Battle of the Price Guides

[dabrin]

I alternate between two different price guides for the collector (not dealer): NumisMedia's monthly fair market value price guide, and the monthly price guide found in Numismatic News (weekly newspaper). The price guides found in magazines like Coin Age, Coins, Coin Prices, etc all seem the same and match the Numismatic News price guide pretty close, but the NumisMedia price guide's prices seem a bit lower on the average. Any tips on which one I should use for coins in places like eBay? What price guide do members here use?

[seal006]

I would suggest the completed auctions section on eBay. I use Numismedia for my website because I feel it keeps my pricing competitive. Even though it is updated frequently, it is still "outdated" compared to completed sales on eBay.

[Maineman750]

Same as Sean, recent completed listings on eBay and other auction sites.

[WaterSport]

Well, lets start by saying these are "Guides" not real sales data. MANY individual prices are out of touch , up and down. You can pretty much become your own price expert by keeping tabs on what coins you are seeking and having a pencil and paper nearby to record sales of coins you want regardless of grade you may be seeking. Pretty soon the pattern develops and you will see what a market price for a given coin is. Use the guides as guides. That is to say the values they report will often be in the ball park, but all the details of a given coin can drastically change a value (ie., Luster, Eye appeal, even what plastic it is isn.) Thus even you will see that putting a higher bid on a given coin will be worth more than a guide list.

WS

[dabrin]

Being kind of new to all this, I never thought of using eBay's completed sales data for current prices. That's a great tip! Also, thanks WaterSport for some great advice. -David

[dabrin]

Any thoughts on the ballpark prices in NumisMedia vs Numismatic News vs Retail Mags like "Coin Prices"? Just curious.

[seal006]

Numismedia will be the best. As already stated, the prices seem a bit low, but I beg to differ. I think the economy has made the actual selling prices lower recently. It is updated quicker than the others. Anything printed such as a magazine will be outdated BEFORE it hits the shelf. In todys market, things can move up or down quickly on some things. We owe that to modern technology.

[dabrin]

I know that there is a cost to the eBay seller to sell a coin, so I'm sure the cost of their coin will be a bit higher to recover this cost. I would think that the NumisMedia price assumes a sale without this extra fee so their prices sometimes appear low. Does this make sense?

[liveandievarieties]

No, because numismedia is among the highest of price guides out there. Additionally, while eBay sellers do have to pay fees, the final price of an auction has nothing to do with the fees the seller pays, they're simply accurate reflections of what people are currently paying for any given item.

[seal006]

I know that there is a cost to the eBay seller to sell a coin, so I'm sure the cost of their coin will be a bit higher to recover this cost. I would think that the NumisMedia price assumes a sale without this extra fee so their prices sometimes appear low. Does this make sense?

No, and here is the reason why. On a true auction listing on eBay the price is determined by the highest bidder, not the seller. That is the info you are looking for. You want what a coin is selling for. It is like this: every price guide you mention says a particular coin is worth $100. 5 different eBay sellers start their listing for the same coin at $100, but no one bids. Then there is one eBay seller that start his at say $25 and it ends up selling for $75. With that sort of data, the value of the coin is NOT $100, it IS $75, which is the most up to date data there is.

[dabrin]

Ahhh, I always wondered about all that. Thanks for the info. Sounds like eBay completed sales data is the best to use for the most accurate value of a coin.

[seal006]

It is. It just take a little more effort, but can be worth it.

[WaterSport]

It also depends on what level of coin your talking about. By this I mean if your searching for circulated wheat cents, the guides will work along with Ebay past results. But if your buying certified coins, I find the Heritage auction archives to be darn near spot on. Its free to subscribe. That site will list every 1912 S or whatever your looking for sold including the fees that sold the last 3-4 years . You can see the trend on if the coin is coin up or down or the same coin may have sold a couple of times or why some sold for more or less by comparing the quality of the coin in the photograph. Now its been my experience, that people will bid UP TO a price guide value that INCLUDES the fees. So if a guide says its a $300 coin, people bid $250 knowing that they will absorb $50 in fees. But as a general rule, the big auctions are selling coins under the price guide listed values with exception of those that are nice for the grade. And with a little homework you should understand what nice for the grade is means. As that is a coin folks will pay a premium for.

WS

[BadThad]

Just keep in mind, everything out there is a guide. There are no absolute prices for a given coin.

Personally, the Grey Sheets are my main guide. The dealers I use all respect and use it. I don't like auction values much because many people over and under-pay and that can skew your perception. You have to go through a lot of data in order to exclude the outliers and get a general feel for what the market is bearing. For me, unless a coin is REALLY special, that's too much work. I just pull out my Grey Sheets.

[liveandievarieties]

Some would rather spend 3 hours than 3 dollars, to each his own. I do prefer greysheet too, as mentioned, most dealers buy and sell by it, it'd make sense to use the same tools they do.