Selling to a coin dealer~How NOT to~

Right on Clembo. East side of Detroit, Hollywood ghettos, all the same. Crackheads and tweakers are not afflicted with bad luck , they are affected by their choices, nothing more.

 

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LOL, you can remember the 80's? I guess I had more fun than you

 

That's what an imagination is for. To fill in the blanks. :goofer:

Ribbit

 

I'll give you the other side of the story.

Dealers frequently don't realize that many people looking to sell a group of coins or stamps have never done it before and don't really know the process. A good business owner will make that customer feel important and proud of what they have to offer, even if it is very common. It isn't common to the customer. There will always be a few people looking to rip off the dealer. Most just want information and a pleasant selling experience. A good dealer will probably "carefully inspect" the merchandise and then provide a friendly explanation about why they can't purchase the coins because there isn't much of a resale market, or why they are worth whatever they are worth. Even if a customer arrives with a photograph, a good business owner will examine it and ask some questions of the customer [where did you get them, how long have you been collecting, etc...]. "The boss is too busy" is a really lousy way to run a business. We aren't talking Fortune 500 here. How do you know that the customer isn't making a small test sale to find out how the process works. Maybe they aren't going to bring back their best stuff until you earn their trust and respect.

I'm not trying to single out anybody and I apologize in advance if any feelings are hurt, but this thread is a good generic explanation of the bad side of the B&M business, and why so many people never turn into repeat customers. Very few businesses treat walk-in customers the way many coin shops do -- and still survive or prosper.

 

Thanks clembo, the best thing I've read here in a while.

 

I don't know Cloud....Dan's boss appeared very tolerant indeed, especially when he purchased the gold layered state quarters.

 

That's on reason I wanted to emphasize that I'm using this as a generic example. Every business has its loss leaders. But don't you think a customer or potential customer deserves more than to just be tolerated? Word of mouth is powerful advertising -- positive or negative.

 

There is a limit to ones tolerance......

 

My Opinion...

This reference to the attempted sales described in the OP's first post. Why do we assume that everyone who is in possession of an old coin (or stamp or currency) or large collection knows everything there is to know about them?

There are any number of (legal) ways someone can come into old valuables. They could have collected them themselves, they could have inherited them, they could have received them as a gift, they could have simply thought they were a good buy in a flea market, etc. We shouldn't assume that when these items are presented for sale that the seller really knows anything at all about them. Their total knowledge may have come from TV ad - coins=valuable.

The seller may have come over as stupid, or naive, or a con man but regardless, he deserved no less respect or service than someone known to the shop keeper who has done thousands in prior business.

I know clembo wasn't trying to show disrespect for the man, but it did come off that way.

 

No it didn't.... Not to me...

From being in the car repair business for 25 years, and my dad in for another 50 years, I can tell you, there more people coming in looking for deals... They don't care what "Level" of service they get... As long as it contributes to their "bottom line"... The "shop owners" "bottom line" does not mean anything to them....

All they believe is that every store front out there, is there to take their money and give no service... "

"Bar stool lawyers" "Monday Morning Quarterbacks" Call 'em what you want.... You always get that person in your business that thinks he is going to get taken and did a couple of days "on-line" reading to make sure he knows more than you do...

Where do I stop???

 

Actually Cloudsweeper99 you DO make some very good points and we do actually follow such "principles" most of the time. The ones I mentioned were an "example" to show what really does go on in a brick and mortar shop and yes they did all happen in one day.

What people bring into a shop is indeed unfamiliar to them. That IS why they come there in the first place. We see A LOT of stuff that was brought back from Europe in WWII. It does mean something to them and we often advise keeping it because numismatically speaking we would insult you with our offer.
Circulated BiCentennial coins, Susan B's, Ike Dollars. Same thing. People hoarded them like crazy. We suggest spending or keeping because the fact is WE don't need them.

My boss has been at this for 42 years now and believe me he CAN be very offensive to people at times. I can see how it could happen after so many years.

Now of the 4 cases I mentioned.

Photocopies was actually what the first one was trying to sell. Waste of time.

The second guy WILL bring his stamps in because we DID explain how it works. We also tell people like him NOT to make a special trip because we had a guy ask for reimbursement of gas money at one point.

Number Three. The "used car salesman". I'm sorry he just doesn't get it. I'd love to see him as a regular customer but at some point he has to pull his head out of a certain area and realize we're not rubes out to buy his junk.

The fourth example. Once again we explained how it works and told him to separate U.S. from foreign to make it easier and quicker. He may be back.

So sure, a lot of people are proud of what they have even if they don't know what is. We treat them with as much respect as possible but you can only go so far.
If someone brings in a box of coins that are totally unsorted and you take the time to sort them just so they can decide NOT to sell how have you gained as a business?

My boss learned this the hard way and taught it to me quickly. He went through a rather large collection and gave the guy a price. Took him a few hours. Then the guy says "Thanks I wanted to know what it was worth because my brother in law wants it".
Now we pull a few things out and make an offer. If you accept we keep going. If not we can appraise it for a fee.

Bottom line here. A coin shop is a business and it can be scary to both a buyer and seller at times.

 

You're right I don't mean him any disrespect BUT he's been in THREE times now with increasingly worse stuff that he has "researched" and for some reason thinks we'll buy it.

I'm not calling him a con man. Possibly a horrible "investor" that for some reason thinks we should "bail him out". Honestly, until you hear this guy's spiel and persistence you'll never get it.