Just Sold a Lot of 90% Silver dimes with Profit!

On Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...22114&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_500wt_1182

I think I can see myself doing this more.. Buying low and selling for a buck or two profit. And yes, I made profit even after the small paypal fee taken out.

Not much profit but still A profit

I know dealers now that I can buy my junk for under melt so this is really cooking up to be something special..

bnb

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

EDIT - never mind, I re-read a few times & think I got it now... Good for you, but the local guys are buying silver coins for $11.85 x face, which for that lot would be $16 something. What are you getting where you are?

 

I would like to know as well, especially since you are shipping priority for $3.99 and its gonna cost at least $4.90 to ship priority. Guess I am at a loss here as to what your saying.

 

Let's do the math

Total revenue here is $18.48
You can ship priority mail for $4.80 if you print your own label
Listing fee . . . I'm guessing 0.15
Ebay fee (8.5% of final bid which was 15.49) = 1.36
Paypal fee (2.9% of total amt + 0.30) = 0.86

It seems to me that from the 18.48 you're left with 12.31

So, if your dimes cost more than 12.31, you've taken a loss.

Melt value (today) of $1.40 of dimes is $17.94

So -- either you got an unbelievable deal when you purchased the coins, or you lost money because ebay/paypal/usps ate up more than your margin. (Note: you could ship 10 dimes for probably under $1.50 first class, increase your margin here by $3 -- that would mean your break-even point on the dimes was $15.31 -- still a great deal if you paid that or less on junk silver)

Among other lessons is that there are whole lot of ebay buyers who are pretty good at pricing things out. Indeed, here the winner paid slightly under today's melt value including postage. Not bad.

BNB -- I stand amazed at how many things you are throwing yourself into. (And some of us are learning from your lessons!). You're definitely focused on trying ways to make this work for you. (Ahhh, youth!)

I just hope the lessons you are learning (and we *all* learn some lessons the hard way here) aren't too expensive for you! If you did take a loss on this, at least it was only a few bucks . . . a cheap lesson.

 

Good for you BNB if you have a way to do it then go for it.
Add more coins for your collection you have a very nice budding collection.
However my suggestion is dont waste your money on iraqi dinars lol. theyre heavily counterfeited and are not worth much.

Damn BNB them ebay sellers be taking you to the cleaners time and time again. reevaluate your purchases.

 

I want to appologize to everyone here.

I said Priority Mail on Ebay but actually shipped regular Parcel post for .61 cents..

That's why I have this profit. I have made sure to list the shipping as Parcel post for the future.

bnb

 

Re-doing all that with .61 postage means your total revenue from the sale was $16.51 (a dollar less than melt value) -- I don't know how much your $1.40 in silver dimes cost you, but if you got it for less than that, that's a pretty good deal, and, even so, it doesn't sound like a whole lotta margin for you.

Also -- word to the wise: some buyers aren't going to like that you stated postage would be $3.99 and then receive an envelope with a .61 stamp on it.

 

Under 13 Oz. You should ship First Class. I use a small bubble envelope, tracking and insurance (Cheap through Auctiva.)

 

Sholom,

the dimes ended at $15.49 + $3.99 shipping/handling that I charged = $19.48 - .61 for stamp = $18.87

I paid for those dimes when silver was at $16.90 so I turned around a net of about $2.

bnb

 

When things don't seem real, too good to be true, a little off kilter

When things don't seem real, too good to be true, a little off kilter, sort of out of place, not on target, out of the norm, or if you have to question it over and over in your mind for it to make sence it's probably not real.
Think about it???

 

Huh? I'm not sure why there's confusion now that I stated my total shipping cost was .61 and I did the math to break it down for you all.

bnb

 

Don't Forget eBay/paypal commissions!

(Whoops -- I erred by $1, but, still, read on)

You're correct -- *but* you also have all the ebay/paypal expenses:

Ebay Listing fee . . . I'm guessing 0.15
Ebay seller fee (8.75% of final bid of 15.49) = 1.36
Paypal fee (2.9% of total amt of 19.48 + 0.30) = 0.86

And that adds up to $2.37 !

Look, I'm not trying to argue with you -- just trying to help you see the whole picture here. I've learned a lot on CT, and I'm happy to return the favor and help teach others what little I know from time to time. I'd be thrilled for anyone here to make money off of eBay -- including me! -- but it's hard with small stuff because of the commissions.

(The eBay fee for dollars collected on a sale after the first $25 is 3.5%, as opposed to the 8.75% of the first $25 -- and so this heavily favors larger ticket items. In fact, had you sold 10 times the amount for 10 times the price, you would have made money -- although I have no idea if you would have gotten 10 times the price . . . .say you purchased for $169, sold for $191 + 3.99 postage, and presume postage was indeed 3.99, then ebay fees would be .15 listing and $8 commission and paypal fee would be 5.95, leaving you with $7.90 profit. Again, I have no idea what the selling price would actually be, but my math works. The point of all this is that eBay is biased against small sales.)

​

 

That's a good point, BNB. Learn from this. As I wrote earlier back up in this thread, when I see $3.99 being charged for shipping, and I see a .61 stamp on it, as a buyer, I'm not happy.

Give that, I *do* understand that the shipping price includes shipping *and handling*, and so I don't mind if someone charges me a bit more for the envelope, the bubble wrap, the 2x2's, and a bit more for time and hassle -- but when S&H charged is more than six times what the seller's actual postage is, I give a lower rating.

Given how easy is it to rack up good ratings, lower than 99% ain't too good, and I absolutely will not purchase from anyone with a lower than 99%. You're going to shoot yourself in the foot with charges like that, and there's no reason to do so (except saving a couple of cents on ebay commissions). People build the S&H charges into their bid. The same guy who bids $15 with $3.99 postage, will bid $18.99 with free postage.

 

I was not talikng about this item or shipping I was talking about most all your posts

I was not talikng about this item or shipping I was talking about most all your posts.
I'm sorry but it's the way I see it, I wish it were not so.

 

$2?....



One thing all of these posted equations lack is the value of your time...$2?

You are getting middled. If you want to make a true profit after all your overhead/fees are paid, you need to get your wares directly from the source...not dealers.

Try posting buy ads on your local craigslist or in the local fish wrap.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

 

I see a potential problem here! Especially with people on E-bay, Wanting
There items yesterday! They dont want to wait and will actually leave
Unfavorable or neutral feedback, As a former e-bay seller i know what
Iam talking about, What do you charge for shipping? :loud:

 

I'd be furious when I saw that the item was specifically listed as being shipped out priority and then I get an envelope a week later with a $0.61 sticker on it. Even if you said that shipping and handling would be $20 and you sent it out that way, it would be ok so long as you DID NOT SPECIFICALLY say Priority mail.

Buyers have no leg to stand on complaining about shipping charges when they can clearly read the policy. HOWEVER when the shipping is materially misrepresented, then there is a significant problem. Beyond 1-2 days of shipping time, Priority has built-in insurance which you have now charged for and not produced.

 

And if you print your own label, priority also has free tracking that has not been produced (is that what you meant? I don't think insurance is free)

 

I could be wrong, but I think Priority is insured to some nominal level (like $50 or so... enough to cover this package, for sure). There is of course the free tracking involved with the online self-print label, but that's not included in the Priority shipping that they sell over the counter at your local post office. That is like $0.40 more and also not explicitly mentioned in the listing by my understanding.