How To Sell Coins?

HT,

My local coin shop has a board to post coins so you might want to look around to see if you have one near you. Great way to post something extra to generate some money for other coins of interest. My LCS charges a small vig...to the buyer dependent on the sale price of the coin. Usually 5-10% of the sale price. And on coins of modest value (2-3 bucks) they usually just transact for the seller. I might get that as a freebie because I'm a paying customer of theirs though.

Bottom line: I can get coins off the board for about 40-60% of what's asked for on ebay and I don't pay shipping (just the small shop vig which I factor into the purchase). As a Buyer, I make out well. And the Seller posts with a reserve, so they make out OK when they make a sale and best when a few of us get into a bidding war.

I think I should rephrase: sending old (over 50 years) Russian coins out of Russia is illegal (actually, IIRC, sending old coins of any country out of Russia is illegal, even though that doesn't really make sense), because something something cultural heritage.
(IIRC, it's legal when you have an official statement from some kind of office - don't recall which one - that the objects you're sending are not cultural heritage, and more often than not, if you care enough to actually apply for that, you get it; but it's a big extra bit of paperwork that most people don't bother with, and many are not aware of in the first place.)

There have, IIRC, been a few (two or three) cases of random especially unlucky people going to jail for sending old coins. Of course the overall chance is tiny.
More importantly, this should not affect your side, since there are no restrictions (at least, not of this kind) on import into Russia - only on export. And I doubt Belgium has any of this sort of cultural heritage laws (and if they do, these laws probably do not apply to any coins that are not both very old and specifically Belgian).

In any case, as I repeat, this is more a theoretical risk than anything. I prefer to stay careful, and only include coins less than 50 years old in the packages I'm sending abroad (which up to now had really only been Secret Santa gifts); I know of many other Russian collectors who just send old coins out of the country anyway.
As told by another member here (I'm paraphrasing, can't recall the original quote), "the government has bigger things to worry about than going after someone who sent a few old coins abroad". Sure it has, which is why such coins are still being sent by mail (as opposed to, say, smuggled in pockets - though that happens too); but everyone can get unlucky.


TL/DR: You definitely don't need to worry.

(And sorry for the unintentional thread hijacking, incidentally.)

The unfortunate truth about coin collecting is that it is a hobby and hobbies have a cost. The enjoyment that you get from owning your collection should be at least equal your financial loss.

My advice is take it as a learning experience and make sure the next coin you buy is one that you will want to keep in your collection for a long time.

I'm not knocking modern coins, by the way. I have quite a few older coins that I bought from various places, including ebay, that I will likely take a loss on, one day.

Thank you all for your feedback.

@Rackster, unfortunately I don't have any customer friendly coin stores in my area. The only one that I have, the prices are ridiculous.

@KenKat, how about full set of P and D State Quarters or any other full albums? I see people sell a P and a D coin, but I'm not sure if it will sell at all.
How do you go with shipping charges? Do you pay for it yourself or make the buyer pay for it? If so, how much?

That's too bad HT. If it were a friendlier LCS, you might approach them with the customer auction board. Anyway, good luck. Our fellow enthusiasts have made some good suggestions for you to choose from.

Littleton coin co. has to give their complete P/D State Quarters away for face value--and these are BU from mint bags, not cherry picked from circulation. I have a couple sets for my kids when they are old enough to appreciate them--simply because I was bored enough at my old job to assemble those sets. Duplicates go right back into circulation--no point in selling them. I did once buy a complete set of State Quarters for a very slight premium--I think face plus $2 for a full album plus a pile of BU duplicates. That was in person and only done because they were headed straight for the coinstar if I declined.

Just a thought--try your hand in the "World coins > Collections & Lots" section. You can either sell them to people in Europe, or you can use wheat cents and Buffalo nickels to grab attention and move some junk pre-euro coins. Auctions with 20+ coins always sell when the bidding starts at $0.99, and usually average out to $0.15-0.30 per coin. That can be a good deal when you are selling excess wheat cents.

Also as far as shipping cost goes, $3.99 seems to be the sweet spot that covers most small packages, but doesn't impact bids too much.

Unless you're selling lots valued at $25 or better almost any sales attempt will usually result in a lot of work for little return.

Even though we are considered a hobby first, the best thing that you can do is always remember my own first lesson:

You make money when you buy coins, not when you sell them.