Hi, I am reviewing Ebay as well as USACoinBook for the sales of some ordinary Franklins and Walkers. I am confused as to some things that I see. I filter the results so I see only completed sales... 1) When I do that, I see completed sales with only one bid, but that bid appears to be below melt value. I don't understand that. They are recent bids with the price of silver around $28 to $30. 2) I also see some halves which are sort of in good condition, but they are common and seem to go above melt value. I factor in shipping as well as the auction fee (13.5% for Ebay and 2% for USACoinBook) and the resulting sale price still seems to be out-of-whack. Perhaps these are folks not familiar with coins and just start bidding on sparkly old things? Help me understand. Thanks!
Hi @Mr. Numismatist Thanks for the note. Here's the item on Ebay - 1954p Franklin Half Dollar 90% Silver. Scratches | eBay - This item sold on Ebay on Aug 25, 2024 for $3.00 with only 1 bid - The buyer paid $1.25 for shipping so the buyer's cost is $4.25 - The seller gets 86.5% of the sale price (due to the Ebay fee) and nets $2.60 - On Aug 25, the price of silver was $29.83 - Using that Aug 25 silver price on the USACoinBook melt value calculator, the melt value is $10.79 - Seller seems to have a good reputation on Ebay so I don't think they are fake. Even if a pawn shop would give you only 50% of the melt value, the seller would net $5.40 which is about twice the net amount they received by selling it on Ebay. I have to be missing something, but I have no idea what it is. Do you?
In this case it appears there was only 1 bidder present. This happens quite often, even on popular platforms like ebay. I myself have on more than one occasion won silver for less than melt value because the auction ended at a time when the other potential bidders were at work or sleeping. Have any more examples? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Edit: While this does happen from time to time, this wasn't the case with this particular listing. A "Best Offer" was accepted. Ebay doesn't allow anyone other than the buyer and seller to see what the offer amount/sale price was. https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/3...11203936&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m145235.l2565
Hi - try this one. 1954 Franklin Half Dollar Coin | eBay Rounding off, Buyer purchases it it for $2 and pays $4 shipping. Seller gets $1.73 and buyer can probably turn it around and make a reasonable profit at a little less than melt value. This auction does not seem to have taken advantage of the "or best offer" strategy. What do you think?
Melt value fluctuates over time as well. So some sellers may only care if they're earning more than they purchased the coin for than if it's in line with current melt values. Some coins don't even move when priced below melt value (I've experienced this directly). So, the thought of just making profit relative to the original purchase price may lurk behind some of the stranger listings.
At the top of the page it says: "This listing was ended by the seller on Tue, Aug 20 at 4:22 AM because the item was sold." This means the item either was sold through some other venue or the seller ended the listing for some other reason.
Some sellers will tell you that you get better prices if you start the bidding low and people bid the item up because of the psychology of not wanting to lose. Sometimes this works but sometimes you end up losing out like in these examples. Personally when I sell I'm not a risk taker so I won't start it lower than I'd be ok with.
@Mr. Numismatist pointed out some of the reasons you see those low amounts: a seller taking an offer (in which case eBay still show just one bid at the starting price even if the offer was much higher) or a seller ending an auction early to take a higher offer (tends to be against the rules if there is already a bid but it is not enforced often). And then there are the occasional items that slip by based on bad photos, an inconvenient end time, the wrong category used, or the seller's poor feedback. In general, selling just one common date Franklin (or other 90% silver coin) via auction isn't a great idea because after fees and shipping one tends to net less than just selling it for melt to a local store. Some people don't have any local stores in their area (or have bad ones), so they might not have a better option.
This one I don't know what the heck that is. No reeds, bimetal, maybe encased in something? reverse blank, bad feedback - I would skip right on by no matter how cheap.
