Thoughts On This Auction

Hi TW,
I have never bid for an ebay coin in this pricerange, so take my words with that caveat. You have mentioned that the pictures don't do the coin justice. I can tell you that on my laptop screen, despite the desirable date/mm and slabbed grade, the coin doesn't look like the beauty you know it to be. My rash take would be to cancel the auction, take the small loss on the listing fee, and put the coin under optimal lighting and relist per the advice here. If you don't have "pro" lighting and camera, what they heck, you sell coins on ebay semiregularly, why not take some of your "windfall profit" on this coin and invest in what you need to make iot look as it does in hand. Bigger pics would be nice as well.
Alernatively, I'm sure heritage would be happy to sell it for you, and they do a great job with pics, IMO.
I can also tell you that the "restocking fee" would put me off. The few dollars it would cost you to take the coin back if still in the slab would be postage, handling, and insurance, and the listing but not sales fee, correct? For paying cash from someone who is not an established dealer, that's what I would look for...an ironclad return policy.
Not trying to criticise TW-I know you buy coins regularly on ebay-just trying to give you an outside look at how an semiserious collector might view this sale
Don

I started an auction last night that is a perfect example of starting low and letting it run. It's not a coin but it is a collectible and probably worth about the same as the coin in question. Here it is....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...m=5221077730

Started it at $9.99.

The only reason that this is listed for 10 days is because I have about a dozen $100 or so cards I want to end at the same time as this one and didn't have time to get them done. Now I can launch them on Thursday for 7 and they will all end on the same night.

If the coin is returned, you can file to have your final value fees credited, so the restocking fee isn't necessary to get that money back. We've had a couple and got the fees back no problem.

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Originally posted by TerrapinWill

So then if this auction doesn't sell, you would suggest starting low, with a reserve identified in the description, and shorten the length of the auction? I would be thrilled with 1200 so hopefully there will be one bidder.

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I'm of the school of thought to NOT identify the reserve amount in the description. The psychological rationale of this is to rely on the natural curiosity of some bidders to discover what the actual reserve might be by continued bidding until the reserve is met. This is also enhanced by competitive bidding by two or more bidders in which there is no known goal such that the prices keep going up and up because of the "feeding frenzy". I also think that if the reserve is stated in the description, it then becomes just another high start price; bidders will know for certain that they will not be able to buy it for a bargain. An identified reserve, especially if it is high, can also be the start bid for a snipe thus possibly making the snipe and, hence the sale at the reserve price rather than having competitive bidding for more than the reserve. I've won coin auctions with a snipe for the stated reserve price as the only bidder; without a known reserve price, I might have bid higher.

Clearly, there are counter-arguments for this approach. With a known reserve, at least the bidders know where they stand. Part of the fun, however, at least for me, is the mystery and suspense of a no-holds barred auction in which the most daring wins.

To get my Two Cents in here. I have a policy of not bidding in ANY reserve auction. If I see something I like and wish to bid I will email the seller and ask what their reserve price is. If I don't receive an answer in a day or so I go on to another auction without bidding.

I just don't like tieing up my money without knowing where stand.

catman

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That gives 2 week-ends for someone to see it.

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Weekend hits from the the 4th of July till Sept. (when the kids go back to school) drop 65-75% across the board. You do not want a 10 day auction to span 2 weekends during this time. The rest of the year you do.

During the hot months, the best night to launch a 10 dayer is Monday.

Well, there is still 4 days left, including a weekend. Ithe opening bid of $1200 is a very fair price for this coin. If someone, just one, bids $1200, Ill be thrilled. I dont do this for a living, or even all that often (Sell high end coins). I never considered a reserve because of the fee involved. I've seen ordinary Morgans with this Date and MM go fro several hundred more, but even if average for the grade $1200 is a steal, since PCGS will stand behind it.

What are peoples predictions as to what will happen? Sell or no Sell?

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Originally posted by ageka

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Originally posted by bobby131313

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That gives 2 week-ends for someone to see it.

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Weekend hits from the the 4th of July till Sept. (when the kids go back to school) drop 65-75% across the board. You do not want a 10 day auction to span 2 weekends during this time. The rest of the year you do.

During the hot months, the best night to launch a 10 dayer is Monday.

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Some professionals here end their auctions around 9 am
That means that if I am intrested I have to put in a bid
late evening day before or use an automatic sniper
Is there any advantage to the vendor ending his auctions in the morning ?

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There are advantages for certain items. Generally, items geared toward stay-at-home moms do well ending in the morning around 10 or in the afternoon around 1:30-2:00. (We have done well with various china pieces, Hummels, plates, etc. ending at these times). We have tried ending coin auctions in the mornings and afternoons as an experiment and found that it is simply a bad time to end them. Bids were less than half and final hammer price was very low. That's why we end our auctions between 9:30-10PM Eastern Time. It has also been shown that most hits on eBay-US come from the east coast. That's why we gear our auction end to that.