Stack's Weekly iAuctions Changing to Monthly

[KeyMan64]

Just got the email.

 

[RWB]

So, they are having one auction a month, not four....Does the site software work any better so one can bid on the coins?

[KeyMan64]

So, they are having one auction a month, not four....Does the site software work any better so one can bid on the coins?

[jom]

So, they are having one auction a month, not four....Does the site software work any better so one can bid on the coins?

 

I was just gonna say....now it's only a monthly disaster instead of weekly. That's progress I suppose....

 

jom

[RWB]

Well...that might reduce the number of posts by frustrated bidders....

[Nutmeg Coin]

It's too bad they couldn't get on the ball to effectively compete with "Great Collections". They needed to offer equal or superior service and terms to buyers and sellers early on through the former Teletrade and then in their replacement auctions but from what I have heard the company is top heavy with executives paid too much. Diversity is usually healthy in any market, monopolies are bad. I still like ebay for most venues; where else can buyers and sellers do business with seller costs as low as around 7%?

[brg5658]

So, they are having one auction a month, not four....Does the site software work any better so one can bid on the coins?

 

I was just gonna say....now it's only a monthly disaster instead of weekly. That's progress I suppose....

 

jom

 

Sad but true.

 

I will bid on NOTHING on their site for at least another year. I thought giving them a year to figure things out (all of 2014) was enough when I bid back in February 2015. I was wrong - the site is still a disaster.

 

They need to completely clean house of the "business" minds (i.e., the MBA-types who know nothing about numismatics) and start over. Claiming that these business-speak overpaid execs are "responsive" because they post apologies on the PCGS boards or send emails to disgruntled customers isn't enough. If you can't lead a company by hiring a worthwhile team of IT professionals to create a stable online auction presence in 18 months, then you should be kicked to the curb. I will stop short of naming names, but if I were the Stacks or QD Bowers, I would have taken the reigns back months ago and attempted to save the namesake auction house from being dragged through the mud for this long.

 

JMO.

[Nutmeg Coin]

You would think that the executives would have scoured the industry for the best and the brightest to make all their trains run on time. Or offer more money to one of the guys behind one of their competitors IT systems. Maybe there wasn't enough profit in it for them to be motivated?

[KeyMan64]

It's too bad they couldn't get on the ball to effectively compete with "Great Collections". They needed to offer equal or superior service and terms to buyers and sellers early on through the former Teletrade and then in their replacement auctions but from what I have heard the company is top heavy with executives paid too much. Diversity is usually healthy in any market, monopolies are bad. I still like ebay for most venues; where else can buyers and sellers do business with seller costs as low as around 7%?

Great Collections is cheaper when you sell a coin for over $1K....and you don't have deal with the eBay drama / feedback problems / paypal / etc. etc. etc. etc.

[Nutmeg Coin]

No, between ebay and paypal my selling cost is around 7.2%. Shipping adds a few bucks. With GC the buyer pays 10% last I checked.

[KeyMan64]

No, between ebay and paypal my selling cost is around 7.2%. Shipping adds a few bucks. With GC the buyer pays 10% last I checked.

That's correct but I was talking about SELLING and I said selling. When selling, it is CHEAPER via Great Collections if the coin you are selling is over $1K. Buying is easy and hassle free with Great Collections as well. You don't have to wonder if you are going to get the coin...and you adjust your BID accordingly so as to take the 10% buyer fee into consideration.

 

Drama Free, Problem Free, Worry Free and certainly cheaper when selling...buying is a wash since bids are adjusted That is the way I see it.

[Nutmeg Coin]

I agree, better imaging, better exposure but the percentage added is figured regardless, whether on the seller end or buyer. Of course the biggest auction companies do even better usually.

[gmarguli]

No, between ebay and paypal my selling cost is around 7.2%. Shipping adds a few bucks. With GC the buyer pays 10% last I checked.

 

For eBay, the Coin category is 6% flat. PayPal is 1.9% if you do 100K+ volume each month, but most people are in the 2.5% fee area. How exactly are your selling costs 7.2% on eBay?

[coinman_23885]

No, between ebay and paypal my selling cost is around 7.2%. Shipping adds a few bucks. With GC the buyer pays 10% last I checked.

 

For eBay, the Coin category is 6% flat. PayPal is 1.9% if you do 100K+ volume each month, but most people are in the 2.5% fee area. How exactly are your selling costs 7.2% on eBay?

 

The numbers you two are citing are for people with eBay stores, which itself requires a monthly fee unless I am mistaken. For the casual seller, the eBay fee is more like 10% not counting PayPal fees.

[coinman_23885]

So, they are having one auction a month, not four....Does the site software work any better so one can bid on the coins?

 

I am still trying to figure out how they managed to convince the Pogues to consign to them (and Sotheby's) in light of all of the issues.

[physics-fan3.14]

I used to like Teletrade. Sure, most of it was junk, but I found some really good coins at good prices. And, equally importantly, the website functioned.

 

But when they switched over to the Stacks weekly thing, I couldn't even access the website. I'm sure there are still good coins going at great prices (since nobody can bid). But the website is broken beyond belief. I'm flabbergasted that a "major" auction company can't get a functioning online presence.

[messydesk]

So, they are having one auction a month, not four....Does the site software work any better so one can bid on the coins?

No, but they'll take credit for reducing the number of complaints by 75%.

[Nutmeg Coin]

No, between ebay and paypal my selling cost is around 7.2%. Shipping adds a few bucks. With GC the buyer pays 10% last I checked.

 

For eBay, the Coin category is 6% flat. PayPal is 1.9% if you do 100K+ volume each month, but most people are in the 2.5% fee area. How exactly are your selling costs 7.2% on eBay?

 

I just checked my April ebay charge: 5.02%; paypal: 2.2%, over 10K in volume they give you the better % with paypal, but you have to ask for it, check all the right boxes, etc., after you get a store and the other user-friendly options.

[RWB]

Does an ebay store have a pickle barrel?

[gmarguli]

No, between ebay and paypal my selling cost is around 7.2%. Shipping adds a few bucks. With GC the buyer pays 10% last I checked.

 

For eBay, the Coin category is 6% flat. PayPal is 1.9% if you do 100K+ volume each month, but most people are in the 2.5% fee area. How exactly are your selling costs 7.2% on eBay?

 

I just checked my April ebay charge: 5.02%; paypal: 2.2%, over 10K in volume they give you the better % with paypal, but you have to ask for it, check all the right boxes, etc., after you get a store and the other user-friendly options.

 

You must be including a "discount" that they give to Power Sellers if they meet some ever changing, extremely hard to achieve, never know what it is going to be this time, and jump through these 15 hoops standards. They give a 20% discount I believe, which could knock your eBay fees down under 6%. Or you're selling items that are above $4,166.66 in value and max out on the $250/item eBay fee.

 

I check several months and I was typically in the 6.1%-6.5% area for fees. Gotta include that added fee on S&H and those insertion fees and those timed listing fees. And lets not forget the eBay favorite Sellers Are Scum, Buyers Are Angels fees that eBay loves and forces you to bend over and allow buyers to steal from you. Those fees add up to a lot!

[Calamerica]

No, between ebay and paypal my selling cost is around 7.2%. Shipping adds a few bucks. With GC the buyer pays 10% last I checked.

 

For eBay, the Coin category is 6% flat. PayPal is 1.9% if you do 100K+ volume each month, but most people are in the 2.5% fee area. How exactly are your selling costs 7.2% on eBay?

 

I just checked my April ebay charge: 5.02%; paypal: 2.2%, over 10K in volume they give you the better % with paypal, but you have to ask for it, check all the right boxes, etc., after you get a store and the other user-friendly options.

 

You must be including a "discount" that they give to Power Sellers if they meet some ever changing, extremely hard to achieve, never know what it is going to be this time, and jump through these 15 hoops standards. They give a 20% discount I believe, which could knock your eBay fees down under 6%. Or you're selling items that are above $4,166.66 in value and max out on the $250/item eBay fee.

 

I check several months and I was typically in the 6.1%-6.5% area for fees. Gotta include that added fee on S&H and those insertion fees and those timed listing fees. And lets not forget the eBay favorite Sellers Are Scum, Buyers Are Angels fees that eBay loves and forces you to bend over and allow buyers to steal from you. Those fees add up to a lot!

 

 

So true!

 

CAL who also is a Seller, and has to allow the thieves to win once in a while...

 

[Nutmeg Coin]

I agree. Top rated or powerseller discounts help quite a bit; any one of a number of tough to maintain standards could not be met and you lose it. Walking on eggshells sometimes, wondering if someone could sink your battleship. Last week a reckless wacko left me two negatives that were quickly removed because he was claiming the two $35 dollar items were not delivered a month after tracking showed they were. I contacted another seller who was being unjustly maligned in the same way and he was pursuing it with the usps. I'm not sure if ebay is including all charges in their accounting statement on percentages.

[okbustchaser]

So, they are having one auction a month, not four....Does the site software work any better so one can bid on the coins?

 

I was just gonna say....now it's only a monthly disaster instead of weekly. That's progress I suppose....

 

jom

 

Sad but true.

 

I will bid on NOTHING on their site for at least another year. I thought giving them a year to figure things out (all of 2014) was enough when I bid back in February 2015. I was wrong - the site is still a disaster.

 

They need to completely clean house of the "business" minds (i.e., the MBA-types who know nothing about numismatics) and start over. Claiming that these business-speak overpaid execs are "responsive" because they post apologies on the PCGS boards or send emails to disgruntled customers isn't enough. If you can't lead a company by hiring a worthwhile team of IT professionals to create a stable online auction presence in 18 months, then you should be kicked to the curb. I will stop short of naming names, but if I were the Stacks or QD Bowers, I would have taken the reigns back months ago and attempted to save the namesake auction house from being dragged through the mud for this long.

 

JMO.

 

Keep complaining. Meanwhile, I'll keep buying since I've never had any problem with their website. Problems with the quality and type of coins occasionally, but I've always been able to find and bid on good coins if they were there.

[Houston Investor]

My variable selling costs on ebay can easily be 15% of sales once shipping cost is factored in. I offer free shipping to avoid hassles and it goes into the variable cost pot and can be easily 5% of sales. Paypal makes up a good chunk of the 15% variable selling expense. Shows can be more or less than that.

 

As a rough estimate 30% margin calculation is made up of variable costs 15%, fixed cost recovery 5%, my commission 10%. This computes to 1.43 x cost. Anything I buy unless bullion investment pool is going have to be at 70% or less of what I sell it for.

 

As far as the noobs that think a dealer can make it on a 5% margin they simply don't have a clue on what it takes to make it in the industry.

 

Once Teletrade went bye bye and my first attempt at understanding Stacks caused my computer screen to freeze - I never bothered looking at their site again. Did they not buy a turn key operation? What the heck happened? I loved TTR and had bid on it since its inception in 1986.

 

 

[brg5658]

So, they are having one auction a month, not four....Does the site software work any better so one can bid on the coins?

 

I was just gonna say....now it's only a monthly disaster instead of weekly. That's progress I suppose....

 

jom

 

Sad but true.

 

I will bid on NOTHING on their site for at least another year. I thought giving them a year to figure things out (all of 2014) was enough when I bid back in February 2015. I was wrong - the site is still a disaster.

 

They need to completely clean house of the "business" minds (i.e., the MBA-types who know nothing about numismatics) and start over. Claiming that these business-speak overpaid execs are "responsive" because they post apologies on the PCGS boards or send emails to disgruntled customers isn't enough. If you can't lead a company by hiring a worthwhile team of IT professionals to create a stable online auction presence in 18 months, then you should be kicked to the curb. I will stop short of naming names, but if I were the Stacks or QD Bowers, I would have taken the reigns back months ago and attempted to save the namesake auction house from being dragged through the mud for this long.

 

JMO.

 

Keep complaining. Meanwhile, I'll keep buying since I've never had any problem with their website. Problems with the quality and type of coins occasionally, but I've always been able to find and bid on good coins if they were there.

 

I think my complaints are all justified. My most recent attempt with the Stacks auctions was in the February Americana sale. I had no problem placing a bid, and was the high bidder as $XXX dollars at the close of the auction. I received an invoice very promptly that evening, paid it, and was actually going to post about how impressed I was with their speedy invoicing. Well, turns out, I received another invoice the next day for 2 bid increments higher than what I had received the night before and had already paid.

 

"President" Kendrella posted on the PCGS boards that it was a fluke with their system, that the original invoices had gone out before all of the mail in bids had been entered -- or some BS. Long story short -- a LOT of people apparently lost out on the lots (ones they had been invoiced for and had paid already) to these "after the auction ended" bids, whereas another large group of us were simply milked for more money by these "after the auction ended" bids. The whole debacle was yet more egg in the face for Stacks, as any credibility they had left continued to crumble as it had for the past 16+ months of a slow and finicky website.

 

Call it whatever you'd like, but clearly they are still struggling now some 19 months after Teletrade has gone away. It's a pretty sad state...

[coinman_23885]

They should have eaten the difference. Once an auction closes, an invoice sent, and it has been paid, that should cement the obligations of the parties IMO. A failure to abide by that agreement says a lot about the company, and is more evidence that I wouldn't want anything to do with them as a potential consignor. Your post has also made me question whether I will do business with them as a buyer in the future even when the web issues abate (if they ever do).

[brg5658]

They should have eaten the difference. Once an auction closes, an invoice sent, and it has been paid, that should cement the obligations of the parties IMO. A failure to abide by that agreement says a lot about the company, and is more evidence that I wouldn't want anything to do with them as a potential consignor. Your post has also made me question whether I will do business with them as a buyer in the future even when the web issues abate (if they ever do).

 

Those were my thoughts exactly Kenny. Apparently, for some of their "higher dollar" more important clients they did eat the difference. But, I didn't rate to get that special treatment I guess. I can't find the thread from ATS right now, but it was a pretty ugly discussion when the whole thing went down. I decided I was going to just wash my hands of Stacks for at least another year until they can figure out what the hell they are doing.

[BillJones]

The "price just got higher because we missed a mail bid" thing happened to me too. I paid the difference because it was a special coin that was still worth the higher price. Still I was left with the lingering doubt that I had been had.