Featured Recycled Article No. 1: Coin Show Etiquette

Yes, you are right of course. Not inappropriate perhaps, but foolhardy.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Sounds like an all around festival of stupid. Dealer doesn't realize what he has, buyer is a greedhead. They deserve each other.

 

Probably important to stress....both sides. *heh*

I'll quite happily negotiate politely and respectfully, and drop the issue when/if it becomes clear we won't meet, if you'll reply to "I'd really like to get into that coin for about $10%_BELOW_STICKER" with something other than the "I bet you would, you cheapskate. get the **** out of here" I witnessed at my last coin show.

Admittedly, just a few tables earlier, I'd seen a fellow trying to buy 1oz silver rounds for 80% of spot because "I know you didn't pay that much for them, you're just being greedy"...so I guess it's hard to remain calm sometimes.

 

But the dealer, (whom I had known for years), got the $1800 coin. He had just bought the collection and put them for sale without realizing the coin was a rare overdate, (the collector had not marked it).

In the end, what was the result? The dealer would have made a sale and profit from the coin, and the collector would have had a great cherrypick. Because of the collectors actions, now the dealer gets to make a HUGE profit when he sells, and the collector gets nothing.

Who is stupid?????

 

Don't take anything personal by this, but I have seen a lot more dealers who could use a coarse in etiquette than I have buyers. Now, granted, I spend a lot more time looking at dealers than buyers, but some of them are just inexcusable. There are also a lot of pleasant, conversant dealers out there, but it is much easier to remember the problems.

 

RLM, I agree there are some unagreeable, mean, crude, and unethical dealers, and I have met more of them than probably any of you have. And that is very sad and, in my opinion, is one of the most negatives in the coin industry. As a matter of fact, there are some dealers whom I flatly refuse to do business with because in my opinion they are unethical, immoral, and/or condescending. There are also many who are simply "gruff" and abrupt in their interactions, but to me that is just their personality and I have learned to get past this.

So yes, there are good and "bad" people on both sides of the table, and in every profession. Believe me, I know, because I worked for lawyers as a paralegal for 35 years before I became a full time coin dealer. I worked for some of the most wonderful ethical lawyers on the planet, but I also worked for some of the meanest, crudest, and unethical ones as well - which didn't last long because I wouldn't/couldn't put up with having to deal with them day in and day out, so I would move on. Luckily, in my experience, they were a lot fewer than the good ones!

I don't mean to come across here, or anywhere, as not liking this business or my customers, because the exact opposite is true. By posting these suggestions from my side of the table, as I mentioned, I am only trying to make the coin show experience a more positive one. The same is true for the dealer war story I posted - that was just one of the very few difficult customers I encountered - it is not the norm. But I thought it was so over-the-top that it was almost comical. At the time, it was very frustrating, but it sure helped increase my stamina for patience!

 

The coin was an overdate and the dealer didn't see it? Wow, this story just keeps getting better. And why does the dealer now get to make a HUGE profit? The potential buyer wouldn't have told him about the overdate, unless he was an idiot. The deal fell through and the dealer still thinks he has a common CBH.

 

I guess you have never bought a large collection. You simply don't have time to check for rarities like that, and assume the previous owner would heve spotted them. Also, I SAID that the dealer recognized it when he picked it up, but was going to honor the price listed. At that point he knew it was mispriced, but was going to do the ethical thing and sell it for that. The collector, though, refused to pay the price and instead counteroffered. This broke the deal, allowing the dealer to pocket the piece instead of selling.

Yes, he showed me the CBH afterwards since at the time I was collecting them. It was one of the 1824 overdates if I remember correctly.

As to "the story just keeps getting better", whatever man. Not all overdates are that obvious, and if you don't wish to believe me that is your choice. I have nothing to prove by relaying what I have observed other than trying to help others out. I am kind of hoping you wish to haggle with all of your cherry picks, maybe some day you will have your own story to relate. The only time it almost happened to me was in a pick box at CICF and the dealer looked at one of the coins I had picked out. He actually pocketed it, and I asked if he was going to sell it. He said he would to me, so I got a nice little VF greek silver for $15. If I would have asked him for a discount, I am sure the coin would have remained in his pocket, and the answer would have been no.

 

I guess, based on the posts so far in this thread, we can add another suggestion: if you come across people discussing general advice, and your first response is to mock them, denigrate them, and even call them liars -- well, it's true, a coin show probably isn't the place for you. You're probably much better off staying at home in the basement.

Sheesh.

With that out of the way, here are a couple of other show-etiquette scenarios:

1) I found a 1913 Barber half in the junk silver bin at a dealer's table. For whatever reason, I decided to point it out to them, instead of picking it. That got me a discount on the other coins I bought from the bin, and another $20 on a silver+gold proof set I sold to that dealer.

2) A few months later, I sold some unmarked .999 rounds to that same dealer, around 8% back of melt. Chatting afterward, I let slip that I'd gotten them for about 25% of that -- bought them as "metal content unknown" from eBay, and got lucky. Apparently that offended the guys behind the counter -- the next day, when I brought in a PCGS MS70 2006-W burnished $50 AGE, they offered me $100 below melt. Yeah, right.

So, being nice to the dealer can get you better deals, and offending them can​ cost you. Even if "there are no rules".

 

how you going to steal something with your hands in your pocket?

 

Why on earth would you "let slip" what you paid for them?
Well, as you discovered, it wasn't the best idea you ever had!

 

yeah, I hear you. sounds like a blast. Im in sales and if I made a list like that, I wouldnt have any customers left.

 

The "list" reminds me of the famous "Soup Nazi" episode on Seinfeld.
No coins for you!

 

About negotiating a cherrypick...
I am an inveterate haggler. I even haggle at small retail stores!
But I digress...
In my time I have come across some marvelous cherrypicks - coins that a dealer has seriously underpriced for whatever reason - rather than press my luck, I'll pay the asking price for it and count my blessings.

 

Why would that be sir? Come on, someone can come up with the exact same list for Ebay purchases, online auctions, etc. Every single venue has their own form of etiquette, and knowing what is expected from both sides simply makes the process go smoother. I am sure a collector could write up a similar list for dealers.

Now, are all collectors going to follow these rules? No, just like all dealers would not follow any rules drawn up by collectors. However, I basically already do what Charmy suggests, and have made some nice dealer friends. I imagine I am welcomed at their table and get decent deals since we know each other. I see Scott here hates my stories, but here is another one. I was at a dealer's table 3 months ago, (I can give you the name and location Scott if you wish to call the man), and I was looking at a set of Franklin's in a folder. I had dealt with this dealer before, I am courteous and wait my turn, and was offered melt plus $30 for the circulated set. Another patron barges up, points to the set from in front of me and asks "how much?". Dealer said melt plus $200, and the man mumbled maybe he would be back.

Courtesy cuts both ways, and when you are a nice courteous customer you get better treated, just like you patronize a dealer who is nice to you and treats you fairly. It cuts both ways and all Charmy is trying to do here is give you the shortlist on how to become a valued customer. I believe its valuable information for those who don't already know, just like I believe a list created by us collectors for dealers would be valuable for THEM to know. Doesn't mean either side will use it, but I strongly believe those who do will benefit long term. Long term friendly relationships with dealers are a valuable thing. Those who have them get offered coins well before others do. I see it all of the time, dealers pulling out special coins when a favorite customer comes by, coins that you and I aren't shown, offered, or able to buy.

If any believes they can ill treat dealers, be a "coin mercenary", and STILL be offered the truly good coins that come along, I believe they are mistaken. Like many things in life involving humans, it doesn't always boil down to dollars. I will wager at every single show coins are sold to certain people for less than the dealer could have received, but the dealer has a relationship they are maintaining that is more valuable than an extra $20 in the pocket today. Dealers, please correct me if I am wrong.

 

Then we agree sir. I was not talking either about getting a $40 coin for $30 and not haggling, but better deals than that.

 

Some of you are the cats I look at and shake my head and laugh as I peruse shows. My favorite characters are the insulted customer or the "big shot" dealer who talks down to customers and throws big numbers around like money is worthless. You deal coins, bro.

 

In a perfect work everybody would be on time, polite, and pay full retail for your sales and services. However, the reality is, all people are differnt. Some may read that list, and try to hard to follow those rules others wont care and do as they feal. I have had customers that miss apointments, haggle over discounts, kick their dog and smoke *** in front of me. I can stop calling on them, but in this economy you have to take what you can get

 

Not disagreeing sir. However, if you have a good customer do you try to take care of them better than bad ones? Do you keep an eye out for what your PITA custoemrs want, or for your good ones? On the other side, customers will come back to nice dealers, and only deal with those arrogant jerks when they have to. Especially in today's market, I bet dealers need to do all they can to not tick customers off. However, that is the other side of this discussion, the other half Charmy did not discuss in her post.

We as coin customers have given lots of advice to dealers on how to behave in previous posts here on CT, and I believe Charmy and other dealers here to live up to those rules.

 

yes, I do take care of my favorite customers. But if I sent a do's and dont's list to my customers half of them would probably think im a arrogant snob.