Well, I've Decided To Start Selling Coins On Ebay...

ebay is a quirky place. I have sold quite a bit on ebay but have never sold a coin (unless you count a jewelry piece made from a '43 Walker). I have never started an auction at $0.99 and I don't regret it.

My main tactic is patience. If you know what your item has sold for and what is currently listed (your competition) then list yours at a little less. Don't be afraid to relist. It is a big exposure but maybe not for your specific item and it takes time for the right buyer to find it.

Things that don't appeal to buyers:

-An auction listing with a BIN option. That has never worked for me.
-Reserve - just start the auction at the very lowest you'll take. It's more honest.
-Best Offer - it's worked out sometimes, but generally people will utterly lowball you and I've had several that I accepted and they never paid. Go figure...
-Bad ending time and day - I'm still trying to work this out and I'm not sure there is a formula but recently (as has been mentioned) Sunday evening ending time looks pretty good. A Monday evening ending time has worked, but most bids actually came on Sunday.
-Not accepting returns - I personally look for this but I don't sell coins so it would be less relevant (i.e. doesn't fit or whatever).
-Actual shipping costs - this is something I've had to put aside. I don't have a high enough volume to ignore whether the buyer is in the next state over vs. Hawaii. I try to get as close as possible but I lose a little on shipping more often than I gain. Only for guaranteed low-cost shipping and high-priced items do I offer free shipping.

That's all I can think of right now. I hope maybe some part of this is helpful.

Totally agree with Spruett001 on the relists. To be blunt, I find that, sooner or later someone will buy almost any piece of numismatic garbage that I put up for sale with a BIN at $1 or $2. Sometimes it happens on the first listing, sometimes it takes a year. But sooner or later it all seems to go. I find it is kind of like a garage sale....I never cease to be amazed at what garbage people will buy.

So as long as you are very efficient with your photgraphy, listing and shipping you can actually get rid of a lot of crap this way. A couple of other key notes. The new listing engine on ebay.ca is WAY better than the listing engine on ebay.com. If you are doing a lot of listings, ebay.ca is a lot faster (for example you can pull in multiple photos with one drag, you can work on your listing however you want while your photos are uploading). If you are selling a lot, you may want to consider an ebay store, which gets you essentially all the free listings you will likely need plus it cuts the ebay selling fee significantly. You need to sell enough to cover the monthly fee though.