Winning ebay Silver Auctions!

I have been buying silver and silver coins on ebay since 1998. In that time I've learned a few things about winning auctions for US junk 90% silver, uncirculated, proof, and bullion coins.

Specialize

Pick a particular section of the silver coin and bullion market and become an expert. Research ebay guides, review hundreds of auctions, search the internet for every article about 90% junk silver if that's what floats your boat. If not, then become an expert in uncirculated Kennedy and Franklin halves, Morgan dollars, US Mint bullion products, etc.

The coin or bullion you decide to specialize in doesn't matter. Silver is basically silver. What matters is that if you're going to start spending hundreds or thousands of dollars that you know what you're talking about. Too many people on ebay and in other silver buying sites have more money than brain cells. I heard from one commenter about how happy he was with his purchase of old 1957-1967 Mexican peso silver coins. It broke my heart to tell him that the coins he bought weren't 90% silver as he assumed based on his experience with old US dimes, quarters, halves, dollars, but only 10% silver! He had no business dipping his toes in a pool that was to him nothing but a murky oil slick.

Counterfeits

Research the counterfeit silver sites. Learn about the counterfeits flooding the US from China. After you think you're an expert - then read some more. Our Chinese friends have no appreciation of intellectual property, copyright, or US counterfeiting laws. Morgan silver dollars are probably some of the most counterfeited coins on the planet, especially the CC Carson City, NV minted silver dollars. Based on this problem, I would strongly suggest you avoid buying very rare and expensive coins online. Even coins in PCGS and NGC holders are being counterfeited. Sometimes the holders are real and the coins are fake. Sometimes both are of Chinese manufacture. Stick with coins that have most of their value in silver content, not numismatic rarity. More common coins aren't faked as often, and potential losses are much less.

Buy from Auctions:

Auctions have been shrinking for years now as ebay tries to compete in Amazon's playground. But all the Buy it Nows and ebay stores in the world can't beat the sheer exhilaration of winning that last minute auction. Moreover, the chance of winning a steal in a "Buy it Now" environment is virtually eliminated. For my money, if I want to just outright purchase something at the going rate I'll click on Amazon.

Just last week I won a roll of 20 2004-S Kennedy 90% silver proof halves that some entrepreneur liberated from proof set packaging for $176. The going rate is $250 and up!

Having an Edge

I'm a silver coin bargain hunter, and I win 20% of the auctions I select to bid on. That's pretty darn good with a category as hot as US silver coins! How do I do it? I use sites like Coinflation.com, Fatfingers.com, Photograde.com, WatchCount.com and various Sniper sites. My attitude is if it's allowed by ebay's rules, then take advantage of it. Of all the sites I listed above, the ones that really get ebay user's juices flowing are sniper sites and sniping. Many feel it's unfair or ineffective. Well, I snipe, and I do pretty darn well. Sniping keeps you out of bidding wars and last minute foolish bidding. I set the sniping program clock for 5 seconds, and my bid hits automatically at that preselected time. No muss, no fuss. I can watch the auctions or I can sleep, work, watch TV, etc. Using the ebay automated prebid system is like telegraphing your punches. All a competitive bidder has to do is to continue to bid to expose your high mark. Heck, I've seen my share of what looks suspiciously like the ebay sellers bidding on their own auctions to get the bids up. I have no interest in playing their little games - just winning silver coins auctions.

Auction Hunting

Use your Watch List to store and manage your selected auctions. Do your homework, and don't wait until the last second to locate and auction and bid. That leads to sloppiness and wasted money. Many auctions are straightforward, but others are either intentionally or unintentionally vague. If you're not sure if the proof coin is clad or silver, DON'T BID. If the photos are blurry, non existent, stock, or don't match the heading, DON'T BID. Chances are, something is fishy in the State of Denmark.

Do look for auctions with low bids & views, misspellings, and incorrect categories. Bidding during the week can be inconvenient, but usually nets lower competitive bidders than does a weekend night between 8-10 pm. Watchcount.com can help you discover low bid auctions even when there is no counter on the auction page.

Selecting the Seller

Sometimes for fun I'll read negative comments left for some sellers. They can be quite entertaining, from a grammatical, as well as a sociological, psychological, and sometimes pathological viewpoint. However, I have zero sympathy when I see a buyer leaving a negative comment for a seller that has already racked up hundreds of negative feedback! Why would you buy from a seller like that? I can only conclude that the buyer didn't do their due diligence on the seller before bidding - caveat emptor my brothers and sisters! I remember one buyer left negative feedback because he didn't get silver in his "unsearched roll". When I was five my father told me you don't get something in this world for nothing. The unsearched rolls are probably the biggest coin scam on ebay today, and this seller had hundreds of negative feedback from other disappointed, if naïve, buyers to his discredit. If you willingly swim with sharks, you WILL GET BITTEN!

Make sure your seller has over a hundred positive feedback, and at least 2 years with ebay. Check their feedback and look for anything weird or off. Do they have 50 recent positive feedbacks from folks to whom they sold a $1 worth of crap? If so, avoid them. They're covering up something, or setting themselves up for a major score at your expense. Instead, look for the experienced seller with a plain no nonsense auction, good pictures and clear description, reasonable shipping, and a past history of selling coins. If your roll of uncirculated Franklin halves are more AU than BU, then don't blame the dilettante seller - blame yourself!

Finally, I want to re-emphasize that I buy coins on ebay whose value is primarily due to their silver content. They may be junk silver or uncirculated 1963 Franklin halves, but at least 85% of their value is silver-related. Some "super counterfeits" being turned out by the Chinese can only be detected by an expert with a magnifying glass, caliper, and a scale. Amateur photos taken of coins on the kitchen table under glaring light will never expose the tiny flaws in these clever fakes. Moreover, if the price is way to good to be true...

Rick

How eBay Helps Junk Silver Coins Live!

In the "Big Silver Melt" of 1980, millions of dollars (face value) of junk silver coins (pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, halves) fell victim to refinery cauldrons. Many silver coin collectors and hoarders today lament the wholesale destruction of these US coins that represented the last physical manifestation of "real money" in this country.

A question that is commonly asked today on internet boards is why the coins were melted at all? Why didn't junk silver sellers find buyers who would've held onto the coins rather than toss them into the refinery cauldrons? To find the answer, we have to return to the turbulent days of 1980 as silver prices rose rapidly to peak at $50.

Coin dealers of the era relate vivid stories of long lines outside their shops with eager sellers looking to convert their old silver coins, jewelry, and silverware into fast cash. Many large stores had armed guards who'd only let a few customers in at a time to sell their goods. Multiple coin counting machines were constantly clanging nonstop as they busied about their task. However, as silver reached $50 US on the Wall Street trading floor, customers weren't offered more than the equivalent of $30 an ounce for their silver dollars and other coins. The reason being that the refineries, who were the dominant silver buyers at the time, weren't willing to pay more than this lower price due to the large inventory backlogs that afflicted them. For the part of the coin dealers, the necessity of cash flow and a fear of being caught with too much inventory in a volatile market, compelled them to take their profits each night. It was just too risky to hold onto the Morgan silver dollars, Walking Liberty halves, and Mercury and Barber dimes for too long waiting for willing buyers of these rare and beautiful coins.

As the price of silver skyrockets today, many wonder whether the surviving junk silver coins are destined to die by fire as their relatives did three decades ago. I believe this fear to be groundless due to the internet revolution which birthed sites like eBay. Today, when the average seller desires to sell his roll of Franklin halves, he doesn't automatically march to his local coin dealer. No, instead he goes online and uses sites like eBay. In a few minutes his auction is created, which in a few days will net him a buyer for his silver coins at melt pricing, and sometimes a few percent above. Other sites like Bullion Direct use a slightly different sales mechanism, but with identical seller-buyer matching results.

Due to internet technological innovations that allowed sites like eBay to proliferate and be used by the average American, the current silver price run will not feature long lines at coin shops and vats of melting silver coins. Instead, sellers will easily find willing buyers who will hold onto their new silver acquisitions as islands of security in a collapsing paper money world.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

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