Cherrypicking Etiquette

"I agree with what GDJMSP said. I like the idea of checking out his inventory, identifying varieties, letting him do the sale side, and giving me a cut. Right now, I'm feeling I should have kept my mouth shut until I revisited his shop. At that time, I could have slipped him a few bucks."
Now, that I can see!

And, no I don't have you confused with someone else, (no sarcasm here) but you obviously used your time and expertise to select some very choice VAMs.
The dealer could have done the same thing. But, he did not.

 

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NESVT,
Never be sorry for being generous! Maybe you are establishing a long term relationship with this dealer and maybe you were just extremely honest. Either way, as I see it, nobody is an idiot for giving. Only the takers are!!!
Avi

 

I think it's simpler for me than I make it sound. If folks are nice to me, I'm nice back. Maybe I spent too much time in the scouts. Maybe my parents lived near a power plant when I was conceived.

 

Myself, I admire you for your sense of self and what is right for you. Cheers!

 

Well this is one of those times when I think you can do either---IMHO you did what you think is right and I think you are doing great!!!...if I cherrypicked a rare coin from my dealer up town more than likely I would give him some extra----just because we have a good working relationship and I don't want to lose that---but if I was just buying from Joe Blow who wanted to sell coins then I don't see any problem in cherrypicking without paying him extra....

I think you did right and I wish we all thought about such things sometimes!

Speedy

 

Nesvt,

If everyone did what you did, the "Antiques Roadshow" would be out of business and off the air as there would be no more stories like this:

Buyer: " I bought this painting for fifty cents at a garage sale and I think it might be worth something."
Appraiser: "Yes, in fact this is a rare canvas by Joe Doubletalk and I would insure it for $1 million!"
EFX: "Ch-ching!!!"

[Ever notice that the stuff that's really only worth 50 cents somehow never makes it on the air? And yet, what's the probability of that? Ah, I digress.]

There's no question that you are being more than fair. Part of human nature, for better or worse, is trading with "better information" and I'm sure that many who go by the adage "Buy low, sell high" would not hesitate to keep 100% of the profits. But one of the nice things about this hobby is that there are plenty of "good guys" (and gals) out there. Certainly Thalia and I have benefited from more than a few during our short time here!

 

Just heard from the dealer. He has 1200+ more Morgans that he'd like me to check out. He was going to sell them "VAMless", so he'll share any profit that might result from my checks.

 

Well done nevst. And to think you had doubts....

 

Great point mcgrover! Also, I agree with GD...maybe the dealer could share in some of the risk.

I highly commend your goals and if you're on friendly terms with your dealer, you may want to kick him back a little something. He has every right to pick through and attribute those coins himself and he apparently doesn't want to do that, which is fine. He is allowing you to do that, which means that he is not upset about what you're doing, so in my mind, you can keep 100% of the profits if you'd like. Now, when it might get to be a little bit different is if he starts acquiring more Morgans specifically for you to look through. Then it's a bit more of a joint venture/partnership. Also, it may come to this if he sees you're doing well and he's making some money. You may have opened a big ol' can of worms! Good luck!

Also, I think it's great that you've acquired the skills and knowledge needed to cherry pick VAMs. That's awesome! :thumb:

 

what comes around goes around, YOU sir have good karma

 

Like I said you will be rewarded for what you do now, good luck I hope you find a lot of vam's with your new friend.

BRUCE.

 

Since the seller was a dealer, I don't think you had any moral obligation to share profits. Basically you are both "professionals" and you just outworked and outresearched him. If you were ripping off an elderly couple at a garage sale, I might feel differently about it. But if you want to keep a good working relationship and keep the coins flowing, it might have been a smart business move to share the profits. You seem to have the skill to identify the coins, but he seems to have the connections to get them in the first place. If you both keep doing this, both of you will probably come out ahead in the long run.

 

I like to believe , what comes around goes around, which doesn't necessarily mean I would've done the same, but it was obvioulsly a wise decision in your case. Good luck, hopefuly you will find many more.