Selling on GC 1 1

[Hoghead515]

Ive got a few coins I have duplicates of and a few I dont care much for. Ive been thinking about sending them to GC and using the money to put back into better coins and ones for my sets. Ive looked over their website and I had a question. I know several on here has sold through them. Do I need to send a check for the listing fees or do they take it out of the money after the coins sell? 

[LINCOLNMAN]

They deduct their fees from the sales price, no check needed. 

[Coinbuf]

Yep GC will deduct the fees after the auction ends.  Also if you are not aware,  Gc does give advances if you want your fund even earlier.   I have never done the advance thing so I don't know all that entails, just know it is an option. 

Did you consider using the BST here or ats, both are free and for some low cost coins may be a better option. 

[Hoghead515]

On 3/13/2023 at 3:42 PM, Coinbuf said:

Yep GC will deduct the fees after the auction ends.  Also if you are not aware,  Gc does give advances if you want your fund even earlier.   I have never done the advance thing so I don't know all that entails, just know it is an option. 

Did you consider using the BST here or ats, both are free and for some low cost coins may be a better option. 

Ive thought about it . Several of the coins I was looking to sell are in the $40 to $50 range. 

[Hoghead515]

Most are modern. A few older ones. 

[Coinbuf]

On 3/13/2023 at 1:59 PM, Hoghead515 said:

Most are modern. A few older ones. 

The worst that can happen if you put them on the BST is they don't sell and then you ship them off to GC.   You lose a little bit of time while they sit on the BST but that is the only downside, of course this is a very small community with limited eyeballs on the BST.   Still not a huge number of people, but if you have signed up for the forum on PCGS that BST is more active than here, slightly better chance of finding a buyer.

[“”]

On 3/13/2023 at 4:58 PM, Hoghead515 said:

Ive thought about it . Several of the coins I was looking to sell are in the $40 to $50 range. 

If you do send to GC for auction you may wish to instruct them to start the auctions at $1.00 By doing that your selling fees are reduced significantly.

 

[World Colonial]

On 3/13/2023 at 4:58 PM, Hoghead515 said:

Ive thought about it . Several of the coins I was looking to sell are in the $40 to $50 range. 

I have one coin listed on the BST ATS, but by now it's buried behind numerous other listings.  

Depending upon the quality you are trying to sell and how aggressively you price it, might be a good option.  Mine is priced within the range of prior Stack's and Heritage auctions.

Another factor is that if you don't post there, no one will know you.  I've posted there for a few years but have bought only once from a member, someone I'd consider a vest pocket dealer.  Sold once too to a "lurker" but no one else will know or care about that.

[Rod D.]

If you choose GC, please post the links to your coins. 

[Hoghead515]

On 3/13/2023 at 7:17 PM, Rod D. said:

If you choose GC, please post the links to your coins. 

I sure will. 

[Hoghead515]

Thank you all for the replies. My problem is Im not a good pricer. I always low ball everything to keep from offending someone. Ive always went in the hole my whole life trying to sell things. 

I got some my coins out a few minutes ago and bout got broken hearted. Im pretty attached to most of them. Started feeling remorse on ones I was gonna sell and put em back in the box. I started out with about 20 I was gonna let go of and now after having a good long talk with myself I ended up with bout 10 or 12 Im for sure gonna try sell. 

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

Falling in love again is not a bad thing.  For coins and women - it's certainly cheaper to fall again for the one you have, than to find a new love in the market  .  

[CIII]

What is the BST and the ATS?

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

BST = Buy Sell Trade

ATS = Across the Street (PCGS Forums)

Edited March 14, 2023 by The Neophyte Numismatist

[GoldFinger1969]

On 3/13/2023 at 7:54 PM, Hoghead515 said:

Thank you all for the replies. My problem is Im not a good pricer. I always low ball everything to keep from offending someone. Ive always went in the hole my whole life trying to sell things. 

You can always set a reserve and talk to those here who have sold so that you can get a fair price and don't sell it way under FMV.

Good Luck !! 

 

[J P M]

On 3/13/2023 at 10:46 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

You can always set a reserve and talk to those here who have sold so that you can get a fair price and don't sell it way under FMV.

Good Luck !! 

 

If you set a reserve is that where the bid starts instead of $1 , I was just wondering myself.

[Zebo]

On 3/14/2023 at 8:59 AM, J P M said:

If you set a reserve is that where the bid starts instead of $1 , I was just wondering myself.

Most of the time a reserve hurts you unless you have very high value coins. There is an extra charge, see the GC site, for reserves and it sometimes inhibits the amount of bids. Also - if the coin does not sell, then you have to wait longer for a payout.

[World Colonial]

On 3/14/2023 at 10:14 AM, Zebo said:

Most of the time a reserve hurts you unless you have very high value coins. There is an extra charge, see the GC site, for reserves and it sometimes inhibits the amount of bids. Also - if the coin does not sell, then you have to wait longer for a payout.

You know this but the consigner needs to know the market for what they are selling.  This thread is about widely collected US coins, so I wouldn't worry about it selling noticeably (proportionately) below "market", though it can still be a wide range.

The two times I sold through them was mostly South Africa Union, Bolivia, and a few pillars I no longer wanted.  The South African coinage did poorly while I was mostly satisfied with the other results.  However, I don't know or necessarily believe it was the venue for the SA coinage, probably mostly that there are virtually no buyers "at market" outside of SA. 

I didn't set a reserve on any of it.

[Zebo]

On 3/14/2023 at 11:42 AM, World Colonial said:

You know this but the consigner needs to know the market for what they are selling.  This thread is about widely collected US coins, so I wouldn't worry about it selling noticeably (proportionately) below "market", though it can still be a wide range.

The two times I sold through them was mostly South Africa Union, Bolivia, and a few pillars I no longer wanted.  The South African coinage did poorly while I was mostly satisfied with the other results.  However, I don't know or necessarily believe it was the venue for the SA coinage, probably mostly that there are virtually no buyers "at market" outside of SA. 

I didn't set a reserve on any of it.

Wrong venue for sure (SA), but if you set a reserve, you would not have sold them. So it depends whether you want to sell, or hold out for a price you agree with.

[World Colonial]

On 3/14/2023 at 12:41 PM, Zebo said:

Wrong venue for sure (SA), but if you set a reserve, you would not have sold them. So it depends whether you want to sell, or hold out for a price you agree with.

Low priced coins, a few that should have been mid-priced.  Proofs did ok, but not the circulation strikes.  I didn't want to bother with eBay.  I should have just kept the scarcer ones for a better day.  Price crash and increased shipping costs make it uneconomical to sell most of these to a SA buyer.

Catch-22

[SGM USA]

What is a SA buyer ?

[Zebo]

On 3/25/2023 at 2:57 PM, SGM USA said:

What is a SA buyer ?

Smart A!  Not really it means South Africa 

[Rod D.]

Hog-did you send any coins to GC?

[Hoghead515]

On 4/7/2023 at 5:56 PM, Rod D. said:

Hog-did you send any coins to GC?

I ended up hanging on to them for now. I was just exploring some options. Im eventually going to. 

[Jason Abshier]

@Hoghead515 long time we since chatted on here good to see you’re still around buddy , have you tried consigning them with a dealer ? In past I’ve consigned my US coin collection when I was getting out of US coins and switching to World coins … It took the dealer awhile to sell off most of my coins in end it all panned out I wasn’t in a quick hurry to get my profit this dealer traveled a lot to different coin shows it helped liquidate it off …. Unless you’re in a bind need money or something quickly Auctions are your best GC is nice but most of the coins I’ve seen on there were low ball bidding nothing super rare or anything unlike heritage auction but their Buyer premiums scare some bidders away 20% that’s super high (not to mention high shipping cost as well) …. GC has lower buyer premium 12% or something I believe fee is free to nothing to sell on GC ? I could be wrong … I believe eBay has Seller premium 12% that’s why I see a lot coins on eBay marked up high for a seller to cover that cost 

[World Colonial]

Buyer auctions have been discussed many times here and on the PCGS Forum.  It's only a problem for the buyer if they don't know how to bid or insist paying more than they intend or the coin is worth.  Otherwise, they can (and should) lower their bid to adjust for it.

Higher buyer's premiums are a negative for the seller, to the extent buyers lower their bids.

For the coins which are the subject of this post, I'd go with GC over Heritage.  I'd probably choose them over eBay too, but that's because I dislike the administrative aspects of selling.  If the price differed noticeably proportionately, it would probably be due to the seller having limited to no feedback.  GC's fixed listing fees are also more noticeable on lower value coins.

[J P M]

On 4/8/2023 at 9:27 AM, Jason Abshier said:

heritage auction but their Buyer premiums scare some bidders away 20% that’s super high (not to mention high shipping cost as well) …. GC has lower buyer premium 12%

Yes I get upset when I am bidding on a coin that only has a value of $30 and the BP is $31. Before I even bid they want 101% 

[Jason Abshier]

On 4/8/2023 at 11:21 AM, J P M said:

Yes I get upset when I am bidding on a coin that only has a value of $30 and the BP is $31. Before I even bid they want 101% 

Heritage auctions changed a lot over the years they used to be better more friendly average Joe could collect nice coins without all mumble jumbo stuff …Now a days I only use them for reference on auction prices here and there … Every once in a while I might return to do some live bidding on coins that I haven’t seen show up on market for long while or that are harder to find in nicer grades for a particular coin or medal I’m looking for in my collection (which is rare occasion mostly world coins)  I do see nicer graded coins and medals on heritage auctions VS what I see on GC “lower quality graded coins” from what I see in German coins and medals sector … But yeah either way you go the 20% BP on heritage auction can be brutal! you to have watch how you bid as @World Colonial mentioned in his comment … Few times I’ve gotten caught up in bidding wars luckily I backed out in time before hammer fell the higher bidder won weeks later had coin up for best offer… We gotta watch the consigners and Heritage auction can bid on their own coins driving the prices up wacky high which is perfectly legal but unethical… always set limit your willing to pay (with BP and shipping , taxes)  and stick with it and try not to have a bidding war and wind up way way over your budget limit it’s not worth it ! Only sound advice I can give anyone on here just getting into the hobby on live bidding sites… 

[World Colonial]

On 4/8/2023 at 11:21 AM, J P M said:

Yes I get upset when I am bidding on a coin that only has a value of $30 and the BP is $31. Before I even bid they want 101% 

That's presumably because Heritage doesn't really want to auction those coins.  I've never worked for an auction firm but logically, it's unprofitable to support the selling of such low-priced items with their corporate overhead.  Smaller firms presumably can be more competitive or else they are just accepting lower margins and/or handling it as a loss leader to generate volume.

I've bought coins priced in the same range you describe from Heritage, but none are US.  The reason I did is because it's difficult to find in the offered quality or at all.  I'd never buy any US coin in this price from them, as I'd expect to find it from another source for less without having to wait that long or look hard either.  The only exception I can identify might be a very low proportion of strike designations like the FS nickels I understand you buy or obscure cherry-picked varieties.

In 2016, a local PNG dealer told me Heritage was trying to reduce or eliminate consignments below $250.  I can't verify the claim but a minimum buyer's fee of $29 (or whatever it is now) is consistent with it.

This has also changed the coins I buy, as I'm not interested in buying a large number of low-priced coins with limited marketability which will later have noticeable "slippage".  It's a lot worse for most non-US, but it really adds up with this economics.  It was different years ago with eBay when fees were lower and from what I've heard, auctions (vs. BIN) were more competitive.  It's doubly worse when the collector doesn't even really like what they buy that much.  I'd prefer to buy fewer higher valued coins I like more.

[World Colonial]

On 4/8/2023 at 11:40 AM, Jason Abshier said:

Few times I’ve gotten caught up in bidding wars luckily I backed out in time before hammer fell the higher bidder won weeks later had coin up for best offer… 

The coins I primarily buy now sell so infrequently (maybe never previously publicly) that I'm sure I've overpaid.  I'm the high bidder after all in a thinly collected segment.  Those I bought years ago, I can comfortably sell for more, but probably not those I bought in the last few years.

I usually win the coins I really want but there have been a few in the past few years I did not.  These are coins which I haven't seen anywhere near comparable quality, as most of the coins in my primary interest are dreck when available.  But even here, still avoided a bidding war.  If someone else wants it that badly, they can have it.

There is no reason for most collectors to get into a bidding war because most coins (the overwhelming majority) are common or when not, not that hard to buy.  This is especially true of US coinage, as only a very low proportion are actually hard to find unless it's with some arbitrary TPG label or one of the (mostly practiced US) specializations.  It's different for non-US depending upon what you collect, but most of these are harder to find due to the less developed collecting infrastructure in other countries and the lower price level.  It's usually not because the coin is actually scarce or rare.

Generically excluding patterns, I'd guess maybe 100-200 US coins struck by the US MInt (out of around 4000 I believe) I'd describe as hard to buy.  Maybe fewer, as I haven't compiled a full list.  This is going by what's available at auction (mostly Heritage), eBay, and Collector's Corner.  It doesn't include other primary sources like all dealer websites, the CCE, or the dealer network which can be used to acquire coins not publicly available for sale.