Anyone else notice eBay penny auctions selling for less?

[ed_vantage17]

It seems like auctions on the Bay are closing for a lot less than they were a month ago. I was making 1.3X to 1.5X on $15FV lots a month ago. Had one close yesterday for around 1.1X (after fees and shipping). Seems like the $100 FV lots are going for less too. Anyone else seeing this? Makes me want to look for a new avenue to sell after the fee increase slated for April 19.

I know a 10% ROI for a one week investment is supposed to be a "good" thing, but I'm in this for much greater returns.

[realfoot]

i have'nt looked at penny auctions lately but i do keep track of dailey melt(028 as of today),
i have found when selling on the bay it really depends on timing and the type of buyers looking.
i don't think anything has changed over the weekend to make people back off.and yes you are on slim margins.

[PennyPauper]

I think overall the penny market is in a lull.Lots of sellers,few buyers.Even here sales are down.
I was going to try ebay,but think I will wait.

[tinhorn]

Feel good about NOT being this guy:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... MEWAX%3AIT
He couldn't even sell $10 in copper pennies for $9.

It'll be interesting to research the successful auctions to see how they fared. I haven't been tracking the Ebay market, but had planned to sell there later in the month.

[Diggin4copper]

He ended that auction early.. probably because he was gonna lose money on it.. I start mine at 1.6 melt.. some sell, some dont.. but it brings in a couple bucks here and there.. Im not worried though.. more for my little hoard

[pennypicker]

I regularly list 1000 penny lots with an opening bid of $13.95 and I always get at least the opening bid. This past week however both of my auctions failed to garner even the opening bid. Things have slowed down.

[ed_vantage17]

Seems like the $50FV lots are doing well (around 1.3X to 1.4X after fees) but everything else is slow. Just netted 1.11X on another 10lb lot. Oh well. Make a buck and build some feedback.

[Snake42]

Thats why I only do BIN. I don't mind holding on to it. I always get the price I want eventually.

[Coppercrazy]

Me I think its time to hoard and hold.....put boxes of 2011s up if youre lucky enough to get them! but as for generating income,school yourself on some other collectables and list those,much greater return for a good thrift or garage sale score!

[realfoot]

Me I think its time to hoard and hold.....put boxes of 2011s up if youre lucky enough to get them! but as for generating income,school yourself on some other collectables and list those,much greater return for a good thrift or garage sale score!

i agree with this.i dig (metal detect) civil war relics and over the period of 5 years have sold over 4k in relics.i use that money to add to my stacks(primary silver,gold and copper in that order).the market has gone soft on relics so i have not listed in almost a year.i am not going to give my relics away.there are alot of ways to aquire funds to feed our habits w/o having to give our precious away.i think holding is best if you don't get the returns your looking for. search the bay or other like site and see what sells.that reminds me,i purchased some 1940-1950 cardboard milk bottle caps at an antique store for a buck apiece and ended up selling them (20 ttl) on the bay for $168.00.it just so happened i had what 2 people wanted(the only 2 bidding).i didn't know or care if i had some rare ones or not.i don't collect them but watched what they were going for.
bottom line is there are many ways to aquire our precious w/o having to spend our hard earned money.

[Morsecode]

That's a good practice, realfoot. You don't have to be an expert in other collectible areas to spot an obvious good deal, and with the internet on the smart phone I can check the marketability of anything before I buy.

I collect glass telegraph insulators, but didn't know anything about lightning rod insulators when I spotted this one at a flea market for $10



I knew it was worth more than 10 bucks, and was pleasantly surprised when it sold on ebay for $377.00

[ed_vantage17]

I guess I'm different than most of the hoarders here. I see this as a window of opportunity to make a good ROI with a short term investment. I've done online ticket flipping in the past, but unless you've got a plug on the really good tickets, you ROI is usually around 20%-30% for a 3 to 6 month investment. I see this as a better short term investment with a high yield in a field I'm already well versed in. Maybe in 5 to 10 years when Cu cents aren't found much in circulation, I'll move on to something else.

[shinnosuke]

That's a good practice, realfoot. You don't have to be an expert in other collectible areas to spot an obvious good deal, and with the internet on the smart phone I can check the marketability of anything before I buy.

I collect glass telegraph insulators, but didn't know anything about lightning rod insulators when I spotted this one at a flea market for $10



I knew it was worth more than 10 bucks, and was pleasantly surprised when it sold on ebay for $377.00

Master, make me your disciple!