Auctions and Technical Information--Do Price and other guides help sell strong?

Numismat · Dec 7, 2011

GDJMSP said: ↑

Things change

If you go back far enough you'll find right on this forum, let alone all of the others and those that no longer even exist, my recommendation to use realized ebay auction prices as part of a comprehensive buying guide. But - that was back in the early days of ebay.

ebay came into existence in 1998, not all that long ago. I started buying on ebay in 1998. Did quite well for the most part. Only once did I ever return a coin. But by 2001 the coin market was starting to take off after having started a slow upwards movement in 1998. I was one of the very first to recognize this and make mention of it on the various forums. For the most part I was told I was wrong, that it was a minor blip.

By 2004 you couldn't pick up a coin magazine or read a coin forum where they were not talking about the new bull market in coins. Stories began to be printed in the regular news, even on TV. And by then, ebay had exploded ! Everybody and their brother, and their cousins, and probably their dogs too, were buying coins on ebay.

In the beginning about the only coin buyers on ebay were serious collectors, people who knew their stuff. You'd even recognize their names when you looked at completed auctions. We made jokes about it, teased each other when we bid against each other. We even made gentlemen's agreements to not bid against one another. And when you saw a completed price on ebay you knew it was real.

By 2004 all that went out the window. All of a sudden people started paying outrageous money for common, everyday coins. Counterfeits were showing up all over the place, harshly cleaned coins, altered coins, and people were buying them at outrageous prices just as fast the sellers could list them. And just as suddenly, all of those completed auction prices that you used to be able to trust - were no good anymore. The bidiots had arrived.

In the following years it only got worse. More and more people who had no idea at all about the coins they had were selling them on ebay. And the people who knew even less were buying them as fast as they could. It was a feeding frenzy. That's when ebay first started changing the rules. Not long after that ebay created the behind the scenes, (I can't remember what they called it exactly - brain cramp), but it was a group of recognized collectors who would examine reported auctions and try to pick out the counterfeits, altered coins etc. I was one of those collectors, but I had to sign non-disclosure agreements and a ton of other papers etc etc. It was years ago, so, so what.

Yeah, there were still a few of the folks who knew what was what buying and selling coins on ebay. There still are today. But they are so greatly outnumbered by people who have no clue that there is no way you can look at completed auctions and sort the good from the bad.

That the story you wanted ?
Click to expand...

That sure is a thorough history of eBay and it's influence on the coin market. =)

I didn't realize they had "completed items" back then. I started on ebay around 2005, and they didn't have it then or for the next few years. Back then I had to add an item to my watch list when I saw it, otherwise the only way to find it after it ended was to google similar coins and +ebay or +"ebay feedback" and hope that it showed up.

As a buyer I see your point 110%. But, as a seller I feel that if idiots bid on similar coins, idiots will bid on mine as well. So the price I see makes sense for what I'm planning to sell. The best I can do is send someone a nice bonus coin if I feel they overpaid.

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beef1020 · Dec 7, 2011

Owle said: ↑

But current auction records are the standard of what a coin is generally worth. Of course this does not apply if you can't match up a given coin with other coins that have sold recently. Truly rare or condition census coins, rare varieties, unusually toned coins, pedigreed rarities, etc..

Thanks for your thoughts.
Click to expand...

I think this is right for things like Morgan dollars in MS64 where there are hundreds of thousands of examples and they are by and large fungible. For things like early copper, price guides are useful to determine approximate value, but each coin is truly unique and the actual price it brings is entirely based on demand at that moment. Price guides do not hold those coins back at all, go check out the auction archive on goldberg for some examples...

medoraman · Dec 8, 2011

GDJMSP said: ↑

Things change

If you go back far enough you'll find right on this forum, let alone all of the others and those that no longer even exist, my recommendation to use realized ebay auction prices as part of a comprehensive buying guide. But - that was back in the early days of ebay.

ebay came into existence in 1998, not all that long ago. I started buying on ebay in 1998. Did quite well for the most part. Only once did I ever return a coin. But by 2001 the coin market was starting to take off after having started a slow upwards movement in 1998. I was one of the very first to recognize this and make mention of it on the various forums. For the most part I was told I was wrong, that it was a minor blip.

By 2004 you couldn't pick up a coin magazine or read a coin forum where they were not talking about the new bull market in coins. Stories began to be printed in the regular news, even on TV. And by then, ebay had exploded ! Everybody and their brother, and their cousins, and probably their dogs too, were buying coins on ebay.

In the beginning about the only coin buyers on ebay were serious collectors, people who knew their stuff. You'd even recognize their names when you looked at completed auctions. We made jokes about it, teased each other when we bid against each other. We even made gentlemen's agreements to not bid against one another. And when you saw a completed price on ebay you knew it was real.

By 2004 all that went out the window. All of a sudden people started paying outrageous money for common, everyday coins. Counterfeits were showing up all over the place, harshly cleaned coins, altered coins, and people were buying them at outrageous prices just as fast the sellers could list them. And just as suddenly, all of those completed auction prices that you used to be able to trust - were no good anymore. The bidiots had arrived.

In the following years it only got worse. More and more people who had no idea at all about the coins they had were selling them on ebay. And the people who knew even less were buying them as fast as they could. It was a feeding frenzy. That's when ebay first started changing the rules. Not long after that ebay created the behind the scenes, (I can't remember what they called it exactly - brain cramp), but it was a group of recognized collectors who would examine reported auctions and try to pick out the counterfeits, altered coins etc. I was one of those collectors, but I had to sign non-disclosure agreements and a ton of other papers etc etc. It was years ago, so, so what.

Yeah, there were still a few of the folks who knew what was what buying and selling coins on ebay. There still are today. But they are so greatly outnumbered by people who have no clue that there is no way you can look at completed auctions and sort the good from the bad.

That the story you wanted ?
Click to expand...

I saw this as well, and was buying in the same period. The only thing I would add would be for ancients I saw this development a little later than for US and world coins. You could still find excellent deals there until 2007 or so on Ebay, then all heck broke loose. Nowadays, I pass on 95% of everything there as either outright junk or well above market price for BIN or starting bid. Of the remaing 5%, I lose 4.9% of them. The only coins I get there now at a good price are either ones I have superior knowledge on, or esoteric items. Other than that, prices are simply out of sight.

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Auctions and Technical Information--Do Price and other guides help sell strong?

Numismat World coin enthusiast

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beef1020 Junior Member

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Auctions and Technical Information--Do Price and other guides help sell strong?

Numismat World coin enthusiast

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medoraman Supporter! Supporter

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