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 Replies: 19 / Views: 3,012 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1191 Posts |
I have many modern coins that are taking up room and collecting dust. A couple weeks ago I tried selling 4 of my Ikes on the bay with a starting bid of $.99 and it ended at $3 something. I lost money on the coins, shipping, and the taxes. How do I go about selling them and making at least a small profit to buy new coins? I only know how to use the bay but their fees are outrageous. I tried selling to dealers at my local coin show but nobody seems interested in them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Truthfully, the only way to break even or turn a profit on ebay is to either sell the type of coin that you want to keep for your collection, or offload the whole thing in a lot just small enough for a flat rate box. Or you can just fill a mason jar with junk coins, and line the edges with junk silver and a gold quarter eagle, then make thousands. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1191 Posts |
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Or you can just fill a mason jar with junk coins, and line the edges with junk silver and a gold quarter eagle, then make thousands. I can't do it because of two reasons. Firstly I don't have any gold coins and secondly the guilt will be eating me. |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12829 Posts |
I think Finn was being facetious there. But he's right (and as you found out), you have to take seller's fees into account on ebay. Your profit can evaporate after fees. With enough posts you can sell/trade here on CCF... you can go to coin dealers/shops/shows and try to sell but you're not going to get top dollar. |
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Valued Member
Belgium
464 Posts |
I'm in the same boat as you Hello there.
i have kilo's and kilo's of old and modern coins. problem is I don't collect everything.
only russia,belgium and america.
but to be honest I have not tryed selling.
i have thought about opening a bay account but are the fees so high?
I'm in europe, I have noticed that people expect you to pay top dollar , if you buy from them but not the other way around, but I guess thats the art of selling and buying
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5173 Posts |
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I'm in the same boat as you Hello there.
i have kilo's and kilo's of old and modern coins. problem is I don't collect everything.
only russia,belgium and america. I'd love to exchange your assorted world coins for assorted Russian coins, but you probably already have all the non-rare modern ones, and I don't think sending old Russian coins is legal (as in, I've heard there were people going to jail for that, which I'd really rather prefer to avoid). Besides, the shipping cost would probably be more than the value of the coins, on either side, making the entire thing silly. [EDIT: As far as selling goes, I've only ever sold coins in person, more often than not to people I knew, and mostly for symbolic (i.e. really low) prices. That said, I like to get old coins for "bargain" prices that actually just reflect the sheer worthlessness of barely identifiable examples, so many of the coins in my collection - even some I'm proud of having, such as the 1749 1/4 stuber - won't really be sellable anyway.] Edited by january1may
01/30/2016 06:58 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4809 Posts |
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. |
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Valued Member
Belgium
464 Posts |
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I don't think sending old Russian coins is legal (as in, I've heard there were people going to jail for that, which I'd really rather prefer to avoid) eeeuhm I did't know that! are you serious about the jail thing? i'd like to know for shure because I too don't wanne spend my time in prison i prolly need to make a thread for the do's and the dont's. PS Hello There don't wanne highjack your thread just going with the flow here but I realy dispise jail lol |
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5173 Posts |
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eeeuhm I did't know that! are you serious about the jail thing?
i'd like to know for shure because I too don't wanne spend my time in prison
i prolly need to make a thread for the do's and the dont's.
PS Hello There don't wanne highjack your thread just going with the flow here but I realy dispise jail lol 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.) Edited by january1may
01/30/2016 10:41 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4085 Posts |
I basically agree with Finn's first statement - modern coins are a commodity so the shipping is going to kill any profits you might have. Ike's, State Quarters,etc. They are all things that are still pretty easily attainable so people are not willing to pay much over face amount. Best strategy is to try to group them in lots and offer them at a price where at least shipping and net fees would cover you. You still may end up selling for basically free. The other option is to take them to the bank and cut bait. Edited by KenKat
01/30/2016 11:04 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1156 Posts |
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I have many modern coins...How do I go about selling them and making at least a small profit... 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. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6370 Posts |
That is precisely why I don't collect moderns. There is no money to be made in them.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1191 Posts |
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? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1191 Posts |
@ TypeCoin971793 and jgenn, the coin that I am buying all are going into my collection. The ones I'm trying to sell are the ones I found while CRH or from the bank.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4809 Posts |
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.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4085 Posts |
Here's how I tend to go about it. First, I'd search ebay SOLD listing to see what the exact item I am selling is going for typically. Let's say you have an uncirculated State Quarter set in a Dansco Album. I searched on State Quarter Complete Set Dansco on ebay and recent sales are in the $50-60 range or so. There's a mix of Free Shipping with other shipping ranging from $5 to $9.99. The $9.99 shipping seems to drive the sales price down, but the $5 shipping seems to not, so I would probably charge $5 to ship vs. offering free shipping. I also saw one poor guy that sold his set for $38 with free shipping. Ouch, you don't want that to happen - that's a $30 album, $12.50 face in coins plus shipping and fees = you should have just kept it. So, maybe you do a starting bid of $45 with $5 shipping with a buy it now of $55 with $5 shipping and see what happens. At least here the worst you probably do is break even. Unfortunately you are probablly looking at a pretty small profit best case scenario but that beats sitting on coins you really don't want to keep. Have you tried offering them here in the $55 shipped range? |
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Replies: 19 / Views: 3,012 |
Posted 01/30/2016 02:33 am
