I was talking about circulated coins being stolen before encapsulation, should have been more specific. Don't forget, if you pick up a penny of nickel and don't turn it in as discovered property at a police station, you stole it.
You don't understand how mail order coin and stamp sales worked at all, do you? Customer selects coins from the brochure and send a check. Then the Salesman sends coins on a TRIAL BASIS. THE CUSTOMER HAD THE RIGHT TO EXAMINE AND REFUSE ANY COINS THAT DID NOT MEET THEIR EXPECTATIONS. The customer sent the coins back and the costs were credited to their next purchase. I can't think of a single LCSs that do not have set buy/sell prices which adjust with spot for average quality junk silver.
I believe you'll find that numismatics is still a gentlemans endeavour, but that gentleman is likely to have the demeanor of Warren Buffet. You'll probably find if you do research that a determination of value is a difficult task. I'm slowly selling my estate, and finding that the current market value on many items is ~half of my cost. If you want some coins, I probably have what you want at 10% above my cost. I've kept good records also. If you really want to determine the buy/sell "spread" on items, purchase the grey sheets, subtract 10% for a buy price, go to eBay and find the average sold price for a selling price. Expecting a B & M dealer to operate on a 10% margin is ludicrous, and I suggest that you do some practical research. If you decide to establish a business based on your stated criteria, you may have a thriving business for a very short period. JMHO
What a load of crap this is. There is little worse than dealing with someone clearly trying to scheme, and is all the worse when they're either fairly new to the game or one of the gems who simply think they're smarter than and/or the first to ever think of their brilliant plan. If one wants to know what a dealer will pay for a coin, take it to him and ask. If worried about being "ripped off", the answer is quite simple really: KNOW (not assume) what you have and walk in with the understanding that he's not going to pay some stupid amount simply because that's what you want, and he sure as hell isn't going to fork over a "high price just to learn the date" of a clashed quarter eagle.
So if you're selling you think a general description is enough for a buyer to make a judgement of a coin's value, but if you're buying you want to see the coin in person??? Your logic belies your user ID.
I said 20% profit on a coin, but do the math. $1,000,000 in sales at 10% is $100,000. That's a healthy amount even AFTER overhead. And if Anyone can pass up silver at 10% below spot I congratulate them on their gouging skills. I buy silver AT spot when I can, and make plenty. I buy coins and silver low, and sell high, not buy a coin from someone at 20% below auction price, and sell it to the next fool for 20% over auction price. I choose to make money off of market conditions, rather than the human condition.
Not really. Rent, power, water ect for the shop aren't free. Neither is travel and room and board if they do shows. Sure AMEX or something like that could probably survive on 10-20 percent with the volume they do, but the vast majority of dealers wont be around long nor would they have the chase flow for major purchases at a margin that small if they have a physical store
I can give a person an estimate on a professionally slabbed coin. That doesn't guarantee a buy if they bring it back in. The most successful businesses in the world operate on low profit per sale high volume. Do some research.
Coin dealing isn't Walmart or McDonalds nor is the customer base anywhere near as large. Running a coin shop based off their business models won't last long
If you find a bicycle on the sidewalk you can't just keep it. You turn it in at the police station, then after a specified time period it goes to you if it is unclaimed. If you keep it first, you stole it. Same with money.
I stand by my comment that almost all coins have been stolen at one time or another. There are also robberies where money is stolen, people break into other peoples cars for change, and then every person who gets that money down the line is guilty of receiving stolen property.
let me play devil's advocate here... why would I quote a price to someone on a coin that they didn't bring to my shop? There is 0% chance of making the sale at that moment and although it generally doesn't happen, the price can change in between the time he leaves the shop to go get the coin, and the time he returns. It's bad business to just quote prices and let them shop them around.
I eat, and live under a roof. My business is alive and well for 10 years now. I don't feed a wife or kids, but by the same token I refuse to feed anyone else's because their kids don't give me a hug before school, their wife doesn't make my bed if she wakes up after me, so why should I?
I would assume that you don't run a coin shop. Honesty has nothing to do with it, but you're clearly not going to see anyone's perspective but your own. I tried.
