I was wondering if any of you have used online auction houses other than ebay, Teletrade, Heritage and B and M? I did a quick internet search and found a couple others. I still haven't bought anything from coinbug or coinday. Tell me both good and bad. Thanks
I have had good luck with auctions on David Lawrence (DLRC). The site is easy to use and when dealing with staff, I have always received excellent and friendly service. http://www.davidlawrence.com
even with all the horror stories about Ebay, i still use it for picking up a lot of coins and paper currency. i have been fairly lucky and haven't had much problems.
I've just made my first bid on Teletrade (ends tomorrow.) So no stories to tell there. But maybe soon. Otherwise I'm all eBay. Haven't been to a live auction for 20 years or so. All the small local ones seem to have disappeared, and the biggies only handle top-end stuff (out of my league.) Only other thing I do is shows (but you weren't asking about them.)
There is always a risk with online auctions etc. I say etc. as Coinbug is not an auction site. I do sell and occasionally buy on ebay. Very cautious when buying. I've sold on Overstock as well. As a seller one has a lot of problems with non paying bidders. I've bought a few very nice coins on CoinBug and sell there as well. Many from CT are starting to take an interest which is good. Provides a better base IMHO. I have seen some ridiculous things and that really can't be helped. They're also not hard to spot. High dollar coins with no pictures and no feedback. Big red flags. Of course a lot of people have no feedback there as the site is still small. You ARE allowed to provide links to your ebay feedback and I do. It will grow and problem sellers is inevitable. I have tried a few others over the years and not been too thrilled. Haven't done any of the larger "auction houses" like Teletrade so I can' t comment. I think there is always a risk no matter where you go. Be careful and good luck! clembo
Im not a big fan of Teletrade or Heritage as I dont like having to pay for being a buyer. I did have a couple of small issues with Teletrade. They sent me the wrong coins once and another time I just never got what I won. But after a little over a month I did get my money back. As it turned out they never shipped the coins to me in the first place. So with that 2 out of 8 times I have had problems. Needless to say I dont use them anymore. Now for Heritage I only used them 4 times got everything I won but the costs are just to much. Also my buddy at that owns the coin shop told me I big long story about a run in with them that went way out of hand about a year ago. I dont think I can really say much about it. As its not my personal issue. But I have heard a few bad things from a few different people about Heritage. But with that I say its all the same as ebay. Your always running a bigger risk if your not seeing things in hand and you don't know or have not used the seller or person before. Bargain hunting is not always a bargain in the end if you get screwed over enough times.
Whether you realize it or not - you pay to be a buyer regardless of where you buy your coins. The only real difference is that Heriatge, Teletrade and other big auction houses that you can actually trust - tell you ahead of time how much you are paying.
I agree, you are always going to pay a fee or percentage. Younjust have to do research and bid according. That's easy to do, but the trust thing is hard to know if you can or not, that's why I'm asking the questions to ry to get a feel of what others have seen or heard. Thanks for the comments so far.
It doesn't matter who you ask about, for every single coin seller there is from the biggest to the smallest, you are going to find somebody who for whatever reason had a problem, or what they perceived to be a problem. Bottom line is this, Heritage, Teletrade, all of the major auction houses - they are the most trusted names in the business. Period.
No argument with that either When you are looking for a seller, they are plenty of good ones out there. And it's not hard to find them. What you really have to learn is what particular seller is the most likely to be able to help you with the particular coin you are looking for.
I agree 100%, but sometimes the dealer just can get the ones you want. Although that is what makes it collecting not buying.
This statement simply isn't true. I just checked the ongoing Heritage auctions and of the 5376 lots currently up for auction 5061 have a current bid of less than $1000, with the vast majority in the "less than $500" range. Here is a link to those 5061 lots. That said I can vouch for the reputation of Heritage, Teletrade, and DLRC. Try them all, see which one has the material you want, with the quality and prices you want and then compare your experiences between them. Once your info is in pick who you want to deal with and deal with that company or those companies that you are most satisfied with.
I don't do many $500+ coins, and obviously even fewer $1000+ coins. That's my definition of top end. I'm work mostly in the $100-300 range. Right now I have a bid in on Teletrade at $150. When I speak of small auctions, I'm thinking in terms of the inexpensive coins (less than $100) that fill in around my better items.
