Auction sites other than eBay?

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by ewomack, Oct 13, 2018.

  1. ewomack

    ewomack 魚の下着

    Hello,

    I noticed that eBay now has some pretty outrageous fees for people like myself who just want to sell a few things here and there rather than set up a long-term shop. A while back I sold numerous things on that site for a minimal, almost negligible, set-up fee. That was fantastic and I'm very glad that I sold what I did back in those halcyon days. Now the selling terms say $0 listing fee, but %10 final value fee. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that appears to mean that if I sell something for $400 then eBay takes $40. That's quite a chunk of the final price. Plus, the higher the selling price, the more eBay takes - if the $400 item starts a bidding war and ends up selling for $500 then eBay gets $50. I don't doubt that this works out much better for them than the previous seller arrangement, but I find it pretty excessive.

    Thoughts? Suggestions on alternatives? Am I reading these terms correctly?
     
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  3. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    I'd be interested to see any replies, selling is something I play mind games with too.
     
  4. toned_morgan

    toned_morgan Toning Lover

    The last coin I sold for $97 or so was about a $10 fee. Now add that to the cost of buying shipping equipment and all the other stuff, in the end the fee was more like $15-20. I think they have a 10% final value fee, and they add a 3.5% fee if you do not accept offers. Crazy!!!
     
  5. Histman

    Histman Too Many Coins, Not Enough Time!

    It does in fact cost 10% per sale. If I make it free shipping it costs 10%, if I charge for shipping it is 10% of the charge for shipping plus 10% for the final value charge. Don't forget the monthly charge for hosting an online store too. Oh, add the Paypal fees as well.
     
  6. toned_morgan

    toned_morgan Toning Lover

    What there's shipping fees now?!
     
  7. Endeavor

    Endeavor Well-Known Member

    They charge Final Value Fee (FVF) on the cost of shipping. I think it makes sense cause it prevents sellers from increasing the cost of shipping to avoid paying FVFs. For example, sellers used to charge $10 shipping on a $2 sale to avoid paying FVFs on $12.
     
    Two Dogs likes this.
  8. ddddd

    ddddd Member

    Ebay is still one of the better options when it comes to selling for most coins that aren't rare. For those that don't have an ebay store, ebay occasionally sends special offers for discounted final value fees. This year I've seen a few offers like 50% off fees (5% instead of 10%), $20 max fee (so anything over $200 is under 10%...this was a good one for higher priced items), and the best was the $0 fee ANA show special (this was an ebay promo when they set up at the ANA show).

    GreatCollections is an auction house to look into for consigning coins as they have relatively low fees, but some items sell for less there than on ebay (others do well...you'd need to research if your coins are good candidates).

    Another option is the selling forum on here or other coin forums. There are no fees, but you do have a much smaller audience.
     
    harrync and LA_Geezer like this.
  9. ewomack

    ewomack 魚の下着

    So is eBay the best place to sell coins online? I thought I had heard rumblings of other auctions sites sprouting up, but since they haven't been mentioned here, perhaps they either don't attract many people or they haven't caught on.

    With a 10% chunk taken off for eBay sales, I might be better off trying to sell or trade with some dealers first, though I know that often results in a loss as well, because that's how a lot of business works (in a variation of buy low, sell high).

    Coins are already a terrible investment, as most of us know, but, from what I'm reading, the added fees makes them an even worse investment. I know I'm supposed to enjoy them, but it's hard to enjoy anything, at least anything that supposedly has some value, if one just gets ripped off in the end.
     
  10. Santinidollar

    Santinidollar Supporter! Supporter

    Haven’t bought anything off of it, but there’s USACoinsBook.com

    At least one outstanding dealer I know trades on it. Can’t tell you anything about its selling fees. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can fill in that blank.
     
    Seattlite86 likes this.
  11. JCro57

    JCro57 Making Errors Great Again

    eBay has the greatest online traffic. If you want a greater volume of bidders and the most people in one place to see it, eBay is your place to be. With that, 10% of your sale in fees is actually reasonable in my opinion.

    The problem with sellers on eBay that I notice is that many have poor marketing strategies, use the wrong focal points, take bad photos (or bad on purpose to hide flaws), or have poor titles. I bought stuff super cheap because many people listing coins do not list them properly, which limits the number of people who will find it.

    Great collections is another decent site to both buy and sell from.
     
    LA_Geezer and Two Dogs like this.
  12. ddddd

    ddddd Member

    I believe @ToughCOINS was the person who has used that site...maybe he can add his thoughts about it.
     
  13. TheFinn

    TheFinn Well-Known Member

    I think HA is 20%, and they have to be higher-end items that sell for over $50 or so.
     
    harrync likes this.
  14. ToughCOINS

    ToughCOINS Dealer Member Moderator


    That is true. I am traveling right now, so the business is shut down until I return, but I'll say that USACB is a decent platform with a growing audience.

    I don't think it will ever overtake eBay in terms of sales in coins, but I do think it may eventually become a major source of legitimately collectible coinage of all types. It doesn't permit some of the searches that eBay does, but fees are only 2%, and they seem less tolerant of fakes and obvious scammers than eBay is. They also provide more information about the coin being considered, for which eBay really provides nothing at all.

    As my own listings testify to, I think it is well worth a test drive.
     
  15. Seattlite86

    Seattlite86 Outspoken Member

    coinzip likes this.
  16. ma-shops

    ma-shops Well-Known Member

  17. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

    As a collector, I figure selling is going to cost me about 20% if I create a store on ebay. That's about what it cost years ago.
     
  18. APX78

    APX78 Well-Known Member

    As others have mentioned, USACoinsBook.com is a nice site. It would be nice to see it really take off as an Ebay alternative.
     
    LakeEffect, LA_Geezer and ToughCOINS like this.
  19. ToughCOINS

    ToughCOINS Dealer Member Moderator

    I believe "coin" is singular in the name of the website USACoinbook.com.
     
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  20. LA_Geezer

    LA_Geezer Well-Known Member

    I visited each of the eBay alternatives listed here and found just a few 1886 IHCs, all of which were below the standard I set for what will become my fifth sample of this date. Unfortunately, my criteria are probably a bit unrealistic for this date. While there are hundreds of terribly worn ones for sale, the very few nicer ones that come up for auction get my snipe bid, but no luck at the price I've set. It seems that I want to pay $50 for a $300 coin. :(
     
  21. Mountain Man

    Mountain Man Supporter! Supporter

    Yes, it is.
     
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