Has anyone here noticed that the bay is struggling?

It seems like years ago I used to sell coins and tokens and make pretty good money. Now, I'm just keeping my head above water, anyone else notice that? I have also noticed that I've been running into some really good deals on the bay. Also, has anyone left the bay due to their exorbitant prices? Where did you go and what's it like?

 

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I don't really notice it with the stuff that I usually look for (South Korea).

I just notice a LOT more low-value dross than ever. No more key-dates in decent-ish grades. I think it's just the current market for these coins, and rise in asking prices after the big coin-collecting boom in Korea (or as much of a "boom" in coins as can happen). If I had known what I was doing back in 1998 ~ 2004, I could have made myself a thousandaire many times over with all of the really nice Korean coins going for $10 to $20 bucks on eBay back then.

What coins are you finding deals on?

 

They've made some very poor decisions as far as sellers go such as promoted listings and hiding listings from certain places ect. A lot of people that buy there are also at least part time sellers and if they get upset on one end stop doing both.

 

Mostly on medals, US early political tokens mainly. I can't give a thorough answer as I fear getting some competition from the members here.

Yep you're absolutely right, sellers get screwed every time and the bay doesn't even realize that their sellers are also buyers, at least I am.

 

The problem is each member gets 50 free listings each month. That means each eBay user can post 50 useless, overpriced junk listings without any financial risk. That makes a lot of clutter on ebay that few have time to sort through.

 

If it isn't an auction - with a low starting bid - not a disguised BIN - things sell well. Everything else is overpriced. True auctions are preyy rare anymore in ebay.

 

The prices to sell there are just too high to make much money. I exhaust all avenues of sale I can and use eBay as a last resort. Plus USPS keeps raising their fees and it all just gets put on the sellers back.

 

USPS is not helping matters any but the tax reporting is killing off a lot of the bay. At least it is for me. Now being on SS I have to be very careful not to cross a certain threshold. Many of us baby boomers are experiencing the same problem and there's a LOT of us. I had considered going to Web Store but they are very limited in this hobby and they also use Pay Pal, so nothing to gain there either. Maybe there's more on Craig's List but I don't go there either.

 

Amazon is the reason it costs $12 to mail a $3 package via USPS.
I never mail anything anymore if it won't fit in a small manila envelope.
The heck with it. It's just not worth it. So that has to take a big bite out of EBay sellers, and then you have Ebay and Pay Pal commissions. You aren't working for yourself. 25 years ago I looked into a coin op laundry. The profit was about the same as the utilities bill,
the rent was 2+X that, plus there are other expenses. I would be working for all these other people and making the smallest cut for myself. The acct. said it was a bad deal and I didn't do it.

 

I hadn't notice your signature, "5th in the Ed Wood School of Grading!"
Wasn't Ed Wood the same person as "Detecto?" Remember him?
They were so fun to read sometimes.

As far as eBay business, yep, I don't do much there, either. I would like to know alternatives. I read that MA-Shops is expanding into North America...

 

I’ve had some success with Craigslist on non coin items. You can use paypal or an app for payment and mail it out or if it’s local just meet for cash. There is Letgo and offer up apps but I’ve had little success there. A lot of people message you, waste your time trying to low ball you or with a pity me story wanting something for nothing. We also had groups locally who were robbing people off those two apps. I like social media, either Facebook market place or a specific Facebook page dedicated to buying selling what your looking for. I’ve ran into problems trying to sell coins on Facebook market though. They froze my listing saying my coin “violated their policy”, I asked for a review but they refuse to process my review. The coin was PCGS Graded so it clearly was not a fake. The only bad part of the social media is you spend a lot of time dealing with inquiries who don’t buy anything. Just my 2 cents for what I’ve experienced selling on different platforms.

 

That has essentially nothing to do with their issues. Free listings mean more money, trying to charge and more specially double charge for listings with promoted listings and who they will show they do does.

They were successful in spite of themselves. It isn't hard to figure out what works for used clothes and DVDs doesn't work for coins. Their struggles and largely self inflicted

 

It’s been ages since I found a good example of anything I was looking for on eBay.

 

Yeah I remember mostly everybody if I hear their name, speaking of names I remember your avatar but that's all I remember about you except that you collect S. Korean. As far as the bay goes, I just barely noticed all the changes because I started selling again after a few years off, and it's a lot different than it was back in 2010-11. Below is a brief CT history, unfortunately many of the old timers listed have passed away. And that's a constant reminder that getting older is bad news! Getting old is funny but it's not fun.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-brief-history-of-time-cointalk-edition.249091/

 

Yep, that's so true! I've had to lower my expectations drastically on there, I used to make a nice profit because stuff sold fast, not anymore. ~Cheers!

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2...g-sellers-buyers-manipulate-system-protection

 

None of this is a problem if you use buy-it-now and just sit and wait for someone to pop on it. Auctions can be hazardous for your health these days, though.

 

Tax reporting? How much, can I make before they report me??? I'm just trying to make a few bucks, I'm drawing my SS as well!

 

$20,000 and PayPal reports your 1099k to the IRS.