Some recent Ebay sales, how the prices compared to my cost and a few thoughts..

[MarkFeld]

Very recently, I sold, unreserved, 14 on coins on Ebay through another dealer. I did so because I'd had most or all - I can't remember for certain - of them in inventory for a month or longer, in some cases as long as approximately three months. And I try to keep my offerings relatively fresh via a fairly quick turnover rate.

 

My cost for the group of 14 coins totaled $5448 and they sold for $4768 before the commissions that will be paid to Ebay and the dealer who sold them for me.

 

Here are some examples:

 

1916 Barber Dime PCGS MS64: cost $250; sales price $187

1916 Barber Quarter PCGS MS64: cost $546; sales price $410

1831 Capped Bust Half Dollar NGC AU50: cost $276; sales price $261

1939-D Waling Liberty Half Dollar NGC MS66; cost $288; sales price $213

Lexington PCGS MS65: cost $425; sales price $327

Norfolk NGC/CAC MS67: cost $517; sales price $520

 

The results indicate and/or reinforce a few things to me....

 

I probably paid too much for some of the coins at the time I acquired them.

 

The market is unquestionably weaker now than it was a month (or longer) ago for many coins/coin types.

 

It is quite easy to lose money in the current environment, whether you're a collector or a dealer.

 

I don't expect that to change for quite a while.

 

And, while I always recommend patience and demanding standards in collecting, I believe that they are as, or more important than ever at the present time.

[RareSov]

Yes.. its a bad time to be holding low eye appeal, cleaned or other poo coins

 

And a great time to be holding stacks of 1oz gold ones.

[MarkFeld]

Yes.. its a bad time to be holding low eye appeal, cleaned or other poo coins

 

And a great time to be holding stacks of 1oz gold ones.

I agree, though I wasn't of the opinion that my coins were of the "low eye appeal, cleaned or other poo" variety.

[texasrichard]

Mark,

 

Thanks for posting the information. Sorry you took a hit but maybe you can make it up in volume (just kidding)

I doubt most dealers would be so willing to share their similar stories, for that I commend you.

[Coindude]

Yes.. its a bad time to be holding low eye appeal, cleaned or other poo coins

 

And a great time to be holding stacks of 1oz gold ones.

I agree, though I wasn't of the opinion that my coins were of the "low eye appeal, cleaned or other poo" variety.

Just from checking your inventory out time and time again... it appears that people have been getting some really nice bargains from you Mark. Any links so we can see the actual coins that sold? I wouldn't mind adding you to my favorite sellers page... I'm just not sure what your ebay handle is... probably something witty like "MarkFeld".

[Dcoin]

I'll speak from personal experience.

 

When I look on Ebay for a specific product I'm looking for a bargain basement price. This includes coins or any other product. Right or wrong, my price expectations are far lower on Ebay then any other venue.

 

I think this is what might have happened to your coins.

 

[James_OldeTowne]

Mark, what was the opening bid(s) on these?

[MarkFeld]

Yes.. its a bad time to be holding low eye appeal, cleaned or other poo coins

 

And a great time to be holding stacks of 1oz gold ones.

I agree, though I wasn't of the opinion that my coins were of the "low eye appeal, cleaned or other poo" variety.

Just from checking your inventory out time and time again... it appears that people have been getting some really nice bargains from you Mark. Any links so we can see the actual coins that sold? I wouldn't mind adding you to my favorite sellers page... I'm just not sure what your ebay handle is... probably something witty like "MarkFeld".

Thanks. I don't sell under my own account on Ebay, but rather, enlist other dealers do so on rare occasions.

[MarkFeld]

Mark, what was the opening bid(s) on these?

99 cents, no reserve in each case.

 

Mark,

 

Thanks for posting the information. Sorry you took a hit but maybe you can make it up in volume (just kidding)

I doubt most dealers would be so willing to share their similar stories, for that I commend you.

Thank you Richard. Please know that I am not complaining in any way,and just trying to provide a bit of information/reality.

[Mark T]

Here is the sad part. There are people still overbidding for the coins on EBAY although not as much in the past. A lot of the good stuff gets overlooked and underbid.There are certain sellers on EBAY that sell uncertified coins that always seem to be bid up. And then there are those lousy Sellers like Ravelex and Aboncom who sell junk in their self slabbed holders.

I have a PCGS Indian Half Eagle that has been listed on EBAY for 2 months with only a few low ball bids. I have it set up for a buy it now/best offer auction. I am not in a rush to sell the coin so I will just let the auction run.

I know the dealer you sold your coins through, he usually gets good bids and has nice coins. I would not have sold them without a reserve. If someone wants a coin bad enough they will bid up higher to test the reserve price. The price you received for the coins were on the low end.

In Summary currently Ebay is not a great place to sell coins especially the better quality ones because most of the time they will not get premium bids.Not that long ago you would have received much better bids for those coins on EBAY , this trend of low bid activity is recent .

 

[texasrichard]

I hope I didn't infer that you were complaining Mark as that was not my intent. I was trying to make a "funny". I do appreciate you sharing this kind of information. (thumbs u

[MarkFeld]

I hope I didn't infer that you were complaining Mark as that was not my intent. I was trying to make a "funny". I do appreciate you sharing this kind of information. (thumbs u

Richard, I didn't think you were inferring that, but wanted to be sure no one misconstrued the reason for my post.

[realone]

Once again Mark is the only dealer that I know of that opens up, tells what he paid and what he sold it for. So many dealers out there are very stubborn, and no matter what will not sell a coin for less than they bought it for unless the chit does hit the fan of course.

 

The only thing that I can add is that I personally feel that anything on ebay is of low quality or cheap and therefore that is why it is being sold there. I know that because Mark has an incredible eye,t eh coins that he mentioned albeit inexpensive were most probably great for the grade and therefore I am surprised that he would use ebay, but maybe I just answered my question, because they were inexpensive. Thanks Mark for letting us see how the market is fairing through your experiences.

[MarkFeld]

Alan, if I wanted to sell via a major auction house instead of on Ebay, I would have had to wait roughly 2 months. Also, in most cases, the current sight unseen bids wouldn't have done me any good.

 

It's a very tough environment in which to sell, unless you have something that someone really wants. I expect that many sellers, dealers included, will be kicking themselves in the behind for not having sold at levels which were unacceptable at the time. I hope I'm wrong.

 

Edited to add: Yes, if the coins had been been considerably more valuable, I probably wouldn't have sold them by that means.

 

[relicsncoins]

Hey Mark,

 

I noticed that the only coin that realized more than you paid for it, albeit only a couple of dollars but more none the less was the green stickered coin. What is your perception of this? Did the sticker help this coin to maintain value? Is it just a coincidence? Or is the sample to small to draw any conclusions?

 

JJ

[MarkFeld]

Hey Mark,

 

I noticed that the only coin that realized more than you paid for it, albeit only a couple of dollars but more none the less was the green stickered coin. What is your perception of this? Did the sticker help this coin to maintain value? Is it just a coincidence? Or is the sample to small to draw any conclusions?

 

JJ

Jim, although I suspect that it helped a little bit, I can't fairly claim that the coin brought more than I paid due to the sticker. I made small profits on a couple of other coins I did not list and they weren't stickered. The sample is way too small to allow for any meaningful conclusions.

[ant]

"anything on ebay is of low quality or cheap"

 

that is quite the big statement.

 

 

[bartlesvilleok]

With everyone taking a hit on these coins i am wondering where all the deals are. I guess they are on coins I don't look for.

 

 

[stman]

Dear Mr. Feld, sorry to see you lose some $$$$ and I'm sure you didn't pay too much for them. That said, you might try your hand to AT some SAE. They seem to be all the rage these days. And the services like them, the culla hoes love them, win win.

[Schatzy]

I agree, though I wasn't of the opinion that my coins were of the "low eye appeal, cleaned or other poo" variety.

 

You always have great looking coins.

Do you think that there was any other factors that resulted in the low sale prices.

(ex: pictures, length of auction, description, when the auction ended)

[Mark T]

Mark ,

 

I am always looking to buy coins for a lot less then they are worth

 

[MarkFeld]

I agree, though I wasn't of the opinion that my coins were of the "low eye appeal, cleaned or other poo" variety.

 

You always have great looking coins.

Do you think that there was any other factors that resulted in the low sale prices.

(ex: pictures, length of auction, description, when the auction ended)

Thanks. I think the Ebay listings were fine and attribute the results to the current state of the market.

[Schatzy]

I would not have sold them without a reserve. If someone wants a coin bad enough they will bid up higher to test the reserve price.

 

No reserve coins usually sell better....people don't like testing to see what the reserve is. You will also miss out on those people that like to try and snipe auctions. I have see many coins sell for there reserve price and nothing more. If i see a auction that has a reserve I usually don't even watch it or bid on it.

[bsshog40]

As some comments have been made as to garbage coins being on ebay, I will have to disagree. I see no difference in quality of coins on ebay than I've seen in the last couple years. Of course, there has been alot of junk that has to be sorted thru to get to the quality coins that still exist, but that is up to the lookers who have the knowledge to bypass the garbage. I think it's the market. Not too long ago you could hardly touch decent looking raw morgans for less than $30 giving a couple exceptions here and there. Now you can pick them up all day for less than $30. I posted one I just bought for $20 and thats with s&h. I've seen alot of coins going cheaper than they have in the recent past. Some of the descriptions I've been reading are explaining finacial dificultys as to the selling of thier coins. The economy is getting tough and people are seeing it in all corners of the market, not just coins. For those with the finacial security to still be able to purchase, I think now is the time. I don't mind buying mid grade silver knowing that one day the market will come back and the prices will rise again. JMO

[coinman1794]

I have never known ebay to be a good indication of coin market trends. Many quality coins get overlooked on ebay, and I have known coins to realize much less through ebay than in major auction reults. I do not doubt that market softening plays a roll, but anything short of selling the coins through the same venue they were purchases (assuming they were bought at auction) provides only a skewed view of market strength.

 

 

[MarkFeld]

I have never known ebay to be a good indication of coin market trends. Many quality coins get overlooked on ebay, and I have known coins to realize much less through ebay than in major auction reults. I do not doubt that market softening plays a roll, but anything short of selling the coins through the same venue they were purchases (assuming they were bought at auction) provides only a skewed view of market strength.

 

That might be a fair point about Ebay and market trends. But even if so, I have seen similar signs of weakness in major auctions, where coins were (re)sold in the same venue.

[Schatzy]

But even if so, I have seen similar signs of weakness in major auctions, where coins were (re)sold in the same venue.

 

If you don't mind I would like to some results of coins that (re)sold in the same venue. I have noticed that some of the coins I usually look at are also selling for less than I usually see them sell for.

[MikeInFL]

First off, thank you for the insight into the market. Not many dealers would be as forthright with that type of information, and frankly, that's why I respect you as much as I do.

 

Playing devil's advocate here...

 

My first reaction is that your sample set was chosen in such a way as to yield the result you arrived at -- after all they must not have been the best coins in your inventory to begin with if they didn't sell.

 

I probably paid too much for some of the coins at the time I acquired them.

 

I agree with all your points except the above one -- I have a great deal of trouble believing you overpaid, and it is likely the sample set along with a market headed downward that was the root cause of the losses you report, and not overpaying per-se.

 

Respectfully...Mike

[MikeInFL]

p.s. In order to understand just how good or bad things are, it would be helpful to understand your historical margins when liquidating stale inventory to eBay? (I realize that this may be a sensitive question and you may not want to respond -- and I can and do respect that, so please don't answer just because I asked.)

[Coinblogger.com-migration]

I am glad that I found this forum. What a great thread!! Thanks for sharing Mark.