Local coin show pick-ups

I'm beginning to lean away from buying raw coins online. As a almost painful exercise in evaluating my recent online purchases I sent 13 raw 3CNs to NGC to compare the sellers descriptions/grades with the professionals. The quality of the pictures varied and I expected all of them to be over graded by the sellers. I knew some would get details grades and most would be sliders. The final grades were in yesterday and I plan on starting a new thread in the near future comparing the seller grades with the NGC grades. I'll go in more detail later but all I can say to you Kurt, many of us CT followers should be as cautious as you.

 

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You are all right. I get infuriated when a dealer tells me “online this is selling for $X so that’s how much I want”. I simply tell them that if I wanted to buy this coin online, I’d already own it. I can understand making a living and having to keep the lights on, but that comment usually gets my goat!

 

I have also had very disappointing results from NGC on raw coins purchased online. I am 50/50 or worse - details cleaning vs. straight grade.

 

When you choose to enter into a business there's always risk!
If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen...end of story!
I worked in retail food over 40 years you never knew what could happen next.
You see everyone needs to eat ...the good ,the bad and definitely the ulgy!
So that said again there's risk on every person who walks into your store for one reason or another...if you're not willing to accept those risk then try and find an occupation that is risk free.

 

I buy alot online.

 

Isn't "1921 High Relief Peace a redundancy?

after all, they didn't make any low relief

 

Pop pop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is!

 

Exactly.... They don't call the 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter a 1916 Type 1 Standing Liberty Quarter. It's a 1916, it's self explanatory. A 1921 Peace Dollar is self explanatory. Now if we are talking about a Proof 1922 then I can understand the designation of High Relief or Low relief.

 

This is a little different redundancy. But, an 1877 T$1 is always a Trade Dollar. So, theoretically, the designation could be 1877 $1. On the other hand, an 1878-CC T$1 requires the T$1 designation because two designs occur for that date - like the 1916 Barber-Mercury, etc. I think this is a great example of The Power of Habit!

 

Some people use those words when searching in eBay, so I will use them to get their views.

 

I don’t see why. If a coin sells for $X, regardless of the venue, that sets the market for what it is worth. Because you eliminate the Internet market in your search for coins does not change what a coin goes for.

 

Not true. When selling on line there are USUALLY fees as much as 11% the total selling price (on Ebay/PayPal), the shipping costs, and the headache of lost or returned items. That is why MOST sellers on the internet need to raise asking prices to cover some of those hidden costs. If a brick and mortar store wants Ebay prices and none of those fees or risk, it gets my goat... as I stated above. If I wanted that coin for $X, I would have already purchased it. Not sure where the confusion is.

 

But if it sells at that price, it establishes a value at which people are willing to buy a coin. You could negotiate 13% down on the price with the dealer, as that would make sense (I do the same for buyers in person), but the dealer is totally within reason to ask for THE GOING RATE for a coin. I’m not sure what the confusion is.

Also, eBay prices are generally lower than coin shop prices, at least for auctions.

 

You make it sound as if a brick and mortar shop has no operating costs and that somehow eBay is far more expensive. What about the cost of rent, electricity, insurance, payroll if they have employees. I've seen a lot of shops that ask more than eBay prices because of their operating costs. A dealer at a show also has overhead, they are paying for the table space, display cases, lamps, meals, hotel rooms, air fare... In the end those eBay fees and PayPal fees are actually one of the cheapest ways for a dealer to sell inventory.

Some of the benefits of buying in person from a dealer is live negotiations, getting to see the coin in hand versus online images and the ability to take your purchase home with you. Buying on eBay, you have to hope the coin you see in the ad is the actual coin you are going to receive. Then you have to wait for it to arrive in the mail, hopefully intact. After factoring in the costs listed above and the benefits listed, I have no issues when a dealer says "This coin sells for X on eBay or Heritage or Great Collections". If I like the coin, I pay up. When I see a coin with a price tag on it, I always ask what's your best price. I then decide if I'm willing to pay that or not. Sometimes I may come back with a counter offer, but most of the time I either purchase the coin or don't. There are dealers that don't put pricing on their coins and I always ask that dealer how much? I then ask if they are firm on that price.

Are there dealers that think all of their coins are unique treasures and price them accordingly? Yes, absolutely. I avoid those dealers and shops. They either won't last long or will eventually adjust their prices to realistic levels. The market is the market whether it's virtual or in meat space.