Sales of gold up on eBay amid stock market turmoil

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By RACHEL METZ

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - For gold sellers on eBay, the recent stock market turmoil has been a boon for business. Gold and silver sales on eBay had already been rising steadily over the past several years - so much so that eBay Inc. (EBAY) created a special area in May to make it easier for buyers to find sellers.

Now, activity on that part of the site, the Bullion Center, is intensifying as consumers unnerved by the economic uncertainty flock to gold in hopes it will be a stable investment.

"When people are coming down to the question, 'Do they want to have cash in the bank or gold in their hands?' the answer is they'd rather have gold or silver," said Jacob Chandler, CEO of Great Southern Coins, the largest seller of precious metals on eBay.

The stock market just ended one of its most volatile weeks in years, prompted in part by a downgrade in the nation's credit rating and fears of another recession. The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 6 percent on Monday, its worst one-day drop since December 2008. Then the index rose Tuesday, fell Wednesday and rose Thursday and Friday to end the week 2 percent lower than a week ago.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110814/D9P3RS8G1.html

[Skink]

1. Selling gold on Ebay. I got to get in on this.

[Yon_Yonson]

2. I've been doing good on Sterling & 925 and even gold filled items

I am not getting rich but I find it at various resale stores

[DFW]

3. What percentage does eBay take out when one sells?

I have never sold on eBay, so I don't know, but it it's more than 4%, then one could do better with
a precious metals dealer. At $1750 an ounce, 4% is $70 per ounce, far more than the margin of any
legitimate dealer in precious metals or bullion coins.

[Yon_Yonson]

4. Here is you Ebay link to charges

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fvf.html#what

Keep in mind that Ebay runs deals where listing is free and also you need to use Paypal and their fees pretty much mirrors Ebay

[Po_d Mainiac]

5. eBay and Paypal take about 10% off the top.

But bullion will sell above melt...enough so to more than cover the difference.

Example: individual ASE's are drawing bids of $47-$48. ($50 including shipping) Tubes (20 coins/onces) were going for $1k (including shipping) last night

[pitohui]

13. ebay plus paypal (required payment method) estimate around 12 percent

if you're selling precious metals on ebay, you're a dumb ass to put it mildly, either that, or you're a hoaxer selling something not genuine...most of the time you're a dumb ass

[pitohui]

14. the people involved in this on ebay are fakes, predators, and the truly stupid

it takes a moment of math, as you point out, to figure out something is wrong with selling metals on ebay

mostly the problem is that the buyer does not actually intend to pay, they are using SNAD/buyer protection fraud to get their money back -- and in many cases, keep the gold too!

[AlecBGreen]

6. if the wheels come off, I dont want gold

I want tradable commodities that people will NEED: ammo, liquor, livestock and veggie seeds. THAT is how civilization will survive the hard times :evilgrin:

[Po_d Mainiac]

7. Yup....and you'll want precious metals too. n/t

[AlecBGreen]

10. yeah, cant argue with that

got any spare silver laying around you dont need? ;)

[roamer65]

8. Gold will be the medium of exchange.

If the fiat currency system fails, the world will fall back to a Bretton Woods type arrangement. It will be a currency that is readily redeemable in gold.

Owning gold buys you a larger stake in that new currency.

[AlecBGreen]

9. I think it depends how far we 'slide' if/when it happens

If things truly fall apart, gold and silver will undoubtedly be a part of the new economy but I see bartering being even more important. Its hard to know how much gold will buy a goat, but haggling will arrive at a trade every time.

[roamer65]

11. The markets will set the rates in the new currency/gold.

There will always be markets. Markets are human nature.

[pitohui]

12. this is a guaranteed loser for the naive seller

if you accept paypals through paypal, which you do if you sell on ebay, you have a de facto 60 day return policy

i won't draw a road map but needless to say, "buyer protection guarantee" fraud is through the roof and has already cost some sellers thousands of dollars

you can't sell a volatile item with a price spaced on "spot" to folks who can turn around and force you to return the money if the price goes the way they don't want, any time w.in 60 days

now if you're a dishonest BUYER, it's a great deal, if the price continues to rise, keep the gold and say nothing, if the price drops, file a SNAD and ebay/paypal automatically take the money from the seller's account and give it back to you EVEN IF THE SELLER LISTED IN HIS/HER AUCTION THAT THEY HAVE A "NO RETURNS" POLICY

to add insult to injury, after they have forced you to refund the buyer, the buyer MAY return the item you sent...or more likely he will return a box of phone books to you of the same weight

i got a box full of busted up rocks, and there are a million stories...

if you sell precious metals on ebay you want to be screwed and i have no sympathy for you at this point, because the hustle is well publicized and has been going on for too damn long

[tuckessee]

15. Have you bought much coinage/bullion on ebay?

I have bought a little bit of coinage (mostly collector stuff) but know people who have bought tens of thousands of dollars in bullion off ebay over the last four years and no one has yet to have had a bad transaction. Not a single one.

The two local coin stores both have been on ebay for over a decade listing a combined several hundred items a week and they both state they have had no problems other than the very rare buyer who bitches about condition and returns the item. They wouldn't continue to do ebay (and have good feedback) if it wasn't profitable and hassle-free.

Was your bad transaction in coins? I've sold over 20,000 individual vintage postcards (mostly street & town views) without any problems whatsoever from the buyers. But when it comes to selling militaria I'd say the hassle rate is about 10%. So I think the area and type of collector/dealer one is dealing with on ebay is key to whether the deal is likely to be smooth & honest or not.