Consigning coins: auction or to online seller?

[tjaart]

Hi all,

In a recent clean out I decided to get rid of some extra campgates and other coins I had lying around (about 52 coins, 5 modern, rest Roman) to hopefully generate some cash to buy some new campgates. Having thought about it before, I thought the easiest (and most profitable in the current market) would be to consign it to an auction house. I chose one that seemed trustworthy to make a decent decision on which coins to sell singly and which to sell as a lot. My gut feeling was that at least 4-5 of the coins could be sold as single lots and the rest split into similar themes. Much to my surprise they decided to put everything as one lot in an upcoming auction with a ridiculously low (again, my feeling) starting price. My hope was they might split it into two or three smaller lots and thus maybe generate more interest. Anyway, as this was the first time consigning to an auction house, I wondering what the boards' opinion/experience is on whether it is better to sell coins (in decent condition, not really corroded but also not mint state) to other dealers to resell, consign with other online dealers or sell it in auction?

I know that condition is the major selling points but from an auction house, would adding a full attribution to every coin make it more likely to be sold as single coins?

This is the link to the upcoming lot (https://leunumismatik.com/en/lot/24/2561/). What I am looking for is some honest feedback on whether my gut feeling was right with regards to single vs lots or whether I am totally off the mark. I am looking to learn from this experience going forward as I think it might be time to get rid of some more coins.

Looking forward to your input!
Tjaart

[Victor]

The bigger auction houses don't typically list single coins unless they think they can make a decent profit and sometimes a $75- 100 coin isn't enough.  I had a similar experience years ago when I sold most of my coins. I had over 100 Siscian VLPP for Constantine I. The auction was run by Vcoins and only a fraction of my VLPP's were listed and the prices were underwhelming. Part of the problem, when you list a bunch of the same type at once, it saturates the market. I have bought groups like yours and then slowly list them in my store. The slow listing method means selling is spread out over months...so a quick sell means less profit.

When I first started selling I tried to sell mostly cheap and affordable bronze coins. Over the years, I have started only selling coins on Vcoins that I value over a certain amount, currently it has to be at least in the $30-40 range. For lower value, I list them on eBay at .99 and let the chips fall wherever...and it is often brutal how low coins sell for. To be honest, I don't make much money on most coins under $100 range and it is often not worth my time to photograph and attribute and list a coin that I might make $10- 15; versus, say, a $300 one that I might make $30- $40 profit.

On the plus side, in an auction environment, you never know what might happen. Sometimes lots sell for stupid amounts when people start bidding wars.

[six2ten]

When I saw that lot I thought what an odd combination to have Roman and South African! I would have thought lotting them at least by broad category eg. Camp gates, Alexandrian and the Kruger’s would have made more sense than putting them all up together. Hard to say about whether any were justified as individual lots without being able to see the obverses as well

[Heliodromus]

That's definitely a weird mix of coins in a single lot - hard to know who it would appeal to.

I think if you're selling coins you really have to select the right venue for each class of coins, as well as be prepared to be patient (in case of consignment or reserve prices).

For high end coins, an auction may bring the best price, but obviously there's a large degree of luck as to what happens on the day. As a buyer it seems that some types of coin tend to sell for much higher prices at certain auction houses then others (a function of their repeat clientele, I suppose), so choosing the right auction for given types of coin is also a factor.

For mid range coins (better than typical eBay fare, but not good enough to justify an individual listing at auction), I suspect consigning to a dealer may be the best option. Even for more expensive coins, consigning may be a better option if you want to take the risk out of it and don't mind the wait.

For lower end coins, probably eBay is the way to go .. either set a realistic minimum and keep relisting, or no minimum and cross your fingers. If grouping coins into lots, then have some type of target buyer in mind for the type of coins you are grouping together.

For the group of coins in that Leu lot, being realistic, I think eBay may have been more appropriate for most if not all of them (unless there are some rarities I'm not recognizing that might have been worth consigning). It's always going to be tough to get your money back out of these types of coins, unless you acquired them for a steal. There's too much overhead in terms of postage and listing fees.

[tjaart]

Thanks for all the valuable replies. I really appreciate the time it took to write the replies and give the insight. I guess one of the main reasons for not using eBay was all the extra effort it would involve from my side. But I suspect I will have to follow this route a bit more in the future. Similar to Victor, I have been burned before and was reluctant to go back there. Now, I think it has its place and function and I should probably not avoid it.

In hindsight, I guess I could have also been more clear with the auction house in asking them to split it into 3 lots. But I have learned my lesson.

Thanks!
Tjaart

[Victor]

Regarding eBay, you can also list your coins at fixed prices; but they may never sell. I had several listed for over six months for what I thought were very reasonable prices; but they never sold. I also had one listed at a fixed price and eventually changed it to auction starting at .99 cents and it wound up selling for more than I originally had it listed...you never know what's going to happen in auctions.

[Pharsalus]

I sold some of my coins through eBay over the past year or so, mostly coins that I bought at the beginning of my collecting journey that I didn’t really look at enough and appreciate.

The first group of about 10 separate lots I sold as eBay auction 99 cent starts; final prices ranged from mediocre to heartbreaking. The next lots sold a little bit better and there were some repeat buyers. Months later I listed some more as Fixed Price, these mostly sold but not at the price I listed - people made offers which I generally chose to accept.

My advice for us infrequent eBay sellers is to list the coin at a fixed price first. This way potential buyers actually see and maybe even ‘watch’ the coin even if they don’t buy. Later if you decide to auction at least there has been some exposure to potential buyers first.

[tjaart]

Thanks for the additional advice, Pharsalus. I suspect this is the way forward for now.

T