why do people pay more on e bay than a bullion company

C

craig12

New Member
does anyone know why people pay more on e bay than buying through an on line dealer , it beats me, just seen Johnson mathey 1 oz bars for 24.99 even with the vat added you can get them cheaper from atkinsons, im sure theres loads of products like this

sorry I should have said I don't mean buy it now , im referring to bidding prices they bid more than the price of a reputable dealer:rolleyes:
 
Some aren't aware of cheaper prices elsewhere perhaps.

Or they could be shill bidders too.
 
good point they could be fake bids im bidding on stuff at the moment but try and bid no more than spot price with a couple of quid delivery so if I can get spot plus free delivery from a reputable seller /feedback if I can get spot plus delivery that's as cheap as silver from Estonia some ill get some will probably tell me where to get off but hey as someone once said its like fishing if you throw some ground bait in you might just catch
 
As a buyer, some people pay more on ebay because certain items cannot be found elsewhere. But you should also consider that sometimes these hard-to-find items can also be had for pretty cheap if you're lucky and people don't search for it during the auction.

As a seller, you sell on ebay because the pool of people that are exposed to your item is much larger than a forum, but you also have to mark up your items ~13% higher because of ebay and paypal fees.
 
When I got into stacking and saw coins being sold on eBay, I sold a lot of my unwanted collectables on eBay and used PayPal money to buy coins. I believe most of my first 200 ounces came through eBay. I didn't care too much that I paid a little more.
 
+1 on the "many reasons" thought--- lack of knowledge is probably a big one; "auction fever"; "Ebay Addiction"; entertainment; finally getting that hard-to-find piece that even APMEX doesn't have; shill bidding; having too much leisure cash/time and not enough to do with them; etc...
 
This happens in any subject matter.
Bought and much sold new stuff, watched much more, much is the same as a live auction, excitement of the bidding.
Some fraud or close to it, but mostly just emotional buying/bidding rather than rational, well researched, buying.
 
because bullion dealers have huge shipping fees... If i order one oz silver coin from europesilverbullion, i pay 16 for the coin + 15 for shipping.
At ebay i pay 20 for the coin + 5 for shipping
 
I think it is just ease of use. People are familier with ebay and already have an account set up. No having to set up a new account or having minumum order sizes for payment methods, 3% credit card fees or prices of bullion changing on purchase quanities. Also they feel good because of buyer protection. If you were just looking to buy just one 1oz bar or coin then ebay is better because the shipping fees will get you ate bullion websites. Everything else people buy just makes them retarded. I see 10oz generic bars going 3-5$ over spot per ounce all the time.
 
I think people collect ebay feedback the way we collect silver, they want more. Also many people just don't have a LCS and are unaware of good online bullion dealers.
 
a1nipper said:
I think people collect ebay feedback the way we collect silver, they want more. Also many people just don't have a LCS and are unaware of good online bullion dealers.
Click to expand...

I want more ebay feeback but to not with to pay 4$ more for it :P

I also know people just get into the bidding spirit. Any numi coin I find I get usually get a better deal just searching the lower priced buy it now auction that were just posted then trying to win one. I have on several occasions purchased a coin from buy it now, and then placed it on auction to make a few bucks!
 
Lots of reasons why people might pay more:

1) eBay's unmatched Buyer Protection

2) the buyer may not be aware of a better deal elsewhere

3) if there's free shipping and no tax charged via eBay but not the bullion dealer, it could make for a sweeter deal on eBay

4) eBay bucks can make a difference; sometimes eBay runs a 4X eBay Bucks Rewards promo for a limited time

5) the buyer has already established a relationship with the seller on eBay and depending on how little difference in price might be saved by going to a bullion store, the buyer may want to forgo that

6) if the buyer knows s/he can get the product faster by going to a particular eBay seller, this may be enough incentive to forgo the bullion dealer

6) and so forth and so on


.
 
Difficult to understand sometimes, i know some places its because of the Tax and large markups by some countrys dealers

But here in USA i just dont get it, im convinced its shill bidding, put a search in for "silver" in the Bullion catagory
"time ending soonest" at 3am in the morning and all the bids are right at $22-23 for pages and pages of sales. Fishy
 
Fusion555 said:
Difficult to understand sometimes, i know some places its because of the Tax and large markups by some countrys dealers

But here in USA i just dont get it, im convinced its shill bidding, put a search in for "silver" in the Bullion catagory
"time ending soonest" at 3am in the morning and all the bids are right at $22-23 for pages and pages of sales. Fishy
Click to expand...

I don't think there is anything "fishy" about people who have gone to bed for the night, and set their maximum bids for the amount they are willing to pay. Some of these folks will win the auctions, if there is no one up at 3am who wants the same product for a higher price.

I have found some of the best deals by narrowing the search to "buy it now" combined with "newly listed". There are plenty of sellers who have lost interest (or never had it to begin with), who just want some cash right now, and don't care to wait several years for the price to rise.

Shill-bidding is against eBay policy, and though a seller might be able to pull it off once, eBay's algorithm is not stupid - they'll spot a suspicious pattern quickly enough, that any seller who has earned a decent feedback profile, would be foolish to try screwing with the system as a matter of course.
 
There is no additional fee to add if paying by PayPal on eBay.
Most buyers on the Bay are unlikely to be stackers so will not have researched the market or considered buying from the dealers.
 
We might also consider that a few major distributors (APMEX, MCM, etc) are power-sellers on eBay, and occassionally offer some great deals. Such deals are quite appealing to those just getting into stacking.

And even if the dealers take a slight hit on their profit margin - the sale provides an opportunity to steer new customers to their own sites, where future sales can be made without the need deal with the eBay/PayPal infrastructure.
 
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