Inheritance story

I wonder how many percent of dealers are lowballers that take advantage of unknowledgable people. I hope the dealer that was barely making it mentioned by dimefreak would get more business. With stories like these, it's better to sell on ebay than to dealers

 

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Ha !... any day of the week. Where do you think the dealers sell ?

 

it's not just the dealer who would be at fault here. Sellers could avoid such situations by doing five minutes worth of research of their own. I don't feel sorry for anyone who is taken by a lowballing dealer. They don't exactly hold a gun to their head yet that's how they want to tell the story. Pick up a book and read it or get on the net and spend a few minutes before blindly trusting someone to secure your property. Not rocket science here.

 

Seconded. Benefactors quickly cashing in with little care....,,, won't keep me up at night if they take a *%&*%^'ing....

 

My dad and I recently inheirited my grandfather's coin collection. My job is to catelog it all (so far I've spent the better part of three weekends and am almsot done). Looks like most of what he purchased was for the metal content and not for collecting. There have been some really nice finds, but nothing ultra rare. All that being said, we are both doing some research to find values to make sure we won't get ripped off selling off what we don't want. It has been a really fun project.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone, I thought the whole story was just too good to not share. Like I said my biggest concern was with my aunts and uncles, so hopefully the word is out and i get first right of refusal if they decide to sell What's really weird is the uncle who was the executor actually collects JFK half dollars, but still had no concept or desire to find their values...

If anyone is in the Maryland region and wants to know the dealer let me know and I will PM you, I don't want to post it in a public forum.

This reminds me of Pawn Stars to a certain extend. I like the show, especially when they get an expert in that tells both parties what something is worth. Then the owners try to get the piece for as low as possible. Seems totally reasonable, it's not that the dealer offered $7 for the 1877, it's that they did not accurate value the coin, which is what my mom wanted to know.

 

When the Golden Rule is no longer Golden, then no one should be trusted.

~Isn't a Godless America wonderful?~

ps ~sarcasm~ without paying for the sarcasm icon.

 

There is a reasonable amount one should expect between a dealers buy and that dealers sell. It's necessary to stay in business and pay the bills. It's the excess that irritates people.

The other side of research is those who don't understand the concept of grade and CONDITION on value and think legitimately fair offers are rip offs because a red book quotes a price in MS63 when their coin is F at best.

 

I am no dealer and furhtermore would hate to be one in todays market where everyone is out for themselves. Yes morals are nice to talk about but are very seldom encountered when there is money to be made.I think this perticular dealer is a scumbum, but what pretty little targets do uninformed people make coming in with a little sandwich bag of coins that just happens to have a key date in it. Knowledge is power in all aspects of life and buisness. Morals on the other hand are what we all seek to find in others and strive to uphold within ourselves at the same time. When you find someone with both you have truely found a treasure.

 

A real good start...not doubt about it. But mark my words..once you start to work with what your research claims what your coin is worth, some dealer(s) will give you some 'gobbley-gook' that your price is way out of whack,,blah..blah..blah..
Sorry. I have just seen it and have been on the receiving end of it too many times.
Please do not dismissing selling it on ebay..

 

Make it three.

I would be interested to know how many of the ethically superior in this thread would change their tune if they were forced to work as a coin dealer for a year. A business where the customers have access to established wholesale prices and expect to pay those prices when purchasing.

If you are either buying or selling coins without the requisite knowledge, don't come crying to me after you get taken. I don't want to hear it.

 

Oh my...I just thought of something else...how about these 'self-imposed' premiums some dealers put on their otherwise normal coins, because the toning is just so 'out of this world'?
Sorry, you can be damed sure those premiums dont come into play when you are trying to sell to these same dealers. Once again, its a one way street in their favor.

 

I just took the leap from collector/speculator to dealer by opening a “miniature” coin shop in an antique mall. Yes, I know, I lost my senses – that’s what happens when you’re retired and looking for something to fill your time. Been open about two months now and found that 9 out of 10 people walking up to my counter are selling in this bad economy and those same 9 out of 10 know nothing about what they have, even though none have had anything rare, mostly damaged junk or bullion based coins. Being small and also operating on ebay, I use the red book for retail and the blue book for wholesale and adjust some prices based on Coin World trends and eBay completed sales. If someone has something to sell I break out both books and show the sellers the prices and grading standards and tell them I’ll buy at these prices or they can try to get a better price on eBay. I only buy on eBay when I can get the coin(s) at close to wholesale, as I’m selling at close to eBay’s higher end completed auctions. Sometimes eBay auctions go for close to wholesale and sometimes they go for close to retail, it’s a “hit & miss” game. I knew going into this venture that a brick & mortor operation was not going to support itself, so plans are to continue on eBay, as it offers the largest exposure. My small shop is in a small town where everyone knows everyone else, so the goal is to build a reputation as an honest dealer, who introduces novices to the hobby, much like the coin shops I frequented as a child. Any advice (closing the doors is not an option – lol)?

 

You know, I think your transparancy with your customers on coin values (by opening your pricing catelogues) will guarantee to get you the customer trust that you'll need to become sucessful.
Well done, and Id buy sell to you in a second if i lived in your town,
Your honestly and reputation may potentially encourage new collectors as well.

 

I don't think this was meant toward me, but when I travel to appraise or purchase a collection I always bring with me at least one extra loupe, the Greysheet, a copy of the ANA Grading Guide, a current Cherrypicker's Guide and any specialized niche book I think I might need based upon previous discussions. I then talk to the folks for a while before looking at the coins and prior to examining the coins I show folks a little about using a grading guide and then how to find prices in the sheet or other published guide followed by a quick lesson in using a loupe. Of course, if folks are not interested then I do not go into much detail. At that point I take out a notepad and inventory everything in the collection while they look on and give quick notes of grade for anything that requires this measure. I then total up what I think the coins are worth and give folks several ranges of value and time expense based upon a quick sale to an honest dealer, walking the floor at shows or individual sales on ebay.

As I get ready to leave I also tell them to obtain two or three written estimates and to be prepared to pay a certain range for these estimates. Additionally, I tell them not to volunteer to the other people that they have had previous estimates and then I urge them to think and discuss before they commit. I then leave.

By the way, I don't charge for the service.

 

As an employee in an established coin shop I really hate to see threads like this. Mainly because it DOES lead to so much dealer bashing.
Was $7 a ridiculous offer? Yes, unless that coin was like a Pr1 grade with problems to boot. It would make decent hole filler for someone.

Every shop is different of course and some dealers tend to give dealers in general a bad name. My boss has been in business for over 40 years now and he didn't accomplish this by ripping off every customer that walked in the door.
He can be quite cranky at times and at those times it seems his prices go up. The buyer always has the option to say no.

Our buying is generally more set. If it's something we have 100 of we will lowball you. I will tell you to your face that I'm going to make an insulting offer. I frequently wish people would refuse my offers.
Perfect example was yesterday. A lady came in with some decent junk silver and some jewelry. We paid very fair on that. She also had some miscelanious stuff including a 1972 proof set with no box. Face value of 91 cents and I told her that then offered a dollar for it.
She sold it. She didn't want it and I was honest about it. I lowballed because we probably have 70-80 of that year alone.

We also slab a lot of coins at our store. Especially coins that are often counterfeited. We also send coins in for customers. One of those folks actually posts here on CT on occasion. We charge a $2 fee for that but wouldn't dream of switching a coin.
Seriously, how would we benefit from that other than tarnishing our reputation? I can drive to 3 other shops within 30 minutes of where I work. Word gets around.
One of the coins the CT member had us slab was a 3 legged Buffalo. He also posted it on CT for opinions as to whether or not it was legit. MANY said they thought it was fake including a good friend of mine here.
I assured the friend it was real as I had seen it, my co worker, had seen it, my boss had seen it and another dealer in the area had seen it.
We ended up BUYING that coin and sold it at a modest profit because that's what we do. However, we did not rip him off. He knows coins and we want repeat business from KNOWLEDGABLE collectors.

Now as others have stated waltzing into a shop with no knoledge or desire to have any makes you an easy target. Would you pay $10,000 for a rusted out Ford Maverick that doesn't run because the tires are round and you heard that was important?

We get phone calls EVERY day inquiring about selling coins. We try to determine how many you have for starters and it is worth you even making a trip. Had a call today from a lady about wheat cents. She asked good questions but guess what? - I can't teach somone that has no knowledge much about wheat cents in five minutes over the phone.
I suggested she buy a book or magazine. I asked her where she was located and how many she had.
Turns out she had SEVEN and someone told her some were worth a lot of money. I advised her to stop in the shop WHEN she was in the area and I'd be happy to look at them for nothing.

Had she told me she had 10,000 and $1000 face in silver quarters for example I'd really turn it up a notch. We want to buy the coins so we can make money.
However, if we just lowball we will most likely NOT get the coins. Been many occasion that I've shown people where to look for mintmarks to help THEM do the work. My boss has also given out a blue book for free on occasion.

POINT IS the customer does the work. You would be AMAZED at how many WON'T do a little homework. Who's fault is that?

Bottom line after my lengthy rant is I feel the dealer was wrong as it sounds like a small amount of coins to look at. I'm glad "mom" didn't sell.
Conversely ANYONE that wants to sell coins should do some homework. I could easily lowball 50% of the people that come in because they profess a lack of any knowledge about coins. Course I have to think that perhaps they've been to another dealer or two before us so I don't.

It's VERY interesting on the "other side of the counter".

 

I wish I could remember the name of the dealer in my area whose web site says that they won't buy something they've appraised, because they don't want the conflict of interest. They don't want to be tempted to say "it's only worth X" if the thought in their minds is going to be "I'd like to get it for X".

 

I said this story on another thread.

I was at my local coin shop. The owner and his partner were there. This young fella came in, wanting to sell a coin. The owner looked at it and asked what he wanted for it. The kid said sixty bucks, which the owner promptly paid. After the dude left, the two owners started looking at the coin. They were chuckling how they got over on the guy and what a great coin this was.
I didn't see the coin. I did mention to them that this coin they bought must have been a real winner. The owner then told me..."He asked for sixty bucks, he got sixty bucks."
These guys knew they were getting over on the guy, but they didn't care. After he left they even accused this guy of stealing the coin from someone. I love coin collecting. It's a shame that these people are the one's that represent this hobby, and give them us all a bad name.

 

An employee of a dealer I do business with in Virginia does this exactly. He pulls out raw specimens I'm interested in, we pull the books out, we grade each specimen together, and we meet in the middle with pricing. At times specimens may be a little high, a little low, but in the end it evens out, we're both happy, and trust is built.

That said, the owner of the store is another story - I won't deal with him directly. He's a grouch, he's obstinate, and no matter how much $ one drops in the store, he's still a ....

Honesty is important. Yes, nickel and diming might pay a little dividend here and there, but I believe it's the regulars who drop the money.

 

They thought it was stolen property and bought it?

There's a word for that, and it's not "sharp dealing".