Littleton sending me a service I don't want.

There are dealers I will sell to, and there are dealers I will buy from, but not both. Very few dealers I buy and sell with.

 

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I had ordered a special deal from them and they sent the extra coins. At the bottom of the form you can comment on their service. I wrote that I would not be able to buy any extra coins at this time and sent it back with the extra trial coins. They took the coins back and never sent me anymore. It was that easy.

 

Not a good place to get coins.

 

Not a good place to deal with

 

Back in the day they used to do this without advertising they're going to send approvals. At that time I would just keep the unsolicited approvals and would never hear from them again!

 

Good for you! Not many people know you can do that.

I was going to order from them, then read the fine print, which is all their ads, even the little tiny ones in the Sunday paper magazine inserts like Parade. They might have some good stuff, but their business model stinks. At least with Book of the Month Club, you had a chance to reject the current selection before they sent it to you automatically.

 

All you need to do is to call them up. 800 6453122 and they'll cancel it. Even if you don't have an Invoice or Customer number, they're good at tracking you down.

 

I've ordered the occasional loss leader from them (usually the state quarters at Face value). Yes, they sent approvals, but they also enclosed a postpaid envelope to return the approvals. I simply put the approvals in the envelope, wrote cancel service on the invoice, and dropped it off at the post office. Simple and Easy.

BTW: In the 90's I sold them some stuff like Barbers and V Nickels in G-VG. They paid a fair price as long as the coins met the ANA grading guidelines.

 

It (was) a good business model back in 1945 when Maynard Sundman started it off. There were very few B&M shops outside of major cities at that time and he capitalized on it and did well. It is not a good place to buy anymore with a 100%-300% markup on common coins you can buy elsewhere at fair market prices. And where there are still no B&M's it still works. There are very few approval business's anymore. Pallisades is the only one that comes to mind at the moment. And they are a large company, also owning Mystic Stamp Co. and have a lot of overhead. It is wonder that they can still compete these days with the internet in general. And many people abhor the internet. But each to their own.

 

Have any of you guys ever sold coins to Littleton? They pay good prices but are incredibly picky. I did buy some of their loss leaders and made money on them when I sold them. I didn't have a problem getting out of the approval service.

 

I see Old Hoopster sold them some stuff. Should have read all the letters.

 

I asked for a catalog, got it, tossed it. Now they're trying to hook me, because I got another one today. Maybe I should call them up and get off the mailing list.

 

To all the people running their mouths off about how bad Littleton Coin is, they have been in business since 1947 so they must be doing something right. I have been buying coins from them for about 10 years. As far as I know, the only coins they send on approval are if you are a member of one of their many coin clubs, like the Ancient Civilizations Coin Club or the Morgan Silver Dollar Club. They have sent me unrequested coins of other types, but they have always included a postage paid envelope w/tracking to return them. The only ones I have had to pay to return are the ones sent in the coin clubs I was a member of. They have a pretty nice customer service that is pretty accommodating. They reimbursed me 30 dollars in postage for a coin sent me in error. Plus, if you decide you don't like a coin, they have a 45 day return policy. It's generally a lot safer than buying coins on eBay.

 

They are pretty high priced for many of their coins but they do have a good deal here and there if you wait and look. I do like looking through their catalogs just to keep up on whats out there. I have bought supplies from them a couple different times and was ok with the products I received.

 

No one said they were a bad company, just overpriced, and that's a fact. They have excellent customer service and the owner is an honorable man and very dedicated. The fact is, no one with any knowledge would pay $5.00 for a common date Buffalo nickel in Fine condition or $40.00 for a common Silver Eagle. So, it's not a great place for anyone without some knowledge to start out with unless it's one of the ad mailers where you can get something at face value with free shipping.

 

Here's what I said about Littleton in a previous thread about them:

 

I bit the Littleton hook many years ago and when I received whatever it was I asked for, it came with a little envelope of fairly expensive low grade coins "on approval." I also had to look at the ad again to make sure that I had signed up for it. They have some good designers hiding that little detail. Regardless, I sent a note back with the approvals saying that I collect nothing below XF and please don't send me any more. They never responded and never sent me anything else. So they at least respond well, or at least they used to. I have not dealt with them since.

 

From what I’ve read on this thread and others, it seems that they provide exactly what they advertise or maybe even a bit better when it comes to grading, but at a very high price. There are other mail order companies whose prices are lower but whose grading is less than advertised. If I had to choose between the two I would prefer Littleton’s model.

Fortunately I don’t have to choose either because I can look for EBay and Heritage listings with good photos and pay reasonable prices.

 

I have received nice modern coins like the Susan B Antony from Littleton. Always excellent coins with no approvals. Luster is always good and the coins are well selected for the SBA variations

 

I thought the idea was you do NOT need to pay to return coins. ?