Tips for Buying Coins on eBay

(These ideas were culled from a prior eBay user named Anaconda Rare Coins)
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Buying coins on eBay can be risky business. There is a multitude of "bad coins" on eBay and just as many "bad sellers". Watch out, know who you are dealing with, and know what you are buying. There are people on eBay who make a living out of fleecing the unsuspecting public. Here are some tips to help you make sure you get the most out of your eBay hunting:

Red Flags - There are certain aspects of an auction that should raise red flags in your psyche that something is amiss.

1. Seller has private feedback or their feedback has several recent negatives.

2. The picture of the coin/coins in the auction are blurry. Never buy what you cannot see even if the seller has a return policy.

3. The picture of the coin/coins doesn't look like the seller took the photos themselves. Many times crooked sellers will steal images from legitimate websites such as coinfacts.com or from other dealers and use it in their auctions to make the buyer think they are receiving the coin in the picture. Ask the seller where they got the picture from.

4. The seller's account shows no activity for quite some time and suddenly is offering a very rare or expensive coin. Additionally, if the seller's past items were something like CD cases, old DVD's, and machine parts, they most likely are not going to be offering rare coins and the account may have been hi-jacked.

5. If a seller is offering a NO RESERVE auction starting at 99c on an extremely rare coin or if the coin is offered at well below what the coin typically sells for, there is a strong possibility that the seller is trying to steal your money by having you pay for the item once you win it and never shipping the coin. Most often the images belong to the legitimate seller of the coin and the accounts doing this sort of selling are hijacked accounts.
6. The seller has a lot of third world slabs in their inventory. For a definition of third world slabs, continue reading. I've listed these below under the list of grading services that do not get a seal of approval from me. You get what you pay for.

7. A seller promotes a coin as being worth $10,000 but has a buy it now of $500. Most of the time these are either raw coins or have been graded by a third world grading company.

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Not all Certification Services are created equal. I would recommend that buyers of coins on eBay stick with PCGS and NGC certified coins although I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a coin holdered by ANACS or ICG if I thought the coin looked fine.

Some coin grading services DO NOT get a seal of approval from me. This is my opinion only. Personally, whenever I see coins in holders by these grading services, I wonder why a seller would get a coin holdered by a service where the prices realized are fractions of what PCGS and NGC coins bring. There are alot of these coins on eBay constantly. Watch Out! You do the math. Once you open your eyes, you'll see that you get what you pay for.

I did have a nice list of grading services plentiful here on eBay that you should watch out for but due to risk of being sued by the multitude of fake grading services out there (Isn't America Great?) I'll provide a list of grading services that you CAN TRUST instead:

PCGS
NGC
ANACS - Sometimes (coin by coin basis)
ICG - Sometimes (coin by coin basis)

Watch Out for Any Coin in a CoinWord do it yourself holder. These aren't grading services but simply an unclever disguise to make it look like the coin has been graded by professionals when it actually has not.

Third World Grading Service: Any grading service that has sub-par standards and should generally be avoided. i.e. An MS65 in at a third world grading service is actually usually anywhere from an AU58-MS63 with PCGS or NGC grading standards. I've seen this many times and I've seen many people get burned because they try to get a deal on a coin holdered in a Third World Slab graded MS64 when it is actually a slider AU58. The encapsulations (slabs) used by these grading services are called Third World Slabs.

If you are interested in a coin that is graded and holdered by a service that is not PCGS, NGC, ANACS or ICG, ask yourself why the coin isn't in an NGC or PCGS holder. If NGC and PCGS coins get such a premium, wouldn't it make sense for the seller to get the coin certified by one of these two services? I find it very laughable that a seller would promote a coin as being worth $10,000 and then have a buy it now price of $500. Most often you will see a link to the PCGS price guide (pcgs.com/prices) and the coin will be either raw (ungraded) or in a third world slab.  Just remember, you get what you pay for and if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

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Second Chance Offers and Phishing eMails: I must get 500+ emails a week asking me to log-in to my eBay account for a mulititude of reasons. In addition, whenever I bid on something and lose, I can almost guarantee that I'll get a Second Chance offer asking me to send money if I want the item I just was outbid on. This is usually a scam.

NEVER ANSWER AN EMAIL SUPPOSEDLY FROM EBAY BY CLICKING ON THE YELLOW BUTTON IN YOUR EMAIL. ONLY LOG-IN TO YOUR EBAY ACCOUNT FROM WWW.EBAY.COM AND CLICK ON "MY MESSAGES" TO VIEW ALERTS AND MESSAGES FROM EBAY.

Second Chance Offers - I would say 75% of the second chance offers are bogus and you should always contact the seller of the item to ask if the offer is legitimate.

Phishing eMails - These are emails that look like they were sent by eBay, but really were sent by someone trying to get you to click on a link in the email to log-in to you eBay account on a fake webpage designed to look like the eBay log-in page so that they can get your username and password to do all sorts of damage by hijacking your account. Never click on a link in your email to log into your eBay account. Trust me.

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Mystery Lots, Estate Sales, and Dealer Lots - I do not really care if your dear uncle Hermon left you a gold coin on his deathbead, nor do I believe you just purchased a large group of gold coins at an estate sale. Hmm, and those mystery lots are essentially a lottery along with those dealer lots. Be very wary of these types of listings. Remember what I've stated earlier. If it's too good to be true, it probably is. In the case of these types of listings, I can almost guarantee you that you will get the short end of the deal whether you realize it or not.

Mystery lots - These types of listings should be banned from eBay. They essentially take advantage of the gambler in all of us. One gold coin amongst thousands of cheap, searched through, buy by the bucketload, 20th century type coins. $10 for 75c worth of coins with the hopes that you come out with the coin that may be worth $100? Whatever. Stay away!

Estate Sales - A search for the word "estate" drew over 1100 listings on eBay. Mostly, these lots contain a bunch of hum-drum coins, some certified, most raw but in cardboard flips. These are usually combined with various odds and ends and the word "estate" is just keyword spamming to attract those out there who are treasure hunters at heart. It's just marketing.

Dealer Lots - $15,000 catalog value worth of coins starting at 99c with no reserve? Holy cow! This MUST be a great deal. Do not buy into the hype these sellers try to sell. Mostly, these lots will be 90% made up of coins certified by ANACS, ICG, NTC, PCI, and SEGS which all have a market value much less than PCGS or NGC coins. The seller may claim that PCGS and NGC coins are included but don't be fooled. You might get one or the other and it'll probably represent less than $100 of the total value the seller is trying to hype. Again, you get what you pay for. The seller wouldn't continue selling $15,000 worth of coins for $750 if they weren't making money on the deal. So ask yourself, how much are the coins really worth if the seller is still making money and you still think you've got a bargain?

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Raw coins - Know what you are buying before you pull the trigger. Additionally, it is nearly impossible to grade a coin from an image. You need to be able to twirl the coin around in a good light to detect minute hairlines from cleaning (PCGS and NGC do not holder cleaned coins for a reason.)

Fake Coins - I stroll through the Trade Dollars and Early Dollars category and nearly every raw coin I see is an obvious fake. Buy PCGS or NGC certified examples. Don't risk your money on raw coins unless you are knowledgable enough to tell what is real.

Artificially Toned Coins - If the coin isn't fake, and it's raw, and it's very colorful, odds are that it is artificially toned. Purple and Blue peace dollars, Neon Blue morgan dollars, and flourescent copper simply make me want to gag. People are buying this stuff because it's cheap and pretty. Do not be fooled into thinking it is original and don't expect to get a premium for it when you sell it, if you even get what the coin is worth without the color. It is now officially a problem coin that most collectors and dealers wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. When buying toned coins, stick with PCGS and NGC.

Grossly Overgraded Coins - I see this so much on eBay it should be a crime. The hype is nauseating. Sellers with AU58 sliders touting the coin or alluding to the coin being MS65+ by posting listing prices from the PCGS price guide pcgs.com/prices. Only buy from a trusted dealer if you are buying raw coins or learn to grade them yourself. 

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One Last Tip - Just because a seller is a POWERSELLER, doesn't mean they won't try to rip you off. Neither does someone having perfect feedback.