People never cease to amaze me...

I don't think Mr. Sundman's business plan is to rip people off, but to provide a convenient service - at a cost.

Many people don't want to or cannot go to LCSs and check out coins that way. Littleton's on approval service allows them to see before they buy - something that some people may be willing to pay extra for.

Many of us, me included, think that their prices are WAY high, but you don't stay in business for 70 years unless you're doing something right...

 

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LoL I too got taken by Littleton from a boy's Life Magazine . And again it was in the 60's on approval sent out to a kid who made $2.00 @ week delivering news papers.
I guess the worst was from the ads in the same boy scout Magazine I ordered a monkey!
Yes it's true I did....and of course never thought it threw...and when the express company called the house stating it was at their office and need to be picked up.....
Well let's just say I had a lot of explaining to do!
We'll what 9 year old boy wouldn't want a monkey?
Hey your dog is cute.....but I've got a Monkey! TOP THAT....... Well Danny told everyone that he ordered a Rino however we knew he was lying as the express office never called his parents....well I guess not ...as I was grounded! For quite a long time . My Boy's Life was void of ads when I got the next issue.

 

This thread reminds me of these Ohio State Buckeye Football coins I always see...
Made of pot metal, they feature the stars of yester year, like Archie Griffin and Hop Along Cassidy.... I've been in my LCS numerous times when some unknowing soul brings these pieces of garbage in, to sell...
I've even heard people argue that they paid $15-$20 A COIN, and THERES JUST NO WAY THEY COULD BE WORTHLESS...
Here in Columbus, the Buckeyes are sort of a big deal, so, whoever invented the things must be filthy rich by now...

 

Yes, I do wonder why, but people get sucked into penny stocks on a regular basis also. Big come on, looks very professional to read, you buy a few hundred shares and they remain worthless for years, if not forever. Education is the key of course.

 

Yeah, but if you go out and spend 100's of thousands on a formal education, all you get from silver stackers is being dismissed as an egghead know-it-all.

 

My girlfriend works for a mass mailing outfit. All they do is print and mail, no advertising of their own. But one guy who has his mailings done by them makes huge amounts of money by scouring the internet for names of companies that give away free stuff. He charges $20.00 for a total of 10 one sheets that lists these names. He started out doing 100 a week. He is now up to 3,000 a week. It's anything, anyone with a computer or tablet could do on their own for free. Against the law-no. Walking in a gray area, yes. He could better serve his fellow man by instructing folks on how he does this instead. But local mailings tell her that a lot of these people who order these are elderly, shut in's, and people of modest means.

 

Hey, if Penn State can't win, and they can't, THE Ohio State University is my second choice.

 

My grandmother was the same wth Littleton, once I figured out who and how she was buying it, I told her I prefer cash

 

HSN's coins are not overpriced because "they have high overhead." A 24 hour cable network that does selling has largely fixed costs that don't change no matter what they are selling.

They sell overpriced coins because they CAN.

Quit cutting slack to these TV vultures with the excuse that they have high costs.

 

That's why you have to know what you buying

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It's sad older people(I'm not that young), but they save or invest in what they think will make them a millionaire. Once I worked as a RN in a dementia unit, they brought a lady that looked homeless, well every night she'd yell her mattress was lumpy, we'd check it, turn her, get extra pillows even moved her to a different bed. Well long story short, her family went into her home with a attorney and the POA and were itemizing her belongings, a family member told me when they went to flip her matress to check if anything was between the matress and boxspring they couldn't move it, they noticed a small slit in the seam, the family member told me they pulled close to a million dollars out, she said they were tightly rolled bills. They ended up slicing the matress with a razor knife. To look at the older woman who was confused, with old dirty clothes I never would have guessed that she had a dime to her name. Sorry I got off the subject, I guess coins or paper they hold on, wait, just in case.

 

Great Depression Survivor Syndrome

 

Easy payment plans are not cheap to administer. All the high priced dealers offer payment plans. This is what sucks these folks in. If the buyers had to pay in full then the problem would be far less problematic than what it is.

I have bought coins from Littleton many times. I have yet to pay over $2.00 for any one coin. Sure some of them were not even worth $2.00 maybe a $1.00. But, I also got some really cool toned coins. Those coins people will buy from me for more than I paid. The grades far exceeded the PRF-63 or MS-63 grades they are so fond of quoting.

One other thing I have noticed about Littleton and their pricing of newly minted coinage. If you buy within the year the coin was minted they are more reasonably priced. If you wait to buy your 2016 Kennedy halves in 2017, from Littleton, it will cost you dearly. Lastly, any coins with precious metal content should be avoided from Littleton. The pricing is way overblown for these type coins.

 

Back in the 1980's I would see ads that proclaimed "We foresee silver going to $50 an ounce again (when it was sitting at $6), so buy yours here now before it's too late!! My question would have been " If you foresee that, why are you selling?"

 

I think I bought one item from Littleton 5 or 6 years ago. I wish I could remember what it was. Heck, maybe I was thrifty enough to send it back after I received it. Now all I get are 2009 Lincoln cents in the mail as they are trying to sell me other items. I do remember sending them an email once giving them 'what for' about the prices on some items they were attempting to sell me. I received a reply saying something like them being fair with their prices. The ads that they continue to send me are for nothing but "Granny Bait". I contacted them a few months ago through eBay about some NGC 70 modern commens. that interested me. Of course they said their prices were fair and were unwilling to negotiate on a lower price. I never see anything that they are selling that I can't get at a better price elsewhere on eBay. I guess on eBay they have to be a lot more competitive with their prices because of the competition. They are still overpriced (which is why I don't buy from them) but they are a lot closer to market than any of the items I see in their mailer.
I hate that people get taken by dealers of low morals saying that it's 'just business', esp. when they know that they are charging ridiculous premiums to people that have no idea that they are spending a lot more than they should. It's sad really.

 

High prices have nothing to do with morality. Profit is the reason that they (or any other retail outlet) are in business therefore it REALLY IS "just business". Could I get a better price than Littleton if I shopped around? Of course I could. Does that mean that Littleton is immoral? No, merely that that particular outlet charges more. Neiman Marcus charges more for a suit than Men's Warehouse charges for the same suit, too. Doesn't make the owner Satan.

 

Well at least the coin shop dealt with the guy fairly, I'd say it's more common that the people get ripped off both ways buying and selling.

 

I quite agree, and it's not limited to so-called collector coins. Even most buyers of ASE's and other bullionish products are frequently getting ripped to shreds both getting in AND getting out, stories here on CT to the contrary. That's why the VAST majority of my purchases are at public auctions. At least I know I'm only paying one bid increment over what somebody else would. Beats retail markups any day.

 

Yup. Both my parents were small children during the Great Depression. Regardless of any genetic or otherwise inborn predisposition, they learned well that you keep things that aren't actually rotting or disintegrating, and you think about what you can do with what you have instead of thinking about what you need to do what you want.

Fortunately they did not inherit my grandparents' (who lived through the Depression as adults with families) distrust of bank accounts. So all their money earned interest (at varying levels) throughout their lives, instead of moldering in a mattress.