Are You An Impulsive Coin Buyer?

Dang, you are right. I don't know where my head is this morning.

 

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I had one impulse buy on the internet:

When I was actively buying French medals, one of my favorite dealers in Paris had been MIA for quite a few weeks without any listings. Being an old fart, I was concerned about his health, but when he "resurfaced" with dozens of new auction listings, I contacted him to express my relief that he was okay.

He explained that he sometimes had to take time to search others areas (of Europe) for new acquisitions, and as a token of his appreciation, he said that if I liked any of his new auction listings, he would "pull" them to sell directly to me. Well, it turned out that I did like some of them....44 to be exact! So, he pulled every one of them and we negotiated a deal that was fair for both of us.

Chris

 

Be thankful! The NFL playoffs don't begin until this afternoon.

Chris

 

I guess I am just weird when it comes to my collecting habits. I love silver raw coins. I go to ebay and try to buy a decent coin as near to melt value as I can. I like PCGS silver coins also and I am always looking for silver dimes, quarters and halves. Being on SSI, I have a limited budget so that has an impact on my buying also. I like shiny silver. I guess you could call me a impulsive, selective, hoarder coin collector. Now figure that out. LOL. I guess I need a little mental health evaluation. I do realize this is probably not the best way to collect from an investment standpoint, but the grandkids will end up with them anyway. I have now bared my soul to you folks. LOL. Enjoy collecting folks.

 

I have 2 sets that I am working on. I am focused on those sets, and I don't buy extra gadgets that don't fit those two sets. I don't have the budget for it.

All of those impulse buys increase a hoard, but they don't really build a collection. I guess it depends on your goals as a collector or hoarder, but impulse buys have never been my modus operandi. You can wind up with some nice coins, but to me it just seems like a bunch of random stuff.

That being said, if I see a coin come up for sale that fits one of my sets, I'll often stretch a bit more than I should to try and purchase it.

 

Hi I'm rooman. And I'm a recovering impulse buyer. I used to just grab whatever I saw. But like many collectors I just ended up with a bunch of coins that really didn't mean much. So now I'm working on being picky and patient. I have a list that I add too. If I see a coin I like, I write it on my list. And they I just watch for a good example to pop up. Case in point would be the proof 1902 florin I just bought. I picked up a super worn one years ago and it just never fulfilled what I was looking for. So I started watching for nicer coins and finally gone one for a fair price.

 

Oh, all the time. I get e-mails about auctions and I look through them and like a kid in a candy store, I bid!

 

I think I've said it before in another thread, but I think of myself as an opportunistic coin buyer. If I see something at a really good price, good enough that I can easily flip it for a profit, I'll get it. This would work out fine if I actually did flip the coins consistently -- but it's always harder to send them away than to welcome them home, isn't it?

 

Sometimes - I just won this item on eBay for $18.90 incl. shipping (I used eBay Buck$, so it was essentially free) - seems to have been mis-listed by the seller - if it's the real deal, I got a deal

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Worlds-Fai...vip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137

 

I am far, far, far too much an impulse buyer. Being on CoinTalk makes it even worse..."Whoa...look at that...I want one of those..." I don't collect series, but I have individual coins I really enjoy.

 

Oh yeah..... I know, right?!?!?!!

 

I have to have a plan and “next purchase” goals. Otherwise, I’d probably see if I could buy out David Lawrence with two credit cards. A few variations allowed — but not many!

 

I think that every one of us goes through stages in the hobby. Whether it be buying habits or just the actual activity of the hobby itself. I know I started out as an impulse buyer (accumulator) but then eventually, when I was older and also had more disposable income, turned into a focused buyer (collector).

 

Some of my coins are planned but I allow myself to make cheap impulse buys until I have narrowed my interests down since I am new to coins. Most of my purchases are from flea markets and small LCS but I usually only get things I know are a good deal. So far I love CRH silver half dollars, I am really getting into filling my '32- '98 Quarters w/proofs album and I am craving more Mexican silver.

 

If I'm at a coin shop I'm just looking for good deals and anything that tickles my fancy. I'm not there with a plan, so everything is impulse, but I'm OK with that because it's why I'm there. I used to be way too impulsive on eBay. I'd have a search for recently ending auctions and just scroll down and bid on a lot of things without putting too much thought into it. Eventually I decided I didn't want to own every coin, just certain ones, and I don't do that anymore. Thus I'm no longer getting 5-6 packages in the mail every day.

 

Unfortunately I went from impulsive Morgan dollar buyer to Obsessive Compulsive Morgan dollar buyer of any reasonably priced 1878 8TF variety I can buy over a 63 year period and still don't have every VAM Variety. I have just stopped buying 1893-S Morgans. 13 is enough .Happy Impulsive, Obsessive Compulsive coin collecting.

 

I started out impulse buying (somehow I feel like this is an adicts confession here) and shortly there after realized that I wanted to have some sort of structure in my little corner of the collecting world. With that has come the fine art of negotiation and not buying everything in the joint, although I would like to.

 

I have been impulsive, and still am! I collect square holed east asian cash coins, and I love nothing more than buying a big lot of 100+ mixed coins to go through. Some of my best coins are from mixed lots! But a friend of mine in China told me that finding a truly rare coin in a mixed lot is like hitting the lotto. Sure I've found $10 and $50 coins in mixed lots, but never that mega coin.

I generally take these lots, identify them and keep anything that fills holes in my collection or is of other interest to me. The other stuff goes into bulk lots that I consign to auctions. Goodbye excess coins, hello money for more coins! That method has pretty much paid for my coin purchases for the last 10 years (or so I keep telling myself).

 

When I buy coins I am as solid as the rock of Gibraltar, but after a few glasses of Chianti, I'm like a kid at the candy counter.

 

Any idea who'll be playing in the Super Bowl?