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 Replies: 26 / Views: 3,497 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4337 Posts |
Quote:I look at a couple thousand ebay coins a week me as well and I'm at the same ratio of buys against those watches and bids...its a long process that takes a tremendous amount of dedicated discipline but in the end you can make some real good deals for yourself I want to post a pic tomorrow of one of my better wins in 2012 among the 6 or 7 I had off the by, an 1898-O Barber dime that I won for $6.75 and I think the grade of the coin will surprise many for that price...i'll post to this thread...maybe MOE will start a "10-Days of ebay Love and Heartbreaks" thread off this!  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Of course it also depends on what you mean by a "good deal". Too many people define it as finding a cherry pick or a coin at well below current market price. I call finding a coin I can use or need at a fair price, and that can even be above market price if the coin is really nice for the condition, a good deal. And in that case there are plenty of good deals on ebay |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
Of course it also depends on what you mean by a "good deal". Too many people define it as finding a cherry pick or a coin at well below current market price. I call finding a coin I can use or need at a fair price, and that can even be above market price if the coin is really nice for the condition, a good deal. And in that case there are plenty of good deals on eBay Much truth there. I am a variety searcher and cherrypicker, looking for specific Morgan VAMs. Price isn't really relevant except in the sense that if the variety is unknown, chances are the coin will by definition be underpriced. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
613 Posts |
I agree with a lot of the above sentiment re: patience. Wait for your pitch! Know your max price and stick to it. I'll bid in 30-50 auctions a month and win once or twice. And I'm happy.
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Valued Member
United States
77 Posts |
Hi staats25. I am not questioning that guys that know what they are doing find good deals on ebay, BUT... a LOT of people think they are getting good deals when they aren't. You didn't mention the areas your interested in, nor what your level is looking for doctoring / cleaning /toning /grading etc. ebay is also a dumping ground. Many times even the slabs you find on ebay are the slabs "that will never get cracked out" :-) meaning they have been overgraded, or look like crap, because that is where that kind of material will eventually flow. I emphasize I am not saying everything on ebay is junk. I've sold some very nice pieces on ebay, as have many others. I'm just saying to be careful getting deals, as they aren't as common as a lot of people think. The guys that ARE finding deals are looking through thousands as they have said. My ADD kicks in way before I get that far. lol |
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Valued Member
 50 Posts |
good advice, thanks guys!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3755 Posts |
EVERYWHERE is a dumping ground for junk. Every show, every store, every site I have ever perused has its fair share of junk floating around waiting to be grabbed. Even high end stores have gold and rare coins that are NOT up to snuff compared to other stuff there. So laying that statement on ebay, even with caveats, is completely not fair. That aside... Everything I am about to say applies to EVERYWHERE as well. These things hold true NO MATTER WHAT OR WHERE. 1) As mentioned, PATIENCE. Unless something is just THAT stunning or special, take a deep breath, look or walk away for a second, and look again. Believe me, there are very few coins out there that are so rare another like it wont come along. You should bid in the last seconds, but doing so when you have seen the listing with 20 seconds to go can lead to disaster. 2) Product knowledge. Know what you are looking for, the grade range you want and the price range for that grade range ahead of time. This helps with 1 because if you know these things already, you will have the patience to pass up the fluff. 3) Research. Linking back to the first two, surf the listings, but only surf that which you are intending on buying. Don't get distract...ted...oh look, pretty shiney... And that's how you will run across the lurking deals and gems. And it may not be a killer deal, but it may just be the EXACT coin you want and in your price range. 4) Stay up late. Also as mentioned, sometimes folks don't think it through and post stuff that ends at 9PM Fiji time or the like. If you are surfing at 2 AM EST, you can snag some good stuff. That stuff is mainly for bidding. You also want to find a good dealer or three that have stores that carry the stuff you look for. Any time I want modern coins I automatically go straight to John Scanlon coins and Modern Coin Mart. I know those sellers will have what I want 95% of the time at reasonable prices and I don't have to mess with the hassle of trying to beat Gyrene in the last 6 seconds. The one thing mentioned a lot, but that I feel is the LEAST of what you need (as long as you research and a re prepared) is luck. Don't get me wrong, luck never hurts, and I have stumbled across some good stuff by sheer accident, ie luck, but I firmly believe you make most of your luck in this case. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1590 Posts |
I've gotten some good buys from just listed bin items. But trust me there a lots of people checking out the newly listed items. I know this might sound funny coming from a dealer but I avoid dealer stocks; usually. For a couple of reasons. The first is that dealers often use stock photo's. Never buy from a stock photo. Second, dealers have a tighter profit margin and have higher mark ups. True lots of non dealers use the Red Book and don't understand that almost no one buys for Red Book prices. But generally non dealers have better prices. Also lots of online dealers know all the tricks. For instance I collect Jefferson nickels and it seems all the online dealers are wise to full step nickels. VERY hard to cherry pick from those dealers. Curiously I find more B and M stores that I can cherry pick for full steps, full torch, full bells ect. On the other hand I have just finished traveling across country and have found some extremely high prices for common date Morgans. For instance I have found the average price for an MS 1881 S Morgan hovering around $100. Even though it is the most common MS Morgan ( other than the 1921's) out there. As well as being the best consistently struck Morgan. On the other hand on ebay they sell for around $36 to $60. One last piece of advice, set an upper limit, set it and WALK AWAY. Don't check it till after the auction is over. Otherwise it would be too easy to get into a bidding war and pay a price you don't want to. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:EVERYWHERE is a dumping ground for junk. Every show, every store, every site I have ever perused has its fair share of junk floating around waiting to be grabbed. Even high end stores have gold and rare coins that are NOT up to snuff compared to other stuff there. So laying that statement on ebay, even with caveats, is completely not fair. That aside...  ebay gets a bad rap as a dumping ground. There definitely is a segment of coins on that that fit the bill but theres a lot of very quality coins there as well and as mentioned is great for finding series that most dealers generally dont have a large inventory of |
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Valued Member
United States
157 Posts |
My Two Cents... depending on what it is you're buying, sometimes it can be cheaper on ebay, sometimes at a show or B&M store. For instance, from personal experience, I can go to a show and find good quality raw ASEs at melt + $2, whereas they seem to sell for sometimes upwards of melt + $6 on ASEs. If you're buying for only metal value, the only way you get close to melt on ebay (in my experience) is to buy junk pre-1964 silver. Another personal example... I'm trying to complete a set of Washington quarters 1932-1998, with BU pieces for at least 1940 and later. At my local B&M, I can buy nice Choice and GEM BU examples of common dates at prices listed in the MS60 column at Numismedia. The same pieces sell upwards of 50% higher on ebay. That being said, most of that is said here is true about getting deals on ebay, it takes patience and a good eye, and more often than not, a little luck, like the one time I got a complete 32-piece Ike set for about 40% under melt. ebay also sometimes works well when you find non-dealers selling large lots of coins, like old sets of a particular series, or when you're buying huge lots of mint sets or proof sets. -Brian |
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Valued Member
United States
77 Posts |
Quote:EVERYWHERE is a dumping ground for junk. Every show, every store, every site I have ever perused has its fair share of junk floating around waiting to be grabbed. Even high end stores have gold and rare coins that are NOT up to snuff compared to other stuff there. So laying that statement on ebay, even with caveats, is completely not fair. That aside... Your right of course. My apologies for making the ignorant and groundless statements that prompted the reply. |
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Replies: 26 / Views: 3,497 |
First Page
Posted 01/03/2013 10:47 am
