Coin Auctions

Traditional Auctions
For a number of years, the world's biggest auction houses, Sotheby, Christies, Philips (Glendinings), and a few others have held large auctions of important collections. These prestigious auction houses can provide, or used to provide, a useful market place for high value coins, large hoards, and larger collections. In recent years, the number of coin auctions held by the larger auctioneers appears to have declined. Smaller more specialised auction houses have often taken their place, but they too appear to struggle for business.
One major drawback to selling in some of these larger auctions was the delay. It might be necessary to wait several months for the "right" auction, then it would take time to catalogue, after which there would be a wait to get paid. It might take 3 to 6 months from deciding to sell to getting paid. At any auction houses, but particularly at the larger ones, it was quite possible for very high grade coins to be handled carelessly at public or trade viewings. This could result in lower prices obtained, or even unsold coins being returned to their owner in poorer condition.
The larger auction houses charge for photographs in their catalogues, and coins consigned to them are not automatically covered by insurance. This could add extra charges to the costs of selling.

Buyers Premiums
There was major publicity about a decade back when the larger auction houses introduced buyer's premiums, i.e. a charge to the buyer over and above the hammer price. This was in addition to the commission charged to the seller. For years the larger auction houses had been charging between 10% and 15% commission to sellers, but vendors could shop around and haggle over commissions, especially when large collections were involved. Also many auction houses share their commissions with agents who introduce sellers. the buyers premium was a simple but clever and very effective way to grab a bigger percentage of the sale price. Although a number of major antique dealers staged buyers strikes, these quickly faded out. Buyers at an auction are not in any position to haggle about buying commissions, whereas vendors are.
The result of these double commissions has been to create a significant jump in the profits and margins of the large auction houses. Smaller auction houses have followed their lead. Most auctioneers now charge between 10% and 15% commission to both buyers and sellers, typically making about 25% total commission. In the UK, and probably most other countries, VAT cannot be reclaimed on buyers premiums, many vendors cannot reclaim VAT, so the cost of selling by auction is now close to 30% of the hammer price. Many dealers will work for less, depending on the type of item.

Electronic (Internet) Auctions
Internet auctions such as Ebay have made significant changes in the international marketing of many different types of item, but particularly to antiques and collectables including coins.
They have made it easier for buyers and sellers to meet up to buy and sell, particularly for specialised items, and second-hand goods, the type of article which the mainstream High Street retailer is not good at.
Ebay have established a de facto monopoly within the space of a few years, and now has over 90% of the internet auction market for coins. Any such monopoly should be a cause for concern by its users.
More to follow...

Ebay
Ebay charge listing fees, enhancement fees, and final value fees. This can make it quite difficult to work out exactly what the total cost will be to sell any particular item. Their fees system is a somewhat like Gordon Brown's tax policy with its use of "stealth tax", Ebay use "stealth fees".
Listing fees start at 15 pence in the UK for goods with a starting price under £1, but rise to about £2 for items with a starting price over £100, unless you use a "Buy It Now" price, when the listing fee is based on this price instead of the starting price. You can also choose to use a "Reserve Price", but this costs up to £100, so is best avoided, as it appears to have no real advantage to the seller compared with the "Starting Price" fee.
Enhancement fees include home page featured, featured plus, highlight, item subtitle, bold, gallery, featured gallery, scheduled listings, list in 2 categories, image hosting, and probably a few more we don't know of.
Final value fees are mainly commission based, starting at 5.5% for the first £29.99, 3.5% from £30 to £599.99, and 1.75% on the balance.
There are also fees payable for using other services such as "Selling Manager Pro", or some of their listing tools, although some tools are provided free.
Cars and Real Estate (Property) have different scales of fees starting at £6 and £35 respectively.
Although just about anybody can register to buy on Ebay, you have to provide credit card, debit card, direct debit, or similar details, which need to be approved before you can register to sell on Ebay. This is basically so that Ebay can ensure they get their fees, rather than to vet sellers for the protection of buyers.

Gold Bullion Coins
Providing you go to a specialised gold coin dealer, you can buy for less and sell for more using traditional dealers, and get paid more quickly than by using auctions. Many bullion dealers work on as little as 1% or 2% "commission" when buying or selling, depending on volume. A margin of 5% or 10% would be quite high for a bullion coin dealer. This compares very favourably with all auction houses, even electronic ones such as Ebay.
To sell a krugerrand on Ebay costs about £9 using a £0.99 starting price, or £10.50 using a realistic starting price, assuming you don't pay extra for bold face, a coloured stripe, or any of the other enhanced (more expensive) options. In addition, you will have to do a certain amount of work to scan an image or take a photograph, and deal with enquiries from potential buyers who often expect you to accept payment by Paypal which will cost about 5% extra.
If you have gold bulion coins to sell, you would be best to take a look at our specialist website Tax Free Gold. We are happy to buy any quantity of gold bullion coins large or small.

If you want to find the value of a coin you own, please take a look at our page I've Found An Old Coin, What's It Worth?