Set Of Lincoln Cents ... Ebay Sell Advice?

Take good pictures of all the coins, especially the key dates. Advertise no returns based on the fears you have stated. People will bid if the pictures
are good and I believe most anyone interested in the set would understand your
concerns. Good luck.

Put the keys in those self sealing 2x2's with your markings on them and only offer returns if the 2x2's remain unopened. Don't refund anything (and state so in your auction) unless and until you get the same 2x2's back. Definitely spring for insurance and delivery confirmation - you're more likely to be scammed by someone who claims you never shipped than by someone trying to switch coins on you.

None of that will stop someone from trying to scam you, but it will deter them.

I would pull the key date and semi-key date (10-S, 24-D, 11-S, etc.) coins out of the set to sell separately and then sell the remaining common date coins as an 09-40 starter set, a 41-59 set and a memorial set. I would also pull out any high grade BU wheats (and maybe even really high grade memorials) and sell them separately as well.

It is more work but I think you will get considerably more money out of the set this way. Many people already have sets started and so most people are going to focus on the key coins and not want many of the others common date coins. The end result is you give away coins for a discount or for free when selling the set.

Really good photos would be a must and you can use this to help you prevent swapping of coins - i.e., no returns if removed from original holder (2 x 2).

Best regards,
Ken

Is the set in some sort of an album that has the removable slides which allow you to see both sides of the coins? If so, you might want to consider doing something that will prevent the slides from being removed, perhaps a piece of tape that runs the length of the edge of each page. Then, in your listing you can say that if the tape appears tampered with you will not allow a return (and also mention WHY you've done this).

If you're worried that your audience might not like the tape on the edges of the page you might mention in your listing that "I know the tape detracts from the appearance of the album. Please feel free to bid $20 less than you might have otherwise and use that $20 to buy a new album after you win this one."

As a final comment, I have sold over 40 full sets of Buffalo nickels on ebay and never had anyone try to pull a fast one on me. Granted, my sets usually contained 4 or 5 "acid dated" keys, but most sold for around $400 and that's still an awful lot of transactions with no foul play.

Great advice guys. I'm thinking of pulling the keys and selling separately. All it takes is time and I have plenty of that. Wish I could offer them here... <blink blink blink>

Links to the auctions?

May wanna bid!

In case anyone was wondering, I was SERIOUS about my tamper-proofing tape idea. I can tell you from experience what's going to happewhenif you break the set up and sell them individually on ebay: You'll start by photographing some of the keys and semi-keys, but as you progress through the set you'll probably run out of steam. The time and effort involved in photographing and uploading and listing and shipping the COMMON dates will wear you out when you realize you're not getting enough $ for them to justify your time.

I absolutely agree that the parts are worth more than the whole with a set like this, but your TIME ought to be worth something, too.