I think sellers are getting a little greedy and buyers are getting fed up with it. I often look at the finished auctions on Teletrade and Heritage. Lately, especially in the gold coins, I've noticed a lot more coins going unsold because the seller has placed a buyback bid or because the bids didn't meet the reserve. However, I've watched the bidding and I've seen a lot of what I think of as strong bids. I think many potential buyers are just getting tired of paying ridiculous prices.
I've offered realized to $15 over for some coins (ancients) and didn't hear back from the sellers (yes, more than one) ... not even a return email saying the offer is too low, how about $xx, etc. It's as if they'd rather it just list and re-list and re-list over and over (which is fine by me, I have a feeling ancients aren't going anywhere). Another seller was selling a love token for about $25 over what they normally go for. I asked a question about it and mentioned I was on the fence about it, and he replied saying it was a bit expensive (he said it, I didn't) and I agreed and gave him a realistic offer. Last I heard from him as well. These are all from people who claimed they welcomed offers. I'm not, "getting tired of paying ridiculous prices" ... I just refuse to.
this is common argument in any market. if people are willing to pay a certain price they will. If sellers set premiums too high on something and are unresponsive to offers, chance are they arent going to do well versus the ones that do. Likewise,its not the sellers fault if everyonce in a while they manage to snare someone in who has the cash and could care less. Economics 101. Besides, its not like collectors' coins are neccesities, they are a luxury and ideally targeted towards people who have the income to have luxurious tastes. A good example in this case would be diamonds, historically overpriced rocks that (outside of rarieties) are only worth the cash they are payed for. c'est la vie
Prices in many areas of the US coin market are going down - others have flattened out. Only a few areas are still seeing increases and that is primarily in keys and rarities. I would only expect the downturn to continue and worsen.
I've noticed that as well, During the ANA denver, I was searching for an 01-s 10c in vg 8 or 10 and had to make offers at 5 different tables before I found a dealer that was willing to deal
I've just about stopped buying this year because of the increase in prices. Even the spreads on silver bullion coins are getting very high compared to a couple of years ago. I'll wait.
I just sold off all my junk and semi-junk at very fair prices to a local dealer, and I'm glad I did from all the negative Denver reports. About time the coin market stabilizes even if it's temporary.
