Selling on eBay. I wish there was a better venue

Also if you are buying internationally, you will add two customs brokers to the mix. One in the sending country to make sure the forms are correct to export the goods. One in the receiving country to make sure the forms are correct to import the goods. With the way things change so frequently these might actually be worth paying.

You might have another set of courier companies... where many individual shipments are aggregated, sent internationally in a single big package, received in the destination country and then sent out individually.

And everybody gets their fees.

Pack & Post or Shipping & Handling - not only the direct charges but the insurance, packing supplies, salary for the person packing the shipment. Rent, utilities, security, etc. - these days everything is run as a profit center and has to cover their costs.

Yeah, I understand it, but I don't like it, especially when heritage is under 30 miles away and a couple of blocks from where I used to work.


But it all adds up. The coin you win just under catalog value for 100 Euro may end up costing you $200 or $250 when all is added together.

 

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Especially today, @gmarguli when auction houses are having trouble finding goods to auction. A good collection can easily negotiate for more - better terms, larger advance, better promotion of the items. And don't kid yourself, promotion = better sales.

A friend recently pointed me at an 1792 Half Disme that sold for good money, but not the crazy money we have come to expect. Seemingly in large part because it was overshadowed by several once-in-a-lifetime rarities.

Another friend of mine is liquidating a part of his collection, which he sent off to the auction house in 2x 26-pound packages. The mid-tier auction house knew what they were getting, but photos only tell part of the story, they didn't really understand the quality. Once they realized that, they very quickly upgraded the auction to "Selections from the XYZ Collection" part 1 and part 2.

We were looking at the auction last night and with several weeks to go, a couple of items already have crazy bids. And lots of items have nothing.

 

Tell the truth, have you ever actually consigned to a major US auction house like Heritage or Stacks? I'm guessing you've never actually consigned.

You keep sticking to your argument that 100% hammer is not the norm. I gave 3 recent real world occurrences with $5K, ~$10K, and $100K+ consignments. Each of those was 100% or more of hammer before negotiation. In numerous years of consigning to US auction houses, 100%+ hammer has been the norm. I do not know a single dealer that has received less than 100% hammer. I've seen advertisements where the auction houses say "sell with 0% sellers fees". Clearly you are wrong when you say that these terms are the exception and not the rule. If you actually dealt with the auction houses, you'd know this is true.

For the ~$10K example, I stated the rate before combining with others (105% hammer) and after combining with others (107% hammer). Both rates are over 100% hammer, which you ignored. You just want to focus on the fact I mentioned I combine consignments to get a better rate. You ignore the fact that the uncombined rate was still >100%, which is according to you not the norm.

And if you think $5K, $10K, and $100K consignments are the world of the 1%ers, I've got some bad news for you. I think $5K is the minimum consignment accepted at most firms and at some it is $10K. No major auction house is fighting over these tiny consignments. None of them are making special deals in order to bring in that massive $10K consignment. If they're offering more than 100% hammer on a $10K consignment, it's because it is the norm.

 

Lol.

 

Your caution bout reading the terms and conditions before you bid is totally true and must be heeded. Below is one of the lessons from something I had written up as "Lessons Learned" about online auction bidding:

"Avoid auctions where the Terms of the Auction allow the auctioneer to place bids on items that you may be bidding on, or that allow the auctioneer to see your max pre-bid. Also, beware of auctions where the lot item bidding will start at the highest pre-bid that is loaded into the auction platform for that lot item (e.g., you want to do a max pre-bid of $50 for a lot item, and the auctioneer gets to that lot item and asks for bids starting at some very high dollar amount, and when no bids at that exorbitant amount is submitted, they come down to the highest pre-bid that has been submitted as the starting point for live bidding. Your max pre-bid becomes the starting point for live bidding, and that was not your intent.). You often won't find that info in the Terms of the Auction, but you can see it in action when you watch the live bidding process for that auction. The "warning" is often contained in the "Information and Special Terms" section of the Terms and Conditions. An example of disclosure of special terms that ought to persuade you to NOT bid in that particular auction:

Information and Special Terms

"PLEASE READ: At the request of the auction company, this auction permits bids to be placed by the auctioneer, an employee of the auctioneer, or the seller or an agent on the seller's behalf. While XXXbid's Unified User Agreement prohibits this behavior, in accordance with UCC 2-328, this auction is permitted to engage in this activity by providing this clear disclosure to you, the bidder.

PLEASE READ: This auction company has requested and been granted access to see all bids placed including any maximum pre-bids. This auction is permitted to engage in this activity by providing this clear disclosure to you, the bidder."

 

Tell the truth, have you ever actually consigned to a major US auction house like Heritage or Stacks? I'm guessing you've never actually consigned.

 

Lol

 

This explains a lot. Now I understand your ignorance on the subject.

I hereby declare you the winner of the 2021 Never Actually Done it Myself, but I'll Tell Others How it's Done Award.

 

How do you sell on Facebook. I have a listing on USA Coin Book for a week now no bites.

 

You throw a post up with what you want to sell.

People see it, some body says I want.

You negotiate terms.

Zero buyer or seller protection unless you use something like PayPal Goods&Services (for which you pay a fee).

 

I too, don't find eBay satisfying for sales. Why not an auction? I found one that I have been viewing. Richard Edwards Auction. Seems he works hard at selling the coins and such that he has been sent. Sometimes he spends 5 or more minutes on each item. He has, for instance, a lot of 300+ coins to sell and it takes him several hours to sell the lot. Starts at 5 eastern and doesn't end till after 10. Makes sense to me. Another auction I have watched is Bidalot and he sells the entire lot 400 also in about an hour and a half. For all, please let me know about auctions and your feelings.
Sull

 

Actually I was more interested in a buy/sell group I could join. Any suggestions.

 

I don't see it as Ricardo Vales complaining. He explains some of his experiences which lead to his motive for posting in the first place, which is asking if there is a better venue for him to sell at. Personally, I appreciated reading of the details of selling coins on e-bay.

 

Thanks for the WLH number breakdown, you have saved me the time of looking into that modality of sales. I will motor on with other venues.

 

When I started reading this thread, I was hoping to find out better places to buy coins. However, each entry was worse than the one earlier. I know selling on ebay is a very sensitive topic, but there were personal stabs about other entries. I come to coin talk to learn about other websites that sold coins. I wrote several down and will try them. I have only bought a few high ticket items (more than $100 to me). As for the items that I have bought, I have found that they are usually better than the pictures. I guess as a buyer, I seldom have the problems that sellers have.

 

I have read the arguments above for and against Ebay yet, many seem to forget that Ebay is NOT a retail selling platform, on the contrary, it was, is and will always be a "discount" platform. No one ever goes shopping on Ebay with intent of paying retail meaning, the sellers shouldn't be expecting this either. That said, the abusive nature of some sellers where they don't answer questions or Block people when they do ask has driven the base clientele away and although they have been replaced by others, they are not the same.

In regards to coins as this forum is devoted, this is a more specific and worse area of expertise where the masses either buy or don't and pay market price for trends or over rated comments then, realize the loss later. Personally, I do not pay more than 65% of value for a coin regardless of what others bid or believe as I require equity in my investment, bar none. This is evident as many coin sellers are buying on Ebay and reselling (or attempting to resell) back to the same clientele above they buying price and in some cases double or triple and wonder why they keep relisting.

so, for those seeking a better platform for buying or selling coins, there are some but, they cost money, take profits and require high end coins not typically found on Ebay. There are deals on Ebay and in some cases retail market purchases so, good luck with whichever side you are on.

 

35% below book? Ya i never get that lucky. I dont expect to either. 35% to buyers 10% to ebay ... sellers are not gonna do that unless its a junk bin find they were trying to over charge for in the first place.

 

It's not really a surprise why sellers block bottom feeders on eBay lol. There are a lot of them looking for steals like that though. Its definitely a much better site to be buying than selling at this point unless youre a massive seller with a rep

 

If the post reads like I was complaining that was not my intension. Like KCG777 wrote. I was reaching out for advise and I included some of my experiences as a seller on eBay. I have been a member of eBay since 1990 and I have been selling since then, so I am well aware that there are cost that come with selling and some times I will lose money.
I appreciate all the advise, but I don't appreciate the insulting comments it is not necessary or warranted. I don't believe the intension of this forum is to bash someone for asking a question. If you have some useful info to share it not only helps me, but it helps other readers on the forum as well.

 

Ebay was founded in 1995