Re: Ebay's forced return policies nearly ruined us!
Dan Smith
coins and bars.
The retail profit margin is typically one of the lowest industries in the
world.
Dealers will work on half a percent or one percent on a retail gold coin
markup.
eBay charges sellers at least a 5% seller and and PayPal charges a minimum
of 2.5%.
With eBay seller fees a minimum of say 7.5%, eBay bullion sellers can NOT
be competitive.
Check your local and mail order coin dealers for competitive pricing and
compare to the eBay bullion center.
I am in the business so it would not be appropriate to name dealers.
Just let your fingers do the walking by calling 800 numbers of
LEGITIMATE coin dealers, established at least 20 years, a proven
track record. There are hundreds of respectable coin dealers.
"Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke" <lu...@digitalcartography.com> wrote in message
news:9bb7g1...@mid.individual.net...
> Frank Provasek wrote:
>> Ebay is actively promoting a gold and silver bullion portal
>
> No they're not.
>
>
> Lumpy
>
> You sang all those car commercials?
> You got it, Toyota.
> www.LumpyMusic.com
>
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Bremick
"Dan Smith" <dans...@pacifictelesis.net> wrote in message
news:j3fddg$duh$1...@speranza.aioe.org...
> The new eBay Bullion Center is not the cheapest place to buy gold or
> silver
> coins and bars.
>
> The retail profit margin is typically one of the lowest industries in the
> world.
> Dealers will work on half a percent or one percent on a retail gold coin
> markup.
>
> eBay charges sellers at least a 5% seller and and PayPal charges a minimum
> of 2.5%.
>
> With eBay seller fees a minimum of say 7.5%, eBay bullion sellers can NOT
> be competitive.
>
> Check your local and mail order coin dealers for competitive pricing and
> compare to the eBay bullion center.
>
> I am in the business so it would not be appropriate to name dealers.
> Just let your fingers do the walking by calling 800 numbers of
> LEGITIMATE coin dealers, established at least 20 years, a proven
> track record. There are hundreds of respectable coin dealers.
So why stay in a business with such a fragile profit margin? From what I
see in the real dealer world, they will often buy at 5-10% back of spot and
sell at 5-10% over. That sounds like a decent profit margin, especially for
a dealer with minimal overhead. Selling on eBay offers exposure to a
worldwide base of potential customers, in addition to maintaining what's
sitting in a showcase at home. If I am looking to buy gold at near spot,
eBay will often provide the means to do so. I'm not that friendly with
respectable coin dealers to pay an extra $100-200 for the privilege. If I
were selling, I would likely get more on eBay, fees included, than with my
local respectable dealer, or after factoring in postage and insurance both
ways with a mail order firm.
Don Lancaster
A five percent margin on eBay is laughingly ludicrous.
The minimum realistic eBay SBR is 30:1.
By definition, coins can not remotely approach this.
More at < http://www.tinaja.com/ebsamp1.asp >
--
Many thanks,
Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073
Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552
rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: d...@tinaja.com
Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com
Some Guy
"Don Lancaster" <d...@tinaja.com> wrote in message
news:9c1ne4...@mid.individual.net...
> A five percent margin on eBay is laughingly ludicrous.
> The minimum realistic eBay SBR is 30:1.
>
> By definition, coins can not remotely approach this.
>
> More at < http://www.tinaja.com/ebsamp1.asp >
Speaking solely from my observations, gold American Eagle bullion coins sell for
a premium over spot on eBay.
The 1/10 oz coins are selling for around $200 or so, which is about 10% over
spot.
Dealers I know pay 5% or so less than spot or sell for 5-10% over spot, thus
giving them a nice profit.
If your business model is such that selling on eBay is not profitable for you,
then I suggest you stop selling there.
Slime Lowlife
Don't mistake markup for profit. All expenses have to come out of this
margin before the proprietor sees anything. When I worked in a grocery
store the profit was calculated at under 2%, despite some pretty hefty
markups on some items. I don't think retail has gotten any more
lucrative since.
Steve Spradlin
> On 8/29/2011 5:53 AM, Bremick wrote:
>
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> - Show quoted text -
I do not understand Mr Lancaster's 30:1 sell buy ratio. To me that
means
you sell 30 times as much volume as you buy, He apparently means that
as some type of COST ratio.
Ebay was pefectly suitable for auctions with a 10% of 15% margin until
ebay
began enforing MANDATORY returns (auctions are as is/where is/ no
returns)
and requiring credit card payments (auctions tradionally are CASH or
bank letter or credit)
With eBay's new flat rate 9% final value fee (It's EASY to calculate
they say) plus
Paypal fees and requirements are what have ruined eBay as a viable
venue for
most sellers. Ebay now gets 80% to 100% of the gross profit margin
for sellers
of coins and bullion related items.
Greg Hansen
> Steve Spradlin wrote:
>> ...Ebay now gets 80% to 100% of the gross profit margin
>> for sellers
>> of coins and bullion related items.
>
>
>
>
I've pretty much abondandoned sales of coin related items under $50 on ebay
just because the type of buyers those auctions attract have a much higher
incident of those types of problems you've outlined. As a result, I have a
far lower number of ebay transactions, but the gross sales has stayed at or
above the old levels (due to the higher value of items I'm selling) and I
have had virtually no buyer problems for over a year....knock on wood. The
only ebay issue I've had in the last year was with a seller.
IMO, if your business model includes selling low cost numismatic items on
ebay, your going to have a fair number of buyer issues just due to the type
of buyer that business model attracts. Again, not characterizing that as
good or bad, just my anecdotal observation and opinion developed over about
the same amount of time as you've been selling on ebay.
Don Lancaster
>
> I do not understand Mr Lancaster's 30:1 sell buy ratio.
This is called "mathematics".
If you sell something for $20 on eBay, NEVER pay more than sixty seven
cents for it.
Some sellers may try to get by with a 29.999:1 or even 29.998 SBR, but
29.997 or anything under is beyond the bale.
R. Totale
<coing...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>I do not understand Mr Lancaster's 30:1 sell buy ratio.
Obviously. Getting which side is which right might be a start.
Tom McGilvray
"Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke" <lu...@digitalcartography.com> wrote in message
news:9caep1...@mid.individual.net...
> Tom McGilvray wrote:
>> Frank I see that you still give blow jobs for 1 cent. I
>> have bought blow jobs from you in the past and been quite pleased, but
>> I have been too scared to blow strangers for 1 cent when
>> about 2/3 of my customers balls smell. Any hints you can share with
>> us would be appreciated.
>
> Oh My!
Gary
> The new eBay Bullion Center is not the cheapest place to buy gold or silver
> coins and bars.
>
> The retail profit margin is typically one of the lowest industries in the
> world.
> Dealers will work on half a percent or one percent on a retail gold coin
> markup.
>
> eBay charges sellers at least a 5% seller and and PayPal charges a minimum
> of 2.5%.
>
> With eBay seller fees a minimum of say 7.5%, eBay bullion sellers can NOT
> be competitive.
>
> Check your local and mail order coin dealers for competitive pricing and
> compare to the eBay bullion center.
>
> I am in the business so it would not be appropriate to name dealers.
> Just let your fingers do the walking by calling 800 numbers of
> LEGITIMATE coin dealers, established at least 20 years, a proven
> track record. There are hundreds of respectable coin dealers.
>
>
>
>
> > Frank Provasek wrote:
> >> Ebay is actively promoting a gold and silver bullion portal
>
> > No they're not.
>
> > Lumpy
>
> > You sang all those car commercials?
> > You got it, Toyota.
>
> - Show quoted text -
We have had people trying to return 10oz silver bars they bought from
us at $400 a couple of weeks ago, now
worth $310...and threatening a chargeback if they don't get it. This
is strictly criminal and we are willing to file
theft charges against anyone who does this to us. ...like trying to
force your stock broker to give 100% of your
money back on a stock that declined.