Reputable Ebay sellers and/or online coin dealers? (. . . I hope there are a few out there. . .) 1 1

[cobymordet]

I vaguely recall reading a thread in which a few reputable online coin sellers were mentioned.  If there is already a thread that lists out any/many online sellers, please advise.  I understand In person purchasing is always best, but I'm not looking to break banks.  I am just looking to find consistent dealers with a decently expansive selection that are reasonably priced.  Any and all suggestions would be fantastically appreciated.

[GoldFinger1969]

On 10/15/2023 at 2:05 AM, cobymordet said:

I vaguely recall reading a thread in which a few reputable online coin sellers were mentioned.  If there is already a thread that lists out any/many online sellers, please advise.  I understand In person purchasing is always best, but I'm not looking to break banks.  I am just looking to find consistent dealers with a decently expansive selection that are reasonably priced.  Any and all suggestions would be fantastically appreciated.

What are you looking to buy ?  Gold or silver coins....NCLT....moderns ?

[cobymordet]

For me, modern coins and the occasional foreign coin for the most part, but I would like know about any kind dealer/company online that has a reputation for selling coins and decent prices. 

[“”]

There are lots of reputable dealers on EBay. It seems it has become another venue for them to do business. There are also lots of private individuals who sell on EBay as well. 
 

I recommend you find coins you are interested in and review their seller feedback as a start. 

Good luck!

[J P M]

Also if it says free returns and shipping is a good sign.

[Mike Meenderink]

On Ebay there are a few reputable coin dealers I have bought from. They are:  Arlington Coins, MBarrcoins, Holding_history and *Auctionkings*. These dealers sell US coins, Foreign coins, tokens, medals in all types of conditions and grades. Also Portsmouth Coin & Currency is another reputable online coin dealer with his own website. Daniel Malone owns Portsmouth coin and is a friend of mine. He is very knowledgeable and fair. Daniel also operates a YouTube channel called Coin Help U as well as another coin research and information website by the same name. These dealers will treat you fairly and you can be reasonably assured what you see is what you will get. Hope this helps.

Edited October 15, 2023 by Mike Meenderink

[Coinbuf]

There are many good ebay sellers, the problem with ebay today is that sellers have to price at high retail due to the fees.   If you look at the prices on ebay and then go to that seller's webpage, more often than not the same coins are less expensive than what you see on ebay.   I have on a few occasions offered a seller the same price on his website thru ebay only to be turned down.

I would also recommend that you look at the many auction sites, dealers have to get their inventory form somewhere, and a lot of it comes from auctions which they then add their markup to.

Some of the dealers that I have bought from with no problems, Angel Dee's, Northeast Numismatics, DLRC, Gerry Fortin, Reeded Edge, and Coast to Coast.   The one on-line resource I avoid is APMEX, I find their pricing to be too aggressive for my wallet.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Coinbuf

[EagleRJO]

I assume you are looking for referrals related to raw coins, as slabbed coins can pretty much be purchased from anyone with minimal risk doing some basic checks.  Consider that there are many unscrupulous and clueless sellers on ebay, and I have encountered countless counterfeit, over-graded (by at least one grade), or improperly listed coins on ebay.

I have also noticed that list prices tend to be on the high side, with sellers reluctant to accept reasonable offers for coins.  So recently I have pretty much been sticking with auctions on ebay from reputable sellers where I carefully evaluate any raw coins, as long as there is a reasonable reserve set which is not always the case.

You have some good suggestions on dealers so I would just add MCM, Apmex and JD Bullion for raw coins.  I have found there are very few reputable dealers that handle a good selection of raw coins, at least for coins I collect.  You will pay high retail with these dealers as Coinbuf noted, but I think the premium is worth the cost related to raw coins where there can be considerable risk.  The one dealer that handles raw coins I think is also reputable but which I usually avoid, except for lower value raw coins due to typically outrageous prices, is Littleton.

On 10/15/2023 at 6:32 AM, Simple Collector said:

I recommend you find coins you are interested in and review their seller feedback as a start. 

You have to be very careful with ebay seller feedback as I have come across some very shady sellers with multiple counterfeit, blatantly misrepresented, grossly over-graded, or significantly over-valued garbage coins that appear to have good seller feedback.

I noticed that several appeared to have multiple accounts that they ping-pong buy-sell relatively inexpensive unrelated items to generate good seller feedback, with the same feedback accounts on those multiple accounts.  Buyer beware really applies related to ebay coin sellers.

On 10/15/2023 at 12:05 PM, Coinbuf said:

If you look at the prices on ebay and then go to that seller's webpage, more often than not the same coins are less expensive than what you see on ebay ... I would also recommend that you look at the many auction sites.

Some good advice.  If I find a coin on ebay I usually check if it's available on the dealers regular website, where it often is also listed for less.

Auction sites (in addition to ebay) I have used include Heritage Auctions (HA) and Great Collections (GC).  I have bid on and purchased quite a lot of coins on GC as I think they have a more reasonable 10% seller fee with direct pay, and mostly realistic reserves, but they pretty much just hanle slabbed coins.

There are also auction sites like Collectors Corner, but they appear to be just a pass-through auction site that tacks on an additional buyers fee.  So I usually look for the original dealer or auction site if I see a coin I am looking for there.

Edited October 19, 2023 by EagleRJO

[cobymordet]

I appreciate all the info!  I've been buying and selling on ebay for decades, just not coins.  I have perused dozens of e-bay coin sellers and I see a growing number of sellers taking glamour shots (creating an almost unbelievable shine) of their coins.  It seems to be easier to pick the sellers not to go through than it is to find dealers that sell legit/unaltered coins for a decently reasonable price.  I'm too poor to learn the hard way which is why I appreciate the input!

[JKK]

I know a couple real solid ancients dealers there, but you're not in the ancients market.

[powermad5000]

If you are on eBay, I would say number one, a return policy is a must. Feedback is second. Anyone with less than 97% feedback I do not buy from. Be aware feedback (negative) drops off after 12 months. So, while you may only find 2-3 negative or neutral, a seller with a lot of years on there can in reality have a lot of negative. As for the negative feedback, read it and see if it is just the buyer being whiney or if it seems to be reasonable negative or neutral (as in seller quit communicating). By this, I mean you can have a buyer state the packaging was not appropriate, but you can seem to glean from their comment that they seemed to have thought their $30 coin should have been shipped in a full on safe with bodyguard detail (some people think they deserve overboard). And I would say until you have your own program on there that works for you, to avoid sellers with very little stars (meaning 0-10). Long term sellers will have hundreds if not thousands or tens of thousands of stars (which is their amount of buying and selling feedbacks).

Watch out for "juiced" photos on sellers like *AuctionKings* and Canyon City Coin (I won't buy from either of them). Some of the photos like that also hide excessive marks or cleaning. Be aware there are counterfeits out there and there are some on eBay. If in doubt don't rush to purchase and put a pic here and ask if you are seriously considering buying a coin that something doesn't look "right". I don't want to pigeonhole you to specific sellers. There are some good dealers on there as well as a lot of small sellers on there. You don't need a big name to get a good coin. Not all sellers are out there scamming people. Just do your due diligence first. Always buy with a seller that accepts returns so in the event when you get the coin in hand if you don't like it for whatever reason you can send it back (don't feel you need to explain why but I have no problem telling a seller I see hairlines from cleaning for example).

I'll also say HA (Heritage Auctions) and GC (Great Collections) are reputable as well as Hi-Bid but be prepared to pay buyers premium on those big auction houses (in the range of 20% so I don't buy much from the big auctioneers unless I really need to fill an empty spot and they are the only ones who have it). 

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 10/15/2023 at 2:05 AM, cobymordet said:

I vaguely recall reading a thread in which a few reputable online coin sellers were mentioned.  If there is already a thread that lists out any/many online sellers, please advise.  I understand In person purchasing is always best, but I'm not looking to break banks.  I am just looking to find consistent dealers with a decently expansive selection that are reasonably priced.  Any and all suggestions would be fantastically appreciated.

I'm usually looking for specific coins or banknotes, that I've researched, in as good of condition as I can find and at the best price, I don't particularly care who's selling them but do take some of the items mentioned above into consideration. How much feedback and % positive are probably the two biggest, along with how much risk, i.e. how expensive is the piece. I mainly collect world coins, most of which do not have huge followings and are only available from overseas sellers, if I was collecting U.S. coins of any kind I'd be much more cautious but low value World coins you're pretty safe. You still need to know what you're looking at though and if you're looking for World coins be sure you have worldwide selected for item location when surfing the bay. Good Luck! 

[EagleRJO]

Are you mostly looking for referrals to dealers who handle raw US modern coins which your posts seem to indicate?

For slabbed coins I usually look for auctions, which is where many dealers get a good chunk of their inventory that is then marked up.

[cobymordet]

My intention for this post is to poll competent coin consuming campers to find out some dealers on ebay (. . or through the internet in general) that you trust (well enough) to be repeat buyers.  Responsible, professional, and decently priced sellers that you frequent.  I been with ebay for 20+ years so I am well educated on the do's and don'ts.  However, my experienced expertise stops at the doorway of coins.  Although my numismatic tastes tend to reside in the bargain basement junk drawer, there may be a few occasions to rise from the depths and purchase a coin from the top shelf.  Some of the dealers listed in this post I have seen and purchased from, hopefully, if the fates abide, there are others that I will try out in the future.  Thank you all for great information and keep it coming if you think of more before this post is relegated to "next" pages! ...

...

[Coinbuf]

As you have been a long time seller on ebay than you should be well aware of the rise in fees to sell on ebay.   I will also assume that you have an ebay store as that is the best way to mitigate those fees.   The funny thing is that most of the sellers I see on ebay that have ebay stores are often the sellers with the most aggressive pricing, you would think that they would try and undercut the competition with their fee structure advantage, but it does not seem to work that way.

Honestly, if you are looking for raw coins finding a local dealer will be your best avenue.   A high percentage of the raw material on ebay is just pure junk, you will have to sift through a lot of chaff to find any wheat.   I can more often than not buy raw coins cheaper at a local coin shop or at the monthly coin show than I can on ebay.

[cobymordet]

I live in the Austin, TX area.  I have found maybe 3-5 coin dealers and they are not worth the effort or time it takes to traverse absurd traffic.  2 were home-front addresses, 2 require appts. with a relatively meager selection and one, an hour+ away, was good for the first few trips, but I think I wasn't a big enough spender because I tried going back a couple of times and the guy is too busy with his day job.  His "coin store" doubles an some kind of insurance company.  There is a 3rd month show at a VFW, but it tends to be limited.