Why does the US coin market have such a poor web presence?

I think every ancient coin dealer of any consequence has at the very least a functional and frequently updated site. The vast majority of business is done through these sites, with relatively little happening at shows. Even the smallest dealers have shops on vcoins or ma-shops. In contrast, those US dealers who do have some web presence don't often update their sites. It really seems like their online sales are ancillary to their shows sales.

Maybe its just because I'm just more in tune with those other markets and more knowledgeable about where to find the coins online. If there is a difference, why do you think that is? Is it that the US dealers (and collectors) have a ready market in the shows, and have no pressure to expand online? Did Heritage and GreatCollections and vest pocket ebay dealers entirely corner the market?

 

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I think it is just that you are more in tune with the other market. There is a very strong web presence for dealers overall with the US market. GreatCollections and eBay get a lot of the vest pocket and collector type dealer sales and Heritage to a lesser extent for smaller collectors/sellers though they never have a shortage of higher end material like Stacks. Between those four alone there is a lot of business going on.

Pretty much every mid to major dealer either has their own website or sells on those venues or a combination of both. We do have an abundance of shows maybe even too many as it seems like every other week almost is some sort of major or semi-major show. Even with all the shows I would bet more sales occur online at this point than at shows.

What it may be is you are looking more for a catch all type website like vcoins is. PCGS does have a tool that is similar to that http://www.collectorscorner.com/ where you can search and it will pull listings from a lot of sources.

 

Personally, I find enough US sites to sink a battleship. Heritage and EBay are big players, of course, but many fine dealers also have sites chug full of collectable coins. Collectors Corner is a great site and I think you will find that many of those posting dealers also have their own sites.

 

Every coin dealer that I've spoken to about online sales has mentioned a couple issues pretty consistently:

1) They don't want to get scammed.
2) They don't want to spend the time it takes administering an online website (especially keeping track of inventory) - and it does take time.
3) They don't want to deal with "problem" customers online, where people seem to think they can be the least polite version of themselves and it's acceptable (because they are "talking" to their own computer.)
4) They don't want to deal with the myriad of rules/regulations that come with putting their merchandise online. Example: selling "bullion" coins to Minnesota residents. Example 2: selling coins through Facebook coin groups - a collection of individual fiefdoms, each with their own set of do's/don'ts and admins who will pull your listings for not adhering to the minor difference you failed to address with your listings.

 

5) The US is, in many ways, a rather conservative (phrased politely) country and many of these dealers have been in business for decades. They're resistant to change.

 

Is this really true? I'd love to see some kind of master list. I mean, I know about Vcoins, Forvm, CNG, and a few other venues, but I'm not very well plugged into ancients yet.

When it comes to US coins, I would guess almost everybody above the "mom and pop" level has a site of some sort. Most of them are pretty terrible, though. Some of them (*cough* Jack Beymer *cough*) are infuriatingly basic. Some would be good if they weren't so darn slow (David Lawrence Rare Coins comes to mind). Many have extremely limited inventory online compared to their in-store selections. I would say most have pretty terrible pictures.

I have a handful of dealer web sites that I check for US stuff beyond eBay/GC/Heritage, and almost all of them suffer from one of these flaws.

I'm really looking forward to @ToughCOINS's answer. I've bought from Mike before and I find his site to be excellent. His images greatly exceed the median eBay listing, and he has a good variety of stuff within his niche. His site is well organized and fast. My only real complaint is that I wish he had more coins and that I had more money so I could buy them from him.

 

There are plenty of US dealers who mostly sell US coins with a website. My guess is that those who don't think so have a hard time finding coins in their price range listed or the listings are stale. It is very time consuming to list hundreds if not thousands of low value coins on a website, much less with pictures. Best bet for this material is eBay.

 

Good Post: Almost every coin search leads to Ebay. I can't even find anyone who trades Barber Halves.

 

Just looked at Collectors Corner. A huge selection of coins, with a full page of 1909 Philadelphia no VDB Lincolns alone, ranging from 63BN to 66RD. Great site, huge selection.

 

I don't know of any US dealers that don't have at least some Barber Halves. Some of the rarities can be hard to find the right match, but the common ones are readily available

 

There's a pair of waiting eyes in Louisiana for sure. Four of my favorites have come from Mike.

 

Use Collectors Corner to identify the dealer, and then go to their business website. Virtually all of them inflate the prices over what they normally charge.

 

I would be very surprised if every single Barber half date/MM isn't available on a dealer site, eBay or Heritage in at least higher circulated grades. None of these coins are really that scarce.

The same applies to practically every single US circulating issue except for actual rarities, the highest grades and specialization such as die varieties. As an example, I have had no trouble finding Draped Bust/Small Eagle halves when I bothered to look. The coins offered won't always meet the price and quality criteria someone is looking to buy but they are out there.

 

This is true. Vcoins, though it does have US coins, contains mostly ancients and non-US coins. MA Shops, another massive online coin marketplace based in Europe, has pretty much the same content. There doesn't seem to be an online hub for US coins. Bizarre. This sounds like an opportunity to move the online US market off of Ebay. A USA equivalent similar to Vcoins or MA Shops would probably find quite an audience. At least it should. Someone needs to get to work.

 

It's true with how much is advertised online now most things can be found and the only question is whether or not you like it and can afford it. There is some seated stuff that can still take a considerable amount of effort though if you are willing to pay up and have some help the search time can be considerably reduced. There really aren't a whole lot of things that can't be found in one form or another anymore

 

My guess is that pre-1834 gold might not be widely available. Specific pattern pieces might also present a problem. Other than that, I'm sure you can find what you want. Sometimes, even real rarities are available on eBay! I've seen an 1802 proof dollar there that's actually rarer than the 1804.

 

Pre 1834 gold is pretty available. I've seen a 1907 EXHR Saint on Ebay once, rarities do appear.