Being newly renewed to the hobby I was wondering..... what is the deal on ebay? is it worth trying to by coin on ebay, or is it just going to cost more for less? I notice a lot of stuff going for prices much higher than the red book. What is the best way to aquire coins? Any help on this subject would be appriciated.
First of all a bit of advice - don't even think that the prices & values listed in the Red Book are accurate - they are not. They never have been and they never will be. The Red Book is an invaluable resource for obtaing very basic information about US coins in regard to mintage, designs, designers and years struck. But for prices & values it is extremely inaccurate. One of the very best places to acquire accurate values for a given coin is ebay. Now you can't assume just one auction provides this - you must take an average of the sales prices for a given coin in a given grade. I will also say that it is more common to get a better price on ebay than it is in a dealers shop. This is not a hard and fast rule however and it does not apply to all coins. And before you ever buy a coin on ebay - you MUST know what you are doing and be knowledgeable about the coin or coins you are purchasing. This includes knowing what a fair price is as well as being reasonably certain that you are buying what you think you are buying. Knowing how to grade is also essential. If you do not possess these skills and knowledge then you would be wise to buy ONLY coins certified by one the major grading companies. But even then - you must know what a fair price is.
While harder to find than they used to be, you can still occasionally find good coins at a pretty decent price on eBay. It often takes a lot of watching, a lot of clickthroughs, a lot of patience and -- perhaps most importantly -- a lot of *discipline* to avoid overpaying because you were sucked into a bidding war. It also takes a fair amount of experience and knowing "how the game is played" to learn when you can bid with confidence and when there's a decent chance you're going to get scammed.
[EDITED TO ADD:] Buying on eBay is a legitimate supplement to an overall collection-building process, but there's still no substitute for building relationships with knowledgeable and ethical dealers who have many more leads than we do for coins, can learn what you're looking for and act as another set of eyes for you. Since I've started my new endeavor, a certified AU-58 type set, I've been in contact with a couple of reputable dealers who, through exchanging pictures of the type of original coins that appeal to me, I'm quite confident know what I'm looking for and can help me build the set. Yes, I won't occasionally luck into a really nice coin for money well below what the price sheets say, but I'm more likely to find just the right coin that way. One of them is going to ship me an 1867 Shield nickel with rays on approval tomorrow. We'll see how well he's nailed the eye appeal I'm looking for.]
There are absolutely good deals to be found on eBay; but, like Ziggy and JD have said, you need to be very cautious. You need to look at the dealer's feedback carefully - not just for the rating of positive feedback. Read the individual comments that have been left. Many people shy away from leaving negative feedback but will state a problem in a positive feedback comment. Email any questions to the seller before bidding. I have seen quite a few auctions that the sellers are not stating their shipping/handling charges in the auction and then hitting people with a massive handling charge after the auction is over. Never buy a coin that is stated as "possibly fake". If the seller says they don't know, assume that it is a fake. Ebay is currently in the process of joining forces with the ANA to improve the coin market safety factor. I believe this will improve things but it will still be necessary for a "buyer beware" attitude. Hope this helps you out.
thank you all for the info - I was just amazed at how the pricing catalogs didnt match any thing I saw on ebay. and yes I've been suckered into a few bidding wars - now I just put what I'm willing pay and leave it alone until it's a done deal SHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiii......I just got out bid on that 2 1/2 dollars gold piece........gotta go>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>...
One thing you really need to keep an eye on when using eBay, is Shipping an Handling charges. Always factor that into the price of the coin. What may be a good deal on a coin can quickly be reversed with high S&H. I found a coin that looked like a pretty good deal last week. The S&H was not on the auction page so I contacted the seller, he wan't $9.95 to ship it!! Most sellers send the coins in a padded envelope for less than a buck, but chagre you more. If the auction page says "ships USPS" it's $3.85 minimum. If the S&H is not on the auction page ALWAY CONTACT THE SELLER and ask for the charges.
while we're on this subject... I was wondering, short of any specific coins that one is in need of, what does everyone use as their search terminology? I mean...pop in "silver coins" and 10,000+ hits come up. I was just curious how specific some get while keeping it fairly general so as to see a good cross section of the current auctions. Does any of this make sense?
I used Morgan Silver Dollars to look at just Morgans. Once there, I put it in my favorites to just click on whenever i feel like. It's much easier that way then having to go through the hoops when logging on Ebay. Once there, I type in what date and mintmark I'm looking for and the computer selects all the coins on sale for that date.
Sometimes it's better not to use search terms. I have found some really good deals because key words were not in the title bars. I usually search only auctions ending within 5 hours at a time and check every category in coins separately. It takes some time, but you can find some excellent deals because the auctions are not getting enough exposure to create competition for the coin.
I'm usually looking for fairly specific things, but I pay close attention to the ones where there is a vague title, or which were placed in the wrong category. These are likely to produce the best deals, as some of the folks who would otherwise be interested in the item won't find it.
Keyword spamming is rampant on eBay. You can type in your favorite searches, and there's no end to the unrelated crap that will pop up. I was just looking at one auction that contained "UNC" and "MS" in the title. Further down in the description, there were other keywords like, "proof-like", "MS63" and "AU55". Turns out the auction was for a coin that had either been polished or plated.
Ebay will pull auctions for keyword spamming but sometimes it takes a lot of reports to do it. I think that may be because they don't have people who are knowledgable in numismatics. I got that impression even stronger this evening during their so-called "workshop".
Like the one someone reported on another board not long ago. In the coin's description of an NTC (or something like that) graded coin: 19xx Whatever It Was, NTC (not PCGS) MS-66
i use ebay to buy mint and proof sets because they're usually really nice and have a good price. i also use it to see just what's out there and fantasize about what i'll never afford. i've been following the first flight set since i completed the set in july just for @#$%s and giggles. i love the set and i live in dayton so buying it from the mint was a no-brainer. i've found some wonderful morgan dollar deals on ebay. i have a pretty good idea of what to look for and what to pay, so i'm pretty comfy with bidding for them. i buy my special stuff from a dealer here in town. he sold a beautiful ef-45 1878-s trade dollar to me that i know is real and i'm happy with her. i'd never buy a trade from anyone on ebay unless it was slabbed (which means it's out of my price range).
