Has Anyone Tried To Sell A Premium Graded Coin On Ebay Via Auction?

Start at 99 cents, no reserve, free shipping, no early closing stated.

You will end with a better price for your coin because far more people watch it, then bid.

Average one different bidder per 3 different watchers.

Expect snipers in the last six seconds. Don't worry, I closed a sale not too long ago with 30 lots closing at once (on Sunday). Prices were $854 5 minutes before close.

Closed for $2774.

If you are a new ebay seller with little or no seller feedback, the general consensus in prior posts has been to start off with lower value coins to build up your feedback ratings. By all means, alert the CCF (if rules permit) on your ebay auctions so we can put in a bid. Starting with an opening bid at your minimum sale price is also a good way to avoid a loss.

I agree. I painstakingly started my ebay account off by selling and buying minimal items. As my feedback number rose, I upped the value of my auction items. After a couple months, I began listing the valuable items, as I had planned all along.

I do start a majority of my auctions at 99¢. I figure as long as I am ahead of the game overall, I'm OK with honoring any disappointgly low-ending sales price.

Good Luck!

Spruett,

No need to explain yourself. You provided a very helpful and realistic answer to my question. This site seems to be dominated by buyers. Very few have experience on exit strategies. You owe no one an apology and to be quite honest, I'm getting sick and tired of buyers playing the ethics card.

My advice to the buyers who throw up their hands in outrage would be to see how that shoe feels on the other foot when it comes time to sell.

Personally I would do a BIN listing instead. The auction format is fine for the huge sellers with a big following. If you are a new seller to ebay and that's your only item listed you probably won't like the results of a no reserve auction.

This time of year is especially risky for an auction of that type. The site itself is good for selling coins you no longer want, the no reserve 99 cent auctions are not the way I would do it though. I wouldn't be surprised to see the coin relisted as a BIN or on a dealer site if it ends at a steal price which it could. As mentioned there are a decent amount of buyers there who are only interested in a getting things for pennies on the dollar.

The other thing that hasn't been mentioned is that a good amount of buyers there prefer the BIN listings as well. If they find something they want they can get it right then and there and not have to worry about getting back for the auction. Very few people will put in realistic max bids early for fear of driving up the price, so if they miss the end of the auction you miss out. Having the starting bid at an acceptable price to you was a good suggestion to protect yourself without having to pay the reserve fee.

I'm definitely not accusing anyone of anything but, I wonder how many people who have commented here don't actively sell on ebay and/or never have. Is that reasonable to consider?

It's definitely something to learn/think about. ebay is a marketplace just like any other were deals can be reneged on because of specific circumstances.

In the end, I'm offering my personal property for sale and if someone sees fit to declare me "dishonest" for not submitting to their final bid/offer, then I'm okay with that. I don't see how it is dishonest to deny someone to purchase my property at any given price. That puts non-existent sway upon the buyer versus the seller (owner of property).

I know it is said that ebay panders to buyers but, that's not completely the case. ebay depends heavily on both parties to exist. There cannot be a major bias in one direction or the other because they would have gone bankrupt long ago, in that case.

ebay is essentially what you make of it. If you keep getting outbid at the last second, that's how it works and there's no one to blame except yourself (and connection speed )

Just like MikeF is tired of the buyer complaints playing a non-existent ethics card, I'm tired of buyers being heavily uninformed about what they're buying!

Is it just me or is that the dumbest sort of consumption you've ever heard of?



P.S. This is not my manisfesto.

I won't condone it, but the way I see it is if buyers can back out of a sale by not paying then sellers should be allowed to cancel sales if they want as well. The same rules should apply to both parties and since the buyer isn't obligated when they win the seller should have that same right.




In all honesty they really do pander to buyers in a lot of ways. They have gotten a little better than they used to be, but it is far from even. The problem is their polices are the same for everything, $3 used DVDs and 3/4 figure coins get treated the same. Big dealers that make them a lot get better treatment which is expected but really they don't need coins to make the site work.

That said ebay survives simply because they have a large buying base. Using coins as an example their fees are the lowest and their buying base is likely the largest out of all the options with the exception of high end material.