I have read so many threads about eBay and as a new numismatist, do not have the confidence to purchase anything from eBay. It seems to be the yard sale of gypsies!
I don’t buy or sell on eBay, but I still have the app so I can easily look at sold listings for coins and other collectibles. Very very useful.
It's not as bad as its made out to be from a buying standpoint. The real minefield is as a seller. Most of the bad things that happen to buyers is because they got greedy and tried to get something that's too good to be true or have unrealistic expectations on a raw coin. Stay away from international sellers, stick to slabbed coins, if its to good to be true it is etc and you'll be fine
Many raw coins of value are problem coin crack-outs. I buy common date silver rolls from trusted sellers from time to time, but stay away from older, big ticket items. I haven't bought much at all since they began charging sales tax on coins. It doesn't cost anything to look.
Buying on it isn't the problem and I've never been a seller.Although I have had my fair share of the horrors when it comes to raw coins a few times.
I get most of my coins from ebay and get some absolute bargains. You just have to be careful who you are dealing with.
I've been buying off ebay for almost 10 years now and have never had an issue.I mostly buy.I always check the sellers feedback score and comments from their buyers.I tend to buy the slabbed coins also.
Stay away from Chinese sellers? Yes International sellers? No. There’s absolutely no problem with sellers based in the UK, Germany or France, just to give examples.
I think this is good advice, I've been buying on eBay since 2000, and have sold some things too - including some expensive Swiss watches. I am very careful of buying raw, I don't mind details coins, depending on the details, but I'm not going to pay straight graded prices for details coins. One key thing to do is to ask the seller if the coin is cleaned or damaged, especially if it's a big coin seller. They sometimes are a bit coy on the listings but they won't make a material misrepresentation to someone who knows enough to ask the question (who would be filing a refund request with eBay if they failed to disclose). I have gotten more into buying slabbed coins over the years, it is safer, but ultimately I'm a bargain shopper for shiny objects. Also! Someone mentioned in a thread here that they were being charged sales tax on coins and they lived in a state that didn't do that. I looked into it and it turns out I do too, so eBay gave me a refund of over $500 in sales tax charges. They are still charging me though, so I'll be making another request every few months to address it.
I actually figured this up the other day. I have had a problem buying 2% of the time. Thats right out of my last 100 buys .... 2 were a problem. I didn't lose a dime however. The problem is with sellers. I was messaging with a guy the other night on a 649.00 colonial. He explained to me it was costing him 82.00 to sell the coin. I think thats a tad high. I know ebay has costs. Costs that even we have no idea about. Still .. i wish they would try to pay these costs with volume. Not complicated intricate tic tac ping and ding fees. So the sellers are struggling to make a decent profit. It must be aggravating and tricky to figure out.... only for ebay to only be 1 step behind you. So SOME of them take steps to increase profits. Every coin i have ever bought on ebay i guarantee you i have looked at 6 or 10 times. Maybe more. Rarely do i hit buy it now. I make offers. Even if its not a best offer auction i message the seller. If you just jump around and impulse buy ... buy stuff you know nothing about ... panic buy ... or the sorts... you are gonna get burnt quick. I also use the same sellers as much as I can. I've had sellers hook me up and direct me to other sellers to dial me in on a pc. Theres a group of super great guys that sell coins. Most of them know each other. I've gotten to know a couple of these guys fairly well. As a customer anyhow. Over seas sellers.... no problems there either. The 2% problems I've had were actually U.S. sellers. But like i said.... I may look at a coin several times over a week or 2 before i go in and start to negotiate or bid. Never ever ever on a whim. I will do that occasionally at my LCS though. As for you sellers...... hang in there man. I appreciate you guys being there. I honestly dont know what I'd do without ebay coins. Shop at Heritage auctions for $5000.00- $865,000.00 coins everyday? Ok. With like 30% buyers premium? Ya no.
That's actually pretty spot on especially if hes doing free shipping. You pay eBay fees, then you pay the eBay payment fees, then you would have to pay for shipping/insurance (if you wanted)/signature if theres free shipping. You pay 10% to ebay without a store.
There's other countries that are fine too, but if youre brand new like the OP then just avoid them all until you get a better grasp on everything
10% direct overhead is probably cheaper than a brick & mortar? There is surely indirect overhead as well if you sell on ebay. But if you really wanna get me going... bring up the ******* state sales tax I pay now. So .... long story short .... even the buyers are getting an unfair deal. I mean in most cases we are just buying off a guy with a pretty cool side hustle. * Edited ~ Political!!
That's just the eBay fee. That doesnt count the payment processing fee It's actually 12.35% plus 30 cents a transaction for sales under $7500 Then theres the cost of "free" shipping. His 80 dollar estimate was basically spot on (maybe even low) and he was being upfront with you about the cost. Sellers also pay the fee including the sales tax price (which is absurd) if you live in a place with sales tax. You were always supposed to be paying sales tax and reporting the purchases come tax time if they werent collected at the time of sale. Nothing has changed in that regards except it shafts the seller because if you pay 60 in sales tax the seller gets charged a fee on your total amount which means purchases PLUS tax price.
This is pretty much how I feel too. As a buyer you have multiple levels of protection (eBay, PayPal, your credit card) so even iffy items aren't much of an issue (although it is best to just avoid those, especially as a beginner). International sellers are fine too; do your own research and use some common sense (that below spot silver eagle is going to be a fake 99.9% of the time).
