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Message:: [QUOTE="clembo, post: 524375, member: 8033"]First off I'd like to make it clear I have no intention of offending anyone here. Just telling you a few things that happened at work today. They were out in full force. Case #1) This involved stamps actually as my boss does stamps as well.We're sitting down for lunch and a guy comes in the door. Our jewelry lady asks if she can help him.He has some stamps so she takes a quick look BEFORE interrupting the boss. He's soon headed out the door so I ask her what that was about. He had PHOTOCOPIES of stamps for sale. HELLOOOOO!!!! Case #2) Stamps again! A guy comes in and says he has some stamps for sale. OK, can I have a look before I get the boss?"Well I don't have them with me". Should I make him an offer at this point?I talk to the guy and explain that without seeing and having any clue we can tell him nothing. He's not a rocket scientist but at least does get the gist of it. I give him a card and tell him to call BEFORE he comes in so the boss will be ready for him. Case #3) This is my "favorite" as he's been in THREE times now. He has a few books and a "limited" knowledge but for some reason thinks he knows more than all of us at the shop put together.The first time was paper money. He had a bunch of star notes. ALL very modern and ALL circulated. I rifle through them and choose two to buy. A circulated 1963-B $1 note (by far the oldest) and a 1999 circulated F-* (only 640,000 printed).He starts quoting prices on the others so I tell him to keep them for his collection. What he, and many others, don't realize is that we have to move this stuff. If it's just going to sit we really don't want it. So Saturday he's in again. Coins this time. A few decent things like a half troy pound "silver eagle" and some other junk silver. He's going on and on about this "rare" 100 year set that he has so I take a look.Okay, a decent type set but nothing I haven't seen a thousand times before. THEN he pulls out the sheets that tell me what the coins are in the set. Now this is where I really don't want to offend anyone okay?If you work in a coin shop seeing a V nickel, all of the Barbers, Standing Liberties etc... is not something you need a chart for. You really have seen thousands of them.He's pushing this stuff like a used car salesman and talking to us like we just walked onto his car lot.We end up buying a lot of stuff at way less than he expects and turning A LOT of it down. Think he's figured it out yet? EGADS NO!!!! He's in again today with some "I bought it off TV" stuff! OH THE HORROR! Worse yet is the boss actually BOUGHT some of it. AHHHHHH!Yes, we now have even more gold plated state quarters to gather dust on the shelves.Meanwhile the "used car salesman" is beyond prepared for his presentation.He has TWO $100 mint bags of the elusive 2001 P and D mint Kennedy halves. We have NEVER seen these before! Except for the tubes in the vault from our own inventory.But it get's better. He has two ANACS slabs of same coins. One in 64 and one in 65! Then proceeds to inform us that ALL of the raw coins in the bag are of the same grade! Now being born yesterday we are frothing at the mouth of course. How can we acquire these rare coins? Maybe a couple ounces of gold? So the boss goes to take a look in one of the bags and the guy halts him with a pair of white gloves! Can't touch those coins! At this point I am amazed the boss is so calm. NOT his strong point but he asks the guy what he wants for them. Well, he saw that the went for $33 each. Boss asks him "well are they buying them?"I'm just sitting back enjoying the show at this point believe me. The boss offers him 75 cents each IF he throws in the slabs. SHOCK AND DISMAY! I didn't sell the car! Then there is the mystery box. I had wandered away at this point but the deal is basically over and the guy is actually BUYING proof silver eagles in trade. He now OWES my boss $68 and asks if my boss would give $70 for the "box". No dice - not interested. They settle up and I get the door for the guy as bags of rare coins are heavy. He tells me what a great deal my boss has missed.I can't hold it in any longer and tell him if WE CAN'T SELL IT WE DON'T WANT IT. In one ear and out the other I'll bet. We get a break and I ask the boss what WAS in that box. A COMPLETE SET of P and D state quarters! The guy paid $150 for it and, sorry, the box was worth more than the coins and would just sit in the shop. All said and done I'll bet he's back again with more stuff and willing to educate us on rare coins. Looking forward to it. Case #4)We're busy. The boss is moving some world coins and I'm working on (for me) a bigger silver sale.A guy walks in and our jewelry lady asks if she can help him. He wants to know how to go about selling some coins. She's been around the shop longer than I have so she knows what questions to ask and how to answer."Well, we take a look at them and then make you an offer". Pretty easy so far."I don't have them with me" he replies.Her response is "what do you have? Is it gold, is it silver, U.S., foreign?"By this time I'm done with my transaction and wander over to help."A lot is foreign" he replies "and I have some U.S. stuff too as well as some bills"."Okay" she replies - "but we have to see it to make an offer". Here we go "well can you give me a ballpark figure?".Of course we can dude. We have absolutely NO CLUE what you have but we'll give you an estimate.Look at it this way. Hey! I have a car for sale. What kind is it?I reply blue and you offer me $12,000 on the spot! I didn't say this but I sure as heck did think it. Some may see this as a rant but really it's not. Other than the "used car salesman's" first two visits ALL of this happened in an eight hour period. A glimpse into the reality of working at a brick and mortar coin shop for y'all. clembo[/QUOTE]

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