How To Sell Your Coins

How To Sell Coins On Ebay

Posted

By Daniel Malone

Selling coins on ebay can be fun and rewarding with advice from another experienced seller; not just any seller either, but one who sells coins, knows about coins, and has a good reputation. You would want a seller who could help you in all aspects of coin selling, because just taking pictures or scans and listing coins on ebay is not enough. The more you know about coins, and the better the pictures, the more money you will sell them for!

Are you interested in making the most money selling your coins? If so, then read on.

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Daniel Malone and I have sold coins online since 2002. I have sold coins at ebay since 2005 under the user ID danieldoncoins. I pride myself in providing the bidder with the best coin pictures, honest descriptions, good communication and fast delivery. I also write coin guides to help buyers on ebay, my coin guides. I also began this website to further help coin collectors, and with my experience I can help you make the most from your coins.

To get started, if you don't already have one, you need a free ebay account. You can register by clicking here.

If you just signed up or already have an ebay account you will need a valid credit card or bank account in order to sell. This is required so ebay can collect their fees from you, and it's a completely secure and easy verification process. I would use a credit card or open another bank account just to use for ebay selling.

The next thing you need is a paypal account. Most sellers and buyers use paypal, and its use will attract more bidders to your coin auctions. You can get one for free by clicking paypal. (Paypal will charge you 3% of what a winning bidder pays you when they use paypal, all other transactions are free).

Now that you have an ebay sellers account and a paypal merchant account, you're ready to sell!

If you know what type of coins you have and how to take crisp, clear coin photographs then skip the rest. If you don't I encourage you to keep reading because the following information will help you make the most money from your coins.

Pictures:

Pictures are the most important aspect of coin selling on ebay. You need to properly represent each coin with photos so the bidder can determine the condition or grade of your coins. You can write an essay of claims on how honest and trustworthy you are, but if the coin pics are poor, then the bidding will be less. Besides that, most ebay buyers have learned not to buy into a seller's hype on their integrity or the coins they are trying to sell. You don't want any important aspects of a coin hidden by poor photography techniques.

If your coin is cleaned, or damaged in any way; make sure you put this in the description, and that your pictures doesn't hide the details of the problem. If you need to learn what damaged or cleaned coins look like then click on these articles Damaged Coins (Non-errors) or Detecting Cleaned Coins.

Look at it another way, put yourself in a buyers shoes, and walk into a coin shop. The first thing you will do, after you see a coin you like, is ask the dealer if you can see the coin. You will carefully hold the coin, turn it in your hand, and inspect the coin closely for any problems that say "Don't buy me". But what if the seller said, "No, I can't remove the coin from the case. If you like how you see it there, feel free to buy it, or go someplace else."

If your like me, you would immediately leave the coin shop angered by the dealers attitude. It's the same on ebay, and even more so because the buyer can't actually touch or closely inspect the coin(s) your're selling. So, the nearest they can come to looking closely at your coins is your pictures, and I can't say this enough, you must take clear and detailed pictures of your coins. You will get more bids, and happy buyers. Ebay has too many sellers that either can't take decent coin pictures or just don't care. Please don't add yourself to that list!

Taking pictures is not difficult, and to learn, read this article I prepared Taking Great Coin Pictures.

Descriptions:

Descriptions are not as important as pictures, but they're a close second. It's your only way of telling your buyer what you know about the coin you selling. In this, you must be honest, concise and upfront with any information about the date, mint mark, and condition of the coin. List any problems you think the coin might have i.e. cleaned, scratched, bent, etc. You don't want buyers to be unhappy with a misrepresented coin.

Also, try to stay away from phrases like "I don't know anything about coins" or "I'm not a coin dealer" or "Grading is just an opinion". You want to sound knowledgeable and professional about the coins you're selling. The only opinion a buyers cares about is their opinion. The buyer will trust you more and feel safe bidding higher on your items if you know what you're selling and what your talking about.

Remember, make sure the description includes the following information: date, mint mark, coin type, denomination, the problems (as outlined above) or the lack thereof. Don't offer a grade (your clear pictures is enough) or hype the coins condition, because as sure as the coin is metal a buyer will soon disagree with your "opinion" grade.

If you know nothing to very little about coins and their conditions, below are a few of my guides to help you formulate an honest and professional description. It may seem like a lot of information, but your don't have to read them all at once, just come back and use them as reference tools when needed.

How To Grade Coins

How To Clean Coins

How Many Coins In A Roll?

Identifying Cleaned Coins

Take Great Coin Pictures

Mint Mark Location On U.S. Coins

The Worst Coin Investments

How To Tell Clad From Silver Coins

Identifying Fake Silver Coins

Fingerprints On Coins

Counterfeit Trade & Morgan Dollar (pics)

Report Auction Fraud

Third Party Grading Services (Pics)

Mint Error Coins (Pics)

Non-Errors Mint Errors (Pics)

Fake, Counterfeit, Replica & Coins(Pics)

The Four Grading Services Allowed On Ebay

I don't know what coins kind of coins I have!

I thought about putting this first, but I figured most people interested in selling coins would know what they have. If not, no problem! On the left side of this webpage are several links to every major coin type and denomination minted by the United States. Each page contains all the information you need to identify and properly describe the coins you want to sell. Also, check out this coin identification guide click here.

So, there you have it. Now your armed with all the tools you need to start selling coins on ebay. I wish you the best of success!

If you're still having trouble then send me an email help@coinauctionshelp.com . I will be glad to help you in any way I can.

I hope this helped you sell coins on ebay. If so, let me know! I may post your story on this website.