The article is broken up into separate posts - The coin investments list is at the end of the articleTamo42 has been filling out the last several lists. He's taken over most of the tasks required to produce these lists, especially the coin research involved in identifying investment-grade coins to include in the list. The results have been very positive. He has improved on the way I used to do it in many ways.
* We get our lists reliably twice each week, once for the weekends, and once for mid-week.
* They have lots more information about each coin, that tamo42 diligently researches for us.
* Improved article preparation methods save time that can instead be used to include more coins in the list than I was able to do.
* A whole new analytical perspective that involves hard data in determining the relative superiority of one coin over another.
* Some features of the list that I had to stop doing due to lack of time have returned under tamo42's more time-efficient stewardship.
* ...and many others.
The last list #74 had two incredible bargains that were each valued at least $1000 more than the prices the sellers were asking for the coins. Both coins sold within minutes, probably to buyers who received instant email notifications as soon as tamo42 posted them. The same person got both coins (so I'm told), and that works out to a cool $2000 to $3000 profit (at least!) for just 10 seconds worth of work by the lucky buyer who was quick to check what the new LBC post notifications were about.
I then realized there was yet another noticeable advantage to tamo42 doing the lists now - If I had been doing the list, those two coins would not have made it in the list because I would have bought them instantly, instead of posting them. Although I often posted great bargains also, those two particular coins were the kind of coins I look for (especially the god of war & wealth).
So, the most interesting positive result now that tamo42 is doing the list is that I'm not buying up all the good stuff myself!
People often ask me questions like "If this coin is such a good investment, why didn't you buy it yourself instead of posting it?". The answer to that was usually something like "Because I can't afford to buy everything", and I would sometimes even admit that the only reason I posted such a great coin was because I had just ran out of cash.
Now, my answer would be "Because tamo42 saw it (and posted it to the list) before I did", haha! So, not only is the list overall just better due to tamo42's managing of the list, it's actually more profitable now, especially for the people who are registered on the forum and react quickly to the notifications they receive.
One of these days we're going to have to go back in time and see what the current value is for all the coins sold on these lists. In a year's time, I would be surprised if the current value were not more than 150% of what was paid for them. This is list #75, and I stopped counting the value of the sales at around $500,000.
I think we've been doing these lists for a few months less than a year. Once we hit the year mark, I'll have to hassle a volunteer to crunch the numbers for us, and see if the list is as profitable for the buyers as we think it is.
Actually, we could do this just with the oldest postings, and only calculate on coins that were sold 1 year or more ago. My rule of thumb for this crazy market is that a coin should double in about 18 months, so we could extend the timeframe a bit more, to accommodate more conservative expectations.
But, just for curiosity's sake, I wonder what was paid for the coins in the first few lists, and what they're worth now? Do the cold, hard facts objectively prove that
LBC really does make you rich?
A reminder: Ebay/PayPal is the biggest, safest, and best way to buy coins. Sellers with a record of poor customer service suddenly shape up and start dealing more professionally once they enter the Ebay market. Ebay maintains policies that favor the buyers if something goes wrong, so sellers who want to sell coins profitably on Ebay just have to make sure that their customers get what they were led to expect.
Buyers, know that you are the customer, and on ebay, the customer is always right. But, don't abuse your status as the customer. If you make yourself a pest, sellers are not required to sell to you, and Ebay will side with the seller in disputes that involve you. In short, the advantages Ebay confers upon buyers comes with the responsibility to use them wisely, for the benefit of everyone. Ebay needs lots of buyers AND sellers, but the world will not miss just one troublemaker that gets kicked out.
A wise and incredibly successful businessman I know once told me that the best way to make sure your company succeeds is to make sure that everyone working for you knows they are replaceable. I gave that advice some thought, and you know what? Not only is it correct advice, but it's actually true for EVERYONE, including the boss.
Ebay knows that they are replaceable. As soon as Ebay stops being the best place on Earth to buy and sell stuff, people will just replace them with another venue. Buyers, sellers, and Ebay itself are all 100% replaceable.
So, in the words of a great man: "Be excellent to each other".
