Prices on slabs at coin shows

I personally don't want to see any misc. stickers on the holders. Of course, a CAC sticker is fine, but no prices, no PQ, no nothing. I want the holder to be as clean as possible. I'd much prefer to discuss the coin with the dealer and than discuss price.

 

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My two cents.... Being in the retail business from Automobiles to Houses. There are many times where I'll buy or do business with people that that me right. I've learned that if you treat people right THEY WILL PAY MORE. People by nature like wined and dined and made to feel special. Of course there is a limit to everything, and there are exceptions to every rule. I shop the heck out of everything I buy, including my coins. If I like a certain dealer because he treated me with respect and had a good disposition I might pay a couple more bucks knowing that a dealer down the aisle had the same coin a tad cheaper but was a D**K. I guess I am a people person who likes building rapport with people. Sometimes I pay more once, and get deals from there after.

 

I suppose if your entire inventory was influenced heavily by the current market value of silver or gold, it would certainly be unmanageable. However, the metal value of many coins found in slabs within cases is often negligible, so I don't know that they would ever need to be updated en masse.

 

"I passed by every dealer that didn't have stickers on their slabs."

You're probably missing out on some good buys and education. You can learn a lot by listening to dealers' conversation even if coins don't have price stickers.

I attend all three Baltimore Whitman shows each year. Before I attend I usually buy the latest Grey Sheet then familiarize myself with the prices/grades of stuff I'm interested in. Not having price stickers doesn't bother me because most listed prices are somewhat negotiable and I usually take some currency/coins with me to trade

 

There are no prices on coins for another very simple reason.

The customer.

An opinion is formed about that customer the very second they ask 'how much'.

Are the knowledgeable about coins?

Do they know the market?

How well?

Can I take advantage of this person?

Are they a repeat customer?

Are they a potential repeat customer?


Just as every coin is different and must be priced accordingly I imagine dealers take into consideration just whom is across that table making the deal with them. Every client is different and some warrant a positive special treatment where as some customers are just plain rude and warrant inflated prices.

 

I rarely will look much at coins without prices. Most often the dealer will be overpriced at least on collector grade material if he does not take the time to price his items . My experience has been a dealer knows exactly what he will take for an item and I have bought far less from a dealer that does not mark his coins.

In an active show why bother with a dealer that makes no effort to price his wares, too many other coins to buy and often not a great deal of time. I wont spend 10 mins waiting and another 10 asking prices on various coins while the dealer pretends to look at his spread sheet or notes. He knows exactly what the coin is worth and what price he will take and he is thinking what will this guy pay how much can I charge him and it will vary from one customer the the next very often.

 

Doesn't bother me a bit. I simply ask. I really don't see the big deal. I almost never buy the coin immediately anyway until I make a complete lap. While making the lap I think about the coin and price and if I'll return. It will also give me time to check grey sheet and HA pricing on my phone before returning if I'm not certain of the market price.

If the dealer won't acknowledge me in 5 minutes I'll usually walk unless it's a coin I really want or need.

 

if a dealer has the majority of his inventory long enough where the price needs to be changed he is over priced to start with. The turn ratio is a good indicator to a dealer if he wants to look at that data. There are a small amount of coins that do not turn fast and there often for a narrow group of collectors. There are many opinions and views on the topic .

 

'Pumpkin Time' hanging over your head brother?

Great thread and a lot of great responses. I had the same beef awhile back Joe, and the guys here enlightened me.

 

"If you were the one the dealer was talking to, how would you feel if he suddenly stopped and walked over and started talking to somebody else?"

Not referring to the casual person/collector who walks up and wants to ask about a coin. I meant the dealers who are jawing with another dealer friend about other BS and completely ignores a potential customer. I see this at any big show I have attended. If he is talking to another REAL CUSTOMER and not a dealer buddy, then I'd come back when he wasn't busy. Too often it's one of their buddies and they are discussing nonsense from what I can hear and ignore someone who might be interested in their coins. Nuf said!!

 

Some coins stay in dealers inventory for months or even years. To think that they all know exactly how much they paid for every coin in their case, and the current market price is a stretch. Checking a price sheet or sticker on the back of a coin is often necessary to refresh their memory.
And just because they have a coin for a long time doesn't always mean that they are overpriced. Many coins have very thin markets with many fewer collectors seeking coins that the number of coins available. Sure they could blow it out at fire sale prices, but why wouldn't they want to hold a coin until they make a profitable sale if they don't need the extra capital.

 

I'm totally with the OP. Maybe it has to do with what I mostly collect, which is errors. To begin with they are generally priced with a dartboard and we have no real wholesale and retail for any of the coins. This is unfortunate. I dare say that most error coins sold by dealers which do not specialize in them are overpriced by a factor of two or three if not more. I don't want to waste the dealers time or mine and I know that trying to negotiate a price when something is that far out of line is a waste of breath.

For much of the time when I was seriously collecting, I was very fortunate to work with a dealer who would always let me know what his buy back price was. I always considered this "rental" in case I wanted to move on later. This guy died owning a Rolls, so treating people like this can be profitable!

I'm the type that is not comfortable negotiating and would rather see a price and decide if the coin was worth it an could I afford it. I don't think I'm alone.

 

I prefer to see the price as well. For example I was at the pcgs only show in vegas last year and a guy had a columbian half with great toning and had a $3500 sticker. Given it grays white at $350 I just kept walking. I'm glad the guy had a sticker because I personally didn't think it was 10x value toning.

I'll sit down and chat because I take the day off to go but I still value my time. If we are too far apart I want to know that up front. I figure offering less the 70-80% is only going to offend and ruffle feathers so when the prices are marked it helps me avoid offending people, something I need more of in my life. If only life were stickered

 

This would have been tantalizing for me. Pity you didn't ask him why he wanted so much. I sure as the devil would have........

 

Ah, one of those charts.

The sticker-changers might have been pretty busy between August 2007 and October 2008 -- but that's 14 months, and during that time, the price index went up by less than 12.5%. During most of the one-year periods on this chart, prices changed by less than 5%. The chart is factually accurate, but setting the Y range (dollars) the way it does, it's misleading -- it makes it look like values swung from near zero to some high value, then back down to 25% of the peak, and that's simply not so.

I honestly don't know how closely most dealers track market fluctuations. Do they adjust a $500 coin to $505 if it goes up by 1%, or do they wait for a bigger threshold? I imagine it varies from dealer to dealer.

 

Yes it would be. I guess they're fishing for tourists. Tourist prices are the best, never on display and always changing for no apparent reason.

Impossible, shows attract people from all over and not everyone is near a coin shop. Once they make the special trip, they come and pay the high prices. I'm sure some dealers want to cash in on those willing to overpay.

Nice, no games.

 

Sounds to me like the missed opportunities belong more to the dealers without prices on display. Especially if they have time to pace back and forth complaining how slow it is.

You have to consider the attention span of the average customer. If you're tied up with one customer while another shows up, your prices are competitive and not on display, guess what, you're walking business. There is nothing worse than waiting and not knowing what kind of surprise you are actually waiting for. And we're not discussing retiree clients here with oodles of time on their hands. I'm sure we can agree, that the younger generations have shorter and shorter attention spans, as the world speeds up around all of us.

Last show I remember, I purchased from dealers with prices on display, ignored the ones without prices. The only one without that I did speak to, had a raw UNC 1938 Voyageur Silver dollar, with hairlines he called bag marks on it, for which he verbally wanted $600. I didn't see a reason to continue the conversation.