Coin show etiquette: Price guides

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I use my Krause book as my world coin checklist (I collect by date and mintmark, try remembering what you for the German Federal Republic). I could make one of my own, but it would just as big. I'm not worried about the prices, I just don't want to end up buying duplicates or missing new coins because I think I already have them. That being said, I don't stand there and look up each and every coin as I pick them up, looking for rarities. I just look up the ones I might want to buy.

 

Dealers have a tough time with this issue. They don't want folks to cover the cases with stuff but don't wish to tick off a customer that is doing so.

As a customer, I hate having to come back several times to see what is in the case.
There is not a clear answer.

 

Use your phone and look up any price you want--Krause (don't like it--out of date), PCGS price guide, Numismaster, Heritage, etc. Much more classy, and not presumptive of the dealer's time and space.

 

I understand this problem. What I do is for the countries that I focus on, I print up lists either of the coins I have or the ones I need, and then I check against that. It's a lot less bulky than carrying a price guide around. I don't have a smartphone so that's my low-tech answer. At a show I try to keep this to a minimum though because I feel self-conscious about monopolizing the time at the bins.

 

I carry grey sheet copies in my back pocket. Most of the dealers I deal with use this to price their items so it makes things pretty simple.

 

I HATE it when one customer covers the dealers entire case with their STUFF! It's rude! Be courteous of the other potential buyers and use as little space as possible when viewing potential purchases.

 

I disagree. When I sell to dealers they are always asking for a better price and pulling out the grey sheet. When I had a table I never took offense to collectors asking for a better price after looking at my grey sheet.

If someone is asking for a huge markup it is not rude to ask why. Besides there is nice and etiquette which are different. It may not be what you consider nice to haggle. Etiquette violation would be going rogue and trying to buy a coin a collector is selling to the dealer when you don't have a table. Just my opinion.

 

Yeah, that would be good advice for a non-Luddite. Unfortunately, I just recently got a cell phone and its one of the flip type with no internet capabilities (my wife's cast-off). At some point, Ill have to break down and join the 21st century.

BTW, you might want to add a mood indicator for cheap.