Reminder: CCF Has A Selling Section

The suggestion was met with zero resistance.

I will figure this out soon enough. Having never sold coins online before,
I am sure to encounter a learning curve.. mostly involving shipping.
I have 100% positive feedback on ebay; 5000+; from sales of items
from my 'other' hobby, which typically does not require any insurance
other than that offered by postal tracking.

It is 'end game' time here for coin collecting. Major expenses coming up soon.
I would love to receive some input from y'all, as to what to offer first.

Always sorry to hear when a fellow collector is leaving the hobby for ANY reason, hope all is well for @mysilveryears.

I sent this message by PM to @mysilveryears, but just in case anyone else is wondering, I'll post this here:

As for shipping coins, it's easy. Anything valued up to $100 you can send by USPS ground advantage. It's a new category for small parcels, includes tracking number and insurance up to $100. Costs about $5. Use a small, padded envelope and lots of tape on all edges so nothing "disappears" in the mail stream.

Over $100, I use small, flate-rate USPS Priority Mail boxes. Put the coins in an envelope or tube (depending on number of coins) then slip that in some bubble wrap or packing paper, into the box and again lots of tape on all edges. Cost about $10.65 for shipping, also includes a tracking number and insurance up to $100. I always insure for full value, and that can add a few bucks to shipping but worth it! I've sent boxes worth up to $3,000 and no trouble.

Keep us updated and ask lots of questions if needed.

@samoth -

It's a matter of risk aversion. How averse are you? Only you know the answer.

Obviously people buy and sell internationally every day of the week and most transaction are fine, but it is indeed more expensive and more complicated.

I've sold a few items to internatinal buyers, maybe 6 or 7 times I think, and have traded with several others through another website. I have a 98% success rate (lost a couple packages, but most get through).

Here are my two big concerns:

(1) Fraud: even if you demand payment upfront, that payment often can be "clawed back". Credit card payments can be disputed, wire transfers can be rejected (sometimes days or weeks later), checks and money orders are iffy at best, and of course cash can be counterfeited. This can all happen with US buyers too, but within the US we are better protected by federal and state laws. You can file civil or criminal complaints and possibly recoup your losses. But internationally? Tha's a lot harder, and probably not worth the risk for most of us. Even if you get a judgment against a buyer you still have to collect, and that's tough in international trade. Not worth it for most hobbyists.

(2) Shipping: can be very expensive. By international agreement, any object in an envelope other than a paperclip or similar clasp is an "object" and all "objects" must be declared and shipped as a package. For years we all ignored this rule and had good luck mailing coins first class, but no longer! The PO is on to us and recent EU rules complicate the issue - they want detailed descriptions of everything along with specific valuations and then on the EU side the buyers have to pay duties. For anything under $100, and just one or two coins, you can often mail coins in an envelope between rigid sheets of cardboard (the coin sandwich) and hope for the best. But you get no tracking info, and no insurance. Next choice is padded envelope but those typically require a customs for and shipping starts at $15. You get tracking but it's not secure, and insurance is extra. Next step up is Registered Mail. This is VERY secure (envelope goes in a canvas bag secured with a padlock and carried by hand between destination, signed for at every step). But registered mail is also expensive and slow. And again, no guarantee that your payment will come thru unscathed.

That's my Two Cents. I'm sure others here have sold internationally and had good experiences. Same here. Most of the time it's no trouble... but when there is a problem, now what?

Feel free to ask more questions. Always happy to discuss.

In my experience of shipping to CCF members residing in foreign countries (less than a dozen times) I have never had a problem. Currently, I restrict my sales to domestic. I once shipped a chess computer to India with no problems through another site but that was 30 years ago.

I would not mind selling some of my duplicate double eagle types back into their county of origin. They are too nice to dispose of as bullion. But it is not worth the bother and risk of shipping them, no parcel handler here accepts precious metals. I do not know how coin shops here deliver to the USA, if they do. I think they risk sending the coins without proper description.
Would only sell in person to someone happening to be visiting my country. Which is unlikely. But those coins can sit safe in a safe for the time being.