Posted 11/13/2006 8:49 pm
Jeff, first off, welcome to the forum! 
I would agree with what that other person said. You definitely have to watch yourself on ebay, but you can also get some really good deals there as well. It all comes down to educating yourself and dealing with legitimate sellers. Use http://toolhaus.org/ to check out their negative and neutral feedback. Anything less than 99.5 I would be wary of. Make sure to read the positive feedback as well, as some people will put negative things in a positive feedback to avoid retaliation from bad sellers. Also, check past closed sales to see what similar items are selling for. If it looks to good to be true, it probably is.
You can also go to http://coins.heritageauctions.com/, which allows you to search their archives for closed auctions. You can compare these coins to the ones you see on ebay (or other websites) and see if you agree with the sellers grades, or look for any irregularities. I have found some cool coins on Heritage that I wouldn't have known about without it.
But most of all, have fun. That is what all this is about, right? I am not trying to talk down to you, you may be a 50 year collector and know all this, but in case you're not, that's why I rambled on so much.
Also, buy some coin books and start learning about the coins you want to collect and buy. The more you know, the less likely you are to get taken.
Buying raw coins (ungraded) is risky, but if you know what to look for, you can get some good deals as well. But, just do your homework first. There will always be another coin that comes along in case you miss that one you thought was perfect (well at least usually).
Lastly, use this forum as a guide. We have a lot of really knowledgeable people who will help you in any way they can. I have learned so much here, and saved myself many thousands of dollars.
I would agree with what that other person said. You definitely have to watch yourself on ebay, but you can also get some really good deals there as well. It all comes down to educating yourself and dealing with legitimate sellers. Use http://toolhaus.org/ to check out their negative and neutral feedback. Anything less than 99.5 I would be wary of. Make sure to read the positive feedback as well, as some people will put negative things in a positive feedback to avoid retaliation from bad sellers. Also, check past closed sales to see what similar items are selling for. If it looks to good to be true, it probably is.
You can also go to http://coins.heritageauctions.com/, which allows you to search their archives for closed auctions. You can compare these coins to the ones you see on ebay (or other websites) and see if you agree with the sellers grades, or look for any irregularities. I have found some cool coins on Heritage that I wouldn't have known about without it.
But most of all, have fun. That is what all this is about, right? I am not trying to talk down to you, you may be a 50 year collector and know all this, but in case you're not, that's why I rambled on so much.
Also, buy some coin books and start learning about the coins you want to collect and buy. The more you know, the less likely you are to get taken.
Buying raw coins (ungraded) is risky, but if you know what to look for, you can get some good deals as well. But, just do your homework first. There will always be another coin that comes along in case you miss that one you thought was perfect (well at least usually).
Lastly, use this forum as a guide. We have a lot of really knowledgeable people who will help you in any way they can. I have learned so much here, and saved myself many thousands of dollars.
