Your thoughts on buying Coins off ebay. Do you think I should do it?

Detectingfreak

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Hey guys. I had a question about buying coins off ebay. When do you think the right time would be to buy a coin off ebay? I see a lot of them on ebay that are in really awesome condition and go for a really low price. I mainly go to Coin shows to get all my coins, but I was just wondering if ebay would be ok to purchase coins from.

When first getting started into Coin collecting, I purchased off ebay without any problems. The sellers were very responsible and told me exactly what the Coin looked like as well as showing the picture. The only downside is when I went to Coin shows, I could actually see the Coins up close and person before buying them. On ebay, you cannot see them up close. Please give me good feedback on whether or not it would be a good decision.
 

snake35

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I buy quite a few coins off E-bay. If I am buying more expensive coins I like the seller to have a lot of positive feedback. I also like a good picture.
 

Goes4ever

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I have bought coins from ebay many times, I only buy from dealers who have real close up pictures, the ones they take on macro setting and blow the picture way up. I have gotten some really good deals, you need to just watch when some people list auctions at odd hours, them are good ones to get cheap. good luck
 

Iron Patch

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I have bought a lot over many years and in my opinion it is very safe. Unless you do something stupid like buy an early American silver half from China that's a deal that's too good to be true, you should be ok The vast majority of sellers are good, not to mention Ebay and Paypal are so in favor of the buyer these days it has some sellers very frustrated for certain situations. I use Paypal and don't even pay attention to feedback.
 

eagle77

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I've bought a few Morgans off ebay over the years, usually I wait till the prices favor the buyer.
 

tinkb

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I have gotten a lot of coins off EBay. Only ones I really got burnt on were mainly wheat rolls, unsearched. I have pretty much quit buying wheat rolls to search unless they say teens, 20s and 30s in good condition and I can get them at a fair price. But I do have some people on favorites list I will buy from. Problem is, people have gotten so many good deals from them the coins usually get out of my price range.

i have also bought other separate coins from EBay with very good results. I have even gotten coins a grade or two above what they say they are. Watch their feedback, if they guarantee returns in at least 3 days and very good pictures.
 

hyperion

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I've purchased around 200 individual coins off the Bay (Morgan and Peace dollars) and learned many lessons in the process. I still buy there, but I'm much more discriminating these days. You will never know with absolute certainty whether a raw coin has problems until you have it in-hand and can look it over. Always make sure the seller has a return policy in place. You may end up eating the shipping fees roundtrip, but this is a chance you take. If the coin was grossly misrepresented, insist the seller cover these fees and go to EBay if they refuse (only had to do this once and the seller paid). Check the sellers feedback for issues. Even with a rating above 99% positive, if there are a lot of one-word (i.e, "OK") feedbacks, the buyers were not completely satisfied, but unwilling to give a neutral or negative. Any comments about cleaned coins, whizzed coins, or seller deception should send up a red flag. And if the coin is something I just have to have ... I ignore all the previous advice. ::)
 

Iron Patch

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hyperion said:
I've purchased around 200 individual coins off the Bay (Morgan and Peace dollars) and learned many lessons in the process. I still buy there, but I'm much more discriminating these days. You will never know with absolute certainty whether a raw coin has problems until you have it in-hand and can look it over. Always make sure the seller has a return policy in place. You may end up eating the shipping fees roundtrip, but this is a chance you take. If the coin was grossly misrepresented, insist the seller cover these fees and go to EBay if they refuse (only had to do this once and the seller paid). Check the sellers feedback for issues. Even with a rating above 99% positive, if there are a lot of one-word (i.e, "OK") feedbacks, the buyers were not completely satisfied, but unwilling to give a neutral or negative. Any comments about cleaned coins, whizzed coins, or seller deception should send up a red flag. And if the coin is something I just have to have ... I ignore all the previous advice. ::)

"If the coin was grossly misrepresented"

I really can't see how that would happen. Sometimes they're a little better, sometimes a little worse, but that's life when it comes to buying online and people should accept that.

If you have purchased 200 coins then like me you probably have had more pleasant surprises than disappointments because of bad pictures. The shot has to be brutal before it throws me off enough to not have a clue.... and sellers with pics that bad don't last long.
 

hyperion

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I really can't see how that would happen. Sometimes there a little better, sometimes a little worse, but that's life when it comes to buying online and people should accept that.

If the seller posts the wrong picture (a BU coin pictured) and sends a VF scratched coin ... not even the same coin, then I would call that gross misrepresentation ... EBay agreed and he refunded the shipping costs. Don't accept it!
 

Iron Patch

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hyperion said:
I really can't see how that would happen. Sometimes there a little better, sometimes a little worse, but that's life when it comes to buying online and people should accept that.

If the seller posts the wrong picture (a BU coin pictured) and sends a VF scratched coin ... not even the same coin, then I would call that gross misrepresentation ... EBay agreed and he refunded the shipping costs. Don't accept it!


I've never been sent the wrong item. I think grading coins when you sell isn't exactly a smart thing to do because it's too subjective and just leaves the door open for problems.
 

SC_hunter

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Bought a good many coins off ebay and got some real good deals. It is harder and harder to find the deals now. Just like one of the others stated, watch the shipping costs.
 

silvercop

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i have bought some off feebay, no complaints so far, look at the seller's feedback and watch out for shipping. i cant understand why feebay won't do anything with these folks that charge 8.00 or more to ship something that cost 1.00 ??? ???
 

Iron Patch

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silvercop said:
i have bought some off feebay, no complaints so far, look at the seller's feedback and watch out for shipping. i cant understand why feebay won't do anything with these folks that charge 8.00 or more to ship something that cost 1.00 ??? ???

Usually the people that do that do it to keep their fees lower. (no fees on shipping) If the shipping was $3.00 then the item wouldn't be $1.00, it would be $6.00, so as a buyer it makes no difference because you pay the same amount either way.
 

utah hunter

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I average selling over $10,000 in coins monthly on ebay, with perfect feedback. I also get the feel for dealers like me and what to look for, and have made great purchases. Most of the coins I sell are bought from private collectors locally though, not on ebay.

I have also only charged shipping twice in the last few months, and free shipping and insurance is my normal. If anyone wants to know why I do that let me know, I will explain further how it benefits ME greatly.

Know what you are doing, assume most really clean coins have been cleaned, look very close at the pictures for scratches. I have been so excited about a coins inherent beauty that I didn't notice a gouge, scratch, or rim bump. I get the coin, look on ebay at the picture, and there is the problem in the pics just as plain as day. In those cases I count myself at fault for not paying attention, and count it as a lesson.

I have also done this buying coins in real life, when you go through tens of thousands that will happen to you.
 

Cherryman68

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utah hunter said:
I have also only charged shipping twice in the last few months, and free shipping and insurance is my normal. If anyone wants to know why I do that let me know, I will explain further how it benefits ME greatly.

OK I just got into selling on eBay and I'm very intrested in hearing about that. I love getting advise anywhere I can.

Michael
 

Iron Patch

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Cherryman68 said:
utah hunter said:
I have also only charged shipping twice in the last few months, and free shipping and insurance is my normal. If anyone wants to know why I do that let me know, I will explain further how it benefits ME greatly.

OK I just got into selling on eBay and I'm very intrested in hearing about that. I love getting advise anywhere I can.

Michael

Put me on the want to hear list as well because I disagee it helps, it just makes you less money.
 

utah hunter

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Here you go, why free shipping(and insurance in my case) helps me make more money. First I have to say you have to be a powerseller to get the benefits I do. Ebay currently has 4 ways of judging people called DSR's(detailed sales ratings) that a buyer leaves for a seller. Shipping price is one of those, so even if you aren't a powerseller and are serious about growing a long term business it does still help in the long term. One thing to do before you are a powerseller is split a little of the difference. Charging $1.49 or less for first class is a smart thing to do in my opinion.

Back to DSR's. ebay gives powersellers a discount on FINAL VALUE FEES depending on your DSR's received. No discount on listing fees, featured auction fees, etc.

Ebay gives powersellers a discount, and the higher your DSR's the better the discount. The note at the bottom about free shipping is most of the reason free shipping is making me more money. This is off the ebay website:

If you are a PowerSeller and all four of your detailed seller ratings (DSRs) for the past 30 day period are 4.6 or higher, you qualify for a 5% discount on Final Value Fees
If you are a PowerSeller and all four of your detailed seller ratings (DSRs) for the past 30 day period are 4.8 or higher, you qualify for a 15% discount on Final Value Fees
If you are a PowerSeller and all four of your detailed seller ratings (DSRs) for the past 30 day period are 4.9 or higher, you qualify for a 20% discount on Final Value Fees (the 20% discount will begin to show on your July, 2008 invoice).
EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE! For items sold between October 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009 PowerSellers with high DSRs that qualify for Final Value Fee discounts will get double the discounts on their items sold with free shipping.

Since October powersellers have been getting double discounts on final value fees when they offer free shipping. Ebay keeps extending it, and probably will be again.

I keep my DSR's above 4.9(not easy, especially with coins I might add), so I get a 20% discount off the top for final value fees. On items I offer free shipping, I get 40% off my final value fees, and extra 20% for offering free shipping. I get a hundreds of dollars credited back to my account at the end of the month thanks to the free shipping auctions. I also offer free insurance for a few reasons. The first is I can require insurance, but have found that people might hit you with a lower DSR, even if you offer the actual cost. I have offered optional insurance, but most people won't take it, and if a package gets lost they will hit you where it hurts, and cost you money, with lower DSR's if you don't eat the cost and give a refund.

Insurance can be bought cheaper than through the post office, even if you send USPS! Too good to be true? NOT. Inkfrog.com is where I do my picture hosting for my ebay auctions, and have for many years. They offer insurance, even international to most countries, where the post office won't. They charge 55 cents per hundred, which is a killer deal any way you slice it, and you don't have to pay postage or send through Inkfrog, it is a very cool program.

I hope this helps, and feel free to ask any questions you want about this or anything else to do with ebay.

I also start every item at 1 cent no reserve, even if valued at thousands of dollars, and have proven conclusively that I make more money this way, and the free shipping and insurance has consistently ended higher than auctions without.
 

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