Prices on slabs at coin shows

I went to the big long beach coin show in ca today. I passed by every dealer that didn't have stickers on their slabs. Has anyone ever got annoyed by this as well? I know some dealers have too many slabs to sticker, and then re sticker when prices change, but isn't there some way to provide price info (like put slabs in sections for hundred dollar coins, two hundred, etc) instead of having to ask? Usually the dealers are helping someone else and it's improper to interrupt. Even small lots are not labeled sometimes. I've sold at antique markets and make sure everything is priced in some way.

 

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I think you did yourself a tremendous disservice by ignoring everyone who didn't have prices on their slabs. Many have prices listed on the reverse while others have no prices at all. However, if you are familiar with what you are looking at then you already have a basic idea of the value of the coin in question.

 

Setting up for a coin show isn't easy especially when you re sorthanded. I think the best candidate for this thread is @Amanda Varner

 

that's easy have your coin list ready. know how much you want to spend on every coin on your list... unless it high grade coin you've been searching for for 5-15 years and you must have it no matter what the price is within reason.

 

You all make good points. I think the main problem was I only had three or four hours total to browse. My wife was expecting me home and the drive is far for me, not to mention Friday traffic. I wanted to go by every table and didn't have time to wait and ask prices. I could have been more prepared too. I heard a lot of dealers complaining about how slow it was today. Another thing I notice is that when I do ask a price, some of them have to look it up on a list or something, and that would get old. I guess I gotta work on my patience

 

yes you must learn patience. my late coin dealer "Jordan Allgood" great guy/dealer said to me "you can't get ever coin". that taught me patience. after hearing that I became very focused on my want list. now I have a coin list with 50-60 coins on it with pictures of the coins copied from the Krause catalogs. when I go to a coin show in Las Vegas I take it with me. I also have gone 1 step further to a TOP 10 list. and if pressed for time a TOP 5 coin list must haves (usually more scarce/higher grade coins). I usually make 5 copies of each list to hand to each of the world coin dealers I usually deal with. If they are way busy I just leave my list with them to look at when they have free time. then when I get back to their table they can look at my list and might say hey we have some these coins you're looking for. There are some dealers I e-mail my list to before going to a Vegas coin show. sometimes they do a layaway deal to which is always nice if you are short on money. never hurts to ask. I made payments on a coin twice. lol true story. nothing like getting a coin you have been hunting for for 5-12 years. ask anyone and they will tell you how good that feels. some of the dealers in Vegas have their fancy laptops can give you a price in seconds (these coins are usually high end)

 

I've only got a moment as it's 10 till 1am and there's one more day of Long Beach to go yet, but Tom is correct -- many/most dealers put their price stickers on the back (if they have any).

Coin values fluctuate (which is why we always have to check that "list thing", probably the gray sheets or the like), and I know a lot of dealers don't bother because they'll 'just have to change it again anyway'. [emoji6]

And lastly, you should have come to say hi!! [emoji2]

And with that, I'm off to bed!

 

Plus you can negotiate with people depending what they have into the coins, many dealers have what they paid on the back of the coin. Coins are not "product"; very hard to order up hard to replace material.

 

Many years ago dealers did usually put prices on their coins but today it is rather unusual for a dealer to do that. I also find it aggravating. It might be a little less of a problem with slabs since you can see what the TPG graded it and you could probably get a fair idea what the dealer will ask for it. I only buy raw coins and since the coins are also frequently ungraded. I typically have no idea what they are going to ask for the coin because they can often be shall we say overly optimistic about the grade and they make no allowance for problems. I would like to know when I look at a coin if the dealer and I are even in the same ballpark before I waste his time and mine.

 

As a buyer it is frustrating not to have some sort of an idea of the price a dealer wants for the majority of their coins. As the OP said, sometimes you might only have a couple of hours to attend a show. It's not uncommon to have 2-3 people at a dealers table vying for their attention. I don't want to be rude, but on the other hand, my time is valuable. In the past, I've waited patiently for a dealer without stickered prices only to find out that the first coin I select is 2x or 3x average market value. Now, it could be that price was an anomaly, but chances are, I'm not going to bother with that dealer again. Could I be missing out by not asking after every other coin I might like? Maybe. But I could also be missing out on a great coin from another dealer I'm not able to get to, and is transparent with their prices. I understand that coin prices fluctuate, but from a customer service standpoint, posted prices should be the rule rather than the exception.

 

There have been a couple of threads about this topic here and on other boards recently. Illini420 (kittlecoins) and I share a table at Long Beach and figured we would try putting price stickers on our inventories. I have noticed that it got more dealers to look at our coins than any change in collector browsing. Usually dealers will ask about the top quality coins and expect a deal, but if the price is too high they won't look at the other coins that maybe we have some room to work. I'm not really looking forward to repricing them all for the next show, but my inventory isn't huge so I'll probably keep on doing it.
Even with the price stickers on all the coins, most of the interested buyers still asked for a price.

 

As a buyer I agree with OP to a greater extent. Yes I will agree that higher end coins are something you want haggle over but $100-$200 coins are generally not worth the time arguing about. To those that don't put prices due to "market fluctuations", there are a lot of US coins that have been flat for years. Plus if a dealer's margin is so razor thin on a $100 coin they can't post a price, I know they won't budge on a price anyway. Why bother?

As a seller you are always going to have real life craigslist jerks who want something for nothing and the first words out their mouth are "what's the lowest you'll go?" so I understand why you don't list anything.

 

It is much better to know what the market value of a coin is than seeing a price tag. If you want a coin, and know what you are willing to pay for it then ask about it. If the price is higher than you are willing to pay, either negotiate a reasonable price or pass on the coin. It's all part of the game.

 

Do they ask for a price, or do they ask if that is the best you can do? Asking for a best price is normal even if they are priced. But without a price on them I'm unlikely to even ask.

That's right. I've been collecting since before the third party services existed. the early authentication services I thought were a good idea, but I have always opposed the grading services. I hate the entire concept and will not support them. So I only buy raw coins. When I am looking for coins for my collection I will not even look at a slabbed coin. I won't buy a slabbed coin and break it out. The only time I buy a slab is when it is a variety of slab that I don't have, and in that case I don't care what the coin is, I just look for the cheapest example of the slab.

 

I don't see how it would be possible for a dealer to keep all the prices current.
Most of the time I have a rough idea of what a coin is worth before I ask to see it.

 

As a buyer, I also find that frustrating and time consuming, but I talked to a dealer about that once and he said he doesn't price them up front because he wants people to sit down, look more closely at the coin, and discuss a price. Makes sense to me, but I get it when you're short on time.