Hoardesr at coin auctions.

Lol!!!

 

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If this is the case, maybe you have no business going to auctions at this point?

One thing you need to learn is that the rich aren't 'rich' because they like to blow money. Many low end millionaires live lesser lifestyles and have cheaper cars than your average middle class person. They likely will try to save money on things much harder than you. That's how many of them accumulated it in the first place.
It's all about how you want to live your life. I'm not saying their way is right or wrong. They may live like paupers and let their decendents who didn't work for any of it, inherit it all and blow it. Some of these people waste their entire lives being greedy and obsessing over it.

I lean more towards wanting to enjoy life than hoarding money for bragging rights. (I'd rather have a $100 coin than $100 sitting in savings at 0.1% interest.) Not only because life is short, but because dollars you save today are going to have far less buying power in the future than they do now. As has been proven. It's a losing game.

Not only that but there isn't much return on anything these days anyway. Nowadays, a high yield savings account is 0.9%. lol Anybody with a little life experience can see how much of a joke that is. You'll even lose money putting it in a CD now. I feel bad for retirees. Don't think theres too many 7 to 13% returns being promised like people were saying 10 years ago.

Anyway, to get back on track here..... there's rarely good deals at auctions. Too many people. Too much money. A lot more factors compared to an ebay auction. People had to drive there. Stand around for hours. Showmanship. You're begging to pay more for stuff going to them. As someone else said, you would probably make more buying some obscure item like old cameras than trying to beat 10 people holding redbooks, buying coins.

 

I'm not sure you understand the concept of either one. I, personally, am a collector. I can count on two fingers the number of times I have sold coins. When I go to auctions, or the coin shop, or the flea market, I look for the coins I need or want to add to my collection. I am not interested in whether I can sell them down the road for profit. That will be somebody else's problem when the time comes.

Profit does not come quickly. To make big money buying and selling anything, you really need to buy as low as possible, hold it until the time is right (prices have risen) and then sell. You need to be able to afford to sit on this stuff for a while. Look at it from the opposite side. You have coins you'd like to sell, so you hire an auctioneer. Who do want in the seats at this auction? You, looking to score cheap? Or the elderly couple with cash in hand bidding to their actual value? Using your suggestion from an earlier post, the elderly couple is excluded, and you're getting well under melt for what you have. You lost money on the deal, no profit.

I have been attending auctions for 25 years. I never just "pop" into an auction. I have looked at the listings, decided what I want, research the current prices and determine what I'm willing to pay. then I go to the auction and bid. Once the bid exceeds my maximum (which, like I said, I set before I left my house), I stop bidding and wait for the next lot I want. Pretty simple concept. Researching auctions is easier than ever. http://www.auctionzip.com lists local auctions from all over the country well in advance of the date, most including pictures. The local Sunday newspaper also lists local auctions in your area.

Like I said earlier, the days of bargains at auctions is over. too many people have the information at their fingertips. The easy accessibility to eBay and flea markets has created a whole new class of vendors and dealers. It's rare that you find the $2000 antique for $2 anymore. There is nothing you can do to change that. Accept it, save you money, and expect to bid higher at the next auction.

 

I'm gonna have to disagree with this. An experienced collector will know the nuances of the hobby. But what about the new collector just starting in the hobby? None of us were experts when we picked up our first coin and said "Wow!". We learned through experience, trial and error, and talking to other, more experienced, hobbyists.

At what point did we actually establish that this couple were hoarders, buying simply to remove the coins in question from the hands of "true collectors" and stash them in their vault, only to go in every day and swim through the coins like Scrooge McDuck, laughing about how they screwed the little guy? There are many possibilities as to why they bought the coins, and again, did so at reasonable prices.

I know how to drive, but I couldn't tear an engine apart and put it back together correctly.


Money does indeed buy entitlement and privelige. That's the benefit of working your whole life to make it. So you can spend and enjoy it. There is nothing wrong with that. It's those that don't have it, and envy those that do, who's sense of entitlement is misplaced.

 

"Let's go to auctions and buy everything!"

 

I am sorry sir, but I drive an Escalade. Why do you think you can hate on people simply because of the car they drive? I tell you what, I put myself through college working 40 hours a week, AND doing ROTC for the money, AND being in the national guard all while carrying 18 credits. I paid every dang cent for my school, as I am not from a rich family. Then, I put myself through MBA program while working full time, and then taught MBA classes part time for money. Having said all of this, I still collected coins all of the while, but only what I could afford and roll searched. There is just as much ability to be a "true collector" of $5 pick bin ancients as there is of $1000 coins. Its the act of collecting and gaining knowledge that make you a collector sir, not your wallet.

You don't know these people who bought these coins, you do not know how many decades they had to work to afford their hobby today, you do not know what they did with them. Did it ever occur to you maybe they were dealers or bought these coins to give to their children or grandchildren. I have bought 50 inexpensive Roman bronzes in a single transaction. Was I a hoarder? You would think so if you didn't know that I bought them to give away to 8th graders as part of their history class.

For you to impune someone due to the car they drive is what is wrong with this country. You should not be mad at them for driving an Escalade, you should wish to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and strive to buy one yourself.

Just my view,

Chris

P.S. Love the photo Hobo, I almost fell out of my chair man.

 

Obviously these rich hoarders at the auction you frequent are the same as you, only they have more money. Time to move aside kid and find a new place to buy coins. Like someone else already said, the junk bin in front of your local B&M. Live and learn, that's all you can do. better luck next time!! :yes:

 

I have a similar situation. I sometimes attend estate sales by a local auctioneer when they have coins. They usually sell the coins in a seperate ring w/150 to 200 lots. There is an elderly gentleman with a younger friend who tends to buy about 70% of the lots and generally gets in the first bid. Needless to say when someone buys that many items they are generally not getting a bargain price. I would usually get 2 or 3 things at decent prices, but sometimes nothing.
I always figured this guy just has a bunch of money and is buying it up to hoard, so to speak. Them to my surprise i went to decent sized coin show in a nearby city and ther was the old guy running a coin table. I bought a couple of bust dimes and a seated half at a pretty good price from him. I still can't really figure it out, but my guess is he just buys so much stuff then sets up and sells it not remebering what he paid. I don't see how he makes any money. Still a mystery???

Lack

 

The only solution is to get rich. Work hard 'til you're 60, retire, go to all coin auctions then buy all the coins. Maybe in the future there'll be one just like you sitting, seething, and can't do anything about it. Then you're even.

 

I've never been to an estate sale or an auction house and probably never will. I still like a b&m store where I can see and touch the coins before buying it. Also, I won't feel pressured that somebody else will grab the coins I want with a higher offer.

 

What's your basis for this statement? The fact that he buys "70% of the lots" doesn't mean he doesn't get a bargain price. If he gets a bargain price on 100% of that 70% of the lots...

And what is the basis for this assumption? Do you remember exactly what he paid for each of the 100-150 (70% of 150-200) lots he purchased at each auction? I'm guessing no, you probably don't. He may be making decent money after all. Most of these guys know exactly what they're doing. Don't assume they're just tossing money around.

 

At every auction I've attended over the years, you do have the chance to look at and touch the coins being offered. All have a preview one or two hours before the sale begins.

As far as pressure, the only pressure at an auction is that which you put on yourself. There is no pressure to buy. And if you set your limit based on your research (again, most auction houses will publish a list, and in the case of the web site I posted earlier, photos as well. You should know what you're getting into before you even walk through the door.) the only difference between buying at B&M and an auction is in the store, you negotiate down from the set price, and at an auction you bid (negotiate) up from a low price (opening bid). Either way, if the negotiated (bid) price is outside your comfort zone, you pass. Pretty simple concept.

 

Maybe those old rich coin auction buyers run an internet coin forum !!.....

 

That is pretty tame considering the money they have. If money is a ticket to your fantasies a small auction is pretty tame. I don't see how I could be mad at them. Items tend to be pretty inelastic when we have more money. A scum bag is a dude I used to play cards with. Before the recession he was worth 50 million, all inherited. He bought time with married women. Complete jerk. These guys buying coins are not doing anything wrong. Then you have people like Chris who struggled and made it. The American Dream.

 

A related story, I was at a coin auction last May. At one point the auctioneer offered up a tube of common date (AU-BU) Morgan dollars, initially attempting to sell it as one lot to move things along. His opening bid was $300 for 17 coins. Nobody bit, and doing some quick math figured just over $17 per coin. I do not buy coins for the metal content or to hoard and resell, but I almost pulled the trigger, then hesitated when the picture of my wife entered my mind, stabbing me in the chest before I could say I could sell these for $28 each within 24 hours. Nobody jumped, so he rebid the tube as choice. Lot was run to $35, and the winning bidder took them all (at $35 apiece). Did he get taken? No, they retailed for about that at the time. But, he could have had them for $17 each. Always wanted to ask him where his head was at, but I got pretty good idea of it's location at the time. Everybody had the chance to bid, so nobody missed out.

When I told my local vendor about this the following day, he about kicked my *** for not jumping on the inital bid. He would have bought them all @ $28 each. Gist of it is, I was out no money, and my chest wall is still intact.

 

Oh man, you could have flipped those Morgans for double the price. By the time your wife complains you could take her out for a little shopping and dinner. I learned thats the quickest way to make women happy.

But as far as the auctions go. I guess I'm just not too familiar with live auctions, besides ebay.

 

You don't understand. Wife is okay with my collecting. But, by the time I would have said, "Hey honey, I spent $300 on this lot, but..." she'd have had a steak knife in my chest. She's a nurse, she knows where to put it :devil: .

Like I said earlier, I'm not in this for the "profit". I am purely a collector.

 

Of course I don't remember exactly what he paid. My point was it is hard to imagine when someone generally pays full redbook price or more for coins at auction+ sales tax for multiple lots of all types of coins, it is hard to imagine how I could buy something from him for below greysheet bid at a coin show.

I don't car whether the guy buys everything or what he pays for it or sells it for.

lack

 

Jealousy : You have it, I want it.
Envy : You have it, I can't have it, so I don't want you to have it either.

 

Medoraman, your post was excellent. And this is coming from a Ford Ranger owner.