Coin Dealers at Shows Attitude Rant...

I am sure this has been beaten to death after being dead and decomposing for some time, but I am still astounded at how rudely brazen some dealers feel they can treat you at shows even when you want to give them business. PLEASE, no names for the presumption of innocence and to keep you or Coin Talk from being sued. My example harkens from the last ANA show in Baltimore earlier this month, one dealer ignored me for almost 10 minutes with no other people at the table after I finally thought I had gotten his attention, I asked to see a coin and get a price, he finally got around to let me see the coin and I asked about the price-get this he told me to come back in an hour!!!!! WTFHIT? So, I did and he said he still didn't look it up and said to come back at an even longer time interval, eventhough he was sitting down reading and eating a sandwich. I asked did he really want to sell the coin, he said yes, I said wait an hour and left the table. Some other dealers were really pushy, but I don't mind that as much since I sell for a living too and some knew the power of negotiating and got my business if they had what I was looking for. So many of the dealers never said hello even and often times just meandered like a sloth to see you, looking annoyed that you even wanted to see their inventory. One dealer was visibly upset that I said I'd pass on a coin, and sarcastically said so-well guess what, in sales you get more "nos" than "yeses". Given the way he acted in that instance, I did not ask to see another coin I saw in his display and walked away. I think it is a regional thing since the dealers from the South and West (other than California) seemed the most friendly, while those from the Northeast seemed to be the least-sorry, no offense intended and it is a general observation with notable exceptions to the CA and Northeastern dealers. For example, one dealer I really liked and was friendly from Southern California was Doug Bird who deals in early coppers. He got the lion's share of my money at the show and was a pleasure to deal with. I wish more dealers were like him, too bad so many aren't. I guess it is something that just goes with the territory.

 

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I believe there are definitely some dealers out there that have inner "problems" with socialisation with other human beings. Just like about any other trade. Heck, I have even gone into McDonalds and was not even acknowledged - because I was white apparently. I just figure, KMA and walk out.

I cannot get over how some dealers will ignore kids, there are some snobs out there that will have nothing to do with them. Then on the other hands, there are dealers going out of their way to give kids stuff. Several years ago my then 8 year old daughter bought a 1773 Moldavia-Wallachia 3 Para from Alexander Basok for a mere $10. The rest of coins that were in the box were common Russian 5 kopeks from the 18th century. I think he was just pleased as punch that someone cherrypicked the box and found a $100+ coin, and that she on her own found that coin and wanted it.

There are some dealers that I will not deal with period. I remember a couple of them from when I was a teenager and their snotty service. They have nice coins, but memories, well you know.

Don't let the bad apples spoil the cart, just toss them out and move on.

 

LOL.....good one Virginian. Hey.....you wouldn't be from the North East would Ya'? (LOL)

 

That's true, there are lots of really good dealers out there and one dealer that I have been dealing with at shows for years always gets some of my business because she is so friendly to my wife and I. I guess I get disgusted with the dealers that behave in poor fashion since I noticed a few newbies that were put off by several of them when they asked to see a coin or two and were blown off or almost ignored. This is some of the damage I am most concerned about when these creatures interact with new blood in the hobby. It seems to be less of a problem at the smaller shows than the larger ones like the ANA in Baltimore.

 

LOL No, I am from Virginia which is in the Southeastern, United States. We have been the host to the capital of the Conferderate States of America, home of Lee's Northern Virginia Army and Mount Vernon, George Washington's plantation on the Potomac. :hail: Too bad we didn't strike some coins during that period in Richmond, but that would have been hard with Yankee artillery shells falling all around you... Seriously though, in that case I gave him as much consideration as he gave me.

 

I was at our local Scottsdale show last month looking to meet a website customer of mine in person and sell him a bulk lot of slabbers.

While waiting, I spotted a 1931-S NGC MS-63RB in a dealers case. Asking him how much??? he replied $275 !!!!! I asked if that was a mistake, this coin was only a 63RB after all......

His reply was " I paid $225 for it, I can't get these when I want them and I pay big money for them "

I pulled out (3) 1931-S NGC MS-63RB from my pocket, lol.....offered them to him for $180 each, you should have seen the look on his face, he back peddeled and wormed out of it.

I sold the coins to my buddy who they were meant for, but I sure do wish I had a camera.

 

Nice!!!! It is funny how things like that happen.:mouth:

 

It might be a regional thing.

I take two kids, my neice (5) and nephew (13), to the big Houston show every December (Money Show of the Southwest).

The dealers are amazingly friendly to them. They have plenty of activities for the kids, such as a "20 questions" quiz where you walk all over the bourse to get the next question, and lots of freebies from dealers and the organizers alike (buffalo 5c, Indian 1c, etc).

At the last one, my neice got a free 1864 2c piece ! We talked about it for hours that night.

 

It all depends who you deal with. At the same Baltimore show, I had only positive experiences. Talked to one dealer for about an hour, despite the numerous high-dollar buyers who came buy. I talked with another big dealer for about 20 minutes, looking at a ton of coins, and I never bought a thing from him. Then again, I'm a very patient person at shows, one dealer kept saying "Don't let me ignore you."

 

900fine; Those are the really good dealers that know how to help keep the hobby alive for the generations to come. I find it very rewarding to hand a kid a V nickel, Barber Dime or even a cheap Roman coin and look at their faces when the realize how old it is. When I was a kid I was fascinated at coins for their age and remembered thinking someone from the Civil War or the Wild West may have had it in their pocket. What sometimes ends up happening is the kid starts a low grade circulated collection sometimes in albums, then goes on to a mid grade circulated collection and as they get older, have more money to spend, then get into the unicirculated and key date material. A positive experience in the hobby goes a long way. As for a regional thing, it is to some degree since at the small local shows, people seem a whole lot more friendly as was the case when we attended the Vienna, VA coin show that next week.

 

At all of the coin shows I've ever attended [i.e., one], the dealers were very polite and helpful -- moreso then they seem to be in their shops. I assumed that their good behavior was due to the fact that they didn't want to embarass themselves in front of fellow dealers.

 

Theres been a few instances here where I live (northeast) thats I've run into rude coin dealers. I'm not in the habit of buying from coin dealers who set up at farmers markets but there was one I ran across at a very popular farmers market near Lancaster, PA. He had a fairly large table inside one of the buildings there and he had alot of Morgan aand Peace Dollars, Prez Dollars and Statehood Quarters which people were just flocking at the table to get to for some reason. He also had a small section of the table devoted to some gold coins in the case and some Half Dimes that I was interested in. After the crowd cleared out I waited there for him to walk over to me, he looked my way and walked the other way and picked up his sandwich and began eating. I guess he must have made a killing already on Statehood Quarters to ignore my interest in some gold. Ive had a few other similar experiences at coin shows back when I first started collecting. I believe this is why alot of online coin shops do well, you dont have to put up with the hassle of the "personal" confrontation not to mention the dealers attitude.

 

LMAO!!! :mouth: Now that's a great story. Loved it.

Haven't been to a coin show in a while but sounds like some dealers should consider hanging it up.

I've been to other shows and it is amazing how snobby some dealers are, always assuming they know more than you. Isn't just in this hobby.

 

I used to do shows until my health declined. When I first started going to shows as a teenager, I always had the feeling I was walking into a den of thieves. I always went anyway, and usually found several dealers willing to spend their time and answer my questions. Occasionally I found a dealer who would give a kid a break and sell the coin for a little less than the marked price. My very first coin was given to me by the only dealer in town when I was about six, a 1898 Indian Head. I was so excited, I didn't know what to do, but he knew my father and 45 years ago it was probably only worth a quarter.

When I started doing shows myself, many years later, I tried to treat the kids as I had been treated. I started buying a lot of unfinished Lincoln set from 1940 on for them specifically. When I found a child you was definitely interested in coins and surely on a very tight budget, I would offer them one of the unfinished books for free no strings attached, usually with around 30 cents in them. It really made me feel great to see their faces light up, as if I had just given them a St. Gaudens.

One thing I never planned on started happening. If they were with a parent, they would bring the parent(s) back to meet me. The parents were almost always stunned that any dealer at a show would give anything away. Especially to a child who was not spending much money. The parents soon became customers. If I had something they were looking for they almost always bought it from me. It was not what I had intended, but was a by-product of a guy just doing something nice for a kid. Some of these parents turned into long-time faithful customers. At the next show, I was always the first dealer sought out by the kids and I started keeping other inexpensive things to hand out. Worn Buffalo nicekls, that years BU coins, and items such as that. I almost felt a little guilty as this was not my intention at all. I just wanted to help some kids further their hobby and not have to waste all their money on coins that I had bought for next to nothing. As the kids got older, they also spent their money with me.

I just wanted to pass on the fact that the Golden Rule still is true. Do unto others as you would have do unto you.
Vegas Vic

 

Vegas Vic: Never were truer words spoken and it sounds like you were rewarded for your generosity and good business practices. Great story.

 

Virginian,

I know the kind of dealers you are talking about. We have all had the "pleasure" of running into them at one time or another. They simply are not "people persons". I often think that when they were in grade school their teachers must have written on their report cards, "Does not play well with others."

 

Hobo: What I find amazing is they are in a business where they will have to deal and sell to people in person, it makes me wonder if they are even order takers?

 

Good for you Virginian and the reference to northeast was because I come from there and couldn't have said it any better than you did.

By the way, I've always admired Pete Longstreet.

 

I know. It does seem odd. But maybe most of their business is over the Internet where they don't have to deal with customers face-to-face. However, the hobby has always had rude dealers, long before the Internet could insulate them from their customers.