Kathiec, I hope this is better. TY for your patience.
In the final analysis an item's market value is something determined between the seller and buyer. I buy coins, stamps, baseball cards etc. (what I am saying here, applies to all collectibles in the market - generally). The Valuation Guides (VG's) are just that - guides. There are no hard and fast valuations for most items - specifically. VG's are very general in nature. They sometimes overstate and sometimes understate selling and buying prices. Other times they prove to be very accurate.
The Grey Sheet (GS) for U.S. coins is, in all likelihood, the most trustworthy guide to the selling and buying prices of any items that have published valuations - in the entire world. There aren't many "in the know" numismatists who would argue with this. But even with the GS (which is a weekly price guide - 52 issues a year is a lot - many guides are published monthly, quarterly or annually) 1 can many times buy certain coins for far less (20-30 %) and sell certain coins for far more than listed GS valuations (GSV).
If a coin seller is trying to sell his coins at GSV and they are not selling and he wants them to, his only choice is to lower his prices until they sell, or take them off the market. The risk in this is: when he puts them back on the market the GS may have lowered their prices. The "in the know" buyer/seller is aware of these market nuances.
I've offered 50% and less of an eBay coin seller's asking price and it was accepted on my 1st offer. Others with BIN - OBO listings consider a 10 or 20% discount their limit.
I go by 2 things when buying: 1) The most trusted VG's 2) My personal knowledge of the market. The latter is crucial. Here's an example: The Copper-Nickel 1978 Liberia 2 cent proof coin. They are listed in NGC online price guide for $2 each. They can't be had for $2. They have a mintage of only 7,300. The trackers of the sales of World Coins see little to no buying/selling activity of these coins, in part due to their low mintages, and also, not enough interested buyers. There's little demand on the part of collectors to provide accurate up to date information. The publishers of the VG's won't invest time and effort tracking selling prices for coins that so few have interest in. From experience I am aware that these coins sell for $8 to $12 each on average (not $2 each). Sometimes selling for $15 to $20 each. Do a web search for these coins. They're larger than a U.S 1/2 Dollar. They're beautiful coins front and back. Picturing an African Elephant on the front (A very popular motif) and an attractive tropical scene with a blazing sun, ship on the ocean and large palm tree on the back. They have exceptional eye appeal, especially the proof cameos with the heavily frosted raised features and highly reflective mirror fields. This is only 1 example. The same/similar facts are true for many World Coins. I could name many other relevant facts that affect valuations that can't be conveyed by VG's. It takes personal knowledge of the marketplace.
It also needs to be understood that eBay is about 20% of the numismatic marketplace. All parts of the market place need to be taken into account when considering a coin's or any item's market value.
The following is a generic disclaimer made in almost all price guides of any sort.
Disclaimer: The prices listed in this guide are compiled from a number of independent and third party sources believed to be reliable. They're averages only. These prices are updated over time. Changes can be quite dramatic over short periods or remain the same over long periods, due to the difficult to predict nature of the marketplace. This is especially true for rarer items, where there are fewer sales and greater variations in sale prices. For all of these reasons (and more not mentioned) the prices in this guide are designed to serve merely as one of many measures and factors that buyers and sellers should use in determining values. Prices should not be relied upon, to replace the due diligence and expert consultation that buyers and sellers should exercise when concluding any transaction.
Thanks for letting me share - Johnny
