As common as money

As more and more people seem to be offering things for sale and trade, I find myself wondering how Numista can improve itself as a website (now thinking this should be in the website section- I might move it later).
I love how Numista is evolving but would like to see Numista introduce a For Sale 'shop' for each member. I do enjoy swapping, however, there are times when some coins are 'unswappable' as their value is often greater than what is offered.
I think that lots of people would disagree with this idea and I respect people's opinions on this matter. The topic is more for discussion than to exact a petition for the effect of the suggestion.  What do you all think?

I would like the option to sell coins here, because sometimes I need the money and not to swap coins.

This is true - I've recently had a couple of swaps offered and they have a couple of coins of interest to me, but are only worth around £1 each, and they want 8 coins all valued over £5 and up to £25.. I would consider cash and a swap and can all be easily done via PayPal  :s  just a thought though !

I think a "for sale" spot on the site is a good idea especially if you are into the "money" aspect of collecting.  I have tried to make a few swaps but often get turned down because my coins are not of value.  I, on the other hand, am new to collecting and am happy to get all the countries I can.  I am stupid enough to pay postage on a 1 cent coin because I don't have it and I want to add it to my collection.

Great idea.
 

I actually disagree. I think one of the main things that separates Numista from sites like eBay is that it consists of friendly collectors trading coins with no money involved. My perspective has been that it is a site for building collections for fun without the need to spend money. Also, there would be far more scammers than there already are, especially if more valuable coins were being sold.

This may just be my view, as I am a lot younger than most on this site and (thus far) do not make money or have a credit card. For me as a kid it's just an awesome way to build my collection for cheap, and is helped by the vast amounts of commemoratives and special coins (that I use to swap with) made by the Royal Canadian Mint which I get at Face Value.

But I guess a 'selling' section on the site wouldn't be too bad provided that some people still swap

I'm on another coin forum which is much more active than this one - they have a section for trading and for selling - but they require the seller to have x number of posts on the forum, which takes awhile. Never had a bad experience.

Theres a thing called Itrader which is like a feedback system, which could help it along with a post limit on selling too ! The only reason I think adding money only on swaps an not selling unless you arrange to buy via the pm section IMO !  Just because I wanted something from every company but decided that I only want British empire coins now as otherwise it would be expensive. I don't buy to make profit but I'm not going to lose out.. I have one coin I paid £9 for is worth £25 apparently and I would let it go for up to what I paid. I'm
Not here to take advantage I'm
Here to learn and help others I'm not here to lose out either!

Balanced review so far. I was thinking more on the lines of a shop section of each member as well as the regular swapping zone of each member. Scammers will always be a problem...but I'd trust someone who will swap over someone that only wants to sell.
I hope that is clearer...

To avoid the site being flooded by hustlers it would make sense to restrict the number of sale items to being equal to the number of 5 star rated trades. It would prevent the more opportunistic scammers from taking the money and running.

Hello,

I would like to see Numista how it is right now, without selling section. There are a lot of places where collectors can sell coins, Ebay, DelCampe M&A shops just to name a few. I think this site should be like a club of collectors swaping coins.

There are already many members here who actually sell coins, and I think they do it without problems so far. So if the sellers haven't complained, I think site is OK like this.

I would like to see selling on numista. I would also like to be very limited.

I totally agree with lidianb and prefer to keep the Numista's spirit as devoted to non-professionnal collectors.
A lot of sites exist to purchase or sell coins. Please keep our "club" out of the world of business !

The world is business.

Quote: kommodoreThe world is business.

Unfortunately, we need money.

Quote: kommodoreThe world is business.

So, keep a place where there is no money but friendly exchanges of all sorts. Like Numista !

Well said Scorpion36. Lets keep Numista as it is now, friendly and honest.
Just look at the Exchange feedbacks, almost 100% 5 stars.
If others want to buy or sell they can find other sites.

I, too, like the swap aspect of Numista, and I would rather swap than buy - but what do you do when you don't have enough coins for trading, or the large swappers have all the coins you have and don't want to swap. If you are new and just starting out, swapping can be a problem.

You know, I believe Numista should have this option to sell coins, since it's extremely annoying to be turned down or being offered an unfair swap. Likewise I would like to see an individual shop that requires that the swapper has at least a common 4 star rating (8.00/10). Like many others we are 100% trustworthy so I see that this site would be great to sell, here and there, some coins.
I will contact the founder to see his opinion on this.
-Daniel

If this site is great to sell, I think it will soon be converted in a site where everybody sells, and nobody swaps...I think it will be ruined...

And I also think is fair, that Xavier should charge a fee to the seller for each transaction, as you are doing profits using his website, is that fair?

Quote: lidianbAnd I also think is fair, that Xavier should charge a fee to the seller for each transaction, as you are doing profits using his website, is that fair?

I think that that's a fair way to limit transactions.

Quote: lidianbIf this site is great to sell, I think it will soon be converted in a site where everybody sells, and nobody swaps...I think it will be ruined...

And I also think is fair, that Xavier should charge a fee to the seller for each transaction, as you are doing profits using his website, is that fair?

You must be unfamiliar then with other coin forums that allow their members to buy, sell and trade amongst themselves. I know of three, and they do not suffer from the problem you mention.

What you have now is a dead forum and thousands and thousands of members who have done little more than enter some coins into the database.   I question the value of swapping a bunch of cheap, modern  base metal coins half way around the world.  Cheers to you who enjoy it, though.

Are you having any difficulty in selling coins in this site? I know a lot of people who sell coins in this website, who wants to sell lets sell, I don't have any problem with that, and nobody is forbidding that.

I am just against the idea to set "shops" or to have a "sell only" section in their profile. This will encourage everybody to sell the coins, and soon this site site from a friendly swapping one will turn into another Ebay or DelCampe, and all the coin dealers will flood in to sell the coins, why not, if it is free to do it here.

If you don't want to swap don't do it, and if you don't like the forum, don't participate in it. I wonder how can you revive the forum by "opening shops" in here

I think the only logical step is to tag your eBay selling shop in your sig then.

I am not sure that turning Numista into a trading website would be that great.

However to balance a swap it would be great to add an additional field next to the general "personal comments" section, where members could indicate the "swap value" of the coin offered.
It surely would help in three ways:
1) People would be more responsible, when ticking on a coin. (Although I have limited experience in swapping, but already have some partners surprised that a medieval coin is worth more than a circulated deutsche Mark)
2) It would give an indication of the grade, specially in case of older coins.
3) The "swap-value" could add up (like now, the gramms, add up - which I never understood why ) then the swappers could easily balance and negotiate their swaps.

Just finished a swap, in which I am receiving 45 coins for 2 pieces: a 13th century denar and a silver commemorative - I am happy, so is the other swapper; but we had to change a lot of messages to come to a fair agreement - life would be easier, if it would be calculated automatically.

I already hear disagreements saying: "... but, it is a subjective manner and the value might not be correct" - I agree:
1) however, it would be a great starting point to know what the partner thinks, and the negotiation would be more factual.
2) it would be a great way to see whether I want to swap with a person, who puts a "swap-value" of USD 50.- next to a UNC 2010 Lincoln Cent [exageration, but I hope you see what I mean]

Cheers,
Imre

Seriously, why can't anyone just message the person who has the coin they want to buy it ? I've messaged people about it and one person wanted to sell but by the time I had a reply I had already acquired it. It's like when swapping sometimes you may want a few coins from someone and they may want 1 or 2 from you, but it makes the deal not worthwhile for one of the parties. So why not use common sense and offer the other person a bit of extra cash for them and pay via the PayPal route - I believe that way it keeps a sense of friendly swapping but gives a fair deal for both parties and keeps them happy ? Obviously then you should be advised to pay via goods not gift and then at least you can claim that money back

That is what one can do now. I was looking at discussing the idea of shops and what other members thought.
I was thinking on this thread a little more recently and I am often "temporarily unavailable" for swaps and I guess it is because I don't like turning down swaps. I think I will redesign my profile section (which I agree not a lot of people look at) and see how that works for me.