If I Dood-it I get a whipping.

Numerous times I have walked into a coin shop and can't help from viewing what some people bring in to sell. Some old coins really make my mouth water. As I look, I see the coin dealer adding up the buy prices. Since this is a business I can only think that the sellers are getting ripped off. My instant thought is that if I could up the coin dealers offer would that be proper and how could I do it without affending the dealer ?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

No way to "not offend" when in the dealers presence. Trick is to try to get these guys before they walk into the dealers establishment.

 

Hi ! Ken, I have thought of that, but I also have thought about getting shot at. :>)

 

Funny thing Dave.......I remember the WB cartoon.

 

If you walk out of the shop after the customer leaves , IF he didn't accept the offer, and make him an offer on the street, I can't see any damage to the dealer, he had first crack and let him walk. Make up a small card with your name and phone number on it and maybe something like "I buy coins" and keep in your wallet so you can hand it to an escapee.

 

If you were to interupt a deal in progress, the dealer would surely throw you out of the shop. That is HIS place of business. Like the others said, outside of the shop all is fair.

At my fav shop I wait until the deal is done and then ask to look over the fresh material he bought. I can usually get some great deals since he's really had to do no work.....just middleman. I don't mind paying him a little profit.

 

That's really a bad idea Dave. When you're in his shop you're on his turf and should never try to get involved in a deal he's trying to make. Thad's idea is good...wait until the deal is done and then have a chat with the dealer. He would definately be interested in making a quick turn around sale to you...probably at a good price too.

Bruce

 

Have you ever noticed that someone who thinks nothing of stealing from others doesn't trust anyone?

I was standing at the counter of one of the local B&M's in Ft. Myers (FL) waiting patiently for the owner who was in the back room that is separated by a large glass window to notice me. I had made purchases from this shop on several other occasions. Another older gentleman walked in and stood at the counter next to me. The owner saw him enter and came out immediately to wait on him (still ignoring me). The other customer opened a small box which held several Morgan dollars and asked what they would be worth to him. Since I collect Morgan's, I leaned over to look at them. The owner saw this and quickly covered the open box with his hand, gave me a nasty look and slid the box about 3' further along the counter away from me. I turned to leave and it was then that he said he would be with me shortly. I replied, "Never mind! If I stood here any longer, you might think I was trying to steal something." That was about 4 years ago, and I've never gone back to that shop again.

Chris

 

Getting cards made is a great idea but make sure you make contact outside the establishment.

@cpm9ball- I hate being ignored in any type of retail business. And it seems to be a problem that is rampant everywhere. I came from the old school of retail where you acknowledged everyone who walked in the door. Now, if I'm ignored or don't get the service or respect I expect, I'll never return and I'll let as many people as I can know how bad it was.

 

A good relationship like that works for everyone. I have had my local dealer show me newly purchased items before he put them away. A couple I have said how much and he priced them for me. I bought them, then and there.

On a side note I also realize there are people who do way more business with them than me. A couple of times they have asked if it was okay to wait on other people - I always say okay. I can be patient and they have even left me with the special box at times - the rare items like 1856 Flying eagles, gobrechts, etc. They know I can't buy these items, but they like showing them to me and I appreciate it.

 

Accidentally, I walked into my coin shop (when I lived in Cali) with the owner digging through an estate and working with the widow and her son. As soon as I walked in, I instantly realized what was going on. My dealer, being old school, acknowledged me and I stayed out of his way. I sat at the other end of the counter where he kept the graded Morgans.

My dealer closed his shop on Mondays. And, I wasn't thinking that Monday and happened to drive by to see if he was open. I had been at my mechanic's shop and was on my way back to my town. So, I rolled up on a deal in progress.

And we're back in. I'm at the end of the counter with the 2 milk crates at the other end. My dealer's wife is there and she asks if I need anything. I politely tell her that I am just browsing, can wait until they are done with the estate, and would like to quietly watch the deal.

Soon after, the widow's son starts asking me about coins. He must be insane or dumb. Still not sure.

So, before he gets into playing me off my dealer in my dealer's shop. I shut him down. I pointed him to the Red Book on the counter and explained to him that book will tell him 90% of what he needs to know about his dad's collection currently being itemized and picked apart. He raced to the Red Book, fanned the pages, and put it back. Next, I told him that if I started making counter offers in my dealer's shop, I wouldn't be welcomed in there ever again. Finally, whatever my dealer buys, since I'm sitting here, staying out of the deal, and being polite, I'll get 1st look at the collection. He backed off.

For the rest of the time the widow and her son were in the shop, he would come up to me with a mint set, or a commen, or something and ask my opinion. I would politely remind him where I was and what my position was on staying OUT of the deal. When this didn't work, I would tell him, "Yes, that sure looks like a mirror" or "Yes, that does have its certificate of authenticity" or "yes, it's in a nice furry case" and other noncommital stuff.

At the end, my dealer bought "un searched" wheaties for face and I paid him 2x for the rolls.



Cutting in on a deal in someone else's shop has to be up there in dumb things to do. Right under completing the circuit of a car battery with your tounge. :goofer:


But hey. Jump in if you can afford it. Take pics. Post results. I love good stories.

 

Yeah, I would never try and snake a deal from my dealer. He is always good to me, he doesn't mind if all I do is buy a couple of cheap filler coins or pick through the junk coins and he always gives me good deals when I do buy higher priced stuff. Plus, I know paying him a little profit on the stuff he buys keeps him open. Owning any small business anymore is very difficult.

 

It is never a good idea to step in on a deal at a coin shop. Unless you are paying for rent and advertising and all the untold effort of owning a coin store, it just isn't another customers place to weigh in. That would be total claim jumping and we all know how that turned out in the old west. Know your place and have proper respect. Even if you are in a total "RIP Station" type shop, there is no place for a person to chime in on a deal. If you overhear some B.S. going on then that is a good way to see how you will be treated when it is your turn to trade. Even when I'm in a store where I'm a regular and the owner is looking at buying an item he knows I specialize in and asks me what I think, I resist the urge to give an opinion. I don't want to be a third wheel in a deal I have no skin in. It is best for the customer and dealer alike to have private kiosks to do deals that are separate from any retail display areas. JMO

 

And what do you base that decision on? Do you assume that if someone owns a business they must be a crook?

If you do it you'll probably be thrown out of the shop and never permitted to come back.

 

Cutting in on a deal in someone else's shop has to be up there in dumb things to do. Right under completing the circuit of a car battery with your tounge.

100% agree.

 

You are so right and that's why I have never interfered with a transation, but it is sure tempting.

 

I would not be shopping in a place like that. I might see a deal like that once, but then I would never be back.

 

DO that and I could almost guarantee that the dealer would throw you out the next time you came in.

It's the dealer that pays the rent on the store front, pays the electicity and pays for the advertising (whatever it might be) that brought the potential seller in and just because the seller did not accept the offer does not mean that he/she will not come back. To follow a customer out of the shop with the intention of taking a potential sale is just plain wrong and many dealers know exactly what you are doing when you follow a customer thats selling, out the door. You might as well just butt into the dealers offer with your own since what you'd be doing is exactly the same.

You want customers to come to you with their sales?


Open a store. Then you too will know what its like to ban someone from your store for doing what is being suggested.

 

I absolutely hate people who will try to horn in on a deal either at my shop or at my table at a show. This is always a possibility when a large deal is involved or one which may draw attention. In my shop I have a separate area to take customers with material to sell where the deal wont be interrupted. At a show, if someone trys to horn in I have no problem getting them to leave the table. There is an art to doing this without scaring off the potential seller too. I have seen dealers get security to prevent someone from horning in on their deal.

If your in a shop to transact business wait your turn. It really is none of your business what a dealer is doing with other customers. You may want to communicate politely your there to sell or looking to buy (specific material) if the dealer seems perceptive to why your there. A sharp dealer will want to know why your there in the event it is a super deal walking in. When I see someone come in the shop I try to quickly find out why they are there. A shrewd dealer will quickly cull out the people he cant quickly buy and sell with at his price in a crowded shop. He has to concentrate on the targets he has a chance of hitting. I have an assistant and will have her help someone routine if a deal walks in and then I give that deal my full attention with the goal of executing it quickly.

At a show I once had a whale at my table on a world currency deal. He was looking up every piece in his book (which took a lot of time) and was willing to pay essentially Krause CV (market retail). To keep the deal going I was keeping a tally sheet (along with cost codes) and discounting the notes about 5% below CV while making about 100% profit or more on each one and this at a dead show. Each note had a cost and retail code so I could just simply hit the ground running. It was so exciting and a great boost to what had been a horrible show with slow sales. The currency deal went on for thee or four hours, was huge, and I more than doubled my money. There were two interruptions - first some guy wanted to take a coin from one of my other cases to show another dealer for an opinion (hate these people). I quickly told him I don't allow this and he left. Another was more persistent probably after my whale. He probably wanted to horn in on the deal and said he had a large quantity of African notes to sell (like many I was making fantastic profit on) so I simply told him to come back a little later as I was busy. He left seeing he had been stuffed in the backfield. He came awhile later a little more persistent and this time I firmly told him I did not have time (and that he could come back the next day) and igonored him. Knowing I would stand my ground with him if push came to shove he eventually left. I concluded the currency deal with the coustomer and he came back the next day to buy some more as there were some stacks he had not been thru. With hundreds of slabbed coins and a couple dozen graded USA notes in my cases I was in disbelief World Currency (a tiny portion dollar wise of my inventory at the show) had outsold them all and at a huge profit margin to boot!

 

I think I'd have a problem with any dealer that would indicate me a "whale". Not that it's ever happened mind you.

May be a reason why so many collectors are cautious when walking in shallow water.....gotta watch out for pirañas.........