I have been trying to win a 1921 S Morgan, I am starting a 20th Century Type Set collection and wanted this to be my first coin! I have been outbid at the last second so many times its not even funny. Heres the latest http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=270203327317&Category=39466&_trksid=p3907.m29 What a pretty coin, I was winning up until 10 seconds left!!! Oh well, anyone have any tips on how to not be beaten in the last 5 seconds of an auction?? Nice coin though huh? Jim
Please don't take this the wrong way, but it is probably a good thing you got beat on this auction. The coin is overpriced and overgraded, in my opinion. Using a sniping program (google: ebay sniper) will likely solve your being outbid problem, but understand that there aren't many good deals on eBay and it would be in your best interest to learn a bit more about third party grading before pulling the trigger. Kudos on picking an auction with a return policy, by the way. Good luck & respectfully submitted...Mike
1. Did you bid your max? If you did, then the winner overpaid. If you didn't, then you have no room to complain when you're sniped. 2. Nice thing about a 1921 Morgan, they'll be plenty more listed. I've got a similar problem with a 1950 proof Roosevelt. I want it slabbed. Plenty are. That's not the problem. I keep getting outbid. But more keep showing up. I'll win eventually.
It is called 'sniping'. That is when bidders wait until the last few seconds of an auction to bid so there will not be time for another bidder to top their bid. I do thisall the time myself. There are two obvious things you can do: 1) Bid higher OR 2) Wait until only a few seconds remain in the auction and toss in your bid (snipe). If you bid early it will leave plenty of time for someone to top your bid. Your bid of $22.11 (I assume that was your bid) had two problems: You left almost 30 minutes for other bidders to top your bid. And it was very obvious that $22.11 was your max. bid because it was only $0.11 higher than the next higher bid. Sniping does not always work. I like sniping because it does not give competing bidders a price to beat or time to react. Many, many times I have tried to bid at the last second only to get a message that my bid is lower than the current bid; i.e., another sniper bid a little earlier than me and higher than me. And that's fine because my bid represents the most I am willing to pay. Hope this helps.
Please show patience when using ebay! Don't let the "I need one" get the better of you. More coins, especially the common date coins, will appear. And I agree this bidder over paid - I do not like the looks of the coin. I agree with Kanga on bidding. Also beware of second rate TPG'ers - usually their grade is way off, stick to the 4 major ones. I don't use a program to snipe - I have a cable modem and manage to bid all the time with a few seconds to go. Most times I lose because I put my max in and someone else(in my opinion only) bid too much - I really can not recall the last time I bid twice on a coin. As it is I don't try to snipe in most cases - I figure what I will bid and place the bid. If I win great if I don't, well another will come up. Please join heritage - if for nothing else to look at realized auctions. Also check out dealers - I have used Harlan J Berk at times. I know the three morgans I bought for my father graded exactly out by PCGS as the store said. Patience is the key.
well i lost my coin of the year 2008 to some silly sniper today and i am ****ed. so it does happen and even on high end coins so dont feel bad at least you will get another chance with yours just be sureu dont get caught in the sniping wave and over bid. bid your max no more
Everything everyone else had to say basically. There are snipe sites - I use one on occasion but bid only what I'm willing to pay so it doesn't work most of the time. Do some homework though. An MS64 NNC coin is not the way to go. clembo
Thanks alot for all the input guys!! maybe i acted too fast here but I was planning on cracking it out anyway. I figured it was an ms 63ish coin. $22.11 seemed a good price for it I think. Cant believe it got into the 50's.... I just want to own a Morgan, and figured the common dates are the most affordable to me. Thanks again! Jim
Jim, Post it on the open forum. "Looking for MS, common date Morgan". There are many here that can take care of that for you. clembo
No Jim it was not a nice coin. Count your blessings that you lost. If you really want to put an end to your problem - quit trying to buy them on ebay. Buy them instead from a reputable dealer, you'll get them cheaper.
as others have said: be grateful that you lost that one. And, stay away from that so-called grading 'serivce'. I have been sniped so many times, that I can't count that high any more. Just pick your highest price and go with that, avoid auction fever.
Thanks everyone who posted. Clembo: thats a good idea, I may try that after going to the flea market this weekend. GDJMSP: I very much appreciate your knowledgeable insight. Can you please elaborate on your post. I am definitely not seeing what most of you are seeing! I thought it was a pretty coin..... I think I need to read about grading more.... Also, I always thought Ebay was a good place to get a good deal on a coin, how come you suggest a local dealer?? Thanks so much for your insight! And to everyone else: Im pretty glad I lost that auction from what all of you have said, Im still WAAAAy out of my league here! Jim
I think he suggested a local dealer so you could see some MS graded Morgans in hand. That is vastly different than trying to buy using pictures only. If you can get the dealer to show you a PCGS/NGC graded 64 morgan - you will notice the frostiness on the coin. You do not see that in the auction you missed on. Seeing coins in hand and talking to an expert will be very helpful - hopefully your local dealer will be as nice as mine. My dealer lined morgans graded and ungraded on the counter. You could then plainly see which ones were cleaned. He removed those - then we looked at each coin that was left. There was another cleaned one in the group - you could tell under the glass the frostiness just was not as good as the others. It was a very good learning experience for me and my father. By the way to me the coin in the aution looked like shiny silver without the mint frostiness - plus I thought I saw hairlines on it. The more you learn the less likely your are to make a mistake on ebay. Just my humble opinion.
Jim - Mark is correct, so were you by the way - you need to learn a bit more about grading. The coin in the auction, from what I could see, would grade XF at best. As to why a dealer, as I said Mark was correct. You'll see the differences in the coins right off, even if you don't know how to grade at all. But the main point is a dealer will likely sell you an XF '21 Morgan for about 10% above melt value - less than that auction would have cost you. ebay is OK for buying coins for those who know what they are doing. That means ypou have to be able to estimate an approximate grade based on the pics - that's hard to do at best. You also need to know a realistic value for what you are bidding on so you don't over pay. And then you need to know your seller and trust them as well. many sellers on ebay will show you pic of one coin and send you an entirely different coin if you win the bid. Sometimes they may not even send the coin at all. And feedback, well feedback is about as useful as breast on a boar hog. It can be largely meaningless. But a good dealer, a good dealer you know right where he is if yo uever have a problem. You get to see the coins in person and compare them for yourself. You also get to pick his brain from time to time and expand your own knowledge. A good dealer will do this because he wants you to keep coming back - he knows who butters his bread. But remember, there are bad dealers out there too. You have to check around, ask other collectors, but you can find the good ones. But ebay, without knowledge ebay is like walking into a mine field with a blindfold on. You don't stand a chance.
Wow, thanks for the insight GDJMSP! I never really realized how much I didnt know till I posted this thread. I am gonna get a couple grading books and study them up before I try this again! Thanks a million Jim
