QUESTION:Any insight on shipping and packaging?

PROXIBLOG: Ship the way coin dealers do, with coin mailers for all lots except ones in their own packaging, such as mint and proof sets. Here is a photo of a coin mailer below.

We strongly recommend against third-party shippers. That often requires bidders to give credit card information to merchants not affiliated with Proxibid and therefore not beholden to the Unified User Agreement. What that means is you are not protected if the third-party mailer loses your lots. You also are giving your banking information to an unknown mailing business hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Do you know their security precautions?

If you are going to pay Proxibid fees and use its technology to sell to Internet bidders, you just have to ship as part of your business. See these previous posts on the topic.

Shipping should be done within one week, preferably within a day or two of billing. One of the quickest shippers on the portal is SilverTowne Auctions. Coins ship usually within a day or two, depending if the lot is won on a weekend or week day. Recently, Midwest Coins has greatly improved its shipping. These are but a few examples. However, in our rating system, we do note sellers that are slow in sending lots.

Also, try to use the US Postal Service. We have never lost a lot via USPS as long as signature and/or tracking number is provided. We do not care for Fed Ex or UPS. Often we have to pick up parcels at local Fed Ex offices. UPS sometimes just leaves parcels at the door and rings the doorbell. What if nobody is home? Again, these observations are based only on our experience. You may have lost items via USPS. There are times and occasions when Fed Ex or UPS are more reliable than USPS. However, this blog shares our opinion, and that is all we are doing here. We like the local post office because mail carriers are familiar with your daily mail and often let you know if a package has been damaged or tampered with prior to delivery. We never had that experience with any other shipper.

Next installment: Anything else you can recommend to improve online service?

Proxiblog is an independent entity with no connection to the auction portal Proxibid. Our intent is to uphold basic numismatic standards as established by the American Numismatic Association and the National Auctioneer Association and to ensure a pleasurable bidding experience not only on Proxibid but also on similar portals such as iCollector and AuctionZip.