To give some background on my situation I purchased a large collection of gold Great Britain Britannia & Sovereign proof sets. I wanted to check with some of the big guys and see if it was worth my time to ship it out to them or just scrap them. I needed to move them relatively quickly and I made sure to explain this to every company I spoke with and none of them seemed to have any issues with that. I first called APMEX where I was quoted slightly less then melt for the sets. I later called back and was offered $75 over spot for the SAME sets... but once they figured out that I had quantity they then reduced that offer to $50 over spot per set for the sets I had offered them. They then requested that I Email a complete list of what I had to them and they would get back with me first thing today with an offer for the entire lot. I sent it before I was even off the phone with them. I have never gotten a response from APMEX as far as my offer was concerned. Next I called Heritage... They never made an offer and asked for an EMail list as well... they also never got back to me with any offer. I next called Gainesville spoke with a trader and I rattled off what sets I had. I was asked for my name and number and told I would receive a call within 45 minutes. This was over 6 hours ago. So I got fed up and sent them off the the refinery.
So your saying there is a demand. And it is not being met... (thinking) It sounds to me like they took advantage of the fact that you told them they needed to be moved relatively quickly.
I'm not surprised by this at all. Sure it's very lousy business not to followup on a commitment made to a prospective customer. I think for the most part, all these " Big Guys" operate the same way.
I don't think took advantage at all... actually it's quite the opposite. They had a chance to do buisness with me for a decently large sum of money and because they failed to act at all they missed out. I was clear and concise in the fact that I needed to turn it... they understood that, or at least the traders I spoke with said they did. Why drag your feet??? If you are not intrested in it just let me know.
Delay was probably due to having to get approval from somebody else (higher ups) because of the sums involved. And if people are in meetings, out on a call, whatever - that can take a while sometimes.
I get the fact that these things can take time... But some of these companies gave me a timeframe (knowing full well that same fact Doug) in which to expect their response and then didn't bother to respond at all. That's what I'm kinda miffed about.
Most large companies that deal with large amounts of gold and silver do comparison shopping. They were probably trying to get in contact with their sellers and trying to calculate what price to give. It usually takes half a day, and I'm not surprised Heritage didn't make an offer. Don't they deal with only high end single piece items?
That sounds like your typical "corporate" hoo haw. They have so many transactions going on at once that they can't possibly dedicate "x" amount of time to consult with you on your items. Working for a big company like FedEx, I can see where the disconnect can be but it's not necessary. But in a burgeoning market such as PM's, why trip over your own shoelaces? They should be taking every opportunity as a way to make some money and build a relationship with smaller companies and individuals. In this competitive market, every company can surely use the repeat business and referrals because one transaction went textbook perfect. And they wonder why their customer service index is in the "el stanko" toilet.
Seconded i am always in the market for more Britannia's. yes it little bit of hassle going through photo graphing them.
My boss is constantly reminding me to double my time estimates for clients, you can always deliver early...
Under-promise, over-deliver... it can be applied to pretty much any business to increase customer satisfaction.
It would seem difficult to unload large quantity of gold to dealers with the price inclined down today. Maybe they were concerned about the trend and the possibility of the USD strength continuing to increase as the world situation continues to waffle. IMO.
I don't blame you for being miffed, and in your shoes would have done what you did. I was merely offering a possible explanation. Jim could have it right too. I look at this way, they make their decisions based on what they think is best for them, not best for you. And if doing that means making you mad at them, they don't care. In order for them to care, you'd have to be one of their primary suppliers.
While I understand the need to raise fast cash, the point about asking here is not bad. There are people here who could wire you funds at the drop of a hat. It never hurts to post. If any of the coins were older I may have bought a few for giggles. Not disagreeing with your actions LD, at times cash is king in business. Just saying throwing a post out there saying you need a response in a couple of hours could work, regardless of what the product is. You throw out you just bought an old time ancient collection or large old world collection, but need to move it ASAP you will probably get a phone call from me. Regarding your actual post, yes I agree the big dealers missed out. Poor performance on their part. I would continue to search out possible buyers for the future. Did you think about Educational coin, Harlan Berk, CNG, or similar? They are large wholesalers on the world arena, and (at least the last two) have huge customer lists that can blow stuff like this out to. Just an idea.
Yes - my father ran into the same issue when selling his proof sets. He was not in as much a rush, but wanted to unload them. We ended up consigning them to 900Fine and it worked out great. Couldn't you have put them on the dealer network?
