i sold some of my doubles awhile back and at greysheet was valued at about $1,300 and the couple dealers offers i got was between $150 and $250. i finally found a guy trying to complete sets and he made me a good offer. dealers usually try to go low so they can come out making a killing. some u can find to be honest though
The answer depends largely, upon what you mean by "retail value". No price guide is always (or even usually) accurate to begin with. In some cases the listed prices are too high, and in others, too low. Even assuming, for a moment, that a published "retail value" is accurate, different dealers will pay different amounts, based on considerations such as: liquidity of the coins, desirability of the coins, type of coins, what the dealer deems an acceptable margin, cash flow, current inventory positions, etc. Bottom line, there is no accurate, general answer to the question.
I also believe it depends on the dealer and what you are selling. I am also sure some cases dealing with an expert on a coin type will net you more money than dealing with a general dealer. Some dealers work on a much smaller margin of profit than some of the B&M dealers since they do not have the overhead.
There are a lot of factors. If a person knows the dealer well and the dealer has a ready customer, the margin might be relatively low. If a person doesn't know the dealer, and the dealer has to sell to a wholesaler, the spread is going to be wide. The range is vast, perhaps as little as 5% with a dealer that knows you like a brother and has a ready customer, and as much as 400% (1/4 of retail value) for a dealer that doesn't know you and is looking to flip to wholesale. Raw low value coins will typically have even wider spreads because of the labor involved. Wholesale might be 3 cents and retail might be 50 cents for an raw circulated Lincoln cent, because there is labor involved in putting the coin in a 2x2 holder and a price on it.
when buying "product" I typically try to buy them at 15-25% less than what recent history suggest I will be able to sell them for. Bullion on a 3-6% matgin. Generic gold we buy on a 5-10% margin and esoteric things on a larger margin due to the greater risk and the typically longer time they will be in inventory. The above are guidelines only and the factors Mark mentioned above are considered on any given offer too. As are much less direct factors including how much I like the seller, how much business there may be with them in the future, how much has been done in the past, how the previous business has gone (was I happy with the transaction/were the coins profitable for me/was the purchase process smooth/etc), are the coins especially nice, etc. Bottom line, everything is considered when making a purchase offer.
I agree with Mark and others. It depends is the only answer. If its bullion it will be much closer to sell price. Same with a highly desired coin the dealer has 5 guys willing to buy from him tomorrow. If its run of the mill stuff, collectible coins but stuff the dealer already has a ton of, think around half of selling price is a place to start. The points about real retail price is a good point too, what I am referring to is the price the dealer expects to sell for, not a value listed in any guide.
I'm not sure the exact price but I think it depends on how fast the dealer can flip it. I once saw one of the dealers I buy from buying coins for a dollars under the retail price. I'm guessing he has quite a list of customers waiting on coins from him.
I find out what all of the other dealers in town are paying xface (which around here is 18x) and I offer 20. Then I typically sell for 30. I don't feel like this is a rip off because I openly tell the people I buy these coins from. You have to factor in eBay/paypal fees, and the fact that we provide free shipping. When somone comes in the door with high value coins, I pull up the price on ebay, or show them in the greysheet and then tell them what I can offer.
