Final Sale Prices, Reasons....

Shadow,

Welcome to the dark side!

RFB hit one of the many keys to success and I could write a book on the others, but let's just stick to the fundamental principles.
1. Have a good product to sell and represent it professionally and accurately
2. Hype is usually reserved for an inferior product
3. Pictures, pictures, pictures ... they should show both obverse and reverse and any special features of the coin and be of sufficient size and quality so the viewer sees exactly what you've got for sale. As a potential buyer, if I see inferior pics, I think the seller is trying to hide something
4. Payment methods and return policy ... all acceptable means of payment and at least a 7-day return privilege. Specify that buyers pay postage for returns, but cover that yourself if you make a mistake/critical ommission.
5. Professional lay-out of the auction page ... don't make it look like a full-time business venture, but do make it attractive and functional
6. Run your auction for at least 7 days and make sure it closes during prime time. The ebay clock is set for Pacific Time, so between 6:30~7:00pm ebay time on Sat/Sun/Wed/Thurs in that order of preference. Closing time is often overlooked by sellers and is a critical element to maximize the audience. Normal bidders will place their "high bids" during the auction, but you want to have as many snipers on the line at close as possible. If it's a 1933 St Gaudens, don't worry, list it to close at any time. [;)
7. Know what is selling now and prices realized. There are hot and cold coins. Do a search of recently completed auctions and assess the damage. Adjust your expectations accordingly.
8. Check for questions a couple of times a day and answer them quickly and courteously
9. Offer free shipping ... ship first-class in a bubble mailer and the cost per shipment will be around $2.25 (with delivery confirmation)
10. Network ... let the folks here and on other forums know what you've got running.

After the hammer falls ...
1. Ship the item the next day (unless Sunday or Holiday)
2. Email the buyer that it's shipped and encourage them to contact you if there are any issues (it beats the heck out of using the ebay dispute system)
3. Leave + feedback for the buyer when funds are received. With the new system, you can't leave neg feedback, so why wait.
4. Ship in bubble mailers or box with bubble wrap, not a #2 envelope. You would think this would go without saying, but ...

Good Luck!

Hi Shadow , welcome to the forum.. Well theres not much more to say , both replies hit the nail head on... I've been a seller and buyer on ebay for 6 yrs and I can tell you I am still amazed at some of the final prices.... I have tried many a ways to have the perfect listing only to see a bad one with a low value coin getting much more..So its mostly trial and error..............

But what I have found and both replies seem to say the same.... Keep it short, no hype, LARGE clear pics are the number one thing...You can offer opinion on grades but I have found that its better to let each and every bidder decide on their own..This too will decide your final hammer price... You see if you call it EF many bidders will only bid according to that value in the book... So what if 2 or 3 bidders feel its an AU55 ..They might bid but because you assigned a lower gr they might not....
So now I only list very short and precise listings .To the point. and always #1 are the lrg clear pics, and return option.... Hope this helps a bit more.....ps Good luck on ebay

When I sold anything on ebay, and I've sold a lot of different things. Pictures were hosted and large and clear.
My description pointed out everything and I included all the keywords in the description.
The title should have the most logical search words that you can fit.
Upper Class Titles always SEEM TO STAND OUT.
Gallery image is a must. I rarely look at auctions without one. Have your listing end at a peak viewing time.
I always liked Monday nights between 10 PM and 11 PM Eastern Time. 7 Days 5 Days no big difference.
Heck I don't think people even want to wait 7 days anymore.
In California it is three hours earlier. Seems to cover prime time across the country.
Ship other things along free with a reasonable shipping charge or free shipping ( especially a light coin ) Buy insurance to protect yourself, buy tracking to avoid those dishonest people who get the coin and claim they didn't or you'll lose twice.

I agree with the "no reserve" portion of this statement, but not the beginning. Start your auction at a very low amount, around $.99. Bids get bids, it's as simple as that. If you have a $100 coin and start the pricing at that, chances are it won't sell, or if it does, it will sell for $100 with 1 bid. If you start it at $.99, and it is truly a $100 coin, someone will place an early bid. It will usually steamroll from there. It's risky, and I understand that, and a lot of times things go up in price in the last few minutes, but I think in the long run it's the way to go.

As for your auction itself, if there's any takeaway from the above suggestions, it should be your title. This is the key ingredient to any auction merely because of the amount of items on ebay. I would guess that 95% of buyers find their items by searching. I will give you an example of what I'm talking about, and you can also visit our Mom and Dads ebay store at bobby131313 to understand fully.

Let's say you have a 1945 quarter for sale. I forget how many characters you have for a title, but I think it's something like 45. which of these will get the most hits when searching:

1945 Quarter in great shape (27 characters) or

1945 Washington quarter US Coin Silver old (42 characters)

Having said that, to me the second most important thing is clear, large pictures. This serves two purposes. It allows the buyer to see what they are getting, and it avoids a "switcheroo" by the buyer once the coin is received.

Feel free to post a link to your auctions and I'm sure you will get some consrtuctive criticism.

I would second a lot of these points.

When selling something as easily shippable as coins, given their size and weight, don't neglect the World market. that is the real beauty of ebay, the large audience.

And make sure you include shipping prices for the whole world also. This makes a big difference.

The number of times I have to ask foreign sellers "How much to the UK?" and sometimes I don't have time to get a response before the auction ends, so I don't bid.