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 Replies: 17 / Views: 1,823 |
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Valued Member
United States
372 Posts |
Ok. I just don't understand it. I know trying to find a deal on ebay is slim to none when it comes to coins and bullion, but maybe someone can give me some insight as to why the heck people are buying coins that could be only considered worth their weight in silver for MUCH more than they are worth. Are they playing the commodities market in hoping the prices will go much higher? Of course if you are buying silver dimes for scrap, why the heck would you pay $2.95 for shipping alone on one worn common Roosevelt dime when it's maybe worth $1.20 or so? What about $300 for a 10 ounce bar of silver?! Three hundred!! What moron pays $120 more than it's worth? Finally, what about the worn out circulated 1922 Peace dollar I just found. With shipping, the bidder is paying $26 for it. Perhaps I'm just getting frustrated trying to find prices close to spot other than the local shop and I needed to vent. I just don't understand what people are doing. Mike |
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Moderator
 United States
6563 Posts |
People  Are Dumb  It's the same reason people buy coins from the Home Shopping Network that are "gold plated" and such. They have no idea what something is worth. Every single member here has overpaid or been burned on something that was bid on |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1429 Posts |
Speculation on commodities or simple hype. Why do people stand in line a full day to get an iPHONE?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1984 Posts |
Some people just 'have to have it.' The true bargains are getting harder to find and require almost infinite patience and energy.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
560 Posts |
People are dumb. And impulsive. And ebay feeds into the "have it all now" culture. Think of anything you could want and if you can't buy it on ebay, you certainly can on craisglist.  They may not know what the value of what they're bidding on actually is, but they have the cash to buy it at 2X (or more) the price. What amazes me is how many people like that there are out there. You can enter gray sheet prices all day long and get outbid all day long on ebay auctions. It's incredible. I've actually stopped even looking on ebay for coins. Almost all of my purchases are now made at local shops and shows. And here on CCF. I think the atmosphere is much nicer and increases my enjoyment of the hobby. Just my 2 cents... |
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Valued Member
United States
164 Posts |
After an initial fascination with ebay and four small purchases, the novelty wore off. After reading this forum, I think I got very lucky with the things I bought--a slabbed 1995 DDO Lincoln, a 1960 small date Lincoln. My ebay days are over. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Looks like most reasons are already said here. With over 300,000,000 people in the USA alone, there just has to be a large percentage of those with a slightly slow, low and dim mentality. Occationally Jay Leno has a slot about the dumb things found on ebay. And they do sell. Also, many, many people forget to add the postage, handling, shipping, insurances, restocking fees, etc to their purchases. |
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Valued Member
 United States
372 Posts |
As someone who primarily buys common date silver stuff for a rainy day I don't know why I don't give up with ebay. All I want to do is pay as close to $1 per dime as possible. $2.75 for quarters, $5.50 for halves, and $12 for dollars. I know these are all below spot value, but it just doesn't seem possible these days. I would have to go to some obscure flea market or antique shop that doesn't change their prices to find such a thing. (and it did happen a few months ago I got about 50 barber and Mercury dimes for about 90 cents each) Or, perhaps everyone as they sign up for an ebay account is required to purchase this book: http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Why-Smart-P...Ov_W0QQitemZ a href= https://www.coincommunity.com/go/link.asp?target=https://www.ebay.com/itm/-/150260517090 target= _blank rel= nofollow 150260517090 /a QQihZ005QQcategoryZ378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Mike |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
Don't forget about the "Potato chip shaped like Elvis" type of stuff that sells on ebay...... Something is only worth what you can find people to pay you for it .........\ But seriously, if someone wants a good deal.....I have a $1,400.00 deal no one can pass up on. I was eating a Pringles the other day and I found a chip.....no no...just kidding !... Edited by eaglefoot
06/18/2008 09:15 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2049 Posts |
Carl made a good point about people not taking into account shipping costs as part of the total price they pay. They even bid more than what they would pay at a coin show or local coin shop. Dumb!
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Valued Member
United States
311 Posts |
Well, one thing that you might need to keep in mind is that not everyone has a local coin shop... I live at one end of a fairly sprawling metro area of about a half-million people. There are two coin shows a year. The only coin shop in town is an hour ride each way.
As far as paying over book, some buyers may be thinking that the coin is a higher grade than you are, some may be getting (or gambling on) saving money with combined shipping on several items, some may just think a coin is undervalued based on their own criteria.... there are a lot of factors.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
If you're frustrated with coins (or other items) selling for way more than they're worth on ebay, try going to a coin auction or an estate auction.....WHEEEEWWWEEYYY!....Sometimes you just get angry and whizzed !...Ya just leave with NOTHING !....so many idiots there getting into bidding wars and NOBODY is the winner when that happens !......When a few people just "want" a particular coin no matter the cost.......well.....just sucks for anyone else interested in it. Only buying smartly, will keep your money in your pocket 9 times out of 10 I've found !.....  Edited by eaglefoot
06/18/2008 2:48 pm
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Valued Member
United States
311 Posts |
And for what it's worth, I've gotten silver coins from ebay at slightly below melt a couple of times (after shipping), and gotten several buys that I've considered to be good deals... but I've also had weeks where I was outbid on 300+ auctions! If you're trying to get precious metal coins at or below melt, it's primarily about volume... the sheer quantity of auctions in a given time period means that some invariably "fall through the cracks" and go for less than market value. The main thing is not getting too caught up in any specific auction item, because there will always be a few new ones tomorrow... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
628 Posts |
Sometimes I wonder if ebay sales are driving over-all coin prices UP. |
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Valued Member
United States
85 Posts |
m9frank...I totally agree with you there. I know alot of people around my area are going to ebay for prices and won't take any other form for reference. Even if the price is way above what it is really worth, they still say that ebay is the most accurate. No, ebay is not accurate as thats' what people are willing to pay after bidding with others and fake bids...not what the stuff is really worth. Geez, I can't stand ebay. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
Well color me guilty! I just pulled the trigger on a 1921-D Morgan in XF on ebay and got it for $21 (including shipping). Gee, that's way over the $13.50 melt value! Oh, but it has this funny looking die crack from the top of the 'D' in 'UNITED' to the rim.  Yeah, it's a VAM-1N (Unicorn D) which was just placed on the VAMWorld "Hitlist 40". The seller didn't know what this was. The pictures needed to be enlarged to see it and verify the VAM, so other casual shoppers were also clueless. I recognized and verified the VAM. I am a VAM and variety treasure hunter at the present time. My point here is ... folks may be bidding on more than just a "common date". If you see some unusual activity on a common coin, look a bit closer!  |
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Replies: 17 / Views: 1,823 |
Posted 06/18/2008 12:33 am
