How Can I Buy Coins on eBay Without Getting Ripped Off?

EBay is the topic of many conversations in the coin collecting community. Amongst the collector community is the question of can I buy coins on eBay without getting ripped off. The answer is unequivocally YES. The caveat is to proceed with caution. In this article we will explore the things to look for to find honest sellers so that you can protect your self. Here are several tips to keep you from getting ripped off and bidding on auctions that are with worthy sellers.

User Feedback – While it seems obvious you want to deal with someone who has a high user feedback, the fact is that this area can be quite misleading. How? Many people who buy coins and then feel ripped off are for some reason reluctant to leave negative feedback for fear they will also receive negative feedback. When looking for a reputable coin dealer on eBay, feedback ratings can be a useful guide, but dig a little deeper. A dealer/seller with 10,000 positive feedbacks does NOT mean s/he is a good dealer. Read the feedback. Not just the negative feedbacks but the positive as well. Many positive feedback entries will have underlying negative information in them that could clue you into how the dealer treats others or the quality of the merchandise s/he sells. For example, a recent positive feedback entry for a seller stated “Grading seems off mark but happy with deal and easy to work with CO. Thanks.”. Another positive feedback for a different seller stated, “Not quite as expected but OK for the price”. These particular dealers have thousands of positive ratings but the ratings are rife with negative connotations in the positive feedback. Check for statements such as slow shipping, not packaged well, not like picture, not as described, etc.

Dealer Business or One Time Seller – Is the seller you are looking at a long-time eBay seller or someone that is trying out eBay to sell their inherited collection? Actually, this area may not make much difference as there are some long-time dealers who I think are crooks while I have been able to pick up some good deals from new sellers. But beware, short-term sellers/new sellers may be looking to unload some junk, take you for your money and then not deliver.

Shipping Policies – Some sellers will attempt to hide the shipping cost and will ultimately overcharge for shipping for extra profit. This of course is disguised as Shipping/Handling. All sellers will charge for shipping and handling, it is the degree to which they will charge. For example, I have seen sellers charge $7.00 for shipping a $2.00 penny with insurance being extra Always pay close attention to the shipping charges as well as the method of shipping. Some dealers will only ship UPS adding significant cost to you. Generally speaking, insurance is not included in many transactions. Please note, it does cost dealers for the packing materials, trips to the post office, etc. Many dealers will look to handling charges to offset some of the fees they have to pay to eBay. Sellers can pay anywhere around 10% of the selling price for listing fees, transaction fees, final valuation fees, etc.

Return Policies – An important factor to determine before bidding on an auction is to read the fine print, especially return policies. Return policies vary from no returns at all to full return privileges. Some sellers will offer you the option to return an item but will NOT reimburse shipping charges. If you bought a $2.00 coin and paid $7.00 for shipping, you are out the $7.00.

Assigning a Grade – Many dealers will suggest a grade for the coin they are selling. It is easy to overgrade a coin, as you always hope for the best. Some sellers will make statements such as “It looks like a MS-65 but I am not an expert.” Others will make a statement such as, “I am not a coin grader but it looks good to me.” Another good one is stating they are of average circulation. Average circulation means many different things to many different people. Average circulation for Barber Halves means they are all in AG-3 or so while average circulation for Franklin Halves would indicate they should be a higher grade as they are less worn. Be wary of these descriptions. It is unfortunate, but many so called uncalculated coins selling on eBay are AU-55 or AU-58.

Graded Coins – Most people feel safe when buying a graded coin. The feeling is that since it is graded by a third party, I should be getting what I am bidding on. NOTE: All grading companies are not created equal. There are some sellers on eBay that sells tons of coins that are graded MS-70. If you really research the feedback on these items you will find out that in the opinion of many of the buyers, many of the coins are no where near MS-70. If you research further, you will find out the seller is the person/company that also is the grading company.

Contacting the Seller - If you find a coin you want and the auction does not end for a few days; try contacting the seller for more info. Do they respond quickly and with the information you want?

Item Description – Read the description over and over to look for the slightest deception. For example, when buying bags of wheat cents, a common statement is “unsearched by me”. That’s great. Maybe his buddy searched them, or he bought them as searched. I would stay away from that item. Also, match the description to the picture. People do make mistakes. If you see a picture of a Morgan Dollar with a mint mark of “S” but the description says it is a “CC”, contact the seller. If you do not get a response, stay clear.

Photos – If you are buying a valuable coin, do not consider buying it unless there are clear pictures, for both the observe and reverse. Yes, this applies to even PCGS graded coins. A MS-66 graded Walking Liberty Half might sound like an absolutely beautiful coin, but if it has ugly toning, maybe it is not the coin for you. Be wary of any high value coin that does not have clear close up pictures. A trick of many bad dealers is to intentionally have pictures that are slightly out of focus or at a bad angle to hide certain scratches or abnormalities.

Dealer Memberships – Many dealers will lay claim to belong to various clubs and organizations. Many of these claims will not guarantee that the dealer is honest. I can claim I belong to any club I want. That does not mean that I actually belong to it. Additionally, membership in many clubs does not require anything more than an email address. On the other hand, if the dealer claims to be a member of ANA, that could be better as ANA dealers are bound by a certain code of ethics.

Buying coins on eBay is a risky business, but by using these tips, the risk is no more than buying coins from your local dealer or by mail order. There are crooks in the coin profession at all levels. You must be on guard at all times to protect yourself and by exercising caution, you can be assured you are getting and paying for what you think you are.

Tips For Online Coin Auction Enthusiasts

Coins are fascinating mementoes of history, sentiment and art. Coins vary in sizes, shapes and design. Art-lovers love to paint on it. Scientists love to tinker on its material, which are usually tough and long-lasting. Kids love to hear the ringing sound when it collides with their piggy banks and trinkets. Some people make galleries out of it. I even find some ancestors lovingly giving them through the generations of family members just to give a memory reminder from their not so distant past.

There are coins which are just meant to be treasured and not exchanged for any monetary value. But apparently, even the most rugged and sentimental looking coins which no longer has economic monetary relevance has still not lost its money-generating charm, thanks to the influence of online coin auctions.

Believe it or not, a lot of people would be more than willing to trade wads of paper bills just to get a piece or two of the more exotic finds in the coin depositories available in antique shops online and offline. A good question to consider: How would you know if it's worth it? That is a question of discernment and of quality.

I can't blame coin aficionados who take their collection to the next level. And there's no telling how far they would go just to be able to make their much-anticipated and regulated quest for the exotic pieces. There are actually online coin auctions available for the most enthusiastic coin seeker. And online is the best place to connect all tribes and regions and thus, have more opportunity for variety, competition and quality.

In participating in any online coin auctions, knowledge of the household rules is a must. It varies from site to site and just like shampoo for your particular hair type, you would need to do a bit of searching for the site which will best suit your coin fancying needs. There are different subcultures in the search for old and new coin galleries. Some would prefer the European coins over the Asian ones. There are different specific markets for every website. Every coin collecting online bidder must be willing to search through various threads in order to get to the right auctioning group.

Of course, one rule of thumb is that if something is too good to be true, then it most certainly is. Be very aware that some scammers can get very deceptive and lead you to give more information in exchange for nothing but sugarcoated promises. This is where proper use of available information comes in. If there is not adequate information regarding the person or company that you intend to do business with, it would be most ideal to hold your horses and tough it out in the online coin auction scene than set yourself out for disaster.

In making use of coin auctions online, being specific would definitely save you lots of precious time. If you already have an idea on the make, grade and size of the coins you are looking for, searching for the perfect group which caters to that particular type would not be so hard.

Also check for latest updates on the website. If it seemed like a considerable amount of time since the website was updated, you might think twice about trying to avail some coins from there. Some websites are just abandoned and without any formal announcement whatsoever that it stopped its operations. The best bet for any beginning online coin buyer is to find that site where there is always an update or it is bustling with activity. It would also help to build a network first before investing. Advice from the pros to the business might be more than helpful than any other information from write-ups combined. Besides, not all bidding rules are written out for you to read. There are some unwritten norms that you will have to fish out from the people involved before you take the plunge.

Coin collecting is a very rewarding hobby, as proven by coin collectors who convene and stay together online to continually improve and modernize this age-old trading industry. True, you may be trading coins as extinct as the dinosaurs, but your savvy in bidding and scoring the best of the best among the various coins need not be as extinct.

Finding Collectible Coin Bargains On Ebay

Ebay is a great resource for finding bargain prices on old coins of all types and I'm going to pass along a few tips on buying coins on eBay that will be helpful.

First, when buying coins do some research by using the "Advanced Search" feature found on each eBay search results page. With this feature you can limit coin searches to any Country or even any specific locality. If you are looking for coins in the Denver, Colorado area, for example, you can restrict your search to just that area and deal only with local sellers. You can also specify a minimum and maximum price you are willing to pay for a coin, buy it now only items, items with free shipping, items that accept PayPal and many other nice options.

When buying coins I like to look for reputable coin sellers who have a high feedback number and little or no negative feedback. If any negative feedback is listed, read it. It is not unusual for almost any seller who has made a lot of sales on Ebay to have some negative feedback, even if they are as honest as the day is long. There is always the possibility of an unpleaseable customer or rip-off artist showing up and it does not mean the seller is at fault. You'll find most coins sellers on eBay are scrupulous about grading their coins correctly and providing good pictures so you can judge for yourself. Be very suspicious if a seller has a feedback rating below 90 percent.

I have broken down a lot eBay coin buying research on my own coin auction website where you'll find up-to-the-minute listings of all the popular "Most Watched Coin Auctions." These are set up so you can instantly see what items in a bunch of different coin categories are the hottest and are attracting the most bidding activity. These are the coin auctions to jump on for some great bargains.

WARNING: Generally you'll find shopping on eBay safe and reliable. I've been buying stuff for years and have never had a single problem. Here's some tips to help you guarantee a good transaction. When buying on eBay always check a sellers feedback. I would strongly encourage you to use the "contact seller" feature to ask the seller any questions you might have and help you get a sense of their honesty and familiarity with the item. If you receive a vague answer, don't deal with them. If you don't receive any answer don't deal with them either. Also, do not ever pay for an item by wiring funds through your bank, Western Union, or any other money wire service. Never give out any personal information such as bank account number, social security number, etc to a seller. Personally, I like to shy away from shipping or escrow services as well. If you are a seller, be aware that fake cashiers checks and money orders are common and you'll be held responsible when the fake is discovered. PayPal is the best bet for both sellers and buyers, but not the only safe solution.

A neat eBay feature that not everyone seems to know about is the "Want It Now" service.