I was talking to a friend about the beginning of ebay and what kind of impact it had on the coin industry. I mean there must have been some companies who were put out of business as a result and if not, it must have cost them to keep their business going strong enough to stay afloat. That said, I wasn't collecting in 1995 so I really don't know what happend do you?? Anyone?
From a Canadian point of view..... Our dollar was worth almost half of the U.S. dollar which was awesome when we sold our items for U.S. dollars. At the beginning there was a buying frenzy. I sold 99.9% of everything I listed and it really didn't matter what it was. There were buyers for it. At the peak (pre Sept. 11, 2001) my partner and I were making between $600- $1,000 per day selling mainly collectibles and books. After that fateful day, the market crashed and I have yet to see it anywhere near what it was before that. Our sales dropped to the point that we were selling maybe $100 per day and we found that we were doing better selling the items in the store than on ebay. It also seemed like there were far more scammers later on than there were before.
I think most of the people put out of business has been local coin stores and some mail dealers. Local brick and morter are harder to justify when more and more of their customers find out they can buy items cheaper via internet and Ebay. Some great ones survive, but most I knew are gone. The ones that are left are either great guys, or just local "chop shops" that basically survive by buying really cheap and selling the coins to other dealers or Ebay. As for mail order, a lot of these guys were kind of high priced, but people bought from them since they had no other way of buying coins. The internet has replaced mail order, and a lot of the weaker dealers are gone, the stronger ones are on the internet. Overall, though, I think the internet has been a big boon to collectors, allowing us greater access to both information and access to purchasing that we never had before. Trust me, I grew up in Iowa, there is no way I would have ever had access to ancient coins without the help of the internet. Chris
While it is true that ebay may have affected some businesses to the point of closing their doors, I can't help but think many were not staying with times. I repair cars for a living, and that is the exact reason most shops close. My local coin shop is doing as good as ever, and I can expect to recieve what the description says. In my experience on ebay, many of the items I've been purchasing go for higher than I could buy them at a coin shop. Innitially, I bought most of my coin purchases on ebay when I opened my account, but I soon realized the deals weren't as great as I originally thought, and many coins were better in the pictures, and suffered from some sort of cleaning at one time or another. Ebay seems to be the dumping grounds for a coin that would normally be in the bargain bin in a respectable coin shop. These are just my observations over thew last five years.
Now I would agree with you. However, at first, Ebay had a lot of major dealers and quality goods. Even now Ebay may be a dumping ground for many, there are still bargains to be had listed by inexperienced sellers. Man, you should have seen the coins CNG sold there before they started their own auction site.
I almost consider it a lost cause that I didn't join sooner. I remember buying silver lots on a regular basis for way under melt. I believe you when you say that ebay used to have many quality dealers. Where have many of them gone? Do you suspect they may have started their own websites?
I think the days of being able to buy something on ebay cheaper than you can in a dealer's shop are gone, and have been gone for several years now. But I can remember buying many nice coins on ebay. And yes, there are still some nice coins to be bought on ebay, for a fair price. But they are the exception now rather than the rule.
It seems like prices started going down significantly after the dot com crash. After a while most gave up trying to get reasonable prices there. Too much risk in unreserved auctions, and it seems Ebay buyers hate reserved auctions. Therefor, too many sales at a loss, dealers went home. I still find it a place to get deals, but not the first place I look if I want decent coins. Too much trash there in the ancient section. You will find deals, but waste a ton of time finding the few items worth buying. Like you said, still deals there, and I still buy. I have just been there long enough now to not waste my time on most stuff, and have a very selective type of auction I look for. If I told you I would have to kill you.
Agree 100%. Just for the heck of it, I'll place a ton of bids on things I plan on buying, for about what I'd expect to pay at a coin shop. Rarely do I ever end up buying anything. It seems to be worse this tme of year, as more people are probably on the computer.
Their fees are 10x more now than early on too, might have something to do the price increases and losing the good dealers.
