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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Player11, post: 1383942, member: 26725&quot;]I started out with an inventory of $10 K investment doing shows. I did not quit my day job in financial until near retirement and have expanded the business. My primary focus was buying low and selling high so I could quickly increase inventory.</p><p><br /></p><p>You will need:</p><p>1. A glass Allstate display case and light (Architect lamp from Target will do). Be sure and get some C clamps to secure the light to the table. Consider a chain and padlock to chain up your cases to your table at night along with any brief cases. Eventually you will expand to two cases or more.</p><p>2. Grey Sheet subscription and some grading books along with a blue book, red book professional, and Catalogs for your specialty area like if its Currency.&nbsp; Be able to make a buy offer quickly.&nbsp; </p><p>3. Price Stickers used for the cost code which is in letters on the back of the holder or slab. You can use an excel sheet to price your inventory.</p><p>4. Set a $1000 fixed cost budget for publications, subscriptions, supplies, etc. Everything else can be variable selling expense or allocated to the cost of inventory. You want to keep variable costs in the range of no greater than 15% of sales. Your table fee and show costs are to be allocated between sales (selling expense) and purchases (allocated show costs added to cost of inventory). </p><p>5. Generally, it takes cost plus around 40% or more to make it in the coin business. Anyone saying it takes less is either lying to you or never been there.</p><p>6. At a show you are there to sell it and make money or buy it right. Don&#039;t waste your time with people who may block this mission. Other dealers will try to rip you - you don&#039;t owe them anything as your there to buy and sell at your price.</p><p>7. Don&#039;t let junk box people block your cases or take an inordinate amount of time at your table unless buying. Don&#039;t let someone else looking at another dealers coins put their books, price guides, etc on your table or block your customers. Tell them to remove their stuff or do like I did on a couple of occasions simply knock it off your table like its an accident &quot;Oh so sorry.&quot;</p><p>8. Have fun, afterall your spending your weekend at a coin show. When I travel to out of town shows I like to go to strip clubs in that city after the show to unwind.</p><p>9. Limit junk box material to stuff which you sell at 50-100% profit or more and that they can quickly go thru. Sometimes its better not to have a junk box period. When I have one, I have a custom one that fits inside my display case. If someone who is not buying is taking too long to go thru it, I simply pick it up and put it back in my case then locking it say &quot;Gotta go to lunch.&quot; Never let JB customers look at something out of your line of sight - they will try to steal from you. JB can help pay your expenses but can be a pain to manage.</p><p>10. Dream of traveling the country doing the show circuit full time - It will take 250-500 K at least investment.</p><p>11. Always keep a significant percentage of your investment in cash ready to take advantage of deals where you can buy it right. At a slow show I won&#039;t buy anything unless its a steal.</p><p>12. Setting up at shows is not the gravy train many imagine. It can be demoralizing considering all the competetion you have from other dealers. Many of these guys like me have shops where we are buying stuff at 60% of bid or less that walks into the shop and then flipping it at the show around bid. If the show circuit does not really work for you an Ebay store is not that expensive.</p><p>13. Don&#039;t let anyone take a coin from your table to show another dealer for an opinion. If they can&#039;t make their own decision they are not worth fooling with; coin shows are for adults, not children. Treat sight seen sales as final; your not there to fund buyers remorse. If they are not a serious buyer or seller and their BS starts, its time for them to leave your table. Be as polite to everyone as possible, your an ambassador for your business and Numismatics.</p><p>14. Arm yourself. I carry a 45 pistol, brass knucks, mace, and baseball bat. Never had to use them at a coin show but no one is going to mess with me. I don&#039;t fight fair, I fight to win LOL.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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