First Show as a Dealer...

Trays look great, with some pretty nice and cheap coins. Good luck on the day hope you do well. You guys in US are lucky that there are so many coin shows, unlike here in Aus.

 

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Hope it goes well. If I saw that display I'd stop for some searching.

 

I even have a couple of Morgan Dollars to lure them in, in slabs no less. I'm going to put them on the end of a fishing pole...

 

Ya, those will get them!

Seriously get Fitz' girl...put on a toga....it will be great!

 

If we're playing dress up, I'll be a late Roman soldier

 

Wow, JA, those trays look fantastic. The presentation looks simple, elegant, and informative. I hope you have an excellent show and keep us updated on how it goes.

 

I like your display and showing the prices. I get annoyed at how a lot of the dealers put the pricing in the corner covered by the coin. Good luck!!

 

Hope you do well as the expenses are very cheap. At least compared to California where a modest show will cost about $1,000 in various expenses (one reason why I only do one show a year or so, and mostly so I can visit with fellow dealers and collectors).

 

Better than selling would be a chance to buy grandpa's collection.

 

you'll do well John Anthony...maybe have a blue light special goin' on too

 

Awesome! I'm so glad you decided to do it. Odds are you won't sell much, but it should be a fun experience nonetheless!

 

Good luck, John, I like your tray layout.

If you make one new friend who becomes a customer it will be worth it.

I still buy from the dealers who were nice to me in the 1980s.

When I come across dealers with no prices marked, I lose interest and leave quickly.

I don't know what their strategy is but it does not work on me.

John

 

[QUOTE....Anyway, here's my solution. I printed up some larger cards with very general attributions and prices. The flips and inserts with complete attributions are under the coins...
I also plan to have several trays with bargain bin coins, in the $5 to $20 range, to demonstrate that one can collect ancient coins on a slim budget, and I'm going to have some freebies to give away to kids, and a drawing for a free coin..[/QUOTE]

I like all your ideas for your display cases. Recently I have been on the dealer side of the table. It's a learning process. The learning (and networking) has value to it even if you end up breaking even or losing a few bucks as a dealer that day.

 

This is a problem for me. My favorite show dealers all are unpriced and don't haggle. I never know what to do when I see prices. Usually the marked prices are more than I will pay. More of the marked price sellers haggle but I feel funny offering half so I usually just walk away unless the coin is something really special to me. Having to ask opens the door for discussing the coin including the price. One favorite dealer often has consignments and has to look up the coin in a list telling him what the consignor wants for the coin and how flexible he can be. All commerce is a bit of a game. Not all play by the same rules. It is interesting how some expect a haggle while others are offended if you ask if they can do better. Later this month I will attend a show with a couple dealers new to me. The task will be figuring out which type they are. Their job will be to predict what buyers will come later and pay more than I would and how bad they want to avoid going home with no sales.

It is always fun to take a coin home from a show and discover it sold for three times as much five years before. It is less fun to discover it sold for a third what you paid in last month's CNG sale.

 

Good luck John and nice tray display. Marking the prices I think is a good idea, otherwise a bunch of bullion and U.S. coin collectors will have no idea what they are worth. And also, why would anyone want to collect U.S. coins? Can you say BORIIINNGG...I've never figured that one out. Oh yeah, I'd go with the TOGA.

 

This is the problem I have run into that will only occur if you plan on staying in the business as a serious, long-term proposition.....

The prices I put on my coins quickly became stale.

Of course, I wouldn't sell all my inventory at a single show. More and more was added every day, every week, every month, every year and every decade.

I still pull out coins that are marked a mere fraction of their current worth.. I see Peace dollars for $6.95 and the like.

It may not be a problem for a dealer that had a few hundred pieces in stock that doesn't increase much or is of a field that has very stable prices but when you have a couple of hundred THOUSAND pieces it can be very embarrassing.

I recently found some $20 Double Eagles marked at $325.00.

So I don't mark my prices anymore. Look at the coin and then I will give you my very best prices at that time. I go as low as I can without hitting the price on which I would rather continue to own the coin than having the cash.

 

I don't know if you have them, but if you are going to be doing this on a regular basis, I would invest in 2-3 Allstate cases, so that these 'loose' coins are not readily available to quick and nimble fingers. It is easy when a couple of individuals are working in tandem and one distracts the seller(s) while the other pockets a coin or two which are left in the open and unprotected on the table.

 

These are very interesting points that, not being a dealer, I never would have considered. I can now see the potential trap of displaying prices on coins. I'm thinking one could work out a system by which after a show the prices get struck through or something, but that would involve quite a bit of work for someone with a large inventory. Hm. Not an easy one.

My reservation about dealers who don't show prices is that they're quoting off the top of their heads, which may work to one's advantage or disadvantage. How do I know that they know how to price the piece I'm asking about? But, again, I don't know the logistics of such a process, since I've never dealt coins.

<evil thought>Plus, this now gives me more incentive to go to dealers who do have prices marked!! </evil thought>

 

As far as prices changing, if you don't wish to re-holder each time you are modifying prices, simply buy a box of small 'price-size' sticky labels and replace the old price stickers with the new ones.

 

Good luck JA!