What is a good discount percentage to use with the fmv price guide. I have been trying to buy at 70% of FMV. I know the FMV is lower than PCGS, but an oppinon form the pros would be much appriciated
There will never be a standard percentage. It's not that simple, and never will be. For one thing, any guide is exactly that - a guide. NOT a rule, NOT a law. It's an indicator. An educated guess. The variability in these estimates varies wildly from issue to issue. If a given issue is basically a commodity - commonly available en masse - the more reliable the guides and the less variance in price from specimen to specimen. Example - common date Morgans in MS64. Price guides work well with these. Coins with greater "numismatic premium" have greater variance from specimen to specimen. They vary more in desirability, even coins of the same grade, so they vary more in price. For instance - go check early Federal US coins on Heritage Auction Archives. Check copper, silver, and gold in higher grades. You will find dramatic price swings - 100% or more - simply because a coin is truly exceptional compared to other coins of the same grade. Same coin, same grade, different price. Two of the coins I bid on in the Heritage Houston auction sold for 50-100% higher than previous highs - in this "down" market. They were great coins. A knowledgeable bidder paid premium and got premium. Pricing - like grading - is an art and a science.
I get what your saying but, People discount everything. To quote pawn stars "im not a reatil buyer" so in that line of thinking, what would you say would be a good rule of thumb, or a lign of best fit type of thing. Also thanks for the heads up on the 64 morgans. The NGC claims that their FMV guide is acutall realized prices so wouldn't it be more accurate and esaily discountable. All I want to do is try and find coins that are graded high quality and at a price that if I have to unload them Im likly not to lose money. I really hope that is not a pipe dream, and yes I understand that I can wish in one hand and $$$$ in another and see what fills up first.
What corner of the coin collecting universe are you interested in ? Different areas behave very, very differently. Some areas do indeed act like commodities, others not. One's strategies are very different depending on what you're looking for.
