"Know What You Are Buying"

Discussion in 'Numismatics' started by mmissinglink, May 17, 2016.

  1. mmissinglink

    mmissinglink Active Member

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    "Know What You Are Buying" or some phrase very similar is one that you will hear from time to time....if you have been collecting coins or exonumia (which is numismatic items such as tokens, medals, scrip, "Good For" tokens, badges, counterstamped coins, elongated coins, encased coins, souvenir medallions, tags, wooden nickels and other similar items) for some time, you have probably heard that phrase a few times already.

    It really is good and important advice. I'm going to give a very recent example in just a moment to illustrate this point. But first I want to remark about why it is that we may make a purchase of a numismatic item even before having a good idea of it's value and authenticity.

    I believe that in most cases, the primary reason collectors will buy a numismatic item even before having a good idea of it's value and authenticity is because it appears that the item is priced very reasonably....in fact, priced too good to pass up.

    Now certainly on commerce sites like eBay it is very possible to get very good deals on genuine products that you could not find anywhere else on any commercial commerce site. That tends to be because there's plenty of ordinary people selling numismatic items at prices far below their normative value because these sellers do not know the actual value of the item. There's also the explanation that the seller did a very poor job of describing the item or listing it in the wrong category....potentially losing out on lots or most of the people who are otherwise interested in buying such an item. Also, since there are so many sellers selling so many numismatic items, it is not difficult to see that in some cases, prices get pushed down considerably due to competition of the selling of the same type of item. Let's not also forget that for some products, there are so many being offered for sale at any given moment, it may be difficult for most buyers to keep on top of being aware of all the auctions of that specific type of item; so some or many auctions will have passed and ended without you being aware of them....the numismatic product in some of those auctions could be considerably less than any auctions you are aware of.


    In the example I promised to offer as an illustration of why it's important to know what you are buying, none of the factors in the above paragraph really apply because the item advertised is an uncommon, difficult to find numismatic item - and there's hardly ever more than 1 or 2 of them listed on eBay at the same time....sometimes not available on eBay at all for a lengthy period of time.

    The item is a 1964-1965 New York World's Fair high relief silver medal produced by M.A.C.O. (Medallic Art Co.). The obverse and reverse design on the silver version of this medal is the same design as on the pewter and bronze versions. The bronze version comes in 2 sizes, 1.5" and 2.75". The pewter comes in 1 size that I'm aware of, 1.5" (38 mm). The silver comes in 2 sizes, 1.75" and 2.75". The pewter version is actually not scarce and seems to have been produced in substantially higher numbers compared to the silver version.

    The 1.75" silver version weighs approx. 63.5 grams of .999 pure silver.

    So, 2 eBay auctions from the same seller that were both advertising the same 1964-1965 New York World's Fair high relief silver medal recently ended. I will provide the listing numbers in a moment. Since I am somewhat familiar with this type of medal, after studying the auction pictures, I came to the conclusion that one of the two "silver" medals was actually a pewter version of this medal type.

    Can you guess which one of these two auctions is in all probability misinforming buyers....which of these two auctions is not for a silver medal but pewter instead?

    The pewter version can normally be purchased for as little as a few dollars. The silver version considerably higher of course. There's only a $4 difference between the ending price of these 2 auctions and so if one of the auctions is for the pewter version of the medal, someone way overpaid....because they did not know what they were buying. The condition of the medals is not the same. One appears to be in excellent condition, the other in only very good condition for medals of this type and this age.

    Just one more point....I am not an expert numismatist and it is possible that i am wrong....but I'm fairly confident that I am right. Anyway, here are the 2 eBay auctions:

    381625938115

    and

    371619823357


    (EDIT: to find these listings, go to the "Advanced" search and then put the number in the box and check the "Sold listings" box below.)

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  2. raven

    raven Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    I don't think "Noblespirit", the seller, knew what they were selling either !
     
  3. mmissinglink

    mmissinglink Active Member

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    BulkCoins,

    Yes, I've observed similar things.

    There could be a variety of reasons why this happens:

    1) as you stated, the buyer is trying to fill a hole in her/his collection and therefore "bargain" price may not be so important to this person

    2) feedback rating of seller may be poor....I see this frequently.....a good feedback rating can make a huge difference in what the item sells for

    3) the buyer may not be very informed

    4) timing of the sale. I can't tell you how many times I have seen items sell outside of their normative price range (both higher and lower) due to timing. And what I mean by timing is quite broad; 1) anything from the fact that at times, only one person is looking for that product but just a few weeks later, could be that a number of people are seeking that product. The seller who listed when only one person was interested is probably going to fare worse off than the seller who listed when the item was hotter. 2) the actual time an item is ending can make a big difference in what an auction closes at. Many people like to bid in the last minute or seconds of an auction closing. Most buyers on the main US eBay site are probably living in the U.S. If an auction on that site is ending 3:30 AM.....that's a bad time for the American market for obvious reasons.

    5) condition of the medal is very important to many collectors. If could mean the difference of hundreds or thousands of $$

    6) quality of listing description and pictures can make a huge difference. I will generally pass up auctions which have poor descriptions and photos. I don't like wasting my time with lazy sellers....there's no reason his day and age to not be able to create a listing with a coherent description and good quality pictures....no good reason whatsoever. These don't deserve my money and I won't give it to them and I bet I am not the only one who feels this way. So sellers are only hurting themselves when they are lazy.


    There's possibly other reasons but these are the one's that come immediately to mind.



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  4. Ipv6Ready

    Ipv6Ready Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Another factor in auctions is start price.

    If all things were equal and you start at .99c there is a chance you lure few bidders who feel "invested" and just bid that once more.
    Compared to a differnt auction that started higher.
     
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  5. mmissinglink

    mmissinglink Active Member

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    Yes, but there is always the risk that there will be only that one interested buyer....and if that's the case, you just may have given away the house for almost free.

    The point is, if you are listing an item that is valued at considerably more than your initial start price, you better make real sure you know the market very, very well or you have a plan in place should you have greatly over estimated interest in that item.



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  6. Ipv6Ready

    Ipv6Ready Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    the seller has to make sure the auction site has buyers in the genre of the item.

    wasn't there a thread about super expensive coin sets being sold at 1% of its real value in a generic auction.
     
  7. mmissinglink

    mmissinglink Active Member

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    There's no reliable way to make sure. There will always be risk and the risk substantially increases with items that are not currently in the spotlight. I would caution everyone selling on eBay to be aware of this.....or if you do start off at .99 cents, to use the Reserve Price option if there is any doubt as to whether you will get a fair marker sale price.




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  8. mmissinglink

    mmissinglink Active Member

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    Wow, you charge an enormous amount of money for postage. What do you pack the coins in, lead containers? :D




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