What is the overall opinion of online coin shop/dealers? In my area, their are 3 coin shops. One who is having a 25% off sale and all his stuff is still wayyyyy overpriced. The second has about 4 ft of space for his coins, the rest is jewlery and baseball and collectables. The 3rd is into computers and does coins as a hobby. I know, pateince is a virtue. Anyways, just asking about the online. thanks JD
I've bought hundreds of coins ONLINE on ebay. Very happy with 99% of my purchases. Just check feedback, description, and scans. I bought this coin on ebay (above).
and stay away from listings with blurry pictures, if the seller had no reservations about the coin they would take the time to get a quality photo
It sounds like you are asking more about dealers who have on-line stores than you are about ebay. If so - that can both ways, good and bad. It just depends on the dealer. There are literally thousands of them out there, some good and some not so good. What I would suggest is that when you find an on-line dealer that has something you want to buy - you ask here about that particular dealer and what his reputation is. If you are interested in ebay - well that's another story. ebay can be a wonderful place for those with the knowledge to know what it is they are looking at. But for those with limited knowledge, ebay can be a nightmare. It just depends in what you are buying. Again - you can always ask here about a particular item BEFORE you bid on it.
I have a certain online dealer that I only buy bullion from. Everything else I ever bought from them was over rated. My most recent send back was an 1882 "Gem BU" (the highest rating) nickel that was a very poor strike. The strike was so poor you could barely make out some of the lettering. I don't remember anything I got from them that I haven't sent back, and whose replacment were not any better. I have sent them back as many as 3 times. I think his idea is to wear you down with shipping charges to send them back and eventually you give up and take a lower grade coin. But they are very competetive on bullion and the shipping. After all, we know that American Eagles and such, have not been circulated so they cannot get you on grading. Watch those grades, always figure one or two MS lower than what they say. edited to add: after further review, I guess it is okay to name the above mentioned dealer, Coast to Coast Coins. Way overgraded.
Now I don't know but when I have gone to CoinLand it seems they overgrade and overprice. I think I heard that they are somehow connected with a off name grading Co. too. But I only heard that so I don't know. Speedy
