Can the mint stop coin dealers fom sucking up the new releases?

For real... how many actual collectors missed out on this? I doubt many truly missed a chance to buy them. And if they did... there have been many chance at about 7:30 am eastern. Just keep checking.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I'd say all the people buying single sets on Ebay for $125-$160 would have liked to have gotten them for $60 a set. But you were tying up the website buying more than you were supposed to. Go check completed sales on these, there are lots of actual collectors that wanted these.

Are you going for 50 sets on the next issue?

 

Simple supply and demand... at the $57.95 price for the Truman set, demand was way higher than the limited supply. Even if the dealers stayed out of it entirely, there would eventually be collectors left out and who would be forced to pay higher prices in the secondary market if they wanted one.

But since dealers can buy coins (and get friends and family to buy coins to get more than the household limit), it just speeds up the sell out of these limited sets.

 

The site was not tied up. I have heard of ZERO issues for getting on and getting orders. So you think every complete sale on ebay is from someone who got zero from the mint?? I sold 3 of my boxes to big time dealers... at $650 each!! Sounds like the dealers are snatching them up, not poor little collectors who could not get any. And I would love to get 50 next time! Doubt I can though. Can't hurt to try though

 

I am talking for all of the collectors who have industrial jobs, or do not have access to computers at all time. Just my firm has about 300, but across the US there are millions upon millions of people like this. Just because your job has access to a phone or computer any time you wish, do not assume everyone does. I am simply pointing out a 15 minute window is not "fair" in any way. If they wanted it fair then at least give everyone a day to order, and then allocate limited supply to everyone who ordered.

 

But what if someone was on vacation? Or a business trip to the mountains with no internet? Or an astronaut on the moon?

 

Seriously man? You are trying to make my valid argument that millions of men and women, because they have to work for a living, and make fun of it? Especially those who intentionally ordered more than the mint intended shouldn't open up their mouths to make fun of collectors who got screwed here because they happen to have a job that did not allow them to order in this tiny timeframe. All of this money you are bragging about making will eventually come out of a collector's pocket who got screwed by people just like you and your greed.

No wonder every year there are fewer US collectors.

 

Of course people paying top of the issue price would like to have gotten them cheaper; this is simple human nature. However, let's not forget that there are collectors out there who are willing to pay premiums for their time, meaning not to have to waste it screwing around trying to place an order when they could be doing something more personally beneficial or productive. Case in point: I had a client who often told me that he prefered to pay to acquire the coins he wanted than to have to spend his time chasing them down himself. His main reason was that he could earn more in the time it would take to do so than any premium he ended up paying, plus he had the added benefit (when applicable) of having a eye more trained than his doing it for him. Now this certainly isn't the case with everyone who buys on the secondary, but is worth taking into consideration before painting everyone taking that route with the same brush.

 

Amen Jeff. No amount of planning ever replaces dumb luck.

Exactly what happened to me with the Sacajawea enhanced uncirculated's. I missed out on the initial offering and thought I had missed the boat, but you ('Witten) put me on to the fact that the mint was opening windows every now and then for coin purchases. I wound up getting what I wanted (from the mint) in the end. Thanx again Bro......

 

You just said there are people who are willing to pay more for others to buy their coins then them do it themselves. Essentially that is what happened to those not willing to take off 30 minutes at noon.

 

And even if they had lowered the household limit, etc, they would have sold out in hours, making it "impossible" still for many to not be able to buy. Do serious collectors not have any friends or family that can place an order for them? I just do not believe that many collectors really missed out who REALLY wanted one. I asked this message board who was interested in these before they came out, and it was almost crickets. Now that they are doubling and tripling in value, people complain they were unable to get them.

 

Yes, I did...

In all fairness, it is a choice for the people I mentioned, and I'm sure there are others who would like to have been able to do it themselves but were unable. However, while there is probably room for improvement in regards to making purchases easier for collectors, as I said earlier: life is a dance around doing what we want and what we must. No one is going to be happy 100% of the time, and at least there are other options available.

 

LOL......jgreedy

 

There is a big difference between morality and legality. What you did was legal. Some think not moral. I'm personally in the "not moral" camp.

 

OK Mike. I'll bite.

These "friends" and "family"...............do you suppose they all have jobs which would keep them away from the web site or the telephone at 9am or did they perhaps "find a way of being there"?

And for what? $10 over issue? $20 over issue? The point being that - for just a little tiny bit of monetary incentive (versus the almost uncontrollable desires of a collector to have one of these coins) they found a way.

It gets tiring to hear the incessant whining from those that want the luxury of simply calling whenever it suits them or whenever its convenient when it is as obvious as a freight train that 17,000 just wasn't going to be enough.

And yes, if dealers had stayed pout of it, it still would have lasted only 20 minutes or so because there are a LOT of wannabee dealers out there.

 

There are lots of people out there that have lots of free time... and often, those people will do a little work for a little extra cash.

I know that when I want to get more than my household limit, I can easily call a few of my younger sister's friends and they'll buy whatever I need and whenever I need it for a few extra bucks. And with a little more work and a little more incentive cash, I'm sure I could recruit 50 or more people to get online and order for me if I really wanted a large quantity of something. Most of us here could do that too, just depends on how bad you want it.

For example, I know of one dealer who has his son in college recruit kids in the dorms to order coins... think about it, an easy $25-$50 for a college freshman is quite a bit of easy pizza/beer money! Very easy for him to get as many coins as he needs by just going room to room at the dorms offering some easy money with zero downside risk.

Of course it can sometimes suck for those of us who can't set aside specific time to be on the web to buy coins (think about the folks in Hawaii who have to be on at 6AM to get these Mint releases, that doesn't seem very fair vs. 12 noon for the East Coast buyers). But every one of us has the opportunity to learn the rules and know when items go on sale. If it's something you really want, every one of us can find a friend to order for us and/or pay someone an incentive to order for us. It's a pretty level playing field I think, so I don't feel bad at all for those who whine that they didn't get in and now see the higher prices in the aftermarket (they don't always end up being higher either).

Where it stops being a level playing field is when there is no household limit and the really big players order in mass quantities which sometimes affords them special privileges not available to the rest of us. There have been issues like that where the big guys get their coins sent first (or can pick up @ the Mint) and other times where they even get a bulk discount.

Finally, I think it's great how the Mint website works now. Very quick and easy to order and no more frozen pages or waiting room garbage. And if you get your orders in fast, the Mint has been getting the coins out lightning fast too. Those collectors/dealers just getting into this stuff have no clue how easy they have it now.

 

Hmm. If anything, I'd say that puts the Hawaiians at an advantage -- all they have to do is set their alarm early; no worries for most of them about taking time away from work at that hour.

I'm not a morning person by nature, either, but after working for a multinational for a few years, I learned that it can be done. (Some of our local people had a hard time dragging themselves in for a meeting that starts at 8:30, but our California rep always seemed to be on the phone waiting when we opened the line -- at 5:30 his time.)

 

And of course it is a well known fact that this type of collector does not have a spouse, child, friend, or relative that can place an order for them. Collectors with industrial jobs are all friendless orphans, all alone in the world.

 

Well, to put another spin on that theory, this RP Truman fits perfectly. No one at the mint saw the demand coming, so they produced a uber low mintage rarity that sold out in less than 15 minutes.