Why the big discrepancy?

[serial]

I just pick out the good stuff eg 68s, no sds, ms pre 80s and then break the rest into 3 piles
scrap
good
great

scrap goes into 3ltr juice bottles
good and great get sealed in pvc cryovac bags in 3kg lots and stacked anywhere the missus doesn't have to  see them often

[kchan1111]

Wow such a big collection.... 3kg lots...

Serial, you must have more than a completed set of everything by now from the sounds of it. Do you still try to collect the coins you already have? Better grade? Never thought of trading away the lesser quality ones?
Was at Wynyard Coins today. Their little colour catalogue says that there will be 2 days sales next Thu. :yahoo: Really looking forward to may be getting my first florin. (Must sound pathetic to you haha. :angel:)

[serial]

no, I have trouble with key dates. 1932 florin is proving elusive and I didn't really get into copper pre-dec
I have also only been collecting for a year and a half so got heaps of time to catch up with people
generally I don't sell silver. I only sell what I have to pay for supplies (mylar/2x2's etc are expensive!) and to develop a good online rep so if the day comes that I have to sell my collection I wont get ripped selling it at a dealer.
my advice would to listen to what others say. start small and work your way up. learn your stuff before you pay to much. then the mistakes that you WILL make (every one has) will only be small ones and wont put you off collecting long term

[kchan1111]

Cool thanks.

Mental note - stay away from dealers when selling.

[robbiegal]

depends on what you're selling & where really
often dealers buy in bulk and take the risk that they will be stuck with a whole pile of junk for many years
then they fleece out what is worth their while to sell individually and then bulk sell the rest (or scrap sell)

one collectors treasure is another dealer's junk

that is why so many collectors use ebay as a selling platform
you can control what and how you sell your gear  
an ebay shop is minimum $50 month so you have to make $50 in sales first to pay the rent

so you have to add up the figures
others just sell straight from ebay with no shop fees
either way you have to pay to sell your gear - one way or another
no matter where or how you sell it

others who are more internet savvie - maybe like today's new poster -create their own websites - then you have to get the traffic coming in and using a social media platform like this or facebook as a gateway is one way to get the hit rates up
then you gotta sell effectively from that website (i.e. check out etc)

and so on
I have been selling on ebay for about 9 years now, so it takes a bit to get it right and wrong but you learn along the way
tried other ways but ebay gets the best results so far , for a little collector like moi anyways

Walter has built his website over many years and his hard work is now paying off ; same for the PP website
but both parties are very internet savvie - someone like myself couldn't do what they do

[serial]

I didn't say stay away from dealers. They are not all bad. But if you are trying to sell a large lot of coins in one big lot you are going to take a hit unless you have a system of disposal in place and that is why I sell on eBay. I develop a good rep and learn how to sell things etc so if I needed I could sell a chunk of my collection quickly with minimum loss of money
Be thankful that if the sh#t ever hits the fan for you at least you can take you collection to a dealer to sell and get quick cash even though I would recommend listing it here 1st

[kchan1111]

Understand robbiegal. Which ever way there is cost. I have been using eBay for over 10 years - just not buying/selling coins. I stop selling on ebay after they pretty much forced you to offer paypal. The extra cut just didnt make it seem worth the effort any more.

There are some pretty cheap bargains in Wynyard coins by the kilos. I figured they wouldn't be foolish enough to let anything good escape.

Numisbid is pretty impressive. I have spent two evenings watching auction room actions. Not the prettiest site for sure but works well. I think I will get a mini album from PP soon once I have start getting some nicer coins.

I don't ever plan to sell the coin collection as a way to raise fund for emergencies. Might sell it to raise money for a better coin. Well I know dealers have to make a living too.