Selling of a coin shop due to retirement

It would probably be a tough sell because first of all you have to be qualified to run a coin shop - and not many are. Secondly you'd have to find somebody in your specific area that was not only qualified, but wanted to run a coin shop, and had the money to buy one - and either lived in or was willing to relocate to your town. Meeting criteria like that is difficult at best, and in some cases extremely difficult. But hey, ya gotta try first to find out.

As much as I hate to say it your easiest out may simply be for your dad to sell his inventory, which I'm sure he already knows how to do, and close up shop.

 

To sell to someone locally, talking to a business broker would be the best bet. But, Doug may have a point that selling the inventory might bring in just as much without as much a hassle as selling the business as a whole.

 

If your father's business does not possess strong name recognition, I would pursue selling just the assets, and not the business itself. If the business is rather well-known, and / or experiences significant foot traffic because of location, I'd try to sell it intact.

At shows in your area is where you are most likely to find leads to the highest prospective buyer. It is there that active collectors with aspirations of becoming a coin dealer, some fleeting and others serious, will notice the offering of a shop for sale. Not all will be able to afford it, but some will, and you will create a buzz in the community. People will talk, and the right ones will take interest.

I would invite sealed bids for 30 days from at least a dozen qualified parties, itemizing for them what is being offered . . . inventory by date / grade / value, company name, real estate or lease agreement (assumed or even extended, if acceptable to landlord), display counters, furniture, supplies, office equipment, subscriptions, customer list, website, supplier contacts, safe, security system, etc.

You should ask bidders to provide proof of qualification (a bank letter of credit, a brokerage account balance, a 401K account balance, etc.) and you will need to show complete "books" for the past several years to demonstrate viability of the business and to demonstrate that there are no "skeletons in the closet".

You'll likely be surprised by the number of dealer wannabees who would consider pouring their assets (inheritance, retirement savings, lottery winnings, etc) into such an opportunity. I'm not implying that is either wise or foolish . . . it depends entirely on the individual.

Under no condition would I agree to accept an owner-financed or balloon payment arrangement . . . there are too many shysters out there who would calculatedly bleed the business as a cash cow and let it go back to you afterward . . . please forgive that bit of cynicism . . . the possibility needs to be recognized.

- Mike

 

$1mm is not necessarily a hard and fast benchmark for a qualified investor.

With the markets as stagnant as they've been, and with jitters about their longer term stability, you'd be very surprised at the number of people actually considering taking the penalty to close their 401K accounts, as well as the number of collectors who would consider taking equity out of their homes to buy what they believe to be the "business of their dreams". I wouldn't do either, but there are a lot of people frustrated with their existing jobs, or looking for employment, who might talk themselves into buying a coin shop.