you are building a set.

Over several years I carefully put that set together. It was a lot of driving around. A lot of time. It's a pretty premium set. It cost me over a grand to do it. 7 of the 38 coins were over $50. But I was like ok, AGAIN, I will give someone a break. Buy it cheap, I'll just liquidate it. Put a buy it now of $800 on it or best offer. After fees, you absolutely get hammered. If somebody graciously went with the buy it now, this was a $380 LOSS to me. MELT VALUE of the #$%# set is $500!! A beat up worn set would have to go for $500. One person offered $600. So if I was willing to lose $560, I could have sold the set. I gave up again. There's no way.

I spent a lot of time buying coins over the years expecting the dollar value to at least maintain. When I go to sell something, I expect to at least break even. That's all I want. If I want a quick sell, I'm willing to lose a little. Anything popular seems to maintain a good, known value. But anything even a little off the beaten path, you might get a rude awakening if you go to sell right now.

Moral of the story. Don't blow the farm on coins. As a buyer, you are in a bubble. Oblivious to and unaffected by whats going on with the market or what other people will pay for something. As a seller, you are at the mercy of the market. Then, the real market matters.

 

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How LNG did it take you to write that?

 

Something more than a one liner just blows your mind doesnt it? I'm a fast typer. Don't worry about it.

 

Very informative and detailed post. You wouldnt have to worry about me since I have yet to use ebay. One day though....

 

We have a really crazy hobby.

 

Of course buyers want to buy something as cheaply as they can.....if you had a choice of paying $100 or $117.83 for something you wanted, I'm pretty positive which price you'd want. That said, this is a hobby. Hobby's cost money. It is not an investment. It is done for the enjoyment of it. At least that is my take.

 

GOT that experienced too. I sold an 1892 Morgan Silver Dollar-Uncirculated High Grade. outside of this country the shipping fee is $ 41.00 plus PAY PAL & Ebay fee, It's look I was robbed for that coin.. Sold for $ 229.00 Only.- More or Less that coin went down to above $150.00

 

eBay care about 1 thing $$$$
seller SOL
:devil:Buyer can screw ya any time they want to
that wrong:yes:

 

And just think ebay is your best option to recoup money. Of course you could have tried consigning it to someone - but then it could sit for a while before it moves. Not many choices around, and this can be one of the down sides of the hobby.

 

This was just food for thought for everyone. It's out of my control. It is what it is. It's all about timing too. In a 7 day period, you may not catch the buyer you're looking for.

In general though, sellers take a beating on there. Buyers have it made. There's a huge selection of everything. You even get 2% back in ebay bucks for buying, making it even cheaper for buyers.

It's easy to buy. A nightmare to sell. I've been on both sides and I only wanted to present some real numbers to show how bad it can be. I believe it's likely worse than most people imagine. There is a steep cost in converting collectibles back to cash. As I'm sure, many already knew.

 

IMO as a collector i learned the hard way if you are buying you have to bargain hunt, my worst buys have been coins i have bought on impulse for retail price if i sell them i will have to take a 20% loss atleast. I found the sweet spot to buy coins you know you can turn around and sell for atleast 15% premium in secondary markets so atleast you can break even after ebay fees and time you spent on it.

 

I couldnt agree more, but ya gota do what ya gota do right! However, it's just the times. People are holding on to their money because of future uncertainties. Happen's every 4 years for some crazy reason. It's a buyers market for everything right now. Only sell what you can make a buck or two on, or at least break even, unless you absolutly have to. I guess that's where Silver Eagles come in handy.

 

I think you did a great job of showing people the way it really is. The only good thing is that we don't have to pay income tax on the loss. I'm sure they will fix that someday.

 

I like eBay. I can find anything when I'm buying and I can sell just about anything quickly when I sell. Walk into a coin store and see if you get near what you get on eBay.

 

Its all in how much time you are willing to spend to sell your coin, you were right to put something away if your not getting the price you need to pull a profit. Making a profit selling anything requires work and instead of eBay you could try some alternatives like a local flea market or even here on this site for little to no fees. Sure im guilty of just letting something go at a loss for quick cash usually to buy something but it comes with the territory, walk into a dealers shop and try to realize a profit, not gonna happen. Look at the lengths professional dealers go to just to sell coins, they travel, attend shows and usually have there coins listed several places its not easy but it is far from impossible with a little effort.

 

How much are ebay's seller fees?

 

That was an excellent post. It is truly difficult to sell quality coins while both being fair to the buyer and making certain that they are not essentially given away. I have not idea what you collect, but had you thought about seeking out a respected, full-time dealer and consigning the coins to that dealer? This can work wonderfully and many dealers are happy to work with reasonable clients who have nice coins.

 

I rember reading somewhere that auctions with reserves tend to receive 30-60% fewer bids than those without, and often sell half as often as those without. I understand the idea of wanting a set reserve, but on Ebay you might as well have posted a "Not for sale" sign on them.
Guy

 

I have never seen a percent attached to it, but I guarantee reserves scare off bidders. Particularly the way eBay operates today (50 free listings regardless of the opening price), do not use reserves that cost you money. Set the opening bid to your reserve and go with it. It is free that way and it scares fewer buyers away.

The other thing I have seen that won't get the bidders is sets. Just as you enjoyed putting a set together, other collectors want to put their own set together. Buying a set take that pleasure from them

 

I don't always use a reserve. I start at the lowest price I'm willing to accept too. I have never been scared off by a reserve. Why would anyone care what the reserve is? All you're trying to do is beat the high bidder. If you beat the high bidder but it doesn't meet the reserve at the end, then it simply doesn't sell. Who cares? What difference does it make? The sale just doesn't happen.

On the contrary, I think starting lower and setting a reserve attracts more people because when people see something well below what it's worth, there is more interest. I don't understand the concept of why a reserve price would scare anyone away. If you bid and you don't meet it, it simply doesn't sell and the seller doesn't get screwed. It's to protect the seller. Ebay charges for it because they just want sales no matter how cheap anything ends at.