New US coin business 0

[Bubblebling]

Greetings. You prob heard about the $600 stimulus checks being sent out. I got mine. Not much money. Was wondering what I could do with it.

I got the bright idea that I could start a new US coin business, buying and selling on eBay.

I haven't signed up yet. Haven't had the time. Right now I am doing data entry on US quarter types and mintages.

I don't know much about all the US coins. But I have great genetics. My Grandpa Martin on my Dad's side had an awesome collection. Lots of gold.

So I decided that since I don't know much about US coins, I should just start learning mostly about one denomination. I chose quarters.

Being new, and only starting out with $600, I would be foolish to buy gold or super rare coins. I just ordered the Red and Blue book.

A few observations: Perhaps like you, I love looking at the coins being offered up on eBay. I can spend hours (which I don't have), browsing the eBay listings. If I ever get enough money, I would luv to get one of those big lots. I know that you prob will get taken on those, but they look like fun.

I've been doing some studying on buying and selling coins, too. I am pretty confident that I will do well buying and selling.

I won't be buying any "Buy it nows." Just auctions.

One thing that amazes me is how little people offer for really nice pieces. You can have an Indian Head penny, in beautiful condition, well over a hundred years old, and you will be lucky if you can get five dollars for it. This ceases to amaze me!

I'm think that I am going to concentrate on proofs, and brilliant gem uncircs. After I run the coin thru my screening, I will ask myself, is this a coin that I would enjoy owning? (In case I get stuck with it.

I suspect that lots of folks over pay for their coins).

Esp how people will hardly offer anything for really nice, old coins. Forget pennies and nickles. It would cost more in shipping than what most of them are worth. I'm going to stay with silver. I can always subtract out the silver value to find out the desirability factor of a coin.

I have identified four factors that contribute to a coins price. I haven't worked out the math equations yet, but I will. 

Date. Everything else being equal, an older coin should go for more than a new(er) coin. 

Mintage and "Key" dates.

Actually, these terms are interchangable. And while they do affect the price of a coin, it is not totally dependable, again, all other things being equal.

Desirability.

You can have the same coin, same grade, even the same year, and mint, and some coins, especially finishes, are going to be more desired by collectors in general.

Burnished finish on proofs, and colored coins come to mind. They will be less desired by collectors. Even if the mintage is lower.

Grading.

Obviously the grade of the coin is very important.

So we have four factors that influence a coins current value:

Date, mintage, Collector desirability, and grade. Each of these factors can be gotten or calculated.

So these are a few things that I am working on right now. I'm going to start slow, to just get my feet wet. I have had excellent experience selling other things on eBay. For example, I know that the photo is very important.

I'm going to avoid all those "errors", too. They hardly ever sell.

And I will be interested in mostly single coins, or very small lots. No rolls of coins or monster boxes for me. Rolls of coins wouldn't look very pretty in my beautiful treasure chest. And of course forget about monster boxes.

I hope that I can make some money, get some nice coins, and maybe have a little fun, too. I'm retired, and going crazy with nothing to do.

Wish me luck. Any suggestions you have for me of course are welcome.

 

 

 

 

[Moxie15]

You should send your stimulus to me, it will hurt less than what you have going here. 

[Lem E]

I have nickels that are worth way more than $600. The coin collecting game is a beast. Buckle up and good luck.

[Bubblebling]

11 minutes ago, Moxie15 said:

You should send your stimulus to me, it will hurt less than what you have going here. 

Hi Moxie. Can you be more specific please? If I have erred, hopefully it is on the side of caution.

[Bubblebling]

Hi Lem. Congratulations. Out of my league, tho. Not your average nickle, huh? ;-) I am sure that some pennies are worth just as much.

But these coins are clearly out of my league. I was just referring to the coins in my league.

Thank you for the well wishes. Yes, I can see that there is quite a bit of risk involved. Esp how folks don't want to pay hardly anything for nice coins. I noticed this.

[MarkFeld]

Welcome to the forum.

Based on your own words, you don’t have the funds or the knowledge to start a business. Interest and enthusiasm are great, but you you’ll need a lot more than that.

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by MarkFeld

[VKurtB]

9 minutes ago, MarkFeld said:

Based on your own words, you don’t have the funds or the knowledge to start a business. Interest and enthusiasm are great but you you’ll need a lot more than that.

Listen to this man, please. 

[NevadaS&G]

Many try, very few succeed. I recently sold a NGC MS 64 1922 Peace Silver Dollar for 99 usd + Tax and the new coin flipper that bought it just sold it at auction for 75.77.

I bought that coin for 14 dollars. The grading fee was double.

You have to be a certain way to make it. Traders will mostly fall flat on their nose.

I've got a nice 1881 S Morgan that's MS66 with a full Rainbow that I would sell you if you would like a GREAT coin.

[Bubblebling]

Hi Lem. Congratulations. Out of my league, tho. Not your average nickle, huh? ;-) I am sure that some pennies are worth just as much.

But these coins are clearly out of my league. I was just referring to the coins in my league.

Thank you for the well wishes. Yes, I can see that there is quite a bit of risk involved. Esp how folks don't want to pay hardly anything for nice coins. I noticed this.

Thank you for your advice.

Well, Maybe I can try a little, and see how it goes? I wouldn't be losing that much money, even if I failed, right?

So what is the risk? Seriously?

If I just start real slow, I don't really see a lot of risk, to be honest.

How much risk are we talking about?

Prob not even $100 should I pull out.

And I might even end up with a few nice coins (That have good value).

So unless you all can show me where all this risk is supposed to be , i don't believe you.

I'll let you know how I fare. And if I failed, I will let you know how much I lost. Fair enough?

[Bubblebling]

3 minutes ago, NevadaS&G said:

Many try, very few succeed. I recently sold a NGC MS 64 1922 Peace Silver Dollar for 99 usd + Tax and the new coin flipper that bought it just sold it at auction for 75.77.

I bought that coin for 14 dollars. The grading fee was double.

You have to be a certain way to make it. Traders will mostly fall flat on their nose.

I've got a nice 1881 S Morgan that's MS66 with a full Rainbow that I would sell you if you would like a GREAT coin.

Yup. I think LOTS of folks over pay for their coins.

Wow! That sounds beautiful! I wouldn't know how to price it at this point, tho.

I just got done finishing my Excel data base on US quarters. Now the fun starts

 Analyzing all this data. Re, values of coins, do you think that I should go with the Blue book for average pricing? I could keep a log of auctions with final price, but as you point out, the prices they are bidding can be unrealistic. Thanks.

[KyCoinKollektor]

Beings that you are new I highly suggest you keep your money, coin collecting is a harsh game and before you learn the ins and outs your going to lose money. And since you only have $600 you obviously don’t have the money to start in this roller coaster of a venture. Start really small and only buy graded coins. For every authentic coin out there is a thousand fakes. Read, research, read again and when your done read and research some more. Never stop learning this is a very unforgiving game and all it takes is one wrong move on the wrong coin before there is no turning back and then you lose complete interest in collecting. If your patient and set your sights on what your looking for you will eventually find a good deal to flip but don’t spend your nest egg with no knowledge. Your best bet starting off is roll hunting from bank sealed rolls not from eBay from a brick and mortar bank looking for errors and silver to start off with. There is absolutely no risk whatsoever in roll hunting. Collecting is very fun and rewarding if you take the time to do it right, good luck and happy hunting. 

[NevadaS&G]

You have much to learn....Young Bubblebling, I do not use bluebook

[Bubblebling]

Thanks Kycoincollector.

By "graded", I assume you mean slabbed? I'm not too keen on slabbed coins. But I think if I got a brilliant gem proof, this should be good.

[KyCoinKollektor]

Just to give you some insight on roll hunting and how lucrative it can be, while this is no life changing amount of money, I search rolls of Sacajawea dollars on a daily basis about 10-12 rolls a day and found two not to long ago that has errors. They sold yesterday on eBay for $700. I had only $2 investment for that return. And I’ll take that money and buy graded rare coins if I can buy them for 60-70% of they’re value. I’ll Never pay more than 80% unless it’s top pop and highly sought after variety. But 60-70 for me is key and that leave me room for profit.

[KyCoinKollektor]

2 minutes ago, Bubblebling said:

Thanks Kycoincollector.

By "graded", I assume you mean slabbed? I'm not too keen on slabbed coins. But I think if I got a brilliant gem proof, this should be good.

Yes

[RWB]

2 hours ago, Bubblebling said:

I hope that I can make some money, get some nice coins, and maybe have a little fun, too. I'm retired, and going crazy with nothing to do.

To start, please reread the posts of Mark, KyCoin and some others. They are offering a free, no obligation reality check.

The first thing to do is not only read the Guide Book, but every other coin book you can get your hands on (try ILL from your local library). Go to the Newman Numismatic Portal (NNP) and browse the smaller recent auctions; look at past ebay prices for the kinds of inexpensive coins you plan to sell/buy. Look at established coin dealers' on-line listings and comments; memorize the basics of grading coins - especially VF and EF grades - the most likely ones you'll be able to trade profitably. Participate in on-line forums and find out what low value coins are popular, and what collectors look for in uncertified coins. Learn what you can about coin certification and grading companies, but be aware that your $600 budget is very sparse.

Be prepared to use only discretionary funds. If you make 10% profit on a transaction, consider yourself fortunate. After 1,000 such transactions you might consider if your time - even retired time - is being well used.

There are other numismatic things you can also do besides selling coins, but they don't offer much in the way of monetary profit.

[Lem E]

I don’t think anyone here wants to see you fail or waste your money. Coin collecting is an amazing hobby but can be risky at the same time if you are not knowledgeable about what you are buying. Everyone makes a bad purchase at some point. I have and I’m sure others here have too. You say you like quarters? Cool. My advice to you would be to take $100 out of your stimulus check and buy some books on quarters. Not price guides, but books with information on quarters. Educate yourself as much as you can on those quarters and go from there. Start small. Buy a roll or two of quarters and study them. I did agree with you on this tho, don’t buy colored coins. They are trash. 

[Bubblebling]

Well, One thing you have all impressed me about is the importance of the sellers rating!

Yikes! Thank you for this.

Other than the Blue and Red books, I prob don't need books. I study the quarters all day. 

I've got all the different types, dates, proofs, and mintages. Photos also.

I am sure that there is a learning curve. As long as I don't go crazy, I should be alright. I'm just going to buy proofs and such. And pay attn to who the seller is. Thank you for all your input. I will let you all how I am making out.

[Bubblebling]

I just had a good idea. I could get on here, and say, I'm looking at this quarter on eBay. What should my Max bid be?

Or, I could show you what I bought, and how much I paid for it, and you could tell me how I am doing price wise.

Just an idea.

[JKK]

Your biggest hurdle will be Ebay, I think, because it will serve up frequent changes and inconsistencies that are nearly always to your disadvantage. If you read Dilbert, it's like the pointy-haired boss is running Ebay and Wally is doing the programming (or rather, the bugging).

[Moxie15]

15 hours ago, Bubblebling said:

Hi Moxie. Can you be more specific please? If I have erred, hopefully it is on the side of caution.

well, where should I start?

maybe here...

If you feel the need to post here and say what you did then you do not have enough knowledge to make money in coins.

if you do not know who is likely to buy and at what price they would likely pay how do you know what to pay?

who are your customers? where is your market?

 

[Bubblebling]

Just now, Moxie15 said:

well, where should I start?

maybe here...

If you feel the need to post here and say what you did then you do not have enough knowledge to make money in coins.

if you do not know who is likely to buy and at what price they would likely pay how do you know what to pay?

who are your customers? where is your market?

 

Don't worry Moxie, I will figure all that out. Keep it up. People like you make me even more resolved to do well. 

The thing is, you guys are in a much different leauge than I am. If I come back and report that I made $20 last week, guys like you are going to say: Are you kidding? That isn't even worth it. But it would mean a lot to me. 

[Bubblebling]

22 hours ago, MarkFeld said:

Welcome to the forum.

Based on your own words, you don’t have the funds or the knowledge to start a business. Interest and enthusiasm are great, but you you’ll need a lot more than that.

 

Hi Mark. Thank you very much for the info on those proofs.

[MAULEMALL]

On 1/7/2021 at 5:43 PM, Bubblebling said:

Greetings. You prob heard about the $600 stimulus checks being sent out. I got mine. Not much money. Was wondering what I could do with it.

I got the bright idea that I could start a new US coin business, buying and selling on eBay.

I haven't signed up yet. Haven't had the time. Right now I am doing data entry on US quarter types and mintages.

I don't know much about all the US coins. But I have great genetics. My Grandpa Martin on my Dad's side had an awesome collection. Lots of gold.

So I decided that since I don't know much about US coins, I should just start learning mostly about one denomination. I chose quarters.

Being new, and only starting out with $600, I would be foolish to buy gold or super rare coins. I just ordered the Red and Blue book.

A few observations: Perhaps like you, I love looking at the coins being offered up on eBay. I can spend hours (which I don't have), browsing the eBay listings. If I ever get enough money, I would luv to get one of those big lots. I know that you prob will get taken on those, but they look like fun.

I've been doing some studying on buying and selling coins, too. I am pretty confident that I will do well buying and selling.

I won't be buying any "Buy it nows." Just auctions.

One thing that amazes me is how little people offer for really nice pieces. You can have an Indian Head penny, in beautiful condition, well over a hundred years old, and you will be lucky if you can get five dollars for it. This ceases to amaze me!

I'm think that I am going to concentrate on proofs, and brilliant gem uncircs. After I run the coin thru my screening, I will ask myself, is this a coin that I would enjoy owning? (In case I get stuck with it.

I suspect that lots of folks over pay for their coins).

Esp how people will hardly offer anything for really nice, old coins. Forget pennies and nickles. It would cost more in shipping than what most of them are worth. I'm going to stay with silver. I can always subtract out the silver value to find out the desirability factor of a coin.

I have identified four factors that contribute to a coins price. I haven't worked out the math equations yet, but I will. 

Date. Everything else being equal, an older coin should go for more than a new(er) coin. 

Mintage and "Key" dates.

Actually, these terms are interchangable. And while they do affect the price of a coin, it is not totally dependable, again, all other things being equal.

Desirability.

You can have the same coin, same grade, even the same year, and mint, and some coins, especially finishes, are going to be more desired by collectors in general.

Burnished finish on proofs, and colored coins come to mind. They will be less desired by collectors. Even if the mintage is lower.

Grading.

Obviously the grade of the coin is very important.

So we have four factors that influence a coins current value:

Date, mintage, Collector desirability, and grade. Each of these factors can be gotten or calculated.

So these are a few things that I am working on right now. I'm going to start slow, to just get my feet wet. I have had excellent experience selling other things on eBay. For example, I know that the photo is very important.

I'm going to avoid all those "errors", too. They hardly ever sell.

And I will be interested in mostly single coins, or very small lots. No rolls of coins or monster boxes for me. Rolls of coins wouldn't look very pretty in my beautiful treasure chest. And of course forget about monster boxes.

I hope that I can make some money, get some nice coins, and maybe have a little fun, too. I'm retired, and going crazy with nothing to do.

Wish me luck. Any suggestions you have for me of course are welcome.

 

 

 

 

Weatherby SA-459...

Thats what I got

[Moxie15]

1 hour ago, Bubblebling said:

Don't worry Moxie, I will figure all that out. Keep it up. People like you make me even more resolved to do well. 

The thing is, you guys are in a much different leauge than I am. If I come back and report that I made $20 last week, guys like you are going to say: Are you kidding? That isn't even worth it. But it would mean a lot to me. 

actually I would simply ask you what you spent to make that $20. Your answer to that question would dictate my next response.

[Woods020]

Bubblebling,

Of all the things you could open a store on eBay and sell, why coins? And I’m not badgering you I’m truly asking. 
 

1. As many have pointed out the learning curve is enormously complex and takes years. I continue to be amazed at how technically complex some of this world can be. 
 

2. On average, margins on coins aren’t that great. Yes you may occasionally find a steal and sell it for a nice profit, but those will be exceptions to the rule. In order to make low margin businesses like this worthwhile, you need to turn a lot of volume. $600 in startup capital won’t yield much. 
 

3. It’s extremely risky as many very very experienced collectors have told you. Counterfeits, cleaned coins, and grossly inflated descriptions of coins are rampant online. If you are buying your inventory online the chance you are the sucker for some other “dealer” is much higher than you realize. 
 

High risk+Low margin+high barriers to successful entry = bad business decision 

You should consider another market or item to sell on eBay. If you insist on numismatics being your focus area your margin/risk balance would probably be better on collector supplies perhaps. Sell 2x2s, albums, etc. Just a thought 

[VKurtB]

Let me state this as politely as I can. This is a HORRIBLE idea the OP has here.

[l.cutler]

I just don't see any way to make this work.  Grade is just as important on proof coins as it is on business strikes.  Can you identify a coin that has been cleaned as opposed to original?  Also, what is your planned venue for selling the coins?  You certainly can't expect to be the high bidder on ebay, where you are willing to pay more for the coin than anyone else, turn around and put it back on ebay where you are offering it to the same people who were not willing to pay more than you to begin with.  You would also have to get enough more than you paid to cover ebay's fees.  I wish you luck, but I think you would be better off just learning about coins first, It's sort of like deciding to become an auto mechanic without knowing how engines and cars work.

[goffco]

On 1/7/2021 at 7:10 PM, Bubblebling said:

Yup. I think LOTS of folks over pay for their coins.

Wow! That sounds beautiful! I wouldn't know how to price it at this point, tho.

I just got done finishing my Excel data base on US quarters. Now the fun starts

 Analyzing all this data. Re, values of coins, do you think that I should go with the Blue book for average pricing? I could keep a log of auctions with final price, but as you point out, the prices they are bidding can be unrealistic. Thanks.

Get the greysheet to determine your lost price and use the red book for you highest price.

[Bubblebling]

11 hours ago, Woods020 said:

Bubblebling,

Of all the things you could open a store on eBay and sell, why coins? And I’m not badgering you I’m truly asking. 
 

1. As many have pointed out the learning curve is enormously complex and takes years. I continue to be amazed at how technically complex some of this world can be. 
 

2. On average, margins on coins aren’t that great. Yes you may occasionally find a steal and sell it for a nice profit, but those will be exceptions to the rule. In order to make low margin businesses like this worthwhile, you need to turn a lot of volume. $600 in startup capital won’t yield much. 
 

3. It’s extremely risky as many very very experienced collectors have told you. Counterfeits, cleaned coins, and grossly inflated descriptions of coins are rampant online. If you are buying your inventory online the chance you are the sucker for some other “dealer” is much higher than you realize. 
 

High risk+Low margin+high barriers to successful entry = bad business decision 

You should consider another market or item to sell on eBay. If you insist on numismatics being your focus area your margin/risk balance would probably be better on collector supplies perhaps. Sell 2x2s, albums, etc. Just a thought 

It is not extremely risky for me. The most I am putting in is $600. And I can pull out at any time. Some will say, $600 is not enough to buy and sell coins. They must be big dealers.

Children learning about and collecting pocket change is very risky, too, right? They should not be allowed to engage in this, right?