Are Coin Dealers Irrelevant?

My point with that post sir was referring to the type of dealer who will do anything for the sale. They will scare you into believing the sky is falling and silver will be $200 an ounce soon, or roll back the odometer, or just outright lie to make an overpriced sale. I never meant to impugn any honest sellers. My best friend growing up is a straight commission salesman. All firms rely on salesmen, and in many ways its the toughest job in the company. Sorry if you thought I was degrading all salesmen, it was never intended that way.

 

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There is some nice $$ to be made with 60's sets....

 

So am I the only guy to pick up on this statement? How much are you charging this guy? I would be pissed if I found out I could have cut you out with heritage. This is a $15000 coin. Even if you only charge 10% you are taking $1500 from a guy who could make a few clicks of a mouse. If you own the coin it is one thing . But to complain about dishonest dealers is interesting. Isn't the right thing to do teach others how to buy on their own with the internet instead of brokering coins to people? They could even pay you for their time for classes.
These net clients of yours, why do they need you? Unless you personally own the coin they could google check eBay and heritage just as easily as you. What value are you providing them?

As for the point your making, I see that as the mid future. I think collectors are going to continue the trend of using sites like eBay to cut out the middleman. eBay fees may be 13% but I have not really seen dealers offer 13% back of retail when purchasing coins. I think in 20 years you may have maybe half the number of dealers you do today. You are right some people and some collectors are using web based direct collector to collector sales. These sales are occurring today, and compared to 30 years ago each eBay collector to collector sale is money taken out of a b&m dealer's pocket. as collector to collector sales increase on third party sites that potential dealer profit per each sale is deleted.

I'm sure that there are a lot of people on this forum who will freak out about the statement I made that I see third party web sites selling coins from collectors to other collectors bypassing the dealer as threatening. But it is what I see happening. Yes I am aware that many eBay coins are owned by dealers then sold retail. But i still think that the number of dealers supported professionally by the hobby will be significantly decreasing as options for collectors to sell to other collectors increase. Last time I checked you can even sell coins collector to collector here.

I'm not saying dealers don't serve a function I'm saying as connectivity increases the need for someone to buy your coin and sell to one of their clients is decreasing as collectors are able to find other collectors on their own.

Something like 1 in 3 to 1 in 5 relationships start on online dating sites. This was unthinkable 20 years ago. Is is so unthinkable that we will have "coin dating" sites where 1 in 3 of all coin sales are collector to collector? Dealers will still exist but there will be less of them.

 

Yeah, I’ve told this client he could save some money by buying it himself and he simply does not want to do a transaction online – that’s one type that still frequents B&M’s. As for my net clients, they come to me because I compete with eBay prices.

 

What does this mean that you compete with eBay prices? Do you own the coins or not? And if not why can't they bid or use a sniper app?

 

I think we're working under a false premise here. There is nothing new about the Internet or eBay. Internet shops are essentially mail order shops which have been around for over a hundred years and eBay is the flea market which has been around much longer. The same dynamics are in play. Mail order typicality runs a higher rate of return than B&M shops. Also, most internet/mail order shops have a B&M presence somewhere. eBay is your typical flea market, full of both deals and scams. I don't think either will make local coin dealers irrelevant any more so than Sears and Roebuck made the local retailer irrelevant. The media and velocity may have changed but the underlying human interaction remains the same.

 

There will always be middlemen and sometimes there are many links in the chain.......it spreads wealth around. Go to a supermarket and ask them to tell you how they get the best prices and for a list of their wholesalers and suppliers as you'd rather buy direct. Then when they have stopped laughing at you, and when security allow you to do so, go back in and buy what you wanted.

 

I think not!

 

Actually without the internet I would not have access to some good dealers.

 

Very true. As someone posted earlier, there was always mail order to access good dealers as well. I do see the internet affecting collecting a LOT. I see many more people being able to collect coins like ancients that they never would have dreamed owning before. I see many more people finding good dealers like Frank Robinson. Do these things drive up competition for me? Yeah, but I am not going to get mad that others finally have found the joys of dealing with what I play with.

Overall, I am only disagreeing that Ebay or the internet has turned everyone into a dealer, and knowledgable dealers have become superfluous. Maybe the internet has killed off a lot of bad local dealers, or will even more in the future, but I do not believe someone like TomB will ever become irrelevant. If so, then I believe this hobby will be so much worst for it I don't think I will be part of it any longer.

 

I wonder where I would be at with collecting if it wasn't for the internet.

The internet is a beautiful thing for many reasons and just as much of a curse if you aren't careful.

 

To a collector a good honest dealer is as valuable as any other resource. If you're looking for a particular date or mint mark or type coin and you think you'll wait to buy it from another collector you might be waiting a long time before one shows up for sale.