I had a lady stop in today and ask me if I buy coins because I sell the coins that I've upgrade in my collection. She seems to have a lot of the 70's mint sets, in fact a complete set, some Ikes, I saw a 71s, and other assorted stuff. By assorted I mean very common 21 Morgan, 22 Peace with a $1 Silver Cert. Just a complete mish-mash....hence the use of my term stuff... Is this stuff worth anything? I'm a collector of Morgans, Peace, Walkers, and Modern Commems. I do have some of the current quarters in silver and some other silver coins along with ASE's. Not sure if any of this stuff is worth buying? I did tell her I would be interested at the right money, but most of it is of marginal interest to me.
Even if you have marginal interest, and don't really need it, consider if maybe she will sell at a good enough price that you can make a small profit once you re-sell it all yourself individually. Just a thought.
It seems destined for doom. You will be a low quote because it is not your needs. She will be expecting a high quote. If you do get it ( for what ever price) she will probably think of you as cheating her when her friend tells her that some silver dollars sell for thousands. I would pass and have before, as I live in a relatively small town. If she tries to get quotes from others first, she might realize the truth.
I should mention that she approached me and I did tell her that most of it is not of interest unless it is really cheap. I also told her I have the price guides and will go thru it with her to give her an idea. I do know how to handle reasonable people and price guides, I spent 10 years in the Automobile industry, retail... so no fear about laying it on the line. All said and done the truth will never come back to bite you, trying to "steal" it or "lowball" her will. I don't play games, I'm quite forward.
So do I. I just don't want her to lose her mind when I show her what is real and tell her what the guides really mean.
Have to say rather you than me LOL had to do it recently with a Lady who thought her stamp collection was worth a fortune
That seems to be the norm. Somebody heard from somebody that something they have is worth millions. I think she has an idea that she will not retire on her dusty box that has been in storage for 10 years, but sometimes you just never know what kind of smoke somebody has been blowing out their pipe to them.
a friend called me the other day saying his friend called for a ride to the pawn shop because he found an old coin in his house that is worth $50,000:goof:. my friend knew to call me before they made fools of themselves. so i go down to his house and its a 1889 morgan(not a CC,O,S), in what was about G condition. he decided to scrub it clean before i came, even though i told them not to touch it... i told him, since he cleaned it, its worth just the silver that is in it, about $14. he about had a fit, telling me he went on ebay and seen one that was a few years newer(1893-s) sell for a crazy amount of money, and said his HAS to be worth more because its older. i showed him the red book and his year in even better grades then his, selling for no more then $50 graded.. he still wanted to go to the pawn shop, my friend wasn't going to take him at first. eventually he took him and they guy originally offered him $12, but with all this kids complaining and telling him he don't know what he is talking about. he told him here is $5 take it, or get out of my store! he was then mad at me. he said "its your fault, if you would have told me that if i cleaned my $50,000 coin it would ruin it, i wouldn't have!" i did tell him not to touch or clean the coin, but didn't tell him why. no clue where he even got $50,000 from.... so tread carefully with people. they think everything they got is worth a fortune and get insulted with the truth.
If you own something you're not sure about (like the lady in question) it's always better to seek opinions from people who have some realistic idea of the 'worth' of things. A friend of mine was given a small painting as a thank you from an old lady. The friend had no idea about what it was and was not very keen on it. She mentioned it to me and was ready to throw it away or give to anyone who liked it. I took a look at it and made out a signature in the corner...C.Monet!!! One of his earlier works granted but it eventually ended up in an auction and fetched a nice little sum for her. So don't knock the lady for trying and you just never know what might turn up.
I know what you are all saying. When my friends wanted me to look at there coins I always say that finding a really valuable coin is very rare. They usually get the message and are pleased with the results of what I have found. They say that their coins are for the grandkids. I say that I think they may be worth more in those twenty or so intervening years but are great momentos of them . I tell them to leave the stories of how they accumulated them so that their history won't be lost. But as you all know the big one did come around for one of my friends. Still peoples feelings get hurt pretty easily. zeke
I tend to agree with Jim (desertgem) here. But I also think you will do well with your approach given your retail background. Reading the comments, if I were in your situation. I would tread cautiously and honestly, give her all the facts, your best quote, then tell her to take a day or two to think it over, seek other quotes if necessary and if she's still interested in your offer after thinking it over to come back to finish the deal. Giving the space and time to think without any pressure to decide immediately after your quote is beyond fair to the customer. Also, I'm curious and I may have missed this in an older thread, what kind of business is your shop that brought her in to you?
AHH HA, a used car salesman, HUH? :goofer: Just kidding you know. As to that lady's massive fortune, I'd just be nice, show her what they sell for in a price guide. Then the problem with all such people, trying to explain profit in sales. You would have to explain to her how no matter who she sells that stuff to, would want to resell it and make a profit and the one that buys it too may want to resell it for a profit. All this means she just can not get the selling price for what she wants to sell. If she understands that situation and is willing to depart with all that stuff for a really reasonable price, you may want to take if for a profit situation anyway. However, if it was me, I'd just explain what I said and walk away.
This is a situation I go through on a regular basis. I often get phone calls about colllections someone wants to sell, or something of the sort, and they usually are just full of stuff. So I am usually faced with buying a bunch of junk (I don't mind using that word for stuff that comes from the Franklin mint, or somewhere similar). The only option is to lowball, either so they say no, and I won't have to deal with it, or they will accept and I can sell it quickly with a low price for the buyer as well. That was there is no messing around. I don't bother pinching pennies and dimes out of stuff like that. Offer 65% or close to that amount, and sell it for 75 or 80% of retail. Move it quick, and don't mess around with sitting on it. I am sitting on a few little folders from the first national mint, or something because I made the mistake of buying it for 80% and never being able to sell it for profit.
Very sound advice as the longer you have it the longer your money is tied up. I do buy silver at melt or sightly above as I live to give old coins as gifts. The longer it sits in my box the longer I wonder when someones birthday, graduate, get married or going to have a kid. It has become kind of a thing what coin are they going to get from me. I always get a lost of attention on my gifts. Ice
