The Convergence of Vcoins and MAShops

[Steppenfool]

With the arrival of London Ancient Coins on MAShops and CGB on Vcoins, it appears to me that both of these sites are slowly moving towards offering the same selection of coins. This is a more relevant observation for Europeans, as dealers from North America remain mostly exclusive to Vcoins.

Is it inevitable that all dealers will end up on both sites eventually? If so, which marketplace would you make your purchases from, and if the sites end up indistinguishable in terms of offerings, do you think both will continue to operate long term?

I personally prefer MAShops, purely for the additional functions: Marking when money is sent/received, and package is sent/received; the offer function; the feedback function; and the ability to see postage costs before adding to cart.

As a result, when the same coin is offered on both marketplaces I usually use MAShops, I'd like to know which one you use when you have the choice?

Any discussion about this  is encouraged below, in addition to pictures of your last purchase from a marketplace, and which one it was, and whether you had the choice.

My last purchase was from Incitatus coins on Vcoins. Incitatus is one of my favourite dealers, and one of the only North American ones I use. They are only on Vcoins so I didn't have a choice about which marketplace to use.

 

PHILIP I THE ARAB AR silver antoninianus. Struck 248 AD. IMP PHILIPPVS AVG, radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right. Reverse - SAECVLARES AVGG, she-wolf standing left, suckling the twins Romulus & Remus, II in exergue. RIC 15. 22mm, 3.9g. Very scarce.

Edited August 26, 2023 by Steppenfool

[Limes]

21 minutes ago, Steppenfool said:

As a result, when the same coin is offered on both marketplaces I usually use MAShops, I'd like to know which one you use when you have the choice?

 

I never used vcoins, but there indeed is a lot of dealers that are on both mashops and vcoins. I think its because of what you said; mashops is presumably used by Europeans, and vcoins by USA collectors (generally speaking of course) and the shops want to offer their material to a broad audience.

In general however, I try to only use retail if the coin I want is more expensive in auctions, which sometimes happens. And even then I only try to use European sellers. I do make exceptions, based on rarity, and price and of the circumstances are right and Fortuna is with me, I will try a non-European (or Swiss....) venue. So basically, my decision is based on: do I really like that coin, is it really rare and can I afford it (including fees, import taxes, exchange rates, and so on). If it's not rare, I will wait for a coin to show up in a favorable selling venue. The seller / auctioneer is determined by price, and I pay little attention to website functionalities and so on. 

Great coin by the way, lovely toning! 

[expat]

I use VCoins because there are 7 dealers in Spain, all offering different products with obviously some overlapping of common coins. They always give you a choice of postage types and prices before committing to a purchase, always tell me the status of my order and supply a tracking number when it is sent. They are quick to reply to any questions . I wouldn´t say they are for US collectors only, there are so many European dealers and coins to choose from. Here is a list of VCoins dealers by Country.

https://www.vcoins.com/en/DealersByCountry.aspx

[kirispupis]

I use VCoins because the UI makes it much easier to see new coins and the dealer-site communication seems to be better. On several purchases from ma-shops the dealers took a long time to ship coins and in one case they later reported that the coin had been sold elsewhere.

With CGB on VCoins (though I only use that site to see what coins they have, while I order directly on their site) my time on ma-shops will be diminished.

[John Conduitt]

I've wondered about this too. If a dealer is inclined to be on one, I guess they would tend to go on both. Eventually, there might be little difference, although that would depend on how much cost and effort it is to list on both.

I use VCoins more but many of my preferred dealers aren't on either of them. I tend to go direct to the dealer but VCoins and MAShops help find the odd new coin I might want from all the others.

VCoins has a setting many (most?) US dealers use that prevents orders from outside the US. Sometimes, the dealer will sell outside the US anyway, but I have to go direct. I've not yet found a dealer from anywhere else in the world that wouldn't ship to me, so maybe it's only for US dealers.

[CPK]

I use both sites fairly equally.

I've noticed that dealers who list coins on both sites tend to price the MA Shops one higher - perhaps the platform charges more than VCoins? I don't know.

[Heliodromus]

I don't buy much from either site but just because there is very rarely anything I'm looking for. I'll still check both sites every day though, just in case! So far this year my purchases are about 1/3 eBay and 2/3 auction houses, but last year it was almost 60% eBay and 40% auctions (probably one of my best collecting years ever!).

At this point most of the stuff on my want list has been there for years, so I'm never in the position of wanting something and having multiple examples for sale on different venues to pick and choose between. If I want something I'll buy from wherever if becomes available in an acceptable grade and price.

 

 

[Harry G]

I almost exclusively buy from auctions and eBay, and have so far only made one purchase on VCoins: this scarcer antoninianus of Claudius II Gothicus with a funeral pyre (not altar) reverse from Tom Vossen. It was surprisingly cheap, and a bargain at €21 including postage

 

I find mashops and VCoins are generally far more expensive than auctions, which is why I don't tend to buy from them.

 

With that said, I still check VCoins daily in case a bargain turns up, and also have email alerts set up for certain criteria

 

I would also be tempted to sell on VCoins, were it not for the €400 set up fee

Edited August 26, 2023 by Harry G

[Kali]

I only buy from vcoins and a few dealers from their own public websites. I can't stand Ma-shops. I always find their coins way over priced, not counting having to deal with the over seas drama that seems to occur on a regular basis, mainly since Covid. I no longer buy from over seas. And the constant threads about issues from buying overseas, that are posted on here and Cointalk, makes me glad I continue with my decision.

[JayAg47]

I find coins on Ma-shops or from European dealers to be generally on the cheaper side as well as having more variety, maybe because those coins literally come from the ground in their countries and thus carry a low primary cost (especially the misattributed listings on ebay). But once they cross the ocean and enter North America or Australia, it means someone bought them knowing what those coins are worth from auction houses/retailers and when they resell the coins, it certainly carry some additional cost. 

Shipping-wise both Ma-shops and Vcoins are pretty similar in their cost and waiting period, at least to me. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by JayAg47

[ewomack]

Recently, the vast majority of my coin purchases have originated either from VCoins or MA-Shops. Possibly 100% of them. I have never enjoyed the wild auction scene, even on Ebay, especially when extra fees get tacked on and prices explode irrationally. "Bargains" can exist in that realm for sure, but they can also take time and effort to find. I would just rather know what I'm paying up front without a battle to an uncertain finish. I also don't spend all that much time seeking and buying coins, so I don't make the time to follow auction houses, browse upcoming sales, etc. I prefer just going to a store, seeing what they offer, and buying something instantaneously. For this, both VCoins and MA-Shops function just fine. I don't really favor one site over the other, but I have noticed, more and more over time and with fewer exceptions, that both sites seem to have almost identical listings for the categories that I usually peruse. It sounds like this might become even more common going forward. Also, as others have already noted, MA-Shops does seem to charge higher prices in general.

As for buying overseas, I did get slapped with a large import duty (large relative to the price of the coin, at least) for a recent MA-Shops purchase. This had never happened to me before, so when I purchased another overseas coin recently, my anxiety at receiving that "import duty payment required" email erupted. Thankfully, one never arrived and the coin appeared in my mailbox as normal. Some people here said that my import duty experience may have just added up to bad luck. I hope so. That additional duty arguably made that coin an overpriced purchase. I would definitely not want to repeat that with every purchase. I would just stop buying coins if that became routine. I never want to like something so much that I pay ridiculous prices for it. Unchecked desires can often lead to foolish behavior. Those situations rarely, if ever, end well.

Edited August 26, 2023 by ewomack

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I prefer vcoins over MA-shops; I really don't like the way searches for MA display.  I've been using vcoins for a long time, I want to say at least since 2006.

The part I don't like about vcoins; having to put an item into the cart to see what shipping is, or HOW it is shipped.  I once changed my mind at this stage, and abandoned the transaction, without finishing it. The dealer asked what was going on, which was embarrassing.  I don't know if clearing the cart would have helped.  Perhaps I even did.

CGB used to be on vcoins. There are some dealers whom I miss. I presume most of them retired; Byzantium Coins (retired), Imperial Coins, Rutten & Wieland, Ancient Coins.ca (Dr. Fishman), etc.  If only Allen Berman could have been on vcoins, or had a similar, modern site.

They also had a page where they displayed squares of the various dealers.  That made it a lot easier to search and notice new dealers.

 

[Roman Collector]

I check both sites daily in case a bargain shows up in one of my collecting areas. Bargains almost never do, though. I find that many of the dealers are on both places and I've purchased from both platforms. Overall, I purchased more from V-coins and I certainly have a long "wish list" at V-coins, some of which have been on it for 6-7 years (overpriced and nobody wants to buy them).

This is my latest purchase from V-coins -- Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. Arrived to the US from Germany in about a week.

[ominus1]

...welp, i'm 'merican and i buy from MA shope and CBG,  because i collect Habsburg and Louies..now i've lQQked at V coins,  but to date never bought a coin from there..and yeah i like MA's set up...the next coins im planning on getting are coming from there   🙂