eBay

carland52 · ‎10-08-2013

I'm currently using coins canada for my coin values, and we all know that site doesnt contain updated coin values. i have suffered many losses from not knowing the current trend prices for my coins. EX: I bought a 1900 round O for $100, but I sold one with the same details and only got $20.
My question is where can I find an updated price list on the Internet without having to subscribe to it?

femmefan1946 · ‎10-08-2013

You could check in Canadian Coin News which is a biweekly paper published out of St Catharines ON. They are part of Trajan Publications which publishes the Charlton Guide. It may be online and is often sold through those Publishers' Clearing House deals.

But when dealing with a volatile product like coins, where there are more speculators than "investors" and more "investors" than collectors, you will have to put your money where your mouth is.

Nobody works for free.

You can have it good, you can have it fast, you can have it cheap. But only two of those. If it is fast and free, it will be inaccurate. If it is accurate and fast, it will be expensive, If it is accurate and free, it won't be fast.

Also in my experience, a good price guide or catalogue is looking backwards at how prices were since the previous publication. They cannot predict future prices.

Your best bet is probably to pay the bullion value of any coin you buy and hope to resell it as a collectible at a premium.

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-08-2013

I would check ebay and other online coin sites to see what they are charging and if possible, find out if they actually have buyers at that price.

pierrelebel · ‎10-08-2013

If you wish to use the auction format to determine "market value", I suggest you use seven day duration instead of three.

On average, twice as many potential buyers may see a listing in seven days when compared to three days. The more viewers, the more possible bidders, the higher the selling price.

Pricing of older coins is a bit like stamps: many factors need to be considered. To determine the market value of a "Canada 1929 Bluenose used" for example requires an understanding of the marketplace and how collectors price the cancellation, centering, freshness and overall condition of the stamp. A quick look on eBay and you will find over 40 of them offered at prices ranging from a few dollars to $75. Pricing of coins is just as difficult and requires experience and expertize.

Whatever information is found in price guides is largely irrelevant. Marketplace determines the price based on quality, condition and demand that day.

mr.elmwood · ‎10-08-2013

You want more for your widgets? Your listings need a lot of work. Two tiny pictures and you claim a coin is worth $255? Where is the grading? You want buyers to trust you because you are "highly" rated? I would take that out of the description as it has nothing to do with anything.

You are charging 67¢ shipping? That is the price of the stamp and envelope? At that rfate you should be giving free shipping and you should upgrade to professional packaging.

You could be doing a lot of things better. Better would earn you far more revenue.

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rose-dee · ‎10-08-2013

Mr. Elmwood's comments illustrate the reason I believe that selling via eBay Mobile, although apparently simple, can get you into a lot of trouble (or get you nowhere as a seller).

EBay promotes their mobile listing feature as an easy 1-2-3 process: snap a photo, plug in a few descriptive words, set a price. Those of us who have been here for a while know it's not that simple.

I'm sorry to sound somewhat harsh, but you need to know and understand your products thoroughly, and be confident in presenting them (and pricing them), which means doing the research first, and then listing the items. Your listings as they are don't reflect a sound knowledge of the items.

Why even state the value of, for example, an older Canadian banknote? This will look to a buyer as if you're trying to justify the price you've set -- that's not necessary. Experienced buyers in the category will have a good idea of the value, if from nothing else, based on other similar items offered on eBay. Set your best price based on your research, and let buyers determine whether it's worth more than you're asking, or a good deal, then make pricing adjustments if necessary.

mr.elmwood · ‎10-08-2013

Go and look at the banknote auction. Picture shows six yet the OP is only selling one. OP, people expect what they see in the picture. eBay says to only show what you are selling. You do realize that on a mobile device they shop based on the picture as they have to go looking for the description?

First rule of selling is: "Buyers do not read".

"Please view pictures to see what is available."

Well, the gallery picture shows six.

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carland52 · ‎10-10-2013

I just wanted to know where to find current prices for coins so I don't buy coins according to old prices that are no longer worthy.

I'll just subscribe to Charlton price guide.

And to Elmwood and rose-dee, I wasn't looking for advice on how to sell, but all advice is appreciated.

And future reference, I won't be posting pictures like I did with those bills. I understand that most people don't read the description, and if they did, they would see I noted:
Bidding on only 1 bill.

kevinintegrity101 · ‎01-28-2017

First place i go is numista for all coins i am thinking of buying/bidding on i find them to be extremely reliable and they also provide a rarity guage which can be quite helpful.

Of course i then go to ebay to see what they sell for by auction....ONLY by Auction NEVER use buy it now pricing to get an idea of a coin's value.

If you want to know the precious metal value of any given coin or anything else i use coinapps an excellent site you can calculate in many currencies and precious metal contents...very simple.

The old addage applies if something is too good to be true it usually is.

......Kevin/Ebay Member

cumos55 · ‎01-29-2017

When someone comes here.... with a question or two... they will get a most complete analysis.

Everything that is said will help you be more successful on eBay..

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I found a book about the selling of coins online..... A difficult effort based on this book.

The final conclusion in this book was ... Buyer Beware.....

Sellers tend NOT to sell their best coins online.... and then make what they sell "look better than actual reality"

Remember... You are the buyer's eyes... and ... with a very closeup view of the "feel" of the coin....

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As someone who chooses to sell coins on eBay ... you must describe in the absolute....

For me... The most important thing is condition.... condition... condition.

This means... One coin per listing.... unless you are selling a group.....

Learn to be very specific ... be very forward... progressive and hide nothing.... Did you clean the coin and with what?.....and why?

cumos55 · ‎01-29-2017

Many sellers of books will take pictures of an item for sale....

and then say.... Please study the pictures to see the condition of the item.

Pictures can lie.... Words describing the condition of an item for sale cannot lie...

Coin sellers must also describe it in an absolute.... You will always know more than what a potential buyer will look for and in turn actually see...

Can you take pictures of your coins without having a reflection of light....... Can be done...

Experiment to see where the light should be placed in relation to the camera... in order that one does not get a reflection of light off the coin being photographed..

Reflected light can hide things

Or... Will a scanner give you a better view of a coin without any reflection of light

I use both a camera and a scanner to take photos of the books I sell...

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Visit eBay's coin listings..... and ask yourself... Would I buy it? and then answer....Why buy? ... Why not?

Remember... You are the buyer's eyes.... and you are the one that has a very closeup view and feel for the coin..... How do you relate his to a buyer...

femmefan1946 · ‎01-29-2017

If it's flat use a scanner.

When I am listing high value stamps I use the 600 setting on my scanner and 1200 for real closeups.

We do the same with the Sparks Auctions catalogue online.

Ian says he can see things on a scanned image that cannot be seen with 30X magnification.

pocomocomputing · ‎01-29-2017

@kevinintegrity101 wrote:
First place i go is numista for all coins i am thinking of buying/bidding on i find them to be extremely reliable and they also provide a rarity gauge which can be quite helpful.
Of course i then go to eBay to see what they sell for by auction....ONLY by Auction NEVER use buy it now pricing to get an idea of a coin's value.
If you want to know the precious metal value of any given coin or anything else i use coinapps an excellent site you can calculate in many currencies and precious metal contents...very simple.

The old adage applies if something is too good to be true it usually is.

......Kevin/Ebay Member

While your post may be helpful to someone today, I do not think think the OP of this topic started on 2013-10-08 12:02 PM (3 years, 3 months, and 19 days), last replied to on 2013-10-10 02:44 PM (3 years, 3 months, and 17 days), is still looking for help.

Please check the date of the topic before replying. Otherwise the forums will be full of Zombie topics.

mcrlmn · ‎01-29-2017

I've been using CoinsandsCanada for years to base my prices.
http://www.coinsandcanada.com/coins-prices.php

I hope your 1900 'round 0' was at least VF-20.

tyler@ebay · ‎10-13-2017

Hey everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began I have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread!

Tyler,