Buying Coins on Ebay

[Cappy Z.]

I have been purchasing old coins on Ebay. I have been focusing on anything before 1810. Thus a two hundred old American coin. Any advice about what to buy for investment purposes would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

PM me if you so desire.

CZ

 

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[Iron Patch]

Coins I don't think of as being a great investment, but if it's something you want to do the best advice I can offer is buy deals regardless of what it is. The problem is it's very easy to be drawn into paying near actual value for coins you like, and passing up something that will give you a better return. You can even take it one step further and sell the great deals of the coins you don't have much interest in and put the money into what you do like. In the end even if you drop market value price for a higher end coin it's worth it if you got to that point on a min. amount of money. I know it's possible because I've done it over and over and over again.

PS... I didn't mention it... but another way to increase is always have your collection for sale in an Ebay store. But that goes hand in hand with buying deals because the stuff has to move, and do so at a price to make you money after the fees.

 

[Diver_Down]

Whatever the coins you decide to buy, be prepared to hold onto them for at least 5 years to realize any appreciation in value. Also, be wary of counterfeits on eBay. Some deals seem too good to be true. There is a reason.

 

[jlasserton]

I haven't done this yet, but have considered purchasing on eBay. I get too afraid I am going to get scammed. Let me know if this doesn't ever work out.

 

[Iron Patch]

I haven't done this yet, but have considered purchasing on eBay. I get too afraid I am going to get scammed. Let me know if this doesn't ever work out.

No worries. Just pay attention to who you're dealing with.... their feedback, location, and history. Most people who get scammed simply put, don't use their common sense. I've probably sent cash in the mail 50 times and not once was there a problem... because I know what I'm buying and understand what sellers are risky and stay away from them. The 2nd line of defence is Paypal and they almost always will side with a buyer.... so as long as you buy from a seller who you think will be around two weks later it's near impossible to get ripped off.

 

[NHBandit]

Don't buy US silver dollars from China... Seriously I buy & sell quite a bit of stuff on Ebay and the feedback system really works. My own is over 600, all positives. Actually read the feedback before bidding on expensive stuff too. You'll find some guys with high percentages of good feedback but when you start reading the comments from their buyers you learn that there have been issues in the past. High shipping charges, too many returns, etc. If I see a seller that tries to make a few extra bucks on every transaction with bogus "handling" charges I tend to stay away. $10 shipping for example for a small item that will easily fit in a USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate box usually raises a red flag in my mind that the seller is less than honest. The boxes are free and the shipping charge is less than 5 bucks. Just my opinion and worth what you paid for it.

 

[fistfulladirt]

With eBait, there is no guarantee. I was scammed $150 by a collector with 500+ positive sales, she just took my money and ran. Later I found out she also bilked several buyers at the same time, packed up, and ran. Probably later opened a new account under diff name.
Ebay was no help with mediations. I now only deal with PPal, even that's no guarantee.

 

[NHBandit]

With eBait, there is no guarantee. I was scammed $150 by a collector with 500+ positive sales, she just took my money and ran. Later I found out she also bilked several buyers at the same time, packed up, and ran. Probably later opened a new account under diff name.
Ebay was no help with mediations. I now only deal with PPal, even that's no guarantee.

Sorry to hear you got burned but the feedback system does work well 99.9% of the time. Using my own as an example mine is currently at 631, all positive, with a 100% rating and I've been a member under the same name (NHBandit) since 1999. While nothing in this life is guaranteed you can surely do your best to put the odds in your favor simply by using your head. Like someone once said, there's no such thing as a free lunch and if something seems too good to be true it probably isn't.. Paypal has it's good points for sure but I don't like the fact that it's now owned by Ebay and you almost have to use it if you want to be a seller. Ebay get's their cut & then Paypal takes another cut. It's double dipping in my book but they make the rules.

 

[Shortstack]

Don't buy US silver dollars from China... Seriously I buy & sell quite a bit of stuff on Ebay and the feedback system really works. My own is over 600, all positives. Actually read the feedback before bidding on expensive stuff too. You'll find some guys with high percentages of good feedback but when you start reading the comments from their buyers you learn that there have been issues in the past. High shipping charges, too many returns, etc. If I see a seller that tries to make a few extra bucks on every transaction with bogus "handling" charges I tend to stay away. $10 shipping for example for a small item that will easily fit in a USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate box usually raises a red flag in my mind that the seller is less than honest. The boxes are free and the shipping charge is less than 5 bucks. Just my opinion and worth what you paid for it.

Making profit from overcharging for shipping and handling is against the posted rules for eBay sellers, BUT it is rampant. If the seller has something I really want, and their tacked on profit isn't over a couple of bucks, I'll go with it. But, there are those who will add $10 or more to the shipping charges and just PUSH their luck.

On the feedback scores; ALWAYS read the feedback because all or most of the score MIGHT be from the seller's own PURCHASES on the site and have no true value on how they are as SELLERS. Just a thought.

 

[fistfulladirt]

With eBait, there is no guarantee. I was scammed $150 by a collector with 500+ positive sales, she just took my money and ran. Later I found out she also bilked several buyers at the same time, packed up, and ran. Probably later opened a new account under diff name.
Ebay was no help with mediations. I now only deal with PPal, even that's no guarantee.

Sorry to hear you got burned but the feedback system does work well 99.9% of the time. Using my own as an example mine is currently at 631, all positive, with a 100% rating and I've been a member under the same name (NHBandit) since 1999. While nothing in this life is guaranteed you can surely do your best to put the odds in your favor simply by using your head. Like someone once said, there's no such thing as a free lunch and if something seems too good to be true it probably isn't.. Paypal has it's good points for sure but I don't like the fact that it's now owned by Ebay and you almost have to use it if you want to be a seller. Ebay get's their cut & then Paypal takes another cut. It's double dipping in my book but they make the rules.

I had only one negative experience, lost $150, that hurt, but I've made over 50 purchases and that was the only bad one. ffd

 

[Iron Patch]

Don't buy US silver dollars from China... Seriously I buy & sell quite a bit of stuff on Ebay and the feedback system really works. My own is over 600, all positives. Actually read the feedback before bidding on expensive stuff too. You'll find some guys with high percentages of good feedback but when you start reading the comments from their buyers you learn that there have been issues in the past. High shipping charges, too many returns, etc. If I see a seller that tries to make a few extra bucks on every transaction with bogus "handling" charges I tend to stay away. $10 shipping for example for a small item that will easily fit in a USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate box usually raises a red flag in my mind that the seller is less than honest. The boxes are free and the shipping charge is less than 5 bucks. Just my opinion and worth what you paid for it.

Making profit from overcharging for shipping and handling is against the posted rules for eBay sellers, BUT it is rampant. If the seller has something I really want, and their tacked on profit isn't over a couple of bucks, I'll go with it. But, there are those who will add $10 or more to the shipping charges and just PUSH their luck.

On the feedback scores; ALWAYS read the feedback because all or most of the score MIGHT be from the seller's own PURCHASES on the site and have no true value on how they are as SELLERS. Just a thought.

It doesn't matter what the shipping is because you know before you bid. High shipping in most cases is just a way for sellers to cut down of the % of fees charged, and it's actually Ebay who should be more concerned than the buyers. As long as you can do a little math, which I hope would be the case if buying stuff, then the shipping charge no matter what it is, really isn't an issue. The bottom line is the frauds are easy to spot, and any seller who looks good enough to buy from isn't going to bail because they make more being legit then ripping a few people off and bailing. Anyone who has issues getting ripped off on Ebay either doesn't get it, or is VERY unlucky.

 

[Cappy Z.]

Just want to say thanks for the feedback.

 

[sasnz]

Like Iron Patch i have brought many many coins over on Ebay and have not had one single transaction go wrong in the 200odd that i have made. I use exclusively Paypal to pay for all my items as then i have a reciept that the transaction arrived unlike sending money in the mail, Would be very easy for a dishonest seller to say he never recieved it when in fact he did.

Now there was a thread by Diver down that said that you would have to wait 5 years or more for a coin to appreciate. Well that might be so if you are blind buying but if you know your coins you can make an instant profit in the space of 3 weeks or so. I have done alot of trading coins in my own country here in NZ and i was buying a reasonably comon coin set for $80NZ landed here and selling it off 2-3 weeks later on another site for $250-280 per set. I was buying every single set that came up on Ebay and i still have about 5 left now in my safe. Today they retail for about 400-500.

Another example I purchased a 1935 coin on Ebay for $80 and sold it the following week here in NZ for $500, talk about quick profit.

My point is there are bargains out there everywhere but if you dont know what to look for you simply wont make the purchase to make the gain. All i can say to you is this Reasearch .. reaserch... research and when you think you have done enough do some more. It will take you years to be competent but you can make a quick profit buy knowing what sells at one place and can be sold for a profit at another, Thats all i did to get started and it worked for me pretty well.

However as Iron patch has mentioned dont just go guying off anybody. Look at the persons feedback and read through it, look where the seller is from and always , always ask for the postage charge. Dont be suckered into paying stupid prices for postage. If you look on ebay and find a chinese seller for example I am not sure why but the have a cheap item and charge like $100 to ship it, Absolutekly crazy so i simply look past chinese sellers also.

Anyway best of luck and just remember that the profit is made at the purchase not the sale.

Cheers Sasnz