Hi, i joined the forum today in hopes that someone would be willing to help me. i inherited a huge coin collection from my grandfather that is just taking up space in my house. would ebay be the best method to get rid of all of this? if anyone wants to email me in private that would be great--i have a list already done in Excel of the coin descriptions, years, details etc that i can email to someone. Most of these coins are still in their original shipping package as they came from the US Mint. I have no idea what any of this is worth, except for what i've looked up on ebay for selling prices of similar items. i don't really want to take the time to take this trunk full of coins to a shop etc for professional appraisals. i just want to get rid of it for a reasonable price and know that i am not "giving" anything away! Thanks! Jeff boostedgta@charter.net
Howdy Jeff - Welcome to the Forum !! Normally I would not suggest that those who are unfamiliar with coins sell them on ebay. But since you say most of what you have is still in original mint packaging - that changes things a bit since grading the coins will not really be an issue. But to sell these on ebay you will need quality pics and you might have a hard time since you don't have an established feedback rating. So I would still suggest that you sell them to a dealer. Prices for mint sets & Proof sets are well established and published weekly in the Coin Dealer Newsletter. You can obtain a copy easily on-line and know what the sets are worth.
thanks, i have an established feedback rating on ebay, but i guess not for selling coins--is that what you mean? i may look up our local coin shop just to see what they will give since you suggest that... might be little easier than ebay actually since i won't have to take pics of everything.
Selling coins on eBay is a much different endeavor than selling just about anything else. As such most buyers will look to see if your feedback is coin related. I'm not saying that you shouldn't, but it is possible that you really don't want to. If you do decide to sell on eBay, then GDJMSP is right, good quality pictures and a solid return policy are a must for achieving the best prices.
though...if he puts in the info that he got these coins from his grandfather, it would explain why he doesnt have any feedback from coins previously? if he has great feedback from other things, i'm sure that would reflect as well.
Afraid not. Some of the biggest, most flagrant scammers on EBay regularly use the "I don't know anything about these coins my [fill in the blank] gave me." Most numismatically knowledgeable buyer will either disregard, or make token bids, on auctions with that line, even though in this case it would be true. Doug's advice is absolutely the best - if you don't know much about coins, find a dealer to buy them, and don't try selling them on EBay.