I've never used it. I don't trust anyone on it. I only use Heritage because I can see the coins/notes so well and they have so many other nice, trustworthy features. They're worth the premium for what I need.


Why the flip does everyone use eBay if they hate it and distrust the sellers/buyers so much????

good question...I use it but then again I dont have any real problem with it and have, to date, never given or received a negative. The only neg I have ever given was on another auction area where a person refused to complete the transaction and the owner did nothing about it.

I use it because I feel confident in my ability to avoid bad sellers, I have an established list of sellers I have use with good results and who will, here and there, get coins and medals I want, then I try to get the best price...most of the times I dont get a big bargain, here and there I make a nice find. Lot of seller I find out about from forums...others I just take a chance as they seem up and up...no long drawn out rhetoric, just a picture of a nice coin and a price (or starting bid) with staisfied customers, long history and fair shipping and return policy.

I can buy from some sellers who arent supporting a brick and mortar or using ebay sales to live on and paying employees, etc...

There are a lot of crooks on ebay without doubt but there are also some real good dealers. I have had what I feel to be negative experiences from both ebay sellers and other sellers not on ebay...but never just down right ripped off as far as I can tell and I run all coins I buy through forums of experts.

In ancients, many times the fakers shine like the sun and fit a type to avoid...nor do I look to buy highly faked, high priced items there...I dont buy high end on ebay...so if I do get popped its on common world coins, a few notgeld, low price common ancients, etc...

On the whole, I like the place and use it as one of maybe 4-5 sources I frequent to look and browse...I think if you go to a mid level dealer or a large auction house you pay for a bit more confidence in what you buy (although they have sold fakes and misrepresent sometimes as well) to get frills and other things I dont feel I need.

I saw a seller of ancients justify the higher prices by saying stuff like...'well, we have to make a living as well and it takes time to attribute, photo and post a coin, blah blah blah'...well...I do all those things in my spare time rather cheaply and quickly and if you cant attribute MOST coins you sell pretty quickly with little effort...then thats a problem right there...I dont need to pay for expertise...I just need to buy a good coin cheap from a person I have a bit of trust in...

and there are sellers on ebay I trust...

I use ebay, vcoins, and a few other smaller private shops...its just another sales venue....with ebay you get a lot of sellers AND buyers who if they arent just crooks, they just dont have ANY people skills or idea of how to transact business which often sours things, the are pompus or rude, dont see a bigger picture, dont care if you are highly pleased with what you get...when a seller or buyer is unresponsive, rude, or thinks he should be able to do things he shouldnt, or thinks he is doing the world a favor so he does things on his time...less professional...I can even handle that and keep my ego in check long enough to get want (a good deal) then move on and not add him to my favs. As long as, in the end, I get what I paid for...which I always have...I can wads through the crap to find the rose.

It was a private business auction site that I got burned on.

It you have been on ebay for any length of time (or for a few nadfulls of buys) and dont have a few good sellers in your favs...then it probably isnt for you.

Deadpoint, I use ebay to bargain hunt and of course, I also sell a fair bit of gear..
Just out of interest, can you pick up good bargains on the Heritage site too? It's also for higher-value coins I know, but can you play the auction game there to a profit?

I buy here and there from Heritage and IMO, no...you never get what I would call a bargain (I never have), you will pay the highest price more often than not.

i have never had a real problem on ebay. i think that people using ebay have to use some common sense (if a deal seems too good to be true then it probably is) when buying and selling, and i think that a lot of the people who have had trouble didn't pay attention when a transaction starts to go wrong ...

you have to know the rules and follow them--so many people get burned when they don't do this.

I use e-bay all the time mainly for the bargains out there. Sure, I've made a mistake, but it was mine to make and no fault of the seller. Two people after the same thing and making the same bad judgement can push prices out of all bounds. Although they won't admit it, there are a lot of dealers on the site, and not only selling! As long as you assess the item, value it TO YOU, bid your maximum, then await the email saying you've won or lost, then you can't really complain either way

Well put henare. I have done well both as a seller and a buyer on eBay, and common sense is the key.
If it seems too good to be true, it is. And I decide what something is worth to me and only bid that much. If someone wants to pay more then so be it.

I like Heritage and have bought several coins from them but the extra 20% that they charge buyers makes finding a bargain almost impossible.

I have had problems with three American coin sellers and no longer use them. (Anyone who won't let me return a coin that I am dissatisfied with no longer gets my business.)
I have never had a problem with a European seller.

Common sense and a little luck, that's all you need to shop on eBay.

Well in my whole 1000+ coin collection (...my tiny room is full ) i have never even bought 1 coin from an auction...all my coins are either from family friends (we have alot! 90% live out of bahrain ..like holland belguim uk and stuff ) family (my aunt lived in france and pakistan for 19 years so she has tons of coins and bank notes) friends (from school friends , classmates or people from coin people ofcourse ) travelling (do that alot just collect the change) and the rest from buying from local dealers...and usually for dirt cheap since they dont know how much its actually worth..(can be good for coins worth more and bad for coins worth cheaper than what they are selling it for but ehh i get freebies to since im the youngest actual "good" cutomer ..lots of business when i buy ).. the only expensive coins i ever got are a few silvers from holland this past september from 1800+

dont know might try auctions in the near future but for now im not all crazy about buying more coins..since i cant find which coins i have and which i dont...huge pile to sort and a cupboard full....

I use ebay, cause i live out in the middle of nowhere. No coin stores or dealers around. Online is my best bet or traveling a long distance to a show.

Ebay sucks, we all know it, but there is not another site that can compare to the traffic that they get.

And there is never no guarantee using ebay that you wont get scammed. You can take all the preventive measures as possible, but it can still happen.

I don't use it as much as I used to. But on whole it has one of the widest coin bases you can ask for. Most dealers have one coin of a year/mint/type. Ebay you can normally find anything. And have a choice of grade or dealer. I've really only had one problem and it took a while but the dealer finally made good on it.

I use eBay because of the groups that there are, sheer variety of hammered coins and the often low prices. Many of the sellers, who find the coins, ID the coins incorrectly and so I can pick up a real gem at a great price.

I used to sell on eBay but eBay was hopeless, never helped me and the fees were too extortionate and so I made a website.

I buy a lot off eBay and am now a "Star Buyer", i.e. I fulfill their quota of spending but I do get a handy direct line to an eBay assistant and I don't have to listen to Greensleeves on the phone!

The only other place I can buy hammered coins is from online dealers or fairs in London, so eBay is a good place for buying. There hardly ever seem to be any 'bad' hammered coin sellers on eBay and so I've never had a major problem with a hammered seller but only 'hammered' milled coin sellers!

Clive.

Because I must punish myself for sins, real and imagined, thus I use eBay as a penitential rite of tortuous exercise.

I use ebay to buy most of my notes. I have found 2 sellers that have an inventory that seems to change consistently. I like their vareity, and their prices are very reasonable, even for shipping.....


I look at the total cost of what an item is going to cost me. If a seller wants $4.50 to ship a note, and $1.00 for each additional note after that, I dont do business there. I would end up spending more on shipping than I would on the notes.... thats why I dont care for alot of sellers on Ebay.

For one I don't hate the buyers or sellers. Some people on ebay are idiots sure, but that's true at the gas station, at work, and at the University. Ebay also has more risks, in that you can't just buy something based on face value. Some people misdescribe, some people don't know what they have, and some people are just plain criminal. On sites like Vcoins you can trust that what you see is what you get. That said Ebay has good sellers. Also, I collect things that are scarce to rare but not high priced that would be difficult to find at shows or other sites.

I just paid $400 for a set of MIB (Moneta Imperii Byzantini) from Heritage which is maybe not a bargain but a pretty good deal.

I agree.

Most of my high price coins, that I've paid somewhere near market value, have not come from eBay because if I'm looking to spend several hundred pounds then I'd prefer to see it in person rather than some photos. Then I know exactly what I'm buying and I can take it home with me there and then too!

Clive.

I've been able to cherry-pick a few coins on Heritage. Most of these are ones I consider sleepers. I got a nice MS64 San Diego commem for a real bargain price IMO given the grade and the low mintage. I figured in a few years, the new collectors will start finding those commems attractive and affordable.

I also use the nice image feature to see the level of detail and strike on a coin. I collect MS/Proof 65+ Walkers. There are a lot out there at a decent price but I've found one or two with EXCEPTIONAL strike compared to the others. I care about this because 1) it makes the coin look better and 2) I've seen dealers dismiss similarly graded coins but prefer the ones with strong strikes.

Vcoins?

Not for Byzantine Coins of Alexandria or Dupuis medallic works. I've found some of the former on Vcoins but not as many as I've gotten at shows and from ebay.

The best deals I've ever realized in roughly 30 years have come from ebay "collectors" or "non-dealers" selling thier coins. Gold coins for $30 (in mix lot from someone getting rid of "junk"), complete EF-BU cent collection (w/all keys except error, 09svdb and 14d were vg-f) for $775........ these wins keep me coming back.

The worst purchases I've ever realized have come from ebay. Numerous coins with problems that are hidden in picture and result in over priced purchase of problem coins (these are 'everywhere' on ebay).

The most consistent quality has come from heritage, but they are "really" costly. I should however also mention that I did purchase what I call a "deal" one time from heritage... got 3 toned mercs once, sold 2 on ebay and covered cost, kept 1 free.... but it took 5 years of randomly watching auctions to find that one.

Oh yeah,,, Craigslist !! Got 1 or 2 nice purchases from here, but not alot on the site,, at least in my city,,,, haven't searched the US portion. NO FEES !! FREE MARKET AT IT'S BEST !!

Bottom line is that ebay is fun,, deals can still be found among the non-dealer auctions,, but it's becoming less fun as more and more dealers begin to shop and shill there also. I love the new feedback rules !! I think a lot of bad dealers will begin to see thier feedback ratings plummet.

I use them because they are the best place for banknotes.

I've mainly dealt with good people there.... But I find there are a lot of shady ones out there, and I read the shipping costs and their payment terms and that pretty much sends up any signals. You can tell when someone has had a bad buyer and now they are protecting themselves, and you can tell when someone is trying to charge too much from the start. I rarely buy anything more than $20.00 from a seller the first few times I use them. The last time I did I put it off, saw that there was a deal, and waited. No one else took it, which sent up red flags. I then researched him using Toolhaus.org and read many feedbacks and then googled him. Seemed like an alright guy. Turns out he had undergraded the banknote and my deal was far better than I had expected.

And talking of deals - - They are out there. Most of the time I spend what is a good, fair price, but I have several banknotes that are currently going for two to five times what i paid for them - whether on Ebay or other sites. The last good deal was my Djibouti 10,000 banknote - saw it last night for $100 more than I paid for it! I paid $90 for an Equatorial African note that I've seen at that time and since going for over $300! Then I've also paid a little more than I should have, but due to my catalogs price guides and shopping around, that's kept to a minimum... mainly missing on a 'deal' later on.

I have only once not received a banknote. I contacted the fellow, and he offered to send me another. As I had not asked for the insurance that was offered, I said thanks, but no. That was the second time buying from him and the last. Not that it is his fault per se... is could have been lost in the mail legitimately, but I just don't know.

But as others have said they do, I too deal mainly with trusted sellers. But you have to be careful. One seller in California 'went on vacation' and he had nothing offered for a long time. Then it opened up again, but the prices were all out of whack. I used to get very nice deals from him, and his prices were always low and consistent. Then, his ID went away but the Ebay store he operated was still open, but empty. After a few months, it was open, but notes that were worth more than 50USD were offered for 4-5 dollars next to the same exact note for the actual cost. Then the cheap common notes were selling for WAY WAY too much. So I waited thinking something was wrong. It was. Researching, I found that the store was now in Jordan. The fellow was of Arab decent and I thought that he may have moved there. But if so, then he has been corrupted, or simply sold the store name to someone else. They are now riddled with negative and withdrawn feedback when before there was none.

If you find decent people to deal with, stay with them. And treat them right, too. Once I received a banknote and upon opening it, I though "Hm I don't remember sending for this, though it is a note I do want". There was no receipt, only the banknote in the envelope. SO I emailed him and let him know what happened and offered to forward the note, return it or pay him for it. He asked that I return it, and I did. He paid me $500 dollars for my efforts.... Zimbabwean, but hey, it was nice of him! I still use that seller, and we trust each other to do right.

It goes both ways.

I get alot of coins from ebay, but mostly silver at bullion prices, or lower dollar stuff I'm familiar with. If (or I guess I should say when) I want a higher value coin, I'll either wait for a show, or go to a dealer I know.

this is a good point--ebay is like shopping in a town where *everyone* sells something you might want. the thing about this: not everyone who lives there is competent, or honest, or ...

even when you shop with all this in mind you may, occasionally, be scammed.

I never use ebay. My son set me up with an ebay account and a pay pal account. Never used either. Only a few times I tried on line dealers and nothing to brag about. Add in postage, insurances, etc. and way to expensive and you never really see what you are going to get.
Since I have access to about 2 to 4 coin shows a month, no need for all the chances on the internet. Actually there is nothing, and I mean nothing, I can't find cheaper, better and more of right here around my area. The greatest thing about a coin show is you see EXACTLY what your buying, have the ability to chew down the price, great compitition and get the ability to order what you want, no extra charge.

I cant find much of what I want at coins shows that come to houston nor can I find them much in coin shops here...you are lucky. I prefer not to have to do online buying...but I must if I am to get what I want. All the same, I still can haggle, I still get a good idea of what I am buying from the sellers I use, and certainly there is still competition and the ability to order what you want...I have been to coin shows and in the end, even when they take some off, I dont get much below krause prices still and the shows around me always have 95% US coins which I am just not interested in, same with shops...which again, I never find a great deal at when I do buy the tiny amount of nice world coins they might have. I get no better deals at shows and shops than online and in fact at shops I almost always get a worse deals...save for the shipping...there isnt much difference and I can sometimes haggle price and shipping for free from sellers I frequent a lot. I just havent seen the outstanding deals at shows I hear so much about.

Last show I went to in Houston I bought all world coins from the tiny amount the large show had...I spent 150 USD. I figured I got a few good deals...and I did...but in the end the book price of the coins I bought was around 170 USD and I have gotten such a ratio online if not better in some venues...including ebay.

I've bought in past 5 years maybe 5-600 coins from ebay, and several thousands from coin shows... You must come in Europe at a REAL coin show (Numismata or World Money Fair) to see a real offer of "world" coins!

what i don't like about heritage:

SubTotal: $12.00
Buyer Premium: *$9.00
Shipping and Handling: **$7.25
Sales Tax: $2.33
Amount Due: $30.58

so a $12 item ends up costing 2.5x as much.

it bugs me that the buyer premium doesn't include shipping.

I don't use eBay much and never for a high priced item. I've found that the local shops have the coins I need. I get to check out the coin in hand, save on shipping and help the locals stay in business.

To buy and sell. I trust most dealers on ebay. I have used ebay since 2002 and have had very little trouble. I just accept the fact it's not perfect, and I don't always have $5,000 in coins to use Heritage Auctions.

I found that I can generally buy 90% US silver coins below spot (including shipping). It takes some work, but I'm retired so my time is free. I've never had a problem with any seller there, though I would say that one does have to be careful and read the fine print...

It is a good place to find a selection of tokens, medals, so-called dollars, esoteric books and ephemera, etc. I buy few coins on Ebay except for the odd piece that did not end up in dealer hands. My coin interests are esoteric enough that I rely on specialized dealers although i will not pass up the serendipitous find. You have to pay attention, but I have had only two deals that had erroneous results (the wrong medal sent) and both were immediately corrected by the sellers. A few take a long time to ship (I don't deal with them again), one could have been more careful in their description of the item, I forgot to send payment to one dealer (my error) but received a friendly reminder, and every other deal has been smooth and problem free. I don't jump at deals that are too good to be true.

I mostly use ebay for hammered coins. Here in little ole' PA, there aren't many alternatives.

You've put your finger on the primary difference between Heritage, Superior, the Goldbergs, etc., on the one hand ("Major Auction Houses"), and EBay, Amazon, etc. ("online auctions").

Buying common, low value coins from the majors, doesn't make sense precisely because of all the piled-on extras.

Buying valuable coins from the onliners is dangerous for all the reasons already discussed, but it's a great way to fill all those holes for common, low value dates, especially in world coin collections.

Any time you're buying at auction, you have to base your bid on the net amount which will generate a final price including extras that fit's your budget and willingness to spend.

What I'm not sure of is why so many are in locations where they have to rely on things like ebay and don't attempt to do anything about it. Not sure if I would, but if I lived in a remote area or a location of few or lousy coin shows, I think I'd attempt to contact others in that area to see if they wanted to start a small coin show. Possibly now with the web a call to people in the same area might work right here. Possibly an attempt on Google for coin clubs in the area. It should only take several people to get together and form a small coin show. Once started, if enough hear about it, could grow into something fantastic. Not sure I'd do this or not if it was me mostly due to very old age and medical situations but if someone did, I'd go if possible. A kid I know in Nebraska started a coin club that is growing and growing and may soon become a coin show. If a kid could do it why not some of us older people?

because, for the most part, we already live in areas with well-established clubs and shows!

Also one of the great side lines about ebay. Where else could you get comic relief like this? The goliod morgan dollar or the hunchback liberty.

I sold on ebay for a living for 10 years, at one point had 3 employees listing items, I gave that business to someone, hardware, software, trained employees, the whole kit-n-kaboodle........ He no longer speaks to me.

Why would I give a business away that had gross sales of over 1/4 million a year ???

The fees increased every year, the gross sales went down every year, it just was not worth the trouble you had to go through.

How many sellers do you see that have been selling there for over 5 years?


In my humble opinion, ebay is concerned with the buyer and not the seller. What you are seeing now is the result of chasing quality sellers away, lower quality items, more scams, members with multiple ID's, bid shilling..........