did i sound like a crook because i told the truth?

back in the 80's when i was doing a few coin shows a gentleman walk up to my table and showed me 2 boxes full of PCGS MS/PR 68-69 (1986-1987 ASEs) said he paid $125-$250 each.he asked me what would i pay for these coins.i replied by telling him the MS coins only worth $2 over the bullion price and the PR coins only worth the issue price,by now i knew what he was thinking in his mind..."this guy is a CROOK trying to steal my rare coins" ,but what he didn't realize the real CROOK was the dealer who sold him those coins for a big premium.

maybe i should of kept my big mouth shut...:foot-mouth: ,but i had to tell him the truth. :yes:

would you of said anything different in this situation?

 

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In the long run you'll only be remembered as a crook if he finds a sucker to pay him what he wants them to be worth. Chances are he'll have to hear from a lot more "crooked" dealers before he finds that buyer!

 

The real question is what was your ask price on such coins!?

 

I would have told the guy that the dealer who sold him those coins at those prices ripped him off and declined to answer his question on the grounds that the answer would be insulting an nowhere near what he paid.

I am more interested in knowing if this has really bothered you for over 20 years.

 

I would have offered to sell him more of them at much better prices, sort of dodging his question but I think he would have gotten the idea.

 

That's a good idea. Maybe feel him out for what he thought a dealer should offer, then lay them on the table at that price!

 

That's what I was thinking.

 

i would never deal in these type of coins. i wouldn't be able to sleep at night if i sold a $10 coin for $200+ bucks, b/c one of these days i may have to buy them coins back from the same customer...

 

yes,it still bothers me,b/c i had to tell the truth more than once,and every time the guy must think i am full of S**T.

anyhow, i would never make an offer on modern coins.

 

That's better than not telling the truth and being a crook.

You can't go wrong by being honest.

 

I have customers come in everyday that paid WAY too much for coins even years ago but I'm the chucklehead...I tell them what I sell the same coins for today and they still think I'm wrong. You can't fix stupid and it's like trying to teach a pig to read, waste of time and it annoys the pig.

 

And this is one reason dealers get a bad rep - you for telling the truth and he probably thinks you were trying to rip him off. Then again if he went to another dealer to sell them he might realize you told him the truth. He then realizes the dealer that sold them to him was the rip off artist - that is assuming he really paid those kind of prices back then. He may have just been feeling you out. Telling the truth is what you should have done. Some people just don't like to hear it.

 

Well, that makes me feel a lot better about sending naive customers to a dealer.

 

I'm hoping as a Dealer , you had to tell the TRUTH more than once . Sheesh.

 

Not naive, just stupid. There is a difference...most of these folks who overpaid still think they know more than everyone else.

 

This is just my way of handling the situation. I would have just explained to him that I do not normally deal in these, except as a strict bullion coin. But, offer display them, and sell them under consignment for a 10% commission. Then put the guy on the spot. He needs to come up with a fair asking price, and possibly a minimum price he'd accept. Chances are he'll learn on his own that he overpaid for them severely.

 

That's way too much work to prove a point and there is the chance that some other poor newbie will come along and buy them for the high price you are asking... That's just passing the problem along to the next guy... A simple "I appreciate you showing them to me but I'm not interested" would be my answer.

 

Indeed....sometimes you should just bite your lip. I agree with mark_h here.

 

Nothing else need be said.

 

I'm so glad I'm not a dealer. I'd have pulled every last strand of hair out by now if I had to deal with coin investors (they're not collectors or they'd know what they bought and how much they could get for it) who didn't do five minutes of research before buying something from a tv scam and then thinking they were going to turn a quick tidy profit. Realistically, how long would it take to determine the market value for something like an ASE before blindly buying? People like that I'd have to laugh at and tell them it's not worth my time discussing business with.
Guy