Coin shop etiquette

Listening to the customer/dealer interactions can be enlightening. Some shops I’ve been in make me want to do business there. Some not so much.

 

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I have personally seen people, especially the elderly, get ripped off at local shops, be it coin shops or pawn shops. Usually, if the item doesn't sell, I ask the person to look at it outside in the parking lot. I haven't made any deals this way yet, but for sure a second pair of eyes on their items won't hurt.

Paired with the fact I do not have to cover overhead costs like a brick and mortar location would, I can typically offer a little more than the shops.

 

This is why I have a pretty good inventory of my collection and current market prices. I also have what the prices would be at 90 and 80 percent of the current market prices. That way my wife can determine who is trying to rip her off or who is giving her a proper offer. Regards.

 

I'd just say that you know what he paid for it, ask if you can see it after the deal is done. and make an offer.

profit margin in most numismatic transactions is between 10-20% as a seller you lose 10-20%, as a dealer they gain 10-20% when they sell it. Really don't want to go below the 10% and above 20% kind of leads to haggling or hurt feelings. Some like to play the haggle game, and mark up to 30-35% and let you talk them down some and set it that high so either you'll pay it, or it will look like a great deal when they give you 10% off.

Rule of Thumb markup for a reseller is to start at 30% markup and then if necessary "find wiggle room" down to 25% or 20% to make the deal. Sometimes you gotta go lower, but it give you room to make a buck or two doing that.

in this scenario, and him paying $5.00 for it, there is no reason that $7.15 isn't more than reasonable for it, and that $6.50 is fair. Offering $10 would be more than fair and they should take the quick profit without carrying cost, unless he ripped that dude off in which case he won't sell it like that.

I would think that he got a good look at it before making the offer, and besides a nice display, it's all common date coins that are either problem coins, or nice and really common.

I've seen sets like that, the box is worth more than whats in it, and the box, I know people sell the short sets in fancy boxes for like $150, I know some places will do even fancier boxes and add stamps, and charge $40 each for 15 shipments of 2 coins and 1 stamp (total scam preying on the unknowing).
You might find a short set on ebay for like $50 or $60, but that's convenience. The dealer is going to break the set and sell them as singles most likely. Might have an eye for one coin he can make his $5 back on and then the rest is gravy sitting in the bargain bin or sold as a roll of mixed date commons or whatever.

There is carrying cost and stale inventory that takes up space that doesn't turn back into money is just a burden really, money on the shelf, but it's got to get sold at some point.
Unless he ripped the dude off though, $10 offered should be an easy flip to double his money immediately. If he did rip the guy off you'd know it when he refuses.
double what he paid for it should work for most dealers to not have to hold something in inventory at all.

To a dealer this should not be offensive, he made his deal without interference, and you make your deal and hopefully everyone is happy in the end, but it shouldn't cause you to get banned from the shop doing it like that. worst case, you find out he ripped the guy off and won't sell it for less than $60.

it just tells you not to sell at that shop is all it does.

 

Or buy there.

 

I agree 100%. It's really poor taste to try to cut in on a dealer's transaction in his own store or table at a show. It should NEVER be done.

Bruce

 

So, you all are saying it's okay for a dealer or a coin shop to take advantage of someone is just fine with you all .. Well not me I would have to say something. But I wouldn't try to purchase the coin or coins though. Just say something like I bet you would pay 5.00 dollars for a coin that's worth much more something to that EFFECT. but not purchase inside.

 

Except there is no way to know based on this story if the seller was being taken advantage of. Sure, he offered a low price but it's possible that were all damaged to the point where they are basically worthless. He might throw the whole set on the wall for $15 and take the first $10 that comes along because the coins have all been painted for all we know.

To a certain extent, a seller also needs to bare some responsibility to have a basic idea of what their item is worth. They need not be an expert...but they should have some idea.

 

The reason the person selling the coin collection went to the LCS was to see the dealer, not you. The reason they knew about the LCS is because the owner has made a significant investment in operating and promoting his business. You’re essentially trying to gain an advantage for yourself at his expense if you try to cut in. Go start your own LCS!!

 

i wouldn't say I'm "Ok" with it, however, interfering in someone else's business is a quick way of getting trespassed and banned from that business, so I guess it's up to you.
They operate a lot like a pawn shop or we buy gold place buy as low as someone will take, sell as high as they can. But if you inject yourself into a deal and mess it up because you don't like the sound of it, I'll guarantee you you won't be welcome back on their property ever again, I've got a mom that was trespassed at the dollar store for speaking up in defense of someone with the cashier. I had to go pick her up from the cops in the parking lot before they took her to jail, she's a strong minded and opinionated lady. hahaha.

Buyer beware, but seller must also beware. I try not to involve myself in other peoples deals, or their relationship problems/arguments. No good comes from it for myself at all.

 

Coin shop etiquette is one thing, but at some point your actions as an observer become a matter of universal ethics and morality.

It's easy to come up with situations that fall solidly on one side of the line or the other:

- Offering full price to a coin shop customer when the shop owner is accounting for a 10% profit margin would put you solidly in the wrong.

- Alerting an ignorant customer to the fact that they are being offered $5 for a $1000 coin is simply the right (correct) thing to do.

But, as with all things, the issue lies with the hazy in-between cases. Where should the line be drawn? It's a matter of personal opinion. Considering all of the things that have already been mentioned in this thread, when in a coin shop, you should probably push that line out as far as you can comfortably feel possible. (Although it can still be terribly hard to watch)

 

There was/is a dealer here in the metro, that bragged about giving a customer melt value for a 93S. The coin graded High AU or low MS. That right there is unethical. If I had been there, I would have had no problem calling him out. I have been in there since, but only go in to cherry-pick the guy. LOL

 

Sticking your nose into somebody else's business, while in their establishment, might seem ethically and morally correct, for that one transaction. However, once you interject your opinion into that shopkeepers business, you have effectively rendered your ethics and mortality useless in his business forevermore.

So, you potentially right a wrong that might or might not happen this time. The thing is, you are not changing that shopkeepers approach with future customers. So your ethics and morals are making you feel superior for a split second, but you didn't change a thing going forward. But you did remove yourself from any future business with that establishment.

 

At the first coin show I ever attended (maaaaaaaaany years ago) the action was slow and I was talking to a dealer...I asked him (in all innocence) what he and the show did for security...I first got the fishy-eye look and then he explained that they had plain-clothes security wandering around and he could have me followed with a quick look.

 

I did this a business in a northern town

It actually might "right" a new or young dealer.
Everyone, should at all times be worried about unethical practices, and should expect to be called out, for them.

 

Absolutely Picker, If Dealer or coin shop owner tells me to leave and never come back, I won't then and leave without incident. Just like the old days was kicked out or barred from several watering holes. They did me a favor and I wasn't smart enough to know it at the time. as
Kentucky
puts it (maaaaaany years ago) like 48 yrs

 

There are products that I market in my business that people can purchase from Amazon cheaper than I can sell it to them. However Amazon cannot offer the contracting services that my business offers.... My local dealer is a friend and a HUGE asset to me. I have spent afternoons in his place when people came in with coins (usually slabbed ASE's) they believed were far more valuable than they really were. Yes, my dealer has staff, insurance, light bill, etc. and a storefront to pay for. Paying his overhead is a value to me considering all the other areas that he helps me in.... I wouldn't step in the middle of a deal on his shop floor any more than I would make time with my best buddy's wife. It is just an unconscionable act to me.

 

Glad we are all different and can voice your opinion without someone getting their feelers hurt and still be friends. Would make a boring world if we all were the same. I get where our coming from Randy. Having a friend for a dealer is Huge and I wouldn't either in that circumstance described above. If a dealer is asking an outrageous price perhaps, he realized he paid too much for it thinking he could pass it on to a under educated person, I do not know I have never been in a coin shop period. So, I haven't had the opportunity to get booted just yet... unless you count Pawn shops.... Bucket list.

 

I had to let this thread run a little.
Anyone thinking of interjected themselves into the business of others should Google ‘Tortious Interference’
Judgements could be 4 or 5 figures.

 

If you never say anything in the first place, then aren't your ethics and morality already rendered useless?

Maybe not, but you've done your part as a individual to dissuade predatory behavior. If everybody held themselves to this standard, then the state of society might be incrementally improved.

From a Stoicism perspective, there is no sense of "superiority" to be gained from doing the correct thing. You simply make a contract with yourself to consistently behave in a manner that you deem correct based on your moral rational.

And, why would I want to provide future business to a person that makes a living by ripping people off?

Just to be clear, per my previous post, I am talking about a particularly egregious case here ($5 for a $1000 coin). IMO, if you sit back and watch somebody get taken advantage of to this degree, then you become something like an accessory to a crime. (In a figurative sense)