Ebay prices as gospel?

Regarding the prices in K&M, I don't know if its so much popularity of
a series as much as it is the seemingly random updating of prices.
Although I don't remember the date that it happened I do know that the
prices of New Zealand coins jumped drastically (actually-closer to
actual market values) from one year to the next. I guess it was just
New Zealand's turn. The trick is to know which country will be updated
in the next edition and buy them before prices are updated. JMHO.

"Jud" wrote in message
oups.com...
Regarding the prices in K&M, I don't know if its so much popularity of
a series as much as it is the seemingly random updating of prices.
Although I don't remember the date that it happened I do know that the
prices of New Zealand coins jumped drastically (actually-closer to
actual market values) from one year to the next. I guess it was just
New Zealand's turn. The trick is to know which country will be updated
in the next edition and buy them before prices are updated. JMHO.


As the publisher knows in advance which country's coins are going to show
the biggest jump in valuation they could engage in some "insider dealing".
:-)

Pick some obscure country, buy loads of coins cheap, print a new edition
with greatly increased catalogue values and make a killing. :-)

Note to the publisher's lawyers, note the ":-)". Billy

"Ian" wrote in message
o.uk...
Mr. Jaggers wrote:
"Ian" wrote in message
. uk...

Dale Hallmark wrote:

"Ian" wrote in message
.co.uk...

Mr. Jaggers wrote:

While visiting a coin shop this past weekend, I pulled a coin out of
the dealer's foreign coin offerings, priced at $250.00. Krause lists
the coin at $85.00. When I asked the dealer how he arrived at his
price, the reply was "I based it on what they're bringing on eBay."

I'm interested in what anyone else has to say regarding this.

Mr. Jaggers

What coin was it? Sometimes krause is way out of sync with the market.
There is a `fashion' in coin collecting with various countries being
`fashionable' to collect while countries which were fashionable a few
years ago now suffer the doldrums in terms of pricing.

Without knowing what the coin is it could be the dealer just trying to
get lucky at the expense of a greenhorn furrin coyn collektur. ;-)


Some countries are `fashionable' to collect?
What's hot this Spring ? :-)

Dale

It's just my observations Dale but as far as i can see, i'm right (as
always) ;-)

Just now `Russia' seems to be fashionable with collectors. Portuguese
India most certainly is. Prices for Port India have generally been well
in excess of KM for the past few years too.

Netherlands coinage used to be popular. Get hold of a few old KM's and
have a look at what some of the 2 1/2 cents used to sell for in
comparison to now and you'll see exactly what I mean. Similarly with
Swedish coinage and (to a degree) Australian. Australian prices seemed to
drop back a few years ago but they seem to be on the move again.

So yes....it does appear that some countries become fashionable to
collect ...and usually at the expense of yesterdays stars. :-)

Ian


I've often wondered if these fashion trends are dependent upon the
demands of a large number of collectors, or upon just a couple who
suddenly emerge as contenders. In other words, if a guy goes into a shop
and buys all the coins from, say, the Faeroe Islands, and another guy
comes in right afterward and asks for coins from there, does the dealer
then conclude that Faeroe Islands is "hot" and jack up the prices of the
next ones he gets?

Mr. Jaggers
Personally, i think it is a handfull of collectors that create the trend.
By the time others catch on to `what is hot' (driving up prices in their
wake), the handfull of trend setters are already moving on to their next
target acquisitions. The cycle appears to me to be more appropriately
expressed in years, possibly even decades.

Most dealers i've ever talked to base their price justifications on how
difficult it will be for them to replace their stock. I remember one UK
dealer from whom I bought a 1934 Wreath Crown and a Gothic Crown lamenting
that he doubted that he would be able to find replacements for what he was
selling them to me for.

[snip]

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! Ian, you've stumbled upon my all-time biggest
pet peeve on the part of dealers, those who tell me how hard it will be for
them to replace their stock. If you stop to think about it, that would mean
that they try to have the same items in stock all the time, and,
extrapolated from that point, one of each of every date, grade, and type
coin ever minted. It's a specious argument if I ever heard one.

Mr. Jaggers
'rant finished, blood pressure now normal again'

It's a specious argument if I ever heard one.

Precisely. It's also a bit like your dealer saying he wants $250 for the
Obol because that's what they go for on ebay. If that was the case why
does he still have it? He could have had it sold on ebay by now (AND
replenished his stock). No? ;-)

Some dealers I could swear by. There really are some good guys out
there, but others...well the words drip out of their mouths like so much
verbal diahorroea at times.

If you consider the two coins I made mention of. One of them (the 1934
crown) has a total mintage of 932. The actual population is a bit less .
It's not something that every dealer has `in stock' let alone tries to
keep in stock.

Ian

"Bruce Remick" wrote in
news:q5lGf.85924$4l5.70326@dukeread05:


Something seems not right though when PCGS publishes its own price
guide to "properly-graded" coins, and then "market-grades" all coin
submissions based apparently on that price guide. Can't put my
finger on it, but there's gotta be a circular conflict there
somewhere. SOMEwhere........

Bruce
'Nope. No helicopters yet'






Hmm, sounds like you just might be on to something, there, Bruce. Maybe.
Sounds like another grading company did a similar thing, not too long
ago. Something about a lawsuit keeps coming to mind. Hmmm.


--
Eric Babula
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

"Dale Hallmark" dalehall"AT"cableone.net wrote in
m:

May be egotistical but
with me bidding the prices go much higher than if I don't.

I firmly believe that in some niche markets, a very few people make
the market. Wonder what will happen when I finish my goals (pretty
close) and move on to some other country.

Dale


That's what snipe programs are for!

I suspect that, when you start collecting another country, that
country's coins will suddenly become much more popular than they had
been in the past 10 years! Murphy's Law in action.

I like shooting in the pond - most people wouldn't be able to pick out
what I'm aiming for! ;-)


--
Eric Babula
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Goals are deceptive. The unaimed arrow never misses.

You mean like a commemorative coin set for $35 ($36.95 -buy-it-now) on
eBay that is $28 everywhere else? And, 7.95 shipping for Priority Mail
that is only $4.50 (eBay doesn't get a cut of the shipping fee!!)??
People typically pay more for most things at eBay.

I think you need to find another coin shop. That guy is either a crook
or incompetent.

Seth

Mr. Jaggers wrote:
While visiting a coin shop this past weekend, I pulled a coin out of the
dealer's foreign coin offerings, priced at $250.00. Krause lists the coin
at $85.00. When I asked the dealer how he arrived at his price, the reply
was "I based it on what they're bringing on eBay."

I'm interested in what anyone else has to say regarding this.

Mr. Jaggers

"seth" wrote in message
ups.com...
You mean like a commemorative coin set for $35 ($36.95 -buy-it-now) on
eBay that is $28 everywhere else? And, 7.95 shipping for Priority Mail
that is only $4.50 (eBay doesn't get a cut of the shipping fee!!)??
People typically pay more for most things at eBay.

I think you need to find another coin shop. That guy is either a crook
or incompetent.

Seth

I must respectfully disagree, Seth. I have known the owners for a long time
and have done quite a bit of business with them. There is more knowledge in
that shop than in most, in both breadth and depth. The original query
centered around the validity of published prices vs. what one perceives his
items are worth. There should be a correlation, of course, but not a
discrepancy of 3X.

The coin in question is very scarce, whence the $85 price in Krause, and
there is no "everywhere else." True collector coins cannot be re-ordered
from a wholesaler when the stock runs low. However, in my view, that
doesn't mean that they are necessarily rare.

That said, what would you do with this coin? Sell it to a regular client at
a price based on Krause, or put it on eBay where you might get 3X, but have
no person-to-person contact with the buyer, if there is one? Is it a matter
of ethics or is it just business?

Mr. Jaggers