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Ever asked yourself this question while shopping on Ebay. "What is this person thinking when they say GEM BU?" GO ahead and smile, we have all done it! Remember one important thing when shopping on EBay, sellers are competeing with 100's of sellers to sell you the exact same product, so they have to attract you to their auction anyway they can.

 Ebay has helped these sellers also over the years with different means to make buyers feel proud and in control about their low purchase prices. Everyone wants to say "YOU"LL NEVER GUESS HOW CHEAP I BOUGHT THIS COIN"For instance, the Buy it Now option..... You see, Ebay sellers loved this initially because they could advertise a IMMEDIATE sell and ship policy, avoiding snipers and waiting periods. Sellers in turn set low buy it now prices to catch your eye, then jack up the shipping price 300% to more than compensate the low price, and also drop their seller fees : )

 More recently now, EBay now has the BEST OFFER option.. OH MAN have sellers liked this one. You see, alot of young coin buyers like the story of the coin purchase, instead of doing homework for the best deal. Here is what I mean.... A good seller will list their product as Buy it Now with Best Offer option, but price it at top book value and in some cases higher. A young buyer will of course think he is low balling a seller by offering a 400.00 dollars on a 500.00 buy it now option, but then the seller has you. The buyer is SOOOOOO happy because he got 100.00 dollars off, but the seller knows a educated buyer would have only paid 200- 250 in a auction because we work off numismedia values, greysheets, and registry values. The seller gets great returns, and the buyer leaves with the feeling of getting a great deal.

  I want to add that there is NOTHING wrong with either of these processes, sellers have to find ways to satisfy their customers, and at the same time make the highest returns on their product, it is just great marketing on the sellers part.

  Here is a little hint to the younger generation in deciding on coin purchases, and it requires very little work. Say you have 3 coins you realy want, and they are all in the same price range, which one do you buy? Take a few moments and write down the price of each coin first... Then go to ngccoin.com... Next get the numismedia price for each of the coins you are looking at in their respective grade... Once you have that written down, then go into the registry and get the regisrty point value for each coin too. NOW..... Take the Numismedia $ value (W ww.collectors-society.com/registry/ngc/CensusDetail.) , and divide it by the registry points assigned to that coin for all three coins.. The coin with the lowest number after this process will show you the coin for the greatest value. The registry points assigned will help you decide the rarity of the coin in that grade, the higher the points assigned, the rarer it is. So now you know which coin is giving you the best return for your money, and also giving the rarer coin. It will take you 10 minutes, and bring alot of fun into your investments, while also showing you the best coins to buy for your buck!

  My bottomline advise in this posting is not to be a deer in the headlights when shopping on EBay as a young collector. Things are not always as they seem, and sometimes those seemingly low prices are really disguished in methods used by experienced sellers to suck you in and make you feel good and in control. Always check your shipping costs, feedback rating(and not just the first page), methods of shipping, insurance availability, payment methods, and most importantly READ THE AUCTION DESCRIPTION THUROUGHLY. Alot of good sellers get bad feedback from new EBayer simply because they didnt read the auction for terms on shipping, return poicy, and insurance to name a few.. Dont blame the seller for your responsibilities. And always, ALWAYS....... use PayPal for large purchases at first..... PayPal has the ability to refund your money in the event you are scammed or frauded. Remember, once you send a money order or western union, you might as well be handing it to a guy holding a will work for food sign... There is a good chance that either you will never get the coin, or even if you do and arent happy with it, you are not getting a refund, either way, your money is gone and you aren't happy. Always protect yourself from fraud, and PayPal gives you means to do that better than a money order to someone you dont know!

BE patient, and wait for the price you want, Ebay isnt running out of coins any time soon. You will be so much happier in the end if you wait for the price you want, rather impulse buying and doing no howework. Good Luck in your search for that beauty you are looking for, just play it smart....... I will be posting tomorrow on raw coin sells on Ebay, and tactics used by people to trap you into buying over graded coins (cleaned, whizzed, machined, altered, etc.....) in an attempt to mamimize their returns again! Till then...............