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 Replies: 14 / Views: 2,129 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1083 Posts |
This ernie guy must have the corner on all the worn out damaged early coppers in the whole country. He lists them all at Buy It Now Prices and consistently claims a grade for the coins that is two grades too high in my opinion. Most of his listings seem to expire without anyone taking the Buy It Now price. How in the world does this guy make any money with all those listing fees? Also, surely he must realize his extravagent grading is preventing his selling of most of these coins? Always trying to be helpful I sent him a note, but he didn't seem to appreciate my suggestions.
Colin
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Forum Mom
 United States
5877 Posts |
As I understand it, Ernie sells most of his coins on consignment. I believe that the reason he lists with BIN prices is that he has to see a certain amount for the client while still making a minor profit. I'm sure he takes the fees into consideration with his clients. Many people (though I don't know if Ernie does) charge the fees to the client as part of the consignment fee.
For what it's worth, I have talked with people who have purchased from him and he seems to be an honest, upstanding seller.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1703 Posts |
My personal opinion is most of his coins are over graded and over priced,but that just my opinion.When I run into his auctions I just pass them by, along with another seller "saulwww" which I feel the same about.I wish I could block them while searching for coins.It would save me hours.  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1083 Posts |
Susan, I certainly wasn't suggesting that he is isn't honest. His feedback is pretty good. In my opinion it harms our hobby when any prominent dealer consistently overgrades his online offerings. You answered my question with the consignment thing I guess, but it seems like more accurate grading/pricing would result in more sales and thus more happy consignment customers? Peace.
Colin
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Forum Mom
United States
5877 Posts |
Bobby and I also sell on consignment, but we handle our commission differently and start all of our items low. We have found that this is the best way on ebay. As a result, we also don't guarantee a specific amount to our clients. Because we get a straight percentage and the fees have to come out of that, it is in our best interests to get the highest price possible so that we can make a profit and cover the fees. We have found that this works much better than fixed price or higher starting prices. But, different strokes for different folks... As I haven't actually purchased anything from him, I was only going by what I had been told about him. Since my grading does not tend to agree with any of the new standards, I never pay attention to what a seller says about a grade and go by my own opinion. For this reason, I never noticed if he overgrades or not. I'll have to take a look, though. You've made me curious.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1083 Posts |
Susan, let me know what you think about the grading? It is overly liberal even by the new standards I think. Of course old copper is extremely hot right now. Thanks for the replies. I think your method of handling consignments is much fairer to the seller and more profitable to you as it generates bidding interest.
Colin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
Hi all - Ernie is Ernie Botte - he runs the monthly coin show in Chelmsford, Mass. He also has a table at the Boston show most years. He is a great guy that I have known for quite a few years. He has access to a ton of material and has some great stuff - he rarely will sell at bargain prices but his stuff is real. He sells all his fakes to guys like me. I have never had a problem with him and have steered several people to him to get REAL material that you don't have to worry about.
He does grade on a very liberal standard but since I re-grade everyting anyway it really does not bother me. I only buy counterfeits and since he will not list one - I get my material from him by direct contact. Counterfeit grading is even harder than old copper.
Edited by swamperbob
12/28/2006 10:07 pm
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Forum Mom
United States
5877 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
751 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
Susan - on those three I agree with your grade.  But since he has a feedback rating of over 13,000 with 99.8% positive and over 25,000 sales - which is almost a 2 two one on repeat business it indicates a significant volume and mostly satisfied customers.  He has got to be doing something right. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
2884 Posts |
Hi! I decided to weigh in on this one as I have had pretty good luck with coins from Ernie over the years. I admit he can be "optimistic" on some of his grades but I have never had a problem returning a coin (twice) that I was not happy with. Old "Coppers" are all over the map on grades these days!!! Check EACS grades on them and you'll see quite a big difference even from the top TPG'S I also agree with Susan that the coins commented on are over-graded and also agree that I tend to overlook stated grades and make my own decisions. Peace!! Mike |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1703 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by Mike
Hi! I decided to weigh in on this one as I have had pretty good luck with coins from Ernie over the years. I admit he can be "optimistic" on some of his grades but I have never had a problem returning a coin (twice) that I was not happy with. Old "Coppers" are all over the map on grades these days!!! Check EACS grades on them and you'll see quite a big difference even from the top TPG'S I also agree with Susan that the coins commented on are over-graded and also agree that I tend to overlook stated grades and make my own decisions. Peace!! Mike
Mike, I can understand grading the the coin for yourself and then bidding acourdingly,but whats frustrating for me is when I'm searching for MS only coins such as Liberty halves and you click on auctions listed as MS and find the coin is no where near MS as a lot of "ernies" and "saulwww's" are it can be pretty anoying and time consuming as they have many,many listed. You can burn up hours of time going thru these trying to find actual MS coins. If you only looking to buy one or two coins at a time,I guess its not a big deal but I try to buy a number of coins at a time because I don't have a lot of spare time to search.So these type of listings are a pain for me. Terry |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
TLS5933 I completely understand your frustration. I search at least 5,000 auctions a day hunting for counterfeits and in the process I use many search variations. I search auctions for 8 hours every day and treat it as my job. There are days where I go longer. Answering mail and reading the forum is usually reserved for "overtime". My frustration is with auctions saying "guaranteed not to be counterfeit" or things like that.  So to overcome certain sellers who use a canned text containing key words, I use a delimiter on the search. You can form the search to exclude certain wording patterns. It is too bad that they changed the search so it does not check the seller name like it used to, but you can definitely overcome that. It is easy when the seller uses a saved text in his add every time. It might save you trouble and time. I believe the combination of initials (numismatic societies) that Ernie lists in each add will eliminate all his auctions from any search. 
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1083 Posts |
Last post on this, but I also buy coins based on how I grade them, not what the dealer claims. I am a pretty fair grader as long as I have good photos front and back. I am sure that most of you have a high degree of expertise in grading a coin. Nevertheless, I feel it is disingenuous to consistently overgrade and than list all your coins at Buy It Now Prices. It makes it appear as if you are trying to get a fish that has never seen a lure to bite. It is bad for our hobby and bad for newer collectors, especially young ones who proudly take their draped bust copper down to the coin store and learn they paid a VF price for a VG coin. Those inexperienced collectors are the customers who buy these, not us. At least there is a return policy and maybe the education will be worth the shipping cost. Peace.
Colin
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Pillar of the Community
Czech Republic
803 Posts |
I have not purchased from Ernie, but have seen a number of quality pieces being sold by him. The only problem I have with his coins is that "properly-dipped" look on most of them. Most people don't mind it, though, as long as it hasn't been over-dipped. Not everyone shares my love for deep, dark toning...
~Roman
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Replies: 14 / Views: 2,129 |
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Posted 12/28/2006 12:40 pm
