How do you react?

Coin buyers--You go to a shop or a show. You're looking for a steel Lincoln penny. Nothing special, just a regular circulated penny. You know what one's worth. The dealer pulls one out. "Ten bucks," he says. What? If you were like me, You'd politely decline and walk away.

Honest coin dealers--Someone walks into your shop, throws ten dollars on the counter, and wants the exact same penny. Do you take this guy as a sucker and pocket the money, or do you tell him what the value of it is charge him accordingly? I'm sure most of you would do the right thing.

Here's the dilemma. My brother-in-law put one on ebay for a starting bid of one cent with free shipping. It sold for $10.07!!! He's keeping the money, but he's honest and doesn't know how to react.

 

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Umm, it's eBay. You take the money and send the buyer the coin, return their money if the buyer is unhappy later and if there was a return policy to begin with, followed according to details and nothing changed. seems fairly clear how ebay works. Now where are those steel cents I have put aside...

 

If he put on eBay as an auction, and the price was bid up to $10.07, how is that being dishonest or taking advantage of someone?

I've been to many auctions in my time, and have seen the same thing happen. On the block is a coin, that 5 or 6 people want to add to their collection, and the bidding gets crazy on it, enough so that the selling price is atleast 40% over FMV.

 

My two cents -- assuming that the listing text wasn't in any way misleading -- would be that both bidders who drove the price up had the choice to stop bidding at any time. Just like eBay sellers take a chance when they list an item for a "true" auction (starting at a very low price) that the demand won't be there sometimes and a piece will go for less than its worth, the reverse can also happen. I'd tell my brother-in-law to enjoy the extra proceeds and keep this in mind the next time something he sells goes for less than he'd hoped.

 

Your hypothetical does not exactly apply because it was not selling at a retail store, it was an auction. I recently sold 3 MS65 walking liberties at auction. Each one sold for $50, but they all had a book value of $150, should the buyers have given me back my coins?

 

Those buyers must have read the latest yellow and black "How To" book about eBay entitled.........

Bidding for Dummies

 

As a market test, Amy made "Iron Chef" t-shirts and put them on ebay. This was at a time when Iron Chef was just getting really popular and no one in the US had anything with the logo on it. The FIRST shirt she made cost us about $6 total not counting her time. The bidding went WILD the first shirt went for $60 bucks. We shipped the guy 2 shirts and told him we couldn't take $60 for a shirt. He was so happy, he started bidding on the 2nd one.

We contacted Fuji TV in Japan and told them we wanted to work out a contract to sell shirts and other items using the logo. They worked with us and we almost got the contract. As soon as they said that they wanted someone with more experience to work on the items, we pulled our shirts off of eBay. But for the next 3 weeks people kept trying to get us to make DOZENS of shirts for them. We had to turn them down. The cool thing is I had enough Iron Chef t-shirts to wear for the next 5 years and no one else had anything like them. Fuji finally started selling shirts and stuff but it was about the same time that the show started dropping in ratings. I'm sure they lost money.

So, yeah. "eBay Bidders" don't seem to have any idea of the value of anything and a rumor about a coins value can score BIG BUCKS for the seller.

Ben

 

Or maybe a couple of buyers recognized ( or thought they did) the 1943 DDO, as the odd shaped "9" is easily seen even in a mediocre photo

 

I had a dealer quote me a price of 35 bucks for a common bullion silver eagle, I laughed, it really tickled me for some reason, I suppose I would do the same for a ten dollar steel cent, maybe not if it was slabbed in a major holder for like ms-68 or something like that.

I agree with the other poster who mentioned that there will be times when an auction will not bring fmv, so tell him to take the good with the bad, and not spend much time worrying about it.

 

I hear Banjo's...

 

If I got more money than expected for something I was selling on eBay I'd be ecstatic. That's what eBay is all about - you sell something and try to get the best price you can. Everyone on there knows how it works and no one's feeling sorry for anyone who overpays.

 

Can someone explain the ethical dilemma to me, I don't understand it!

 

Maybe it's got something to do with the OPs challenges with eBay. Just search the number of threads he has started regarding eBay/coin related experiences... :rollling:

 

Someone thinks it is our job to watch out for all the buyers of teh world so the seller cannot make any profit.

 

LOL exactly.

 

Can you imagine if any of these eBay bidders were at a live auction?

 

When I use to buy from the bid board at a former local coin shop, my favorite sales folks were those that indicated what the current Red Book estimate was listed at. That was always helpful to someone like me without much knowledge or experience. ----

EBAY probably should encourage more ethical behavior, but that is their business, and their reputation follows accordingly in my opinion. I review EBAY items with much caution.

 

That's a tough one...

In your buyer scenario...
I would politely decline the 10.00 wheatie, leave his vicinity, never to return.

As seller...
You don't take 10.00 for said coin.

On eBay... (or any auction setting)
You kinda have to chalk it up to bidding frenzy, ignorance, whatever...
It's kinda silly to give the money back for an auction. It's an auction, and the bidders ultimately set the price.

 

I would hope we all could agree that there is a difference between profit and robbery.

For the sake of our hobby...

Now, if profit is the name of the game, and not the hobby... maybe I am on the wrong board. ???

 

Sorry, but the seller can ask whatever he wishes for the coin. More power to him. Any buyer may walk away at his own discretion. No one is forced to pay anything. Ultimately, that is what determines the price. If the seller does not sell, he lowers the price. It is called free enterprise. Hopefully it is not dead - yet.