So Ebay sellers are usually getting the ‘short end of the stick’ on their sales. But buyers, as long as they follow guidelines as outlined below, can still come out ahead.

As already mentioned, however, as more and more people become aware of the true value of gold and silver, it will become increasingly difficult to get that awesome deal with a winning Ebay bid.

1. Goto Ebay.com and create an account for yourself.

2. Goto Ebay and in the search box, enter the search string for what you are looking for. Here are some example search strings:

• gold oz krugerrand -copy
• gold oz maple -copy -bars -bar -plated -mil -mill
• gold oz eagle -copy
• gold oz buffalo -copy -bar -mills
• gold oz philharmonic -copy
• gold oz panda -copy
• silver oz eagle
• silver oz maple

For gold coins, the search strings above show the standard bullion coins that are recognized around the world for their quality and consistency in gold content.

For silver coins, stick with the standard Canadian Maples and American Eagles which are both 9999 pure silver.

3. After you enter the search string and press the “Search” button, Sort the listings by order of auction expiration (ending soonest). Most of the action will happen in the very last minute of the auction – people are out there “watching” these things instead of bidding right away because they think that making bids attracts even more people and makes the price go up, which is true. It also makes it difficult for people to
out-bid them if they only have a few seconds to think about it, so they wait until the
final seconds to place their “highest bid” and hit enter. This is the strategy I suggest you take as well – set yourself a price you’re willing to pay and wait about 20 seconds prior to the auction ending before you place that
bid. Chances are, there are others doing the same thing, so their number may be higher than yours or vice-versa.

4. Ignore all “copy” coins. They’re just toys. Also ignore gold-plated coins – they’re worthless. In the search strings in #2 above, the “-copy” should filter out most of the copy coins. Also stay away from gold or silver “commemorative” coins from any country. Unless you’re a collector, it’s difficult to determine the value of these types of coins.

5. Look for the standard gold bullion coins – These are listed here. (Not listed on this site are Chinese Pandas, which go for about the same as the Gold Buffalos.) Every day the price changes, so it’s important to check this site constantly, especially just before you make your bids.

6. You’ll see some fractional coins – those that are less than 1 ounce. Like for example a 1/10th ounce Canadian Maple Leaf. Fractional coins come in 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce and 1/10 ounce. Some, like the Chinese Panda also have a 1/20 ounce, which is a little smaller than a dime and still sells currently for about 80 bucks. You will usually pay a higher price/ounce on the fractional coins because in theory, they are more apt to be used in crises situations than the full ounce coins (imagine if we had a currency crises and no one took dollar bills anymore…. if you needed to buy some bread, but all you had was 1 ounce coins, you’re going to have to break the coin, or buy a butt-load of bread. So having these smaller denominations will help that situation.) Also, due to fabrication costs – a higher percentage of the coin is put to the actual minting of it. Anyway, with fractional coins, always calculate what the per-ounce cost is for that coin. For example, if it’s a 1/4 ounce coin and the price is $400, you need to multiply that by 4 to get a full ounce, which would be $1600/ounce in this example.

Generally speaking, you should expect to pay a higher price for these fractional coins for reasons stated above. It’s reasonable to pay the following premiums above the price of the respective 1 oz coins:

• 1/2 oz coins will be roughly 1.5% more per ounce.
• 1/4 oz coins will be roughly 2% more per ounce.
• 1/10 oz coins will be roughly 5% more per ounce.
• 1/20 oz coins will be roughly 7% more per ounce.

Example A: if a 1 oz Gold Canadian Maple Leaf is listed on the site above (#5) for $1400, then a 1/2 oz Maple coin would be about (1400 + (1400 x 0.015)) $1421/ounce.
Since it’s a 1/2 ounce coin, we’d need to divide that by 2 to get the total cost of the coin = $710.50. (So don’t pay more than $710.50 for this coin.)

Example B: if a 1 oz Gold Eagle is listed at $1405, then a 1/10 ounce Gold Eagle
coin would be about (1405 + (1405 x 0.05)) =$1475.25/ounce. Since it’s a 1/10 ounce coin, we’d need to divide that by 10 to get the total expected cost of the coin = $147.53. (So you should not be paying more than $147.53 for this coin.)

7. Some auctions have free shipping. Some don’t. Always take the shipping costs and add that to the final cost to determine your actual cost per ounce.

8. Never pay more than what is listed in the pricing tables in the link given above
at #5. This can be frustrating, because you’ll see many people pay a lot more and you’ll start wondering about this whole Ebay thing. But you really need to be smart and stubborn. You’ll lose a lot of auctions, but that’s ok, you’re waiting for a really good deal using Ebay. Depending on how aggressive you want to
be, bid a lot less than the price tables or just up to the price. It may be a good idea to
watch the auctions for a week or so, just to get the hang of what’s happening, before you make your first bids.

9. Never – I mean NEVER – bid on an auction from someone that doesn’t have
any feedback rating (having 0 feedback entries). In fact, make sure they are an established Ebay seller = they will have at least 25 feedback entries. And make sure that they have at least a positive feedback score of 96% or better as a seller. (Sometimes scammers just create a quick Ebay account and sell off bad stuff for a quick, one-time sale. You’re taking a chance on this if you bid on an item from someone without any feedback yet.)

10. Don’t bid on any auctions from another country (especially Hong Kong or
China) because they are usually selling fakes. Sellers in Canada can sometimes be ok as long as they have a reasonable feedback record. (The author has personal experience obtaining a fake quarter-ounce gold Panda – so please learn from that mistake!)

11. When you find an item you think might be a good deal, add it to your “watch list” in Ebay. This makes it easy to track the item, until you’re ready to place a bid.

12. If you win an auction and the coin is shipped to you, you will immediately need
to check out the validity of the coin. If it’s a fake, it will not have the properties of
coin specifications needed for the coin to be pure gold. These specifications can be found online, using google. On google, just search for “coin diameter gold eagle” for example. You will need the diameter, thickness and weight specifications. At home, you’ll need a scale and calipers to do your checks.

If the coin does not check out, Ebay guarantees your purchase and will refund the
money, even if the seller doesn’t allow returns. But you need to act fast and file a case with Ebay as soon as you’ve determinedthe problem with the coin.

13. You can give yourself an edge in buying power by joining the Ebay bucks
program. It’s free and easy to do. Near the top of the Ebay page, there should be an Ebay bucks link. Just click it and follow the instructions. Essentially, Ebay pays you a
little bit each time you make a purchase. You can use these Ebay bucks toward future
purchases on Ebay. Note: Ebay announced that as of October 1, 2011 they will no longer give Ebay bucks for the purchase of precious metals. So there goes that advantage.

14. Give yourself a further edge by enrolling in Ebates.com. Follow the
instructions at ebates.com to set up an account. Then click-through Ebates.com to go
to Ebay before making your bids. If your bid wins, Ebates will give you a rebate check.
(This is in addition to the Ebay bucks program!) Note: As of June 16, 2011 Ebay has suspended its Ebates.com rebate program until further notice. So there goes that advantage.

Contact the author of this article by sending an email to: Jon K