Gold Coins for Sale: eBay vs Amazon

Gold Coins for Sale: eBay vs AmazoneBay and Amazon are the world’s most popular online marketplaces to buy and sell all sorts of merchandise including gold coins. These two are also the largest online competitors going head to head to win over global customers. There’s a variety of gold coins for sale found at both Amazon and eBay but which one is better for buyers and beneficial for the sellers?

Below we compare these two platforms allowing you to choose which one might be better for you to find numismatics and gold coins for sale.

eBay

Inventory and Prices: Since inventory changes daily, the basic inventory evaluation for gold coins for sale was performed based on 2 most popular 1 oz coins, 2014 American Eagle Gold Coins and 2014 Canadian Gold Maple Leaf (as of March 19, 2014). eBay gold coins search for “American gold eagle 1oz 2014” returned 39 items with approximately 18 of them being relevant to our search. The lowest price for 2014 American Gold Eagle 1 oz on eBay was $1448.38, which is $108.68 over the spot price of gold on that day amounting to 8%. The search for “Canadian gold maple leaf 1oz 2014” returned 14 listings with 4 being the most relevant to the conducted search. The lowest price for the Canadian Maple leaf gold coins for sale was registered at $1428.19, $88 over the spot of gold (6.6%).

Seller Fees: There are various fees on eBay, including insertion and selling fees. An insertion (listing) fee is charged for listing an item no matter whether the product is sold or not. However, eBay is eager to offer all sorts of promotions to encourage sellers to list by offering 50 free listings per month and also promo days when you can list via a certain price format for free. A selling fee is imposed on the total value of goods sold including shipping in the amount of 10-15% depending on the category of goods. In addition to the standard eBay fees, there are optional fees imposed if you choose to make your listing stand out or decide to add over 12 photos to your listing. Use their easy Fee Calculator to assess the value of fees before you list.

Additional Features: eBay allows its sellers to sell via several different price formats other than Fixed Price option opening more opportunities for buyers to land an incredible deal. eBay Auction format enables you to bid on items that start as low as $0.01. For sellers this feature allows to generate customers’ bidding wars ultimately increasing the final sale price. Additionally, you can add an option to “Make an Offer”, at times this saves time for both sellers and buyers and sells an item at a mutually agreeable price. You can also add all of the three combinations to your listing and allow buyers to choose which buying format they prefer, Auction, Fixed Price Format or “Make an Offer” feature.

Amazon

Inventory and Prices: The basic search for “American gold eagle 1 oz 2014” returned only 9 items, from which only 4 were relevant on Amazon. The average price for 2014 American Gold Eagle 1 oz in brilliant uncirculated condition was $1799, which is $459.3 higher than the spot price of gold as of March 19, 2014 amounting to over 34%. The search for 2014 Canadian Gold Maple Leaf 1 oz returned only 1 relevant listing with the price of $ 1799 which follows the same price analysis as that of the American Gold Eagle coin’s above.

Seller Fees: There are two ways to offer gold coins for sale on Amazon, by selling as a professional or an individual seller. For those who sell as a hobby and plan not to sell more than 40 items per month, an individual account will entail $0.99 per sale fee plus any additional applicable fees. For those seeking a more large scale operation, a business account will cost $39.99 per month on Amazon in addition to other applicable fees.

Additional Features: Amazon has introduced additional features intended to make life of sellers and buyers easier. Among their top trademark features that receive high regards from the customers is the Amazon Prime or simply free shipping with every order. If you purchase frequently off Amazon, it is a great feature that is going to cost customers $79.99 annually. For the sellers Amazon offers a great Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) tool allowing sellers to save time and build a more successful business. Sellers ship their products for sale to Amazon fulfillment centers while Amazon does all the selling, packing and shipping for them. FBA additionally handles returns and any additional customer support necessary.

Both eBay and Amazon offer plenty of gold bullion coins for sale on a given day, however eBay inventory appears to be higher than that of Amazon. Additionally, eBay gold coins for sale boasted much more attractive prices for consumers. Coupled with three different price formats that eBay offers in comparison to Amazon, eBay is a winner when it comes to buying or selling gold coins. Next time you are searching for Krugerrand gold coins or any other gold coins for sale, turn to eBay as your trusted partner on the road to coin investing or collecting.