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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Cringely, post: 1378715, member: 22271&quot;]I know of one dealer who claims to make $500,000/year. I don&#039;t know if this is net or gross (excluding the cost of inventory), but he is successful and very knowledgeable. I&#039;ve certainly put money in his pockets (but <i>not</i> at the hundred k$ level). He attends all of the major coin shows and auctions, has a home office, an internet site, but not a brick &amp; mortar shop.</p><p>He tends to operate on a gross profit margin (markup %) of 25 - 30% (based on his resale prices of coins that I know he was a successful bidder on at auctions we&#039;ve attended). It is his knowledge of the coins that makes it worth my paying him his desired profit margin (especially when he goes to an auction I wasn&#039;t ware of or couldn&#039;t attend).</p><p><br /></p><p>I suspect that there are a number of other specialist dealers at the upper end. The downside to getting to this level is need for either huge cash reserves or a big line of credit with an understanding bank. The ability to buy multi-hundred thousand dollar coins with the anticipation that you will be able to sell it to a third party a few months later requires large financial reserves and/or the understanding bank.</p><p><br /></p><p>On the other hand, I would be surprised if my local brick &amp; mortar shop netted more than $100,000 after expenses (I hope they do as I want to see them stay in business). With the advent of eBay, many brick &amp; mortar shops have disappeared. For that reason, I try to support my local store even though their inventory does&#039;t normally have my particular area of interest (very scarce varieties of half cents).</p><p><br /></p><p>If you are lucky enough to have a good brick &amp; mortar shop in your area, by all means, support it.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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