ebay PM prices

[jim4silver]

I have been paying attention for the past year or so to ebay sold prices on items I have a particular interest in, such as US commemorative silver dollars, certain foreign silver coins, etc. I have noticed, especially lately, that these items have been selling for relatively cheap prices when compared to greysheet, retail, etc.

I must disclose I have no experience with ebay as a seller or a buyer. In the past, when silver was going up (pre 2011) and even a bit thereafter as it was falling, it seemed that when I did check ebay the sold prices in general always seemed very high relative to what I paid locally (local retail). When I fast forward to today the ebay sold prices seem low.

My assumption is that it that lower silver prices and a 4 year declining market are the reasons for this. In any event, right now seems to be a good time for ebay buyers who are good at "sniping" or whatever the tactics are for the auctions. I am seeing some key year commems going for less than greysheet bid. That only seems to happen in the auctions from what I see.

When I do finally get on ebay and sell my semi numis stuff, I will definitely be doing "buy it now" sales and will stay away from the auctions. Right now at least, they only seem to favor buyers on the stuff I am in to.

Just wanted to see what you all think about this and what your ebay experiences have been.

Jim

 

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[TheCoinKid]

I have very limited experience selling on ebay; just some duplicate and culls coming from my pocket knife collecting. I would just put in a start price (the minimum I would accept) and let the auction run from there. Some would be bid up, some not. Overall, it was pleasant experience as I was able to dispose of what I wanted to, and had zero customer problems. Financially speaking however, after ebay fees, shipping fees and materials, and time spent, it just wasn't worth the effort.

As a buyer, I've had 500+ transactions, largely coins and knives, but also silver, pool supplies, watches, car stuff, household replacement parts, gifts, etc. I've had 100% success in receiving items bought and have never had to file a claim with ebay or a delivery service. I have received a handful of items that were in marginally less than desired condition. 15 years ago, I was heavy into auction participation, but now I'm pretty much all "buy now." Just lazy. For many items, It's hard to beat the price, availability and convenience of ebay. Items are located and bought in no time. For collector items and silver, it requires quite a bit more effort. Most coins I'm looking for are readily available, but matching condition and price requires time. Silver purchases (90% silver coins or common govt issued bullion coins) are the hardest for me. They are plentiful in supply, but are generally higher in price than my local coin show. I sometimes check ebay multiple times a day, for weeks at a time, until I find a price I'm willing to accept. Most weekends, APMEX and MCM will put out ebay specials, and, when it happens to be an item I'm looking for, I'll snatch it up quickly.

Bottom line, ebay has been a convenient and efficient service for me, but silver purchases require quite a bit of effort to get a reasonable price.

I have not seen relative prices on ebay coins and silver drop as of late, but I'm not really checking too often these days.

TCK

 

[OWK]

I would contend that eBay prices more accurately reflect the legitimate free market price of precious metals, than do the commodities exchanges.

While eBay is a much smaller market, it is not subject to the governmental and institutional manipulation that the commodity prices are.

 

[jim4silver]

I would contend that eBay prices more accurately reflect the legitimate free market price of precious metals, than do the commodities exchanges.

While eBay is a much smaller market, it is not subject to the governmental and institutional manipulation that the commodity prices are.

But what is interesting is that in some cases coins are selling for less than wholesale on ebay auctions. By wholesale I am not referring to paper market schemes, but instead the real physical silver market at the wholesale level. Some probably don't realize how much metal is sold between dealers instead of being retailed in a store. So there are some ebay auctions where commems are selling for less than what one dealer has to pay another dealer to obtain a certain commem. I think this reflects general lack of sufficient demand for these items so the buyers get great deals at some auctions.

Jim