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 Replies: 17 / Views: 3,866 |
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Valued Member
United States
230 Posts |
Dear ebay Seller, Do you want a serious bid on your coin from me? If you do... DO NOT: 1. use a photo so out of focus it looks like it was taken through the bottom of a beer glass. 2. show only one side of the coin. You are selling both sides aren't you? Sheesh! It is only 15 cents more! 3. photograph the coin from arm's length. Maybe it is just me and my fading eyesight but that is not how I look at and enjoy the coins in my collection. 4. charge more than a buck over cost to mail a coin. Is that just to make it uneconomical for a buyer to return a piece of junk when you refuse to refund shipping charges? 5. refuse to combine shipping charges. Does it really cost another $3.95 to drop a second coin into the same bubble mailer I have already paid for? If that is where your profit is you might want to think about getting out of coins and starting a shipping business. Dear CCF members, Sorry about my rant. I just had to get all that off my chest. You have my apologies. I'll go take my meds now.... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1298 Posts |
You have valid concerns! I would have added something about doing research on the item being sold to get correct and accurate title descriptions.
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Valued Member
United States
362 Posts |
Please rant! I avoid shipping whenever I can. I saw some nice coin that when I looked they wanted $3.00 to mail a.....DIME! come on! It does NOT cost $3.00 to mail a dime. So, many buys are lost, in my opinion to high shipping. The only way I tink they get someone to pay it is a FNG or a rare enough coin that people will pay the extra just to get it. I sell some on e-bay and unless it is something that is super expensive I do not charge to ship.
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Valued Member
United States
289 Posts |
I am sure If I wrote really small I could mail a 2x2 flip with a stamp for 44 cents
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Pillar of the Community
United States
759 Posts |
I generally agree, but I've found that those exact issues can create buying opportunities if you deal with sellers that have return policies and if you ask questions. If I'm interested in some item, anything that turns other bidders off works in my favor.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Quote:
show only one side of the coin. You are selling both sides aren't you? Sheesh! It is only 15 cents more!
The smart people use a photohosting service to post as many pics as you want and it avoids forking more money over to Ebay  Quote:
I am sure If I wrote really small I could mail a 2x2 flip with a stamp for 44 cents You would be wrong and you would never see your coin again. A 1st Class postcard must be at least 3.5" x 5" and no more than 0.016 inches thick. A 1st Class envelope has the same minimum dimensions with a thickness limit of 1/4 inch. Also, rigid items are NOT allowed at either rate and a 2x2 containing a coin is definitely a rigid nonmachinable item. The 1oz rate for a 1st Class nonmachinable envelope is 64 cents. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
539 Posts |
where as I agree with all of these irritations, it does not seem to keep people from bidding the price up past what I want to spend regardless of shipping. So it is not a real deterrent apparently. It is sort of like people still paying crazy prices to go see a sporting event and continue to pay the outrageous salaries. We all complain but there are plenty of folks still out there willing to pay the higher price and in this case, the over priced shipping.
Edited by weavus135
04/29/2011 12:04 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4000 Posts |
I thoroughly agree with the photo and description rants.
But, when it comes to shipping, it actually does cost me around $3 just to send a DIME. I don't always charge all of it, just most of it. By the time I spend 50 cents on a bubble mailer, another 15-20 cents on a merchandise protector, a flip or 2x2, delivery confirmation and the postage, it is usually right around $3. But, barring postal chaos, the coin will arrive secure, protected and exactly as pictured.
I also refuse to put myself in a situation of *hoping* a coin gets delivered with a 44 cent stamp and then also *hoping* that I've sent it to an honest individual that will tell me when it arrives.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2448 Posts |
Completely agree with your rant! As to shipping and handling, it's a cost of doing a mail order business. If items are not priced to absorb shipping costs, you better re-think your business model.
I'm of the opinion that If I need the coin, its presented well in the offer, shipping costs are reasonable, and return policy well explained; I'll bid and go to the wall to acquire the offering. Shoddily presented offerings are like a "red flag" to me. They scream what kind of businessman you are and you really don't care if someone bids on the coin or not.
When I was working, as a manager, screening and hiring talented people was a big part of my position. Whether it was for management, technical, or maintenance positions; attention to detail told me a great deal about the person forwarding the resume. Lack of attention to detail, misspelled words, and poorly constructed resumes spoke volumes about individual trying to present themselves positively for a position. Would you even interview a person that was sloppy in their first attempt at making a professional statement?
Same thing is true for the seller that is so thoughtless as to not place his product in the best position to make a sale. Unless of course you're just trying to get recognized in one of our "Check this guy out threads".
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
I spend 99% of my time on ebay "vamming", i.e., looking for certain Morgan dollar die varieties ... a lot of people are doing this! It used to infuriate me when the pics were too small, poorly shot or only showed one side of the coin. Most of these are being offered as bullion and the seller would be happy with a bid near melt. I picked up several in the last year near melt that were worth thousands!! If they'd just take a bit more time and use pictures that clearly show both the obverse and reverse, they might be surprised at some of the bids they would get. Then again, if they did I wouldn't be able to get as many at melt.  My biggest peave is a single closeup of a PCGS or NGC slab showing the label and not the coin ... sheesh!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3592 Posts |
Agree with most of your rants too...but remember what Scooby says...it really does cost $3.00 to ship a dime securely and correctly.That is the one point that buyers sometimes don't understand completely.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
601 Posts |
I DISAGREE with all contentions in the OP.
If you lived in a town with 10 restaurants, and there was one really bad one, would you stand in front of the business and picket, demanding that they serve better food? Or would you go elsewhere?
The thing about crappy ebay sellers is that they come and go, and don't stick around. I am proud to be a higher volume seller, I work hard to to make my customers happy. Of course you should use quality photos. But if someone begrudges the costs that the Post Office charges to safely and securely deliver your coin, then that's not a customer I want. I should eat the shipping cost? On a couple of my sites I do, but that's not the point- if someone is charging the $5+ it costs to send a flat rate envelope, then I'm not going to attack them for being realistic.
And "moon-shots"? Long distance photos- LOVE THEM! Some of the most incredible coins I've ever bought off of ebay have been blurry photos. This is the sign of a novice seller, and until that seller refines their method, there's great deals to be had if you slow down long enough to read between the lines.
Of course there's plenty of morons out there. There is in EVERY business. That's where the phrase "caviat emptor" comes from. As a buyer, YOU have the responsibility to educate yourself, not the person taking your money. There are plenty of collectors who get taken advantage of unfairly, but if you walk into a lion's den, smelling of raw meat....Know what you're buying. If you don't know, don't buy until you do. Period.
SORRY, your rant didn't offend me- I hope mine doesn't yours.
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Valued Member
 United States
230 Posts |
This post went up as a light hearted jab at a less than earth shaking topic. Looks like it is time to wade back in with a bit more seriousness. The town I live in has many more than 10 restaurants. A group of friends of mine and I used to meet occasionally at one in particular until I noticed mildew creeping up the walls in the corners. We didn't picket the place, we just eat elsewhere and tell others why we switched. My post didn't picket any one ebay seller, I just told friends what I see on ebay as the equivalent of mildew on a restaurant wall... a reason to go elsewhere. I have been piddling around with ebay since '98 buying and selling and have a 100% positive score on 932 feedbacks. I've been around the ebay block and learned the caviat emptor lesson many times. I know what it costs for me to mail a coin safely and according to PayPal requirements and that it is pretty much the same for everyone in the USA. I ranted against those that "charge more than a buck over cost to mail a coin". Yeah, charge me the postage including the delivery confirmation, the price of the bubble mailer(that is what I meant by "cost")and then another buck to help with the ebay and PayPal fees. Reasonable. Beyond that I see as treading on reason, good will and customer service. "Moon Shots" might be a sign of a novice seller but also a sign of someone intentionally avoiding fully disclosing what they are trying to sell. I have encountered both and it looks like others posting here have too. I think it comes down to a persons individual tolerance for taking a gamble. Take a swing at that moon shot and you might hit a homer or you might strike out. (I use that analogy because in my youth, baseball was much more a gamble than skill.) Personally, my tolerance for gambling is rather low. For me, a moon shot simply does not give me the information I need to make an intelligent buying decision. What I see going on here at CCF is collectors gaining the information they need to not be morons but make intelligent buying decisions. No offence in that, is there? |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2889 Posts |
I can't comment on the US postal service - it does seem to be cheaper - but in the UK it's pretty well impossible to cover the cost of packaging and post for a coin in a bubble wrapped envelope for under £1.20 - and that's very tight - £1.50 is average - that's about $3.. Plus ebay charges 5p to list something under 99p and then takes 9% of the final sale price. So if you sell a coin at the £0.99 price it was listed for - your profit (assuming you didn't have to buy the thing in the first place is) ... 85p. At those sort of margins sellers can't affort to be giving away free postage. Edited by Bacchus2
04/30/2011 11:01 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
601 Posts |
Absolutely no offense taken 14ers. In fact, your thread brings up many valid points. And if you were at the other end of the spectrum, I'd be where you are.
Sometimes I find it's more interesting to see both angles in a thread, giving members an overall view of the other side of the coin too.
Not suggesting that anyone's right or wrong, just a good topic. Thanks!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1291 Posts |
Here's a tip regarding the U.S. mail: Do NOT try putting a coin in a regular envelope and mailing it with a 44 cent stamp, as some have suggested, even if it weighs an ounce or less. If the postal service is "on their game" (and, believe it or not, they usually are) someone is going to get charged an additional 20 cents. That's because an enveope containing "a rigid object" is subject to a 20 cent surcharge. That's because the envelope cannot, or should not, go through the automated machinery at the USPS. If you try to get away with sending it for 44 cents, there are four possible outcomes and 3 of them are BAD:
1.) Envelope torn open, coin lost or delayed - BAD!
2.) Envelope returned to you for additional postage - BAD! (Think DELAY)
3.) Envelope delivered to addressee with "Postage due 20 cents" notation - BAD!
Never, never, never put less than 64 cents on a first class mail envelope containing a coin.
Edited by weerdsteev
05/04/2011 1:04 pm
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Replies: 17 / Views: 3,866 |
Posted 04/29/2011 10:11 am
