A question for all you regular Ebayers

Well this is a business for me also. I buy at fair prices. No matter where that material comes from. I don't take advantage of the uninformed, or the unexperienced. When selling, the same rules apply.

 

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exactly........sniping sometimes allows for a better price......and honestly I have had a seller or two that I have told outright that they did not have to honor the auction as I felt the price had been too low......
And I have also sent more money than the aution has ended for at times when they insisted on selling to me anyway....

Im not trying to rip anyone off, its just that the folks buying there get very carried away sometimes....

I was bidding on an old Nintendo game one time......the original nintendo........the game was one i could buy for $9.99 at Kmart at that point IF you wanted to travel all over town lookin thru the bins for it...

Well, I put a $10 bid on it and waited...........towards the end some guy ended up bidding it up to $35........
Now I didnt try to win it, cuase Ill just go look thru the bins myself if i have to, and kudos to boywonder who paid 4 times what it was worth.......

But the thing that really got me to understand was after the auction the kid sends me a message telling me what a great time he had with that auction and wanted to know what else i was bidding on so we could do it again.................sorry, but what a moron........why not just pay $100 for the game since we're giving our money away.....

I think that was when i decided no more bidding, sniping only.......if i get it fine, if i dont thats fine too.........i can wait till next time

 

I am not knocking the way you or anyone does business. That is not my place to do. I was only attempting to learn the way regular users of Ebay conduct themselves so that I may be better informed to give my opinion to my customers.

I see more harm to new and average collectors. I have spent this morning looking over Ebay, and for the most part, I see many sellers using the same formula. While it is fine for them, just as with the TV shopping channels, I will choose to use my influence for better avenues.
I was not chosen to be an advocate for collectors, but I hold myself accountable to all that I give advice to.

 

I do know one thing.......there are a lot of folks who dont care if they rip you off on ebay.......

and they great thing is if they do, thanks to ebays hands off policy if you leave them bad feedback for ripping you, they just retaliate and ruin your perfect rating too.

I got ripped on one Vampirells I won........$40 was a good price to pay for #2 in about CGC 6.0-6.5 or so.........but when i got the thing it wasnt even a 2.0........
I tried to talk to the guy but he pretended like he didnt know it was like that, like the PO damaged it.

I had sent him extra money to insure it, which he convienienly forgot to purchase ....leaving me no recourse but to leave him neg. Feedback, whick i couldnt do without fear of his ruining my perfect 100% on mine......

Ive come out way ahead on ebay, but Im telling you, you almost need a course in psychology to get ahead in there.......

 

Thank you ND.
'Tis true we ship about 100 packages weekly and much of it is ebay sales. I've found that ebay is a good supplement to store sales and show sales. Some dealers consider ebay a dumping ground for low end stuff that won't sell in the shop, others say it's a great market for high end material due to the huge number of buyers that visit the site daily.
I think it's both. Nowhere but ebay can you find auctions for a holed v-nickel, 20 acres in Texas, and a new Lear jet that end a few minutes apart.
I sell some stuff on ebay that is slow moving in the shop and I also sell higher value stuff that my local collectors aren't interested in.

For the seasoned collector/dealer, ebay can be a great source of material. It takes some time looking through a lot of auctions, similiar to poking through a dealers junk box. I've always said knowledge is power and nothing proves that more than ebay. When I first started on ebay I'd occasionally find a bargain...either listed too low, perhaps in wrong category, or poor description and poor or no photo. It's very possible to buy something like this then list it properly and enjoy a profit! Happens all the time.
I've also found that ebay is a good way to move non-numismatic material that I might not otherwise buy if my only outlet was the shop.
I'm always looking for other interesting, collectible or antique items that are small and easy to ship.

Ebay can also be a very dangerous place. Horror stories abound. But like any other transaction you have to assess the seller. Would you buy a watch from a guy on the street that was acting suspicious?
Be aware of the things that should make an auction suspicious....

1. Private feedback, or low feedback or a low % of feedback. Examine feedback closely. Is the feedback from selling to others? Did the seller have great feedback until very recently? That should set off warning bells. Account hijacking is a real threat that happens far too often.

2. Is it a private auction? Stay away! Many scammers will keep buyers id's private so they can't be warned by other people that they're bidding on a fake.

3. Does the seller say something like "I'm not an expert with coins" yet they have lots of other coins listed?

4. Is the picture fuzzy? The description vague?

5. Is the person an actual coin dealer with a retail shop? I tend to put more faith in someone selling something if that's their actual career.

A good rule of thumb is this. If you decide to bid in an auction that has some of these Red Flags, or with an unknown seller, don't bid any more than you're willing to lose.
Buying on ebay is risky, for sure. But carefully calculate the risk each time you place a bid. If you're careful and use some common sense you will usually have an enjoyable ebay experience.

Nick

 

I keep hearing this same thing, so why is Ebay taunted as the perfect panacea?

 

You are welcome Nick.

As long as you don't become a direct competitor, you will always get my recommendation

You heard it hear folks, tradernicks gets my vote for an honest and trustworthy Ebay dealer.

 

pfft competitors all grovel before my buying might!

(what this really means is that sometimes I'm a fish and pay way too much)

 

I have no doubt, that Nick is an honest dealer and Ebay seller, but that doesn't mean that people aren't going to bid too high on his auctions.
The same goes for all the honest eBay sellers out there. They have no control over clueless buyers, or folks that get caught up in a bidding war.
Now I've said this before, and i"ll say it again; if you are a new collector, or if you are not VERY familiar with all the aspects of how eBay works, then you need to stay as far away from eBay as you can get.
A new collector should first learn as much as possible about the coins that he/she is interested in collecting.
Then when they're ready to start buying a few coins, they should try to establish a relationship with a reputable dealer. This can take time, and some trial and error can be involved, therefor it is wise to start out by buying inexpensive coins.
Once the new collector has found a dealer that meets their needs, they should stick with that dealer. (Actually they may be able to find several dealers that they can work with)
Only after much knowledge in numismatics is under their belt, should a collector look to eBay for bargains.
The bottom line is, a new collector is going to have to pay some dues, one way, or another. They can either do it the smart way, or they can do it the eBay way.

 

I totally agree, Jody. The "rip factor" is much higher on ebay if you don't know precisely what you're doing. I mean...it's true off ebay too but on ebay there's people actively & intentionally hoping to lure newbys into their deceitful auctions.

I've always wanted to write "Tradernicks Guide to Ebay" and include a link to it on all my auction pages. The long post I did above was hammered out in just a few minutes. Given some time to organize my thoughts I feel I could write a simple and effective guide to ebays joys and pitfalls. Like with anything else though, time is my enemy. Perhaps one day...

 

In ebays defense some, Id like to tell about the little coin dealer here in town......

He was telling me one day about lincoln cents and how a decade or so ago he had bought a ''key date'' from a dealer he had known for some years........

Then the next year the man had the same coin again and the gentleman decided to purchase the second one......

Well, i guess after some time he decided to send them in to PCGS and have them graded/slabbed ...

Well, He had some choice words that I wont repeat for the man who had sold him two fake coins at $300 a shot....

Mebe the dealer didnt know..........who knows........but one thing we do know is someone knew those coins were fake......

The guy said he tried to deal with it but the man insisted he couldnt prove that they were the same coins he had bought from him....

All this to say we can get ripped from anyone.
Ive been ripped once on ebay and quite a few times right here in town....

Ebay in itself is a great place once the mechanics of it are mastered...
It the crooks that that ruin it........and we find them all over, not just ebay..

 

is their some kind of manual that can teach without spending and learning the hard way. lol

 

Here's another thought. A good idea is to always ask the seller beforehand about their return policy. If you're buying a key date on ebay or from a local shop, explain that you will have the coin certified and you want a guarantee that it's genuine. Many dealers will be happy to extend their return priveliges until the coin can be slabbed.
Remember you're asking that they guarantee it's genuine. If you're at a major show you can usually find ANACS there and they can tell you if it's genuine or not.
Getting anyone to guarantee a coins grade is another issue entirely.

 

You won't ever hear me calling it that.

For some items, I think it is as safe as anywhere else I can think of outside of a dealer I already have a relationship with - things like bullion (Rounds, Eagles, etc), mint/proof sets in original packaging, slabs and the like. For other things, I would not recommend it to newbies (or oldbies in most cases. ).

It is not a panacea but you aren't going to get mugged all the time either. Like most anything else in life, common sense will take you a long, long way!

 

Things like this forum are a great start!

 

I've participated in about 450 EBay transactions - about 60/40 as a buyer - and I have never heard it referred to as a perfect panacea.

I've been an auction junkie for more than 40 years, and EBay is not really that different from the world of live auctions. About 30 years ago if you bought a color TV at Sears, they would give you a small black & white at no extra charge. In that era I attended a U.S. Customs auction where a small British black & white TV that wouldn't receive signals on the U.S. standard, and had no warranty or manual, went for over $100! Auction fever is a terrible disease, no matter where you are when it strikes!

 

The easiest way to put it.....it's convienient.

 

It seems as if everyone has some good thoughts on this subject. Thank you one and all.

 

Hello thx for the intresting discussion fellows i enjoyed reading it.

I sell items on ebay all the time and i also buy.Infact i used profit from what i sell in a revolving way to purchase my buys.I sell novelty items which are a real goer.and with the profit i buy myself sovereigns, i invested 800 usd into this venture and now i have a sizeable amount of sovereigns for my trouble.I tend to stick to bullion ones and not collectors then i cant go wrong just paying little over the intrinsic gold value and had some at less than the gold value too.

heres my tips for selling

1.always put a starting price dont set it at to low or you will end up losing money in half your auctions as it takes so many bids just to get it up to profit.i usually set my start price at the price it cost me to buy + fees payable.

2. for postal charges stick on a handling charge to this will cover you ebay and paypall fees and make your starting bid look cheap, always show your postal charges though.

3.if your selling regular make yourself a great web template you can use over and over this will save you masses of time.

4.use relisting which is free if it dont sell and then sell the second time.

5. offer insurance as an option then if its only worth few dollars more than the signed for option self insure it thus making bit more money.


for buying i will only do so if there is plenty of feedback and if not then email the people tht bought off him to ask if any problems ect as some people will leave a positive to not get bad feedback themselves i know i have as sometimes wheen ripped off for a couple bucks it aint worth the hassle to ruin you reputation.

buy in the middle of the night too.And a great thing to do is look at other countries ebay listings as mostly the coins of intrest to usa buyers will be from usa sellers.silver eagles dont make in germany as they do in usa, and visa versa.I picked up some of my best bargains from non english speaking countries.


for buying i reccomend always just buy from serious big sellers with 1000s of feedback.