How to avoid paying retail on coins?

How do you avoid paying retail on coins? I have recently become aware that I am paying "retail" on the coins I buy. Is there a way to avoid this? Do you just do research?

I know this is most likely a dumb question, and I'm sorry in advance for asking it, I think I know the answer to the question myself but maybe someone else out there has tips and tricks I haven't heard of yet.

I think looking up the coin in question on a price guide or e bay may be my best bet.

 

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I don't think its necessarily a bad thing to be paying retail for a coin that you like. For me its more about the coin than the price (up to a certain point of course). If you want to try to get a coin for less than retail ebay or another auction MIGHT give that opportunity, but probably not in the end. As long as you are happy with the coin and th eprice I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

You ask someone to sell you something below its general value. Not trying to be a jerk but youre essentially asking how do I get a discount on an item

 

Where are you buying your coins? That plays heavily into whether dealers will negotiate price or not.

 

Coin shops often sell coins at "retail" or the most published price. Prices can be found in many places including The Red Book (not reliable prices on many), the dealer's Greysheet and many websites from NGC, PCGS, etc. Prices on e-bay can be all over the map. Generally if you Google a coin and inspect the published values, the "average" of these would be close to the "retail' price. Now, you can get coins at less than the retail price from many sources such as coin stores and e-bay, but you have to be aware of the "retail" price and search for bargains. Happy collecting

 

Well your question is not dumb at all you really shouldn't have to worry about overpaying a little if your not a flipper.The way I think of it is buy what you like!!!no matter what the price is.If the price is quite high and you don't like the coin enough where you won't keep it for a decade at least then I would pass though.Some factors can apply like toning and certain varieties that causes a change which means extra research and thinking.Also stay in your zone,look for coins that you feel knowledgeable about and go for it.Sometimes it is acceptable to buy coins outside the zone if they appeal to you enough.Overall buy what you like,we all make mistakes sometimes but learning is the best lesson of them all!!.If your an online buyer auctions are your friend,I've gotten some nice deals on the bay as thats basically where I go mostly(good luck and happy collecting!!)

 

I think it depends upon why you collect. Do you love your coins and your hobby or do you just want an assembly of the best coins for show and tell? Do you need to complete you accumulation now or in a lifetime? Everyone has a different purpose and approach. Have fun.

 

You know, I think my biggest problem is that I have chosen one of THE most expensive hobbies to get into. I have a fair bit of spare income ATM and it's VERY easy to get into a habit of spending too much. Too much of the "kid in a candy shop"

Well. My fondest hope is to keep all of my coins for a lifetime, as in until I pass away and leave all my worldly poessessions to the cat charity that paid for my cats tooth extraction.

I've sold coins recently (doubles) and it feels HORRIBLE.

 

Dealers are just well like dealers, you can offer a lower price, if the dealer thinks it is reasonable, they will oblige. Don't get bullied is all I can say.

 

LCS mostly.

 

No I never get bullied or hard sold into a coin.

 

I think one of the issues might be simply not wanting to pay 'retail'. Not saying you should not be price-conscious but if you are not aware of what differentiates retail from non-retail (I would guess you might say wholesale or some other term or way of saying you got a deal) or even have sources for your coin that might give you a price break (and eBay is not always that.... many times their price breaks, if you get them when you 'win' the auction simply are more reflective that the coins really weren't worth more) then of course you won't have a lot of opportunities to avoid paying retail. This means that I am getting at not concentrating on trying to find a cheap buying opportunity but rather really putting some effort into looking at what makes a coin valuable for long term (which is how some hold and gain value) as opposed to those which lose value (i.e., many mint issues, for example) and simply choose more wisely which coins you might choose to purchase.

That said, probably most all collectors have had a long period of time where they have put more money into their coins than they can get out of them.

 

I've started selling on a bid board recently and I feel great that my kids won't have quite as many to deal with than before.

 

Excellent question, and one to which I've found the correct solution.

It's simply to avoid buying coins at this time.

Right now the rare coins market is incandescent. Everything, except common date circ gold (which few want) is selling for multiples of what it used to sell for 3 years ago. The solution is to wait until the market cools off. There are plenty of better investments that are "undervalued" but are considered unsexy at the moment.

I'd guess that most dealers will not accept a sale unless they make around 50% to 100% on a coin. Thus if they buy it at $10,000. there is no chance they'll even budge on price until you negotiate it down to near $15K. But they'll prefer to make 30 or 40K.

Even the auction firms have increased their buying fee to 20% or 22.5% with a seller's fee of 10%. Thus they're making nearly 35% on every transaction and I can't even keep track of the number of new auction firms that are sprouting up.

 

Most of us seldom have opportunity to buy at wholesale. Dealers at least partially earn their discounts by buying in bulk.
But study, being knowledgeable will help. In the whole collectable arena, the guy who knows the most usually wins.
Learn strike characteristics, die varieties, grading, etc. It will help you spot good buys.
You can at least choose coins that are "nice for the grade."
Sometimes too things do slip through too cheap on ebay and other sites, but it takes time and work to find them.

 

Price guides are out of date while they're still writing them. And coins, even in the same grades, can still be different. One coin may have something that others will pay 100's or even 1000's for while others may just snicker at The Flea that Roars.

If you can just manage to pay what you believe is the right price for what you are getting, you're having a most sterling day.

 

Try to get the education first. Grading , Number of such coins that would please you, how much "spare" money you have available for the specific coins you like. For my son who runs the coinclub in our area, spends gas and food money to go 250 mi round trip once a month to a large coin store on the coast. The education he gets on the coins, current rates they are worth and going at by the dealer, freebies such as coin needs. I go through them before the meeting and give my impression of grade and desireability . Every body has fun and the dealer spreads a little more variety. Only a few coins are purchased, but the education is still there. It takes time to learn, like a student in chemistry, knowledge will build. Best of luck and fun. Jim

 

I've accumulated most of my collection well below retail, and I'm happy to share my secrets -- but you probably won't like them.

It really boils down to:

1) Be lucky.
2) Be in the right place at the right time. (See point 1.)
3) Be patient. (See point 2.)

I spent many, many, MANY hours scouring eBay listings, looking for new BIN listings well below retail (among thousands of times as many overpriced and/or bogus listings).

I spent many hours stopping by local pawn shops (again, an occasional bargain amid tons of overpriced dreck, which still sold regularly -- their model works for them).

I even spent some time hitting up banks for rolls of half dollars. Roll-hunting is great, because everything is priced at face value -- but the yield is very low.

It was a bit like playing the lottery -- you hardly ever win, and when you do, the wins are usually small. Unlike the lottery, though, it didn't cost me anything but time to play. And the hunt itself was entertaining for me, so it wasn't even really "costing" me time.

To be fair, there were times when I thought I had a bargain nobody else had spotted, but I just missed a detail everyone else had seen. Much more often, though, I took just a little too long making absolutely certain I had a bargain, only to have someone else snatch it out from under me. But I'd rather miss an opportunity that way than buy something I'll regret.

If you've got the shopping itch, though, my approach probably isn't going to be rewarding enough.

 

I am going through mine and the ones I have not yet gifted to my kids I am prepping to sell some even as I feel no hurry to lose them. I still have to figure out if keeping them will be worthwhile for me.

 

Ok so I don't have very many coins that I have paid retail for. The way I do it is ebay. But you have to know what you're buying. Know how to look at pictures and be able to determine how that might look in hand. Take risks. Sometimes return coins. Be patient. And you have to know how to bid. And not get into a bidding war. Then you'll pay 2x+ retail. And I don't hardly ever buy at shows. Because most of that is retail.