I've been buying silver proofs and commems as they come from the Mint for the last five years or so, but I'll probably not buy any more directly from the Mint. I see my 'limited edition' 2012 ASE 2-coin set that cost me $249 can now be bought in OGP for less than $200, and graded proof-69 for a very little more. Almost all modern commems in MS69 or proof-69 sell for less than they cost new, and they're already graded. I'll still buy the Mints silver proof sets, but that's about it. Anyone else?
Wait for them to come out, then buy them from ebay, you'll get a better deal. You can buy MS70's for close to the same price the mint charges on some coins. I've only bought a few coins from the mint, 2012 2 coin set, and BU and PR 2012 Star Spangled Banner coins. I did have a problem with the mint with my first order(BU PR)- I received the order and didn't even open the box to check the order, kinda just put it away. Was cleaning out the area where the coins were and left the box on the table, my wife thought it was a new package, so she opened it and I'm glad she did. I had gotten someone elses order that only included a Proof Banner and a 3 coin quarter set, thankfully I opened the box before they stopped making them, I was able to get my order corrected. Save some time/money, buy them on eBay after they've been released for a little bit(a year maybe?), they're not going anywhere...
Not always. I steadily bought the 50 state quarters proof sets from the Mint, then stopped because I didn't have any money. A couple years later I started trying to complete my set and that proof set that was $15 direct from the Mint a couple years ago ended up costing me double that or more from eBay. The same thing happened to me last month. I only had one proof set left to buy in order to complete my set and I ended up paying $30 for it at the local coin show, which was a deal because the same set was going for $35 - $40 on eBay.
