Teletrade Auctions?

[WaxonWaxov]

Hi guys,

 

I've never dealt with teletrade auctions. (those guys advertised on the top of this site)

 

what are your opinions?

[gmarguli]

Usually a dumping ground for garbage. It's the place where overgraded stuff goes to find a home. Their return fees are high enough that many people will just keep a coin rather than return it. However, every now and again they get some nice stuff.

 

It does provide a nice place to sell stuff you don't want to put on eBay or don't want your name attached to.

[WaxonWaxov]

damn... tell me what you really think!

[MikeInFL]

There are usually about two or three coins per auction that are geniunely interesting. However, they usually have reserves that are well above retail. Rather than just start the auctions at the reserve, Teletrade is sneaky and increments it up over time to give anyone watching the auction the impression that there is bidding action when in fact there is not. I think you will find better coins at auctions on Heritage or even DLRC...Mike

[TomB]

I agree completely with what Greg and Mike have already written. There was a time in the early and mid 1990s where TT seemed to serve a genuine niche in the hobby/industry, but this was before ebay and also before Heritage went into a turbocharged auction cycle.

[James_OldeTowne]

TeleTrade is a poor resource for buying coins, in my opinion. I use them only to buy (1) bullion (2) low-end stuff, typically ANACS net-graded or NCS coins for customers who just want something cheap.

 

I do not for one minute trust their "pricing" reference.

 

James

[WaxonWaxov]

Hertiage and DLRC....

 

Heritage = http://www.heritageauctions.com

 

DLRC = http://www.davidlawrence.com/auctions

 

 

correct?

[MikeInFL]

Correct.

 

I would also take a look at Legend auctions when they start in a month or so. They have a return privilege which, on the surface, makes them very attractive...Mike

[BankNote1]

I have purchased many very nice coins on Teletrade. Some I sent in to NGC for grading and the coins upgraded a point or so. There were some that I sent back to Teletrade that were low end pieces. Also, there were some that were graded just right!

[braddick]

There is a cottage industry for some of purchasing coins off of Teletrade, imaging them correctly, writing up a wonderful description and flipping them on eBay.

Even with the fees on both ends money is made. In some cases the same coin sells for twice as much on eBay just days after being bought on Teletrade and the coins stick with positive feedback left.

 

There is a talent to reading into a coin per Teletrade and kind of knowing what you're going to get and what'll bring on eBay, I suppose.

[Beijim]

Howdy,

 

My Teletrade experience corresponds with the comments from BankNote1 and braddick, although I agree with Greg that there's a lot of junk to be had as well.

 

I've obtained many very nice coins on Teletrade. I've also returned a few whose issues, for one reason or another, weren't apparent from the images. I agree that learning how to read the Teletrade images is important and central to any successful attempt at inter-site arbitrage.

 

Insofar as Teletrade's business procedures are concerned, I've never had a problem with either delivery or returns, though I haven't returned a coin since they tightened their return policy somewhat.

 

Attached is one of the gems I found on Teletrade at a price below the prevailing eBay rate.

 

Beijim