Saturday, April 27, 2013

Ebay Fee Increase on May 1


Dear Customers,

I wanted to make sure everyone is aware of the major increase of eBay fees that begins on May
1st 2013.  While the new fee structure has only modest effect on purchases less then $100, the increase
on items from $1000 to $4000 is very substantial.  The worst impact hits many gold Chinese modern coins.

The new system is billed as "simplified", but actually it is riddled with exceptions and special rates.  According to their website (buried behind links), the "special rate" for coins appears to be 7%.

Under the current system eBay fees slide from about 6% at $1000, 4% at $2000 declining to about 2.5% at $10,000.  Next week, the fees will be 7% all the way up to about $3800 and then fixed at $250.  This is a huge increase for coins in the $2000 to $4000 range.

Paypal then adds 2.2 to 3.2% on top.  So sellers could soon be paying as much as 9% in fees on a 2500 sale - that's $225!

Here are some before and after comparisons:

$1000 Coin:
Before May 1:  $63
After May 1: $70

$2500 coin:
Before May 1: $93
After May 1: $175

Over $3500:
Before May 1: $112
After May 1:  $245

While "Top Rated" sellers get a small 20% discount on these fees, the fee on a $3500 coin is still more then $100 higher in the new system.  I expect that some very high volume mass market sellers will have special secret negotiated rates with eBay, but for the average collector or smaller dealer, these fees are very substantial and cannot be absorbed.

Clearly this will force more coin transactions to take place outside of eBay.  It is unfortunate, because eBay is a reliable platform and the eBay sales history helps the market with price discovery.  However, I expect very few well informed buyers will click buy-it-now, and few well informed sellers will accept such huge fees on coins over $2000.

At Rare Panda Coins, we will continue to list our coins on eBay for marketing purposes, but the eBay listed prices will have to increase to cover the new fees.  However, our independent online store at www.rarepandastore.com will offer the same exact coins at much lower prices that do not include the eBay fees.

Paypal remains a good value for its buyer and seller protection services at a cost of  about 2%. Of course, if you are comfortable to send a check, we will pass the additional 2% saving on to you.

Bottom line: Shop directly with us.  Email us, call, or shop at www.rarepandacoins.com and you will save big money off eBay prices.

Best Regards

Jay Feldis
Rare Panda Coins Inc
www.rarepandastore.com

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

1994 50Y Gold Panda 1/2 oz

The 1994 1/2 oz Panda may be one of the rarest of the entire BU panda series.  Over the course of the last few years, 1994 1/2 has been more difficult for me to find than the 1998 or 1995 1/2 oz coins.  While certain varieties may be more scarce, for collectors of 94 BU 1.9 oz sets or Panda 1/2 oz sets, this is the key coin,

We have one available now in the store.

1994 50Y Gold China Panda 1/2 oz Large Date NGC MS69