Obviously there's E-bay. But there's so much stuff to sort through on E-bay and so many others searching that unless you go in looking for a specific thing you could be lost for hours and not get a good bargain.
I use the local New Zealand Site www.trademe.co.nz which is marginally better, I also buy some stuff off www.coins.co.nz Which is a great little site, there's hardly anyone on it but the downside is that it doesn't have as much stuff. The other one I use is www.sella.co.nz Once again there's hardly anyone else that uses it but again the range is limited. You do get some good bargains come up sometimes though. I see that www.worldcoingallery.com now has a shop too, I'm planning on getting some coins from there but I'll have to wait until I find a few items I want to make the postage worthwhile.
What smaller or obscure sites do you use for buying coins that isn't E-bay?
Yeah, that's the annoying thing. Most people use e-bay and these small sites end up going under, it seems like one of the hardest markets to break into. It looks like the www.coins.co.nz one I use is no longer active. I thought if we all were able to list a few of the smaller sites they might get a bit more traffic. I like the intimacy of some of the smaller sites.
Does anyone in USA buy from usmint.com? I saw that they are selling Morgan and Peace dollars too (Not UNC ones). But not sure how much shipping they charge.
“A man without a hobby is only half alive.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
I usually buy from local antique dealers (in Albania don't exist coin shops) and rarely when I buy any coin I need I use Ebay, but I see that many French collectors sell on Delcampe and German ones sell on MAshops.
Quote: lidianbI usually buy from local antique dealers (in Albania don't exist coin shops) and rarely when I buy any coin I need I use Ebay, but I see that many French collectors sell on Delcampe and German ones sell on MAshops.
I guess they should gift me some coins for publicity! :)
And regarding small shops, there is a member here with a little nice website who sells coins as well as swapping them. I can recommend him as I swapped a couple of times, very serious and trusted collector.
I really dislike the stranglehold that eBay has on the lower end of the coin market since Yahoo Auctions ceased running.
Amazon has coins but I've yet to see anything reasonably priced, the average shipping costs are usually more than the coin is worth.
Yardseller used to be ok for coins. I bought plenty when it was first launched but now they have added a ridiculous buyers premium per item, once you add that to the shipping cost it's just out of the ballpark unless you are buying $200 coins, in which case you should be using Heritage. I don't expect they will remain in operation for much longer.
Heritage is good for that specimen coin you always wanted but not for run of the mill coins. The biggest problem is the buyer's fee although I think the have a free day on Tuesdays?
Listia is full of ignorant buyers and sellers and unfortunately they all have opinions and you don't have the option to disable comments on your auctions. I usually find I have to verbally pimpslap at least one self appointed coin "expert" per auction. It's also got it's share of scammers but as you are using credits instead of cash it's quite easy to get a refund. Just don't pay shipping as that has to be paid in cash which isn't covered by the buyer protection. Stick to the free shipping items unless it's a well established seller.
Already this morning I've opened a parcel with six Mercury dimes bought for about $10 worth of credits and won another auction for a lot of 60+ world coins which include four silver items and about 12 3rd Reich coins for less than $5. There is a lot of competition for lower value stuff and high value single items but for small lots it's good.
If anyone is interested send me a PM and I'll send you an invite which will give you enough free credits to try it out and of course a lesser amount for moi. Or just use the link on my Numista profile, either one will give you at least one free coin.
Post Script, I've just won a St Helena coin while typing this, I put a small bid on it just because I don't have one. Well now I do.
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
On the issue of ebay hogging the market, I don't think this is entirely the case certainly a lot of trade goes through ebay but I get a lot of interest and custom from people who are disgruntled by ebay and are switching to using online dealers instead. My site still needs work to improve its usability but I think there are a lot of sites which are so poorly made that no one wishes to use them unless they already know the dealer and have bought from them in person before.
Quote: Walder CoinsOn the issue of ebay hogging the market, I don't think this is entirely the case certainly a lot of trade goes through ebay but I get a lot of interest and custom from people who are disgruntled by ebay and are switching to using online dealers instead. My site still needs work to improve its usability but I think there are a lot of sites which are so poorly made that no one wishes to use them unless they already know the dealer and have bought from them in person before.
Got you bookmarked my good man!
I'm currently broke and living on modest investment income and my dear lady wife, so spending money on coins right now would be tactless. Just as soon as my pension plan administrator gets his head out of his lower intestine I will be looking to fill some gaps.
The prices are competetive.
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
The only silver coins I see are Fat Man knock offs and a couple of worn out Phillipines stuff. It's not a bad lot, there are some OK coins but it will get bid up by people trying to score some cheap silver.
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
