Scratching my head over these MWR sales on ebay

[CC-Hunter]

I was watching a group of sales like this end this morning:

5 SEALED Half Dollar Bank Rolls 40 90 Silver Possible Lot 14 | eBay

I'll say up front that I don't think the seller's ads are dishonest - he or she seems to be selling regular MWRs that have not been tampered with, and the text of the ad makes clear that the buyer probably won't find silver. The seller sells these rolls in a variety of ways, but I was watching a group of sales of 5 rolls ($50 face) each. The seller listed them in auctions that started out way below face value, with free shipping. I am not surprised that they sold for over the $50 face value. Even though I wouldn't personally pay extra for rolls I could get for face value, I know lots of ebay buyers can't resist the lure of a mystery roll.

That said, I am having a hard time figuring out what the seller gets out of this:

- I assume the seller had to buy the rolls for face value from the bank
- The seller is not a big time seller (feedback of 132), so would pay ebay and paypal fees of 13-14% of the sale price
- The rolls are heavy, and the seller bears shipping costs. Not sure if seller can get away with spending less than the $5.25 paypal rate for a USPS small flat rate box.

The sale prices this morning ranged from $57 - $63 per 5 roll lot. Even at the high end, the profits seem minimal or non-existent. Am I missing anything?

 

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[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

Totally not worth the effort IMO, if he's making a profit at all. But if you really like going to the bank and the post office and spreading halves all over the country maybe this makes sense.

 

[Owassokie]

I was watching a group of sales like this end this morning:

5 SEALED Half Dollar Bank Rolls 40 90 Silver Possible Lot 14 | eBay

I'll say up front that I don't think the seller's ads are dishonest - he or she seems to be selling regular MWRs that have not been tampered with, and the text of the ad makes clear that the buyer probably won't find silver. The seller sells these rolls in a variety of ways, but I was watching a group of sales of 5 rolls ($50 face) each. The seller listed them in auctions that started out way below face value, with free shipping. I am not surprised that they sold for over the $50 face value. Even though I wouldn't personally pay extra for rolls I could get for face value, I know lots of ebay buyers can't resist the lure of a mystery roll.

That said, I am having a hard time figuring out what the seller gets out of this:

- I assume the seller had to buy the rolls for face value from the bank
- The seller is not a big time seller (feedback of 132), so would pay ebay and paypal fees of 13-14% of the sale price
- The rolls are heavy, and the seller bears shipping costs. Not sure if seller can get away with spending less than the $5.25 paypal rate for a USPS small flat rate box.

The sale prices this morning ranged from $57 - $63 per 5 roll lot. Even at the high end, the profits seem minimal or non-existent. Am I missing anything?

I didn't look at the sellers details but he's obviously fairly new to selling on ebay with the feedback you referenced. I'm guessing he's just testing the water to see if he can make some money selling the rolls.

 

[Diver_Down]

I didn't look at the sellers details but he's obviously fairly new to selling on ebay with the feedback you referenced. I'm guessing he's just testing the water to see if he can make some money selling the rolls.

In addition, the seller builds their feedback rating. Perhaps, they have been on a record breaking skunk streak and they view this as an opportunity to ship their clad out of their district.

 

[Avago]

The eBay calculator that I use came out to a $1.77 loss on the ad you posted and on another ad where he's selling a sealed box I came up with a $7.78 loss.

Maybe it's cheaper than using the coin machines in his area

In related eBay news, I have seen single rolls of "unsearched" MWR with double silver enders (sometimes Franklin or Walker) sell for $60+ each. If I was going to gamble, it'd be on something like that. As a matter of fact, I believe the seller is one of our own, though I'm not sure if that's a secret.

One 1 Unsearched Half Dollar Roll 90 Walker 40 Kennedy Double Silver Enders | eBay

 

[nathan104]

That guy has SEVERAL HUNDRED feedback for "unsearched silver ender" half dollar rolls. He must be the luckiest person alive to find that many bank rolls with silver enders.

 

[CC-Hunter]

I don't think I would be disciplined enough to not open a double ender roll, especially with a Walker. However, if someone looked at the probabilities unemotionally they would probably be better off in financial terms by auctioning off the roll.

 

[mark1982]

I don't think I would be disciplined enough to not open a double ender roll, especially with a Walker. However, if someone looked at the probabilities unemotionally they would probably be better off in financial terms by auctioning off the roll.

I know some one that sold a roll with a walker Ender . The rest of the box produced a couple 64s. He auctioned off the walker Ender roll and it sold for 30 or so $. He gets a email from the person he sold it to saying "awesome roll found 3 more walkers and 2 64s " he was pissed but I told him the guy could be lying.

 

[Darth Walker]

Not worh my time. I do not beleive when it is too good to be real.

 

[Darth Walker]

He may work at a vault or armored service company

 

[Zomotion]

It's too easy for the sellers to weigh the rolls and sell the solid clad rolls... I've bought these types of rolls before and quickly realized I had made a mistake

 

[Liu21]

yep, weighing them is the way too go. giving up 1 or 2 silver now and then, is marketing. If a seller always sold skunk rolls, buyers will stop coming back for them. Thus bad for business.

 

[zach attack]

Last year I was selling rolls of bicentennial halves and solid date rolls for 15 dollars. Coin roll hunted mostly halves last year and wanted to see if I could make any money. Made around 2$ a roll. Not a huge profit, but it was easy, didn't have to drive them back to the bank and used the profit for some ebay coins.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

I'm sure he was hoping for a higher selling price. Back when silver was higher, I'd routinely see 3 MWRs sell for over $50 and boxes go for over $650.

 

[NHBandit]

The "ender" rolls are seeded just like the guys selling rolls of pennies that show an Indian on one end or similar. I can assure you they are not "unsearched". Someone here said in the past that they have the machine that roll crimps the tubes just like the bank wrapped rolls but I can't remember who it was.