Do Local Coin Shops Need To Diversify Into Other Collectables To Survive

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Much like pharmacies need to carry bread and milk, along with toys, games and cosmetics, to augment their meager endeavour........Lame. But if it keeps the bloody lights on, who the devil am I to say?

 

That's really the point that often gets lost when it comes to shops. Yes there are major shops that can do just coins or coins and bullion, but most shops would be wise to have some other things that make sense as well

 

I live in a small tourist town and we have two shops that sell coins.
One sells coins plus collector plates and figurines. From the discounts offered on those (50-70%) I get the impression that there is little demand. He has great specials on 90%and Bullion.

The other shop sells coins, Bullion, jewelry, and antiques. I get the sense that the jewelry inventory does well and that he sells quite a few coins to people who pass through town too.

Neither of these shops have an online presence.

But, back in my prior town, the LCS there said he couldn’t survive if he didn’t do Ebay.

Either way I think collectibles can be a tough business these days.

 

I'm not sure if shop #1 could have picked a worse choice of collectables to sell these days than collector plates and figurines. Both of those markets are dead and I mean dead like stamps and likely even worse.

 

I agree. Driving more traffic into the shop is crucial these days and a lot of the coin only shops in my city really need more customers that are there to buy and not to hawk junk that the shop can't profit from.

I think lots of collectors from other hobbies like sports cards might become coin collectors if they were exposed to more coins. And this works vice versa as well, coin collectors might decide they want to develop a sideline into sports memorabilia. The shop owner get more $$$$ spent in his shop and at the end of the day is happy.

 

One of the local places here is a Stamp place first (most space in the store), a coin place second (maybe 1/4th the space) and nothing else.

I'm guessing they own the building and the owner (probably in his late 70s or more) has no problem with it. His son though basically runs the place and has a lot of ebay stuff last time I checked.

 

Exactly traffic is the key and there’s a lot of cross over in different hobbies. One of the major reasons why online is taking over is the massively increased selection which is unrealistic for most shops. Anything that can bring more business is a positive and most of the small shops that are still doing well do have some other things they offer