How do I make a living doing this?

jhintons offered. Excellent advice, many of the full time dealers I know are ex-military with pensions that provide a steady
back up income and started part time while on active duty, full time after retirement from the service. Remember knowledge is capital. and you will need plenty
of both. Make friends with good people< like Charmy< as you build confidence and contacts:thumb:

 

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One other thing I might add…
When I was on my “quest” for my “how to be a coin dealer” instruction guide, I naturally googled it ( that is how I found this forum). Most of what is out there is crap but I did find a couple of books and bought them.

The first one is called: How to Be a Successful Coin Dealer. Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers & Merena Galleries, 1988. It was written by non-other than Q. David Bowers. There is no “gem” information in the book but if you can find a copy (they are hard to come by) he does present some good ideas. Some are outdated as it was written in 1988 but the principles are sound. The book was originally a column that Mr. bowers wrote in a magazine, it was later collected and turned into a book. They can get pricey!

The second one is called: Tales from the Bourse by David Lawrence. It was presented to me as a how to guide but turned out to be a collection of short stories written about his experiences. It was a fun read and I enjoyed it but there is not much there in the way of advice or technique.

The third book is one I recently bought as it was just completed. It is called RARE COINS, RARE PEOPLE- Biography of Leon & Ruhama. For those of you who do not know, Leon is Leon Hendricks of Silver Town. I bought it thinking I could glean something out of it and I was curious as how Leon built up his company so big. It is marked as a Biography and that is exactly what it is. It was a little dry at times but I enjoyed it. There are no gems of wisdom in there that I remember though I do recall highlighting a few passages.

 

Two things that haven't been mentioned yet.Think about taking consignments at ask + 10-15, but you gotta be able to sell the seller & the buyer.Think about brokering or acquisitions. If someone has a need, know where to get the right deals to get your kick as well. Maybe even bundle these with your own "restocking ventures"Start with a website first. Use eBay or amazon, but building your own .com will save you 10-15% easy. All kinds of sites will let you run a banner ad for a small fee.good luck

 

I think this is a great point. If your hobby and business is the same thing...you will never make any money or you won't enjoy it anymore. I would keep business and pleasure separate.

 

Again, I very humbly but strongly disagree. I am making a modest living and loving every minute of it (well, almost every minute)! You can have your cake and eat it too - I am living proof!!

 

Perfect answer.

 

OK, all you people who keep saying you can't make a living from your hobby - have you actually tried it? Are you speaking from experience? Or perhaps you are just listening to someone who may have not be doing well at whatever their hobby/business is?

I am telling you from actual experience that it can be done - YOU DEFINITELY CAN MAKE A LIVING FROM YOUR HOBBY AND STILL ENJOY IT. I think it's more of how well you run your business, if you are not successful or it is a constant struggle, then of course you won't be happy but is that because you're not enjoying selling coins or because your business is not doing well?

Any business thrives or fails based on what you make of it, so if you can make it successful, I am willing to bet you will enjoy it.

 

I agree with "The Penny lady".. and Zach... your 13.. How would you know if that was a perfect answer? Try it be for you buy it! I am not a full time by any means, but I love being a dealer and crusing the bourse more now then when I was a collector.

 

C'mon, Charmy. You see the difference.

Sure, it can still be fun. But once it is a business your perspective changes. It is now about earning a living, making important buying and selling decisions. You aren't frivolous. There are no "whatever" moments.

It's great you are enjoying the business and the hobby. You are not probably not normal, however. (And I do mean that as a compliment.)
Lance.

 

LOL, You sure do know how to talk to the ladies!

 

Lance, I can honestly say that the only thing that changed was that I am more serious about coins meaning that I pay closer attention to everything - auctions, prices, market ups and downs, what's selling and not, innovations, technology, listen to experts, network more, etc. So if that's what you mean by perspective, then yes it did change, but in my opinion, it changed for the better.

Of course it is more "work," but I truly love the "work"! I love the learning, the networking, the shows, the buying/selling, the customers, all of it. I love being fully immersed in coins, rather than only peripherally involved as I was when I was only a collector and/or a parttime dealer. Maybe I am "not normal" but I just want others to know that they too can be "not normal" by being happy and successful in a hobby/business.

p.s. Oh, and Lance, I did take your "not normal" comment as a compliment, especially because you are one of the kindest and nicest people I know in this business/hobby and I can't imagine you being unkind to anyone!

p.p.s. And besides, anyone who has (or had) a puppy as cute as yours has got to be a nice guy!

 

Speaking from experience, with another hobby I used to enjoy, it takes a certain mindset to turn a hobby into a career. Also greatly depends on the hobby. I used to paint custom motorcycles, make custom leather seats and toolbags, but once people wanted to pay me I lost alot of my interest.
Some people can definitely succeed though, and you are absolutely right, when you said that a lot depends on how well you run your business. Some might have a real hard time parting with coins that are particularly nice, or may start to wonder why they even have a collection.
To the OP, do like others have stated, make a plan, try and gain as much capital and inventory as you can. Keep reading and learning, start small. Do it while you are young and you will always have the MBA to fall back on.

 

Charmy, let's share a bottle or two of wine next show, afterwards. You and your BFF Todd are two of the nicest people I've met at shows.
Lance.

 

You got it! How about Long Beach....

 

Well.... you really do know how to talk to the ladies....

 

This is a thread most excellent indeed!

 

Open an account to any on line auction house and start selling and buying....that was the first thing to do.. you got to have experiences to deal with the bad guy and good guys. POSITIVE and NEGATIVE FEEDBACK..

 

Another thing to remember is that it is NOT easy. This is a very competitive business. You either need to compete by paying very strong competitive prices or you need to specialize (you can still pay strong competitive prices there as well). If you do neither of these you are doomed to fail. It sounds like from your original statement that you are leaning more towards a shop then being a show dealer is this correct? They are really 2 hugely different worlds.

In a shop people bring you items... it could be anything from a what cent worth 3 cents to a mint state 1911 D $2.5 Indian or rolls of $20 libs. We see EVERYTHING in between. In a shop you have to know a lot about a lot. You never know what you will see. There is a market for everything that comes in the door and understanding every market is the key to success. For example yesterday alone I bought US bulk coins, bought US collector coins, bought world coins, bought bullion, bought Chinese pandas at large premiums over spot, bought and priced world currency, bought world coins, bought US currency, bought scrap gold & silver, bought diamonds, bought military collectibles, picked some coins for grading, and packed and priced US collector coins, sold US collector coins, sold bullion.... yesterday. I'm sure today is going to be completely different.

Buying the stuff is the easy part... now what are you going to do with it?

 

Protovdo, I am a fellow MBA in Finance graduate. I looked into working in the coin industry after my MBA. I am not as "deal driven" as you seem to be, though. That is not a bad thing, and I think it would make you more successful in the US coin industry than I would have been.

My advice would be to try to get a job at a major firm. If you can get your foot in the door there, then you will have excellent opportunities to meet the major players in the industry, how the coin business is run, and learn the ins and the outs of the industry. I just think it would be a low capital way to get into coin dealing.

One caveat I would tell you. I recognize you are a smart guy, do not overestimate your intelligence. There is a difference between intelligence and knowledge, and too many smart young guys think they can "take advantage" of the other dealers easily. Yes and no. There are always deals to be had, but there are a lot of guys who have been around the block, know what coins sell in certain grades and which ones don't, versus book pricing. I am simply saying KNOWLEDGE trumps intelligence most of the time in coins, and I have seen too many smart young men overestimate their advantage. Be humble, get a job in the industry where you can soak up every iota of knowledge you can stand, (preferably a large dealer, if not a local BM shop), then you could become a formidable dealer.

Btw do your homework too. Any US dealer who hasn't memorized Breen's US coin encyclopedia, and has opinions on some of the errors, and hasn't read some other specialized works on US coin series I simply think of as a peddler versus a knowledgable coin dealer.

I hope this helps, and if I had the luxury of being a coin dealer is how I would pursue it.

Chris