If Coin Dealers NEVER Existed.......

Buy the coin, not the dealer

Quote:
Originally Posted by danfierce70
I have coin dealers I like, and coin dealers I hate.

:thumb:

Now, this I understand, and agree with.
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The Other Frank

Ditto.

Of course, I have dealers from whom I enjoy buying coins. When I have limited time at a show, I invest my time with those people that I like. I especially like dealers that share numismatic information with me. Some of them see many more coins than I do & I can learn from them. If I like a coin, then I will buy it from wherever it is offered. Buy the coin, not the dealer.

 

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Is it hard to say "YAY for the cherrypickers" for those who get bargins from the dealers who don't want to bother learning how to attribute their coins?

 

The last time I've been to a coin shop, the dealer was very friendly and we enjoyed being around each other because we both enjoyed talking about coins, but on the other hand, I understand that people have had bad experiences with dealers, I've never had one of those experiences with a dealer, but of course, I've only done business with that one dealer I've had a good experience with, so the bottom line is that coin dealers are people just like the rest of us and it's not fair to sterotype any group of people for whatever reason because in every group of people there will be bad apples and there will be those people who are the most pleasant people to be around, no matter what business they may be in.

 

when i was 8 or 9 years old, my older brother was big into coin collecting and I found his coins interesting. I was intrigued with his steel pennies from the war years. Not knowing anything about coins I went to the county fair and there were some coin dealers set up in one of the halls.
I went to this one table and saw a guy was selling a 1954 steel penny that was perfectly shiny, not like the dull ones my brother had. I took the whole $5.00 that I had to spend that day at the fair and bought the penny for my brother. I was so proud of my purchase when I got home to give it to my brother. You can imagine my dismay when he told me it was plated and there was no such thing as a 1954 steel, and that I had been ripped off.
My cousin and I went back the next day and asked for my money back and was told there was no returns. So we went and made signs about this guy being a phony and a rip off and proceeded to picket his booth. We were run off several times by fair authorities, but we kept sneaking back. People felt sorry for 2 little kids getting ripped off and were not buying from this gentleman. Finally he gave in and gave my $5.00 back and gave us each a dollar if we promised to go away and not come back!!!!!!:hail::hail:

 

That's a great story and glad it turned out as it did. NOW I'll add the guy that ripped you off was not a coin dealer.
Perhaps I need to start a thread about how one defines a coin dealer?

 

I think a lot of people forget why a coin dealer has his shop in the first place. That is his business, his job. Just like you and I go to work every day so does a dealer. He has to put food on the table the same as you and I.
If people think a coin dealer has to large a markup, then they should check the mark up on jewelry for example. Retail is just that, goods marked up and sold in a convenient place. Items of interest brought together in one place to make it easier for us to buy what we want and for the seller to make a profit.

Not every dealer is a "good guy", just the same as not every retail store is a "good business".

If it weren't for dealers, I wouldn't have half the coins I do now.

 

Let's be clear.... The hobby doesn't exist because of coin dealers. Coin dealers are able to exist because there are enough hobbyists to enable them to make a living by carrying nventory and making a market in coins. In most cases, the dealer is the adversary of the collector, just as in every other commercial transaction where non-standard goods and services are exchanged. In a few cases, the relationship might develop over time into one with enough trust and respect between the dealer and collector to eliminate most of the conflicts in the transaction. I don't think this is any different than any other part of life.

 

Actually this entire post confuses me. Everyone here is discussing a coin dealer yet anyone that sells a coin could, might, may be considered a coin dealer. Out of all the so called collectors on this or other coin forums, many have sold coins and may not consider themselves a coin dealer. Yet as soon as you sell a coin, you too are now a coin dealer.
There are just degrees of coin dealers I suppose. Ones that own a coin store, work in a coin store, sell at coin shows, sell on ebay or other web sites, have their own web site, sell only here on this forum, sell at coin clubs and on and on and on and on.
So just where, how, why, when does a person become a dealer?

 

Just because I sold a car once, doesn't make me a car dealer. I would consider a coin dealer as a person that sells coins for a living.

Also, coin dealer represents the best way for me to buy a coin I need for my collection.

 

Coin dealers serve another purpose as well. You will be able to find a collector who will buy 1 or 2 of those 1927 S Quarters you are selling, but what about the other 40??? (hypothetical of course). I don't know of many collectors that can or would want to handle bulk purchases.

95% of the stuff we buy doesn't end up in our cases. It ends up in buckets in the back. We have both dealers and regular customers that come and dig through these buckets or just but the whole things. If you had 2,000 Indian head cents the average collector would want to dig through and pick out the better stuff... where the coin dealer would buy the entire lot. I think that's a big difference.

 

Now there is an attitude problem. Personally I don't consider coin dealers to be a adversary. Competition sometimes yes, but not an adversary.

 

Ok, I accept your use of competition as a better description. Thanks.

 

I cant stand the used car sales man like dealers. Sadly they are all I seem to run into. One guy around here is GREAT, lets me take my time, shows me what I ask to see even if he knows I wont buy it and does not cop an attitude. All the other coin dealers ive had to deal with are pushy, rude, and say things like "YOU COULD SELL THIS ON EBAY for 400$ im only charging 380!"
I even had a guy recently at a coin show try to take back a coin.
Two guys were running this table, I saw a china panda and his friend told me 20$ so I had that sucker in my pocket and a 20$ in his hand before he finished his sentence.
I walk around to the other side of the table and am still looking at other things when his friend tells him what he did and the guy proceeds to basically yell at his friend. Then the guy asked if he could get a few more dollars for it or if he could give me my money back for it. I told him no and he tried to sell me on some "ULTRA rare" silver maple leaves for just shy of 30$ a pop (mind you this was back when Iwas getting eagles for 16-17$