It's easy to sell coins in good slabs but raw is a different story. These are some of the options I'm seeing. EBay. I'm not ready to go back to that mess. Too much time and too many trips to the post office. Great Collections. It cost $20 for coins worth under $300 to have them sent to PCGS or NGC. GC will also charge fees to list them for auction. This may be my best option even with all the fees. Stack's Bowers. I need to study this more. Any thoughts? Dealers at shows. I need to do this.
My 2 cents worth, taking in to account I don't sell much...have much in the way of coins someone else doesn't already have or want As much as I despise the bay, it's hard to beat the eye traffic. Sure it's work setting up the listing, but then you wait. I just list an item as a buy it now with offer and wait. You can put in your listings that you only ship once a week or so because of the distance too the post office and your 120 hour a week work schedule Auction houses are way easier but that comes at a price, usually higher than the bay. Probably depends on how quickly you are looking at moving the coins. Private Party sales have always been the best avenue for lees fees, maybe try the classified section here in the forum. Everything has a trade off.
I sell my raw Jefferson Nickels on Facebook groups, but each group only has about 20-25 repeat buyers and you have to build your seller reputation within each group. Given the more eclectic nature of your collection, I think it would be a hassle to sell all your stuff on Facebook. That said, your photos are outstanding, and to me, that is paramount when trying to sell coins sight unseen. Given your history in this group, I would start with the Cointalk BST for your tougher pieces, and Facebook for more common material.
GC is probably the easiest and most hassle-free. But I believe you pay for that service. The better grade, more desirable, and more valuable a coin is, the less the cost as a percentage of the sale will be. I wouldn't touch eBay with a ten-foot pole nor Craigslist, but that's just me. Dealers will not usually give you a good deal for various reasons, some more valid than others. That said, wandering around a big show with a box and showing it to dealers you know is, I think, a good way to narrow your thoughts on not only how to sell but also what to expect for that particular set of coins. This is also a good way to trade your old stuff for new stuff. I will look for you at FUN with a box of coins under your arm. Who knows - I might like something in there. But I suspect you already know all this.
I've sold all of my raw coins to my local coin shop. In the end he gave me a fair price for the thousands of items and I used the proceeds to purchase slabbed coins online. Before selling my coins, I organized everything to streamline the process. I had thousands of early Lincoln cents and I separated all keys/semi-keys and anything that had a value more than a few cents. I did the same thing with about 500 Indian Head cents. All mint/proof sets were organized by date, common silver was separated, etc. I appreciated my LCS dealer since he spent around 5 hours tallying up everything.
I would actually go to a coin show as a dealer. From my own experience, I have had some good luck selling raw coins at shows, especially silver, but not excluding large cents (particularly Draped Bust), Barber quarters, and MS-grade Franklin halves. Believe it or not, there are people who prefer raw coins over certified ones - specifically if they are trying to build a collection of the coins. I would try USA Coin Book. I haven't sold anything on there yet, but out of the items I do have, there does seem to be interest. Silver is one of the best things to put on there, but it's good to cover multiple categories. Remember, selling raw coins (and certified coins, to be honest) is all about who wants what, where, when.
local coin shop,know the guy's very well,even allowed me to go to the back to see some big guns before going off to auction a few times.
I just got my settlement check and statement for 23 raw coins that auctioned October 6th. All but one sold under $300, four or five got a variety label, and I specified that they go to PCGS. The pro rata grading cost per coin was $21.30. Very reasonable, I thought. I would have liked to see the actual grading cost per coin but GC doesn't provide that. For the low-priced coins, the listing fee is $3 per coin and for the one that sold over $500 the listing fee was $5 plus you pay a 5% Sellers Fee on any coin that hammers for under $1000. Then you have to ship and maybe insure the shipment. I shipped USPS Flat Rate Box without insurance for $10.45. When you compare a calculation of what your net will be by sending to GC compared to what you might expect from other marketing venues, then you can go some way toward quantifying your decision. Of course, there is a value to the qualitative aspect of the transaction, such as your time, hassle factor, risk, etc. If that information helps anyone make a decision, then glad to help.
