Funny and tragic coin show story.

My best dealer story was when I asked the guy what his asking price was for a coin. He politely told me (which I thought was way too high) and I asked if I could see it.

He handed it to me and I pulled my loupe out of my pocket to get a good look at it. He asked where I got my loupe because he hadn't seen one like it. I laughed, pointed at one that he had on display to sell, and said it looked just like that one, thirty years ago. He said ohh you've been collecting for a while, and then said he could sell that coin for half what he first asked for it.

 

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Yeah he burned his quadruple retail value pricing bridge. Oh the humanity.

Dealers have told us stories about how they go out of their way to raise prices when negotiating up to intentionally insult customers on this forum. I don't remember anyone who calls themselves a dealer saying anything negative about that behavior. Personally I believe both customer and buyer should have a strong enough ego to "withstand" the insults of negotiating. But ever Bart and the comic book guy live on.

 

You're missing the point. All the above would be valid if the dealer was simply asking a high price ($50) relative to what the prospective buyer thought it might be. That happens all the time, and does not represent rudeness on either side.

The point, though, is firstly that the dealer does not know the coin. His "premium" is not substantiated. Then secondly, he doesn't seem to get how haggling works; you don't go up from seller's first quote. To my thinking, he, the dealer, is showing an unprofessional, even contemptuous attitude toward customers. The "how about $100" was a comment on this, not (of course) an actual offer.

 

This kinda reminds me of what I call "Museum Pieces". The dealer has them for display, but really does not want to sell them unless they can make a huge profit on it.

 

I know at least one dealer who keeps his quote museum piece unquote as an educational tool. John Howe has [from memory] a 1920 something Peace Dollar in a WCG slab marked ms67. Legit: North of 50K... Worth? 20, 30 on a good day. Why? Because it's cleaned and maybe EF40. He's perfectly happy to show it to customers and teach them something. It's actually good for business as his properly graded less rare Peace and Morgan dollars show their true condition and worth by it.

 

You are reading way too much into this exchange. We have no idea whatsoever of the education level of the potential buyer and, in fact, all we know about the potential buyer is that he can be rude. That's it. Therefore, we do not know if there is any premium at all from the dealer. We simply have a difference of opinion as to the value of the coin and a potential buyer who is discourteous. Again, that is all we have been told. Heck, the coin might be worth $100 to a well-educated (numismatic education) person or it might be worth $10 to a well-educated (numismatic education) person. We have no idea. The dealer's quoted acceptance of a higher price than offered might have been in jest since he would be surprised at such an offer. We don't know.

What we do know is that the potential buyer and seller disagreed as to the value of the coin and the potential buyer was not courteous.

What we can also see is that the knee-jerk reaction of some folks in this thread is to immediately believe that the potential buyer has to be correct about the situation when, in fact, all that shows us is the inherent bias of those responding to the thread. Think about it.

 

I agree...there is a way to say something...and then there is the RIGHT way....sounds like he needs to learn the latter. Good Day.

 

I thought the $100 punchline was hilarious.

 

It sounds to me as if the dealer gave a price and corrected it, all in one breath. I don't have a problem with that. It's easy to get on the wrong line of a price guide. I'm sure all of us have done that. No need for the buyer to act the way he did. It was rude.

My opinion is based only on what was posted in the first post of this thread.
It's possible none of us know for sure what was actually said between the dealer and the buyer. It's all second hand information.