What would you do....

Hey Ya'll

Lately I've been doing something that I don't usely do and need some help
I'm thinking of buying coins for resell

My question is--would you buy coins for resell if you could get them for a fraction of the list price?
How would you resell??
Would you buy it slabbed or raw??

I'm buying these coins so if I ever need to sell some of my coins to pay a debt I won't have to part with my favorites

The coins are all slabbed by the top 4 (most of them are NGC or PCGS).
They are all high grade....some of these would help a registry set.
And at less then list price---is this smart or am I nuts??


Also if you were doing this how would you do it any different?

Let me know what you think about my new venture and any suggestions are welcome!!!

Speedy

 

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Let's think this thing through. If you are planning quick turnover you are talking about becoming a dealer. If you are planning to profit from sale at some distant future date you are talking about becoming an investor.

My advice would be to decide which (if either) you want to be, and direct your efforts accordingly.

One advantage dealers have over investors - they (hopefully) turn their stock quickly and either make a small gain or suffer a small loss on each deal, but barring some kind of sudden market collapse, they aren't likely to lose their shirts in a flash.

One advantage investors have over dealers - there is a larger (though still statistically tiny) chance of making the big hit.

Successful dealers in anything are people who have studied the market, the merchandise, and related historic trends. People who jump with both feet into dealing something with a great desire to succeed, but no relevant background, are very likely to fail, and the longer they persist the more likely that failure becomes.

Successful investors in anything are people who have studied the thing they are investing in, whether it's real estate, stocks, coins, oil and gas futures, or whatever; along with the market and related historic trends. People who invest on the basis of gut instinct or what's fashionable, or a tip they overheard in an elevator, are doomed to failure.

There have been a number of threads on dealer and investor techniques on this forum. I heartily recommend reading them.

 

Speedy,

Below list price? You should know better than this by now. For what list are you referring to? Unless you are planning on selling your coins on TV, forget any price guide out there.
Second. Roy makes a fabulous point. We (dealers) survive on the turnover. While the market is good or bad, turnover is the safest way to make money. If you can profit a dollar on every coin sold, you only have to multiply the number of coins sold.
Too often collectors make this assumption that you can make 30 to 50 % on a coin. Only on TV.
You can buy any coin for a future sale. Whether you turn a profit or not is all in how you play the game.
First you must figure out what coin will be popular in a given time frame.
Second you must buy at a good price.
Third you must be able to sell at the given time.

Many collectors jump onto the coin selling idea only to learn that this is not for everyone. Many dealers come and go in a years time. Predicting what a future customer will want is nothing short of playing the lottery.

Here is an example: You go out and buy a nice 1885-CC Morgan in NGC MS-63 Current greysheet bid is $470.00
Sounds good so far huh?
Five years from now the market is doing great and the current bid is $550.00
Still sounds good huh?
Now you have to sell the coin. You hit the show floor to find that everyone wants a lower or higher grade or different grading service. No one will agree with the 63 grade on the holder.
So you run off to the auction services. Well we all know that those are the most unforgiving places. Everyone is looking for the bargain. Will the coin bring its full price or will the CC market fail?
Who knows.

Be careful out there. Could be some nasty sharks in them waters

 

It's a good idea to start slowly and build the knowledge, customer base and inventory you need to run a successfull business.

 

Get ready to know the true meaning of thin margin lol. Today at a local show I bought a handful of $10 libs, sold all but one and my profit was a fat $5 per coin. Not bad for a $235 investment, eh?
At the palm beach show recently I flipped a few of the same item for a $3 profit per coin. That's not exceptionally low profit...in fact it's pretty standard for circ common date gold. Sometimes I'll flip bullion like K-Rands or Eagles and such and make $2 to $5 each. It's not a lot of money but it's fairly easy to do, until I let my guard down and unknowingly buy a problem coin, then I lose a few bucks. Thank goodness it's not all like that!

 

satootoko
Thanks for your help...I've been collecing for a few years now so I'm not thinking of becoming a dealer (I just couldn't part with some of my coins) so I guess you would call it investing....I'm just thinking of getting these coins so if I ever have to sell off some of my coins I won't have to part with my best ones first

National dealer
I go by Coin Trends most of the time...I guess I'm just thinking of buying the coins for future sale..like I told satootoko.

What is the gray-sheet bid for a NGC 1965 SMS Dime MS-67??


cladking
In one way I have started slow...I've been collecting for a few years and my dad has collected longer than that (you might call him more of an investor/collector)

tradernick
$5 per coin isn't bad at all!!!....I got some silver buillon a few months ago and what do you think happened...silver went down I've also gotten some problem coins but I just keep a box and when I get one I put it in a flip and put it in the box...I'm just glad I haven't gotten ripped too bad

Thanks for all of y'alls advice.

Speedy
WINS#398
ANA#J-3119513

 

Speedy,

Stop using trends.

Here is the Heritage auction http://www.heritagecoin.com/common/view_item.php?source=&Sale_No=24114&Lot_No=11338

Greysheet does not offer bids for Roosevelt Dimes. The dealer networks offer PGCS MS-67 for $35

 

ND
What is bad about Trends??
A friend sent me a copy of the gray-sheet but I don't think I like them like I do Trends so what would you use??

Acording to Heritage they sold:
Sale 24111, Lot 13684 Tuesday, November 2, 2004 67 NGC $29.00
Sale 24104, Lot 11631 Tuesday, October 26, 2004 67 NGC $41.00


I didn't do too bad...I got a NGC 1965 SMS MS-67 for a total of $5.00

Why doesn't the gray-sheet offer bids for Roosevelt Dimes??

Thanks
Speedy
WINS#398
ANA#J-3119513

 

Trends is kind of like a wish list for retailers. Not that all the values listed are off base, but most could not equal the real world values bought and sold on a daily basis.
The greysheet only lists actively traded coins. The Roosevelt Dime as a whole is not a actively traded coin. The only decent dates are 1949-P and 1949-D other than those dates, all the others are traded at near melt.

The Greysheet is not a necessary tool for the collector. Maybe 3 or 4 copies a year would work perfectly. For those of us that buy and sell coins on a daily basis, it is much needed baseline to work from.

 

ND
Thanks for explaining that.

I might look into ordering a few copies a years.....


Thanks
Speedy

 

Speedy I like the fact that you are searching for answers. This is the most important part of succeeding in this hobby. Keep up the good work, and please ask if you don't know the answers.
There are a few here that truely know their side of the hobby and all are willing to share.

 

ND
Thanks!! I will ask anouther question

Since I'm only a handfull away from completing my set of Cents 1909-DATE I'm starting to save back for a S-VDB.
It will be next year before I even start to look for one but I'd like to start to read more about them so I don't get ripped.

What is your advice (or anybody else's) on buying one???

My set is grades from G-BU and the keys I have are G-VG so that is what I might try for...my dealer has a MS-63RB S-VDB but at a few thousand its well out of range for me

On Heritage they sold some F-15's for

Sale 301, Lot 306 Monday, September 30, 2002 15 ANACS $471.50
Sale 22015, Lot 19017 Tuesday, January 29, 2002 15 ANACS $414.00

I know that the better the grade the better the coin so in one way I would like to get a F-12 but that is about the highest I could go...what is a ball-park price for a 1909-S VDB in F-12??

If its slabbed its alright but I really want it to go in my book so I'd really like it raw.....if its slabbed maybe by a company like ANACS or ICG or a lower rated service.

What should I look out for??

Thanks for any help!!!

Speedy

 

I agree. Some larger dealers have been hoarding the 09 S VDB and the 14-D. Watch for a small correction after the first of the year. While it won't be a major drop, collectors are less than picky for these dates. They want to fill the hole. Take a good look around and pick a cherry example.

 

I would think you would pay on average around $550 to $600 for a slabbed Fine-15 1909-S VDB

I've been researching them for a few years now.

Thanks,

Greg

 

GDJMSP
It will be next year before I start to look for one to buy so that is fine with me to wait
Since you think the S-VDB might go down what about the other key dates??

Would it be better to buy a S-VDB at a coin show where there might be more then one, or is it better to buy it online like from Heritage or e-bay??

ND
I bet I'll have to buy it from another dealer cause I think my dealer only has one
He doesn't hoard that much....in the last year his shop is going great and if he gets a better coin then it goes pretty fast.

Gregory
$550 is about my limit for a coin....so far the most I've spent on a single coin was just over $100 and that was for my 1914-D cent PCGS-G-4

Thanks y'all

Speedy

 

Speedy,

I highly recommend shopping at shows first. Online second, and small shops last.

The simple reasons are quantity. At a show, you can find anything short of the monster dates such as 1895-P Morgans in decent quantities.

Large shows such as Baltimore, Fun, Long Beach and the ANA will show many collectors a new perspective on how rare some of these coins really are.

 

ND
Where I live there is only one show a year (about 2 hours away) and it only has about 40-55 tables.
I have gone 2 years now and this year was the best.....I did see some S-VDB's and some other rare coins as 1877 IHC some old 1700's silver dollars.

Thanks for the help....if I get to go next year I will be on the look out for one.


Speedy

 

Speedy,

Save up some of your coin money to visit a real show. The educational seminars are worth the visit alone.
Money spent on your knowledge will always outweigh any spent on a coin.