I'm curious, if I made a recent coin purchase at a show/internet/etc and wanted to get a second opinion on the grade from the local neighborhood shop I frequent all the time, would this be too rude of a request? Points to consider: -I regularly visit and buy from the shop and have for some time. -The dealer might be offended that I purchased from another location What do fellow collectors think?
I don't think it would be rude at all. If the dealer gets your business a lot anyways I'm sure that they would be willing to help you out.
You could be a better judge then us , is the dealer friendly , if you spend money there it doesn't hurt to ask , but you could wait for a day when you have some money to spend on a coin , also to be considered how busy he is , remember it's how he makes a living , most dealers would be happy to give one of their clients some advice in their downtime . rzage
I wanted to get a general feel before actually explaining what happened to avoid possibly embarassing myself. So I went in and very politely asked the owner if I could obtain his opinion of grades for several coins and he came off very offended that I would bring coins from OTHER dealers into HIS shop. He proceeded to run through the 2 pages of 2x2s in 30 seconds "This one is cleaned, this is polished, this one is low grade....etc" and thrust them back at me and said "I need to help the next person now".:rolling: Needless to say I was shocked and just grabbed my items and left. There have been other instances when I tried to visit during my lunch hour and received a "we're busy, come back later" comment, but this was the icing on the cake for me never returning again. Come to think of it, I've only seen little old ladies selling and people buying junk silver there anyways. Maybe the lack of any other collectors in attendance should have been a red flag. Disappointing as it is the closest of 3 shops I go to as well. Thanks for lending an ear. I know I wont find that behavior here :bow:
Yikes Scotty!! We the shop busy or something??? That's no way to treat a customer. I suspect that's why there aren't any collectors there. Sheesh!! some people just dont get it.... :headbang:
Crap - if it is then I have been very rude to my local dealer. Who is always happy to see me. My local dealer has told me anytime I want them to check something out just bring it in and they will look at it. They have been so helpful to me I am glad they get most of my business. And yes they know they do not carry the quality of coin I like in some cases - very seldom do they have a MS IHC. It works for me.
I can't imagine a dealer acting like that.... but if I had any doubts I would just tell him a friend ask me to grade the coin for him and I would value his (the dealer's) opinion.
Scotty - in no way do I advocate poor customer service but perhaps you can salvage the situation. After all, you said his shop was the closest and you've been going there a while. Maybe the guy was just having a bad day and will make it up to you by giving you a good deal on a coin. You can't judge his 'store' by the people you see when you go there. One of my favorite shops looks like it was opened in the 50's and hasn't been upgraded or changed since. And yes, with the economy the way it is these days I would estimate 80% of coin business is bullion buying and selling but don't let the fool you about the shop. My suggestion is take a shot and go in, see if you can linger long enough to get him alone, and ask. All he can do is apologize and make it up to you or be rude and you know for sure not to return. One suggestion about asking the dealer's opinion on coins brought in from elsewhere would be repackage them so the other store logo, handwriting, code, etc. isn't on them. Coin Dealers are a very tight knit community and while dealers are usually very open to give opinions and grade they are hesitant if they know the other seller because it puts them in an awkward position. Good luck ~
This story doesn't surprise me at all. I still haven't been able to figure out if bad businessmen are attracted to the coin shop business, or if running a coin shop turns people into bad businessmen.
Scotty, I have worked in retail in the past and nothing less than rescpect and patient consideration was acceptable behavior to treat the customer with. The customer is not a burden to his business it is the reason he has a business, regardless of what that business may be. Just one persons opinion who has spent plenty of time on both sides of the counter.
