newbie question about buying coins on eBay

[pulltabfelix]

First of all let me explain what kind of newbie I am. I have been collecting Morgans off and on for five years. So I am proficient in grading, but not an expert.

Lately I have been checking US coin eBay auctions that are going to expire in next few hours.

I look for key dates and grade. But what I often find on ebay with pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters are lots of listing have really crappy photos where I simply cannot assign a grade. So I don't even bother with those.

I carefully look at all auction details. Lot of scam type behavior like listing a single coin but picture a lot of 10 coins. I don't fall for any of that BS.

When I do find an expensive good quality coin that the seller has listed a specific grade, I look at seller's feedback and past auctions and read what the buyers have said. If there are a lot of happy buyers buying coins that the seller has offered a specific grade, I will then usually buy the coin.

When the sellers says something vague like "fine coin" or good coin, I pretty much ignore that coin. Often those type of vague descriptions are accompanied with crappy out of focus photos or just the obverse photo.

Question, do these seller think we are all stupid or are there buyers who fall for that stuff? I guess some people will buy something they really don't know the coin's value.

I am buying these coins as an hobby to build a collection along with my metal detecting. Sometimes I will try to buy a single lot of BU coins that are as described, and seller has great 100% feedback and break up the lot and sell each coin as an individual auction.

Any other advice or finding faults with my method will be appreciated. I really don't have the time to buy coins in bulk and look through them, so is there any other way besides eBay to build a collection?

I have been making some offers on some local small collections (under 100 coins), but yet to have anyone accept my offer to buy. I evaluate the collection at red book RS Yeoman values and then offer them 65% of that value. I had one person with $7,000 collection want me to bid on it, but that is out of my range and referred them to a respected local dealer.

 

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[smokeythecat]

I have bought just a few coins over time off Ebay. Frankly, there are so many fakes and fakers out there, I only buy graded and slabbed coins. Like I said, I don't do it often and then it's something unusual or rare. I don't have the expertise to tell the fakes, and yes, a lot of sellers think we just fell off the turnip truck.

 

[port ewen ace]

a good photo is better than a 200 word description. I sell only "raw" coins with grades in a narrow range. Ebay does not allow "grades" on un-certified coins.

 

[pulltabfelix]

a good photo is better than a 200 word description. I sell only "raw" coins with grades in a narrow range. Ebay does not allow "grades" on un-certified coins.

I appreciate the sellers who take good quality photos. I can then make my own decision. I didn't know that about not allowing grading on un-certified coins. Some guys use glowing terms and the word maybe a lot like maybe an error, or maybe a die strike. I don't pay any attention to that stuff.

 

[cyberdan]

A) I carefully look at all auction details. Lot of scam type behavior like listing a single coin but picture a lot of 10 coins. I don't fall for any of that BS.

B) When the sellers says something vague like "fine coin" or good coin, I pretty much ignore that coin.

C) Often those type of vague descriptions are accompanied with crappy out of focus photos or just the obverse photo.

D) I have been making some offers on some local small collections (under 100 coins), but yet to have anyone accept my offer to buy.

Every now and then I sell coins on ebay. I don't like selling there but there is little else. Remember there are scam buyers too that will do everything to get that coin very cheap or free. That is what I am thinking when I write an ebay auction and giving my answers below.

A) I would never do that. The first thing a scam buyer would do is open a "auction not as described" (the picture is considered part of the description)

B) I am not a coin grader (I was offered a job at PCGS but turned them down, it wasn't for a grader position) The last thing I would do is say MS anything because anyone could come along and disagree (see A above)

C) I give the absolute best photo(s) I can. I want the buyer to see what he will get. Sometimes I think this will hurt my auction because large hi-resolution pics show every micro scratch.

D) I get offers all the time, many are lowball others are a little less than what I want. I always come back with counteroffer and no-one (in 2018) ever said no thanks or came back with a counter. I feel if someone makes an offer it is up to themselves to at least be polite or decline. They just let the clock run out.

 

[Megalodon]

Many collectors do not have actual collections, but rather accumulations. I believe the first thing to do is to identify your specialty. I agree with certified coins to a large extent. However, two identically graded certified coins may differ significantly in attractiveness and toning. I prefer the old-fashioned traditional approach to attend coin shows and talk to dealers and cherry-pick dates and varieties that a dealer may have overlooked, or to look for coins with surfaces that appeal to me.

 

[Carlitosway2]

Over the years I have bought many coins on eBay with a minimum amount of dissatisfaction. The other members are rite with purchasing graded coins, I prefer PCGS or NGC all others in my opinion are over graded.

I always list my raw coins as circulated in my opinion and that buyer should review pictures for the own judgment.

Be careful with any slab graded coin caus sellers get a little slick saying certified graded MS or PF 70 but fail to mention milk spots or stains on coin which most can be hidden in certain lighting conditions, and as far as they are concerned it’s certified as perfect or near perfect depending on grade.

Sometimes I have bid and won some rare coins with horrible photos, like could barley notice it was a coin at all because it scares a lot of bidders away so you can get for a really nice price. I’d only do that if they had return policy and you don’t mind paying a few bucks in shipping to return it if really bad. The key word is
“sometimes”.

You already seem to be on the rite track of making some good purchasing decisions.