Why Some Coin Dealers Don't Post Photos Coins for Sale on Their Website...

I just posted my comments on another forum in response to a thread about why dealers don't put photos of coins for sale on their websites. So I thought perhaps my comments might be of interest to some of you here to help give you an idea of why, at least for me, I don't post photos of every coin for sale (and perhaps I will also be speaking for other small coin business people).

Let me preface my post with this: I love what I do - I really love being involved with coins, collecting, buying, selling, dealing and socializing with other coin people, traveling, etc. I love talking to other coin people, attending shows, seeing other people's beautiful coins, sharing my collection, and I really love helping customers complete their collection after working on it for 20+ years, etc. Sure, there are frustrations and very hard work involved, but I do love what I do and am grateful to be able to make a living at it.

I know that expectations in today's electronic world are geared toward having accurate and up-to-the-minute information made available instantly. Buying anything on line has become the preferred method of shopping for most of us, me included, and I know not having a good photograph of whatever you're buying is very frustrating and most people would simply ignore that item. And, if you can't see a coin in hand, I agree having a clear and detailed photograph before you buy it is, understandably, even more important to most people.

So, back to why I don't post photos of all of my coins for sale. I usually have maybe 2000+ coins in stock, both raw and certified, in all grades for sale, and I'm just a one "woman" show. My husband has his own job at which he works very hard, and aside from not having time to help me, he has no interest in coins. I travel to probably 40 shows a year, do all my own paperwork (except taxes!), make my own travel arrangements, personally update my inventory sheets before and after each show, maintain customer want lists, package and ship out coins myself, stock my own supplies, and try to read and keep up with all my coin publications, etc. I simply do not have the time, nor the quality of skills necessary to take photos of each of my coins, as well as list and price and upload them to my website. Luckily, I found Todd Pollock who takes photographs of some of my better coins that I do post on my website, but I certainly can't afford to have him take photos of every coin in my inventory, nor would it be cost effective.

I know some of you are thinking why don't I hire someone to help me. Well, my profit margin is not large enough to afford to pay for someone to help me, nor do I think that posting photos of every coin in my inventory would increase sales enough to pay for someone to do this for me. I have begun to take Dino-Lite photos of coins upon request because it is simple and quick and I can easily email that photo to my customer. But even if I took Dino-Lite pictures of each of my coins, the time it would take to list, price and upload them to my website would still be too much for a one person business to handle. The other thing that makes posting photos of every coin for sale not feasible for me is that, with the amount of shows I attend and the quantity of coins I buy and sell during those shows, my inventory is constantly changing - it simply would be a nightmare to try and keep up with updating my website to make sure my posted inventory was current.

And the most important thing, at least for me, aside from keeping my customers happy, is that I continue enjoying what I'm doing. If being a coin dealer becomes so burdensome, too frustrating, overly stressful, and not profitable, then it simply would no longer be feasible to continue and I'd have to find something else to do to make a living - which would be very sad for me, because, as I mentioned above, I LOVE COINS!

So, please feel free to post your response, comments and experiences on this issue.

 

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Would you be willing to barter for the photos with coins ?

I really think that having a website will only increase your sales... There are so many people who collect that cant make it to shows. Their only way to purchase coins is online and images are now the norm.

What if there was a one stop shop that would image the coins and build your site and hook it into a shopping cart ? Wouldnt that increase your sales ?

 

It's possible, but it's also a hassle and very expensive to ship coins to/from a photographer, and you have to take into consideration that the coins are out of inventory while they're being photographed by a third party.

I have a website and do post photos of some of my coins, but as a small business, I have to pick and choose what I think will be feasible and profitable.

Of course, I know posting photos of all my coins would increase sales, but as I mentioned, the expense, time and inconvenience are a factor I have to weigh, so for me, at least right now, I post great photos of some of my better coins (taken by Todd) and send photos on request of the rest (taken by me and my Dino-Lite).

 

What if the photographer came to you and you didnt have to ship the coins anywhere ? They wouldnt leave your shop or home ?

 

I can't even imagine the army of people needed to photograph every coin in most dealers' inventories and then post them to a website. The two shops my friend manages does have someone who's job is just to photo coins and place them on their website, and she works 10 hours a day, six days a week doing nothing but this, and still can't keep up with just the stuff the shop brings in on a single day, much less the rest of the inventory. I think it would cost more to have a photographic inventory than you'd make off the sales of the coins themselves. The model most dealers use of having a few pics of the nicer coins works best.
Guy~

 

Taking photos of coins is only the first part, then uploading and listing and pricing information takes time. And as I also mentioned, my inventory is constantly changing so maintaining the website, adding and removing coin photos would take even more time. So it's just not feasible for me right now.

 

Not true -- I once did 500 pics of a high end collection in one day.

If you have a good set up and know what you are doing you can move through a lot of coins very quickly.

If you want to look at my pics and the quality of such.... www.pbase.com/frattlaw

I am not the best photographer but I think I am decent with getting the colors right...

 

Frat, you're missing the point. It's NOT just taking the photos - it's all the rest that goes with it.

 

I have pic's of every coin that I sell. I think that the person buying the coin should see what there getting. I even have a pic for .20 cent coins and a lot of dealers at shows think im crazy! I have only had 1 coin returned due to my fault, I mislabled it! I have a lot of return buyers! I have bought coins with out pics and I was not happy with them, so I make sure that dont happen when I sell the coin.

 

Unfortunately it is the very lack of photos on most websites that keeps me buying coins on EB*Y listings where 95%+ of the listings to have photos (not that photos are a guarantee of anything but it is a start).

 

A dealer not having pictures of coins has not stopped me from buying from them. That said, it is a small percentage of all the dealers out there that I have done this with. One specific example, a well known dealer in Virginia had a two cent piece I needed. With a phone call I asked him to describe the coin, after a short discussion I sent a check and the coin was sent to me. This dealer made sure to explain to me that after I had received the coin and had a chance to "live with it" I could return it for no reason at all, with a full refund. A week after delivery the dealer emailed to ask for my feedback on the coin.

When I received the coin it was every bit as described, so don't overlook the great inventory that is out there just because that dealer doesn't have pictures. Just my humble advice.

 

The bottom line for me ... it takes too long to photograph all those coins.

For some coins, I don't have them long enough to photograph them. Some coins never make it home from the show.

 

I understand ... part of my and my fiance's business is the development of websites as well as maintaining those websites...

In today's online business content management software makes all of that rather easy... its no more difficult or time consuming than adding photos to your myspace or facebook page. Depending on the number of coins you sell and buy you could probably spend an hour a day or less photographing and uploading pics and be done.

However if you are not interested than thats another matter. But you are losing sales. There is no doubt about that.

 

I tend to agree, but it is relative. She posts pics of her more expensive coins, so the downside is probably limited to lost potential sales on the lesser priced stuff.

It is also relative to how many dealers are doing what you recommend. I don't know many who post pics on the lower priced stuff. So, the competition is limited (perhaps to e-bay?). And, even with e-bay, one doesn't know who the seller is and at least with Charmy, you know what you are getting due to her reputation!

 

Tell me more ! Specifics.

 

I spend more time packing everthing up for 1 show then I do the rest of the week taking pics and adding them to my site. Once you get a system down it is easy-photo, couple clicks, its on. I do agree it helps the sales, I sell a lot of coins under a dollar because people want to see what your about, spend 10 dollars now and if they like it they come back and spend 100 dollars.

 

If I see a coin I want listed on a site without a photo I ask the seller if they can supply one. With the understanding that they may not be able to take one right away. But I wouldn't expect any dealer to do that for a $3 coin.

 

but look at this, most everyone on this site would ask. Thats who we are but there is a bigger picture than that. During x-mas a grandfather ran across my site, he was looking for some cheap wheats for his grandsons. He went thru my site and picked out a few. I sent them to him he was happy, now he is into buying silver ect. He had nothing to do with coins before x-mas so he would not have known to ask for a pic on a 3 dollar coin. I guess it depends on who you want to target? There are more low grade/low dollar collectors then there are people that would spend 2k on a coin.

 

Do I really need a pic of the low end coins im buying? NO. Come on guys, if we are talking about low end coins do you really think that having a pic of a common Good Indian head is a big deal? If I know the seller, they are trustworthy and the seller says they have 12 examples of a Fine common date and that they will hand pic for me, plus give me 100% return rights if I dont like it, what is the big deal?

Ive seen some of these large inventory and It would be a daunting task to photo each one and post with description, even with CS3 or other web building software. At Charmys table she has this cool plastic box with about 25 or so spots each one is a different date and there must have been any where up to 25-30 coins in each spot. Were talking about a few hundred coins here. This must have been just a small tiny fraction of her total display, but I bet it would take 3 days to photo each one, photo shop it and then post it. I don't think she was selling any of them for more than 10 bucks. Now think of the turn over each week so its a constant update. So I understand that its not worth the time it takes to photo these Low end coins.

Now if we are talking about high end, expensive coins then photos are a must obviously. But I believe this thread is about the thousands of lower end coins that most dealers have in their inventory.

 

ok back to "who do you want to target". The people on here want pics of high dollar coins--agreed. Now you brought up trustworthy, The low grade coins are how I build trust with people. I have pics for them to see they buy 10-20 dollars of low grade/low price stuff, like it and return for higher grade/priced stuff. I all you want to do is sell high dollar/high grade stuff thats great! thats your target market. The people on here know about coins and most are "mid to high range" collectors..and are all a mid/to high market. I spend the time for the lower dollar collector--thats my market. If that person enjoys and moves to the higher priced coins then he/she will move on to a different market. Its not right or wrong to post pics for lower dollar coins, its who do you want to sell coins too? to me there are a lot more people that will spent under 10 dollars on a coin then there are that will spend 100 dollars...that equals volume!