Mostly for newer members and YN's. We often talk about buying the coin, not the slab. I picked this up for $1.00 today at my Habitat Re-S tore. Someone had to be very disappointed. Learn to grade, buy the book on grading, do your homework first and avoid this kind of disappointment.
Hopefully for their sake a throw in coin to meet a special minimum I know I have had to do it before. That said some people do vastly underestimate how hard it is to get top notch moderns and think you can send any old one in and get a super high grade so who really knows
Regardless of why the coin resides in this holder, it's still a good example of Tommy's hoped-for point, especially considering how often new members express their desire to submit an otherwise very common coin they view as "nice".
I like that you were shopping at the re-store and helping a really great organization who has helped my community so much.
I do "some" shopping there but they act more like they are an antiques shop than what was intended, their prices being awfully high for something they get for free. I do give them a lot during the year though so I feel like I'm doing my part. My local landfill has an outdoor shed that they allow everyone to look through and take items for free before they make a final disposal of so I'm always picking things up there that are useful for their store. I'd rather do this for the community than joining the local Kiwanis and such as they have become way too political here for me. Besides, I'm getting way to old and sore to have to manage the "Chuck Wagon", setting up tents and chairs at local events.
Unfortunately, this seems to be getting more and more common today. A few years ago I started checking goodwill online for camera equipment, and while prices can be high, it's part of the game considering the auction format. Then last summer, while renting a cabin in the country, I found a goodwill store in a nearby town and was rather stunned to see what they're asking for essentially junk. As examples, there was a late 80's incomplete camcorder priced at like $100, mixed 1980's/1990's P&S film cameras priced $25-$30 even though some were obviously broken, and a quick walk through the store suggested this type of ridiculous pricing the norm. Thinking this one store an anomaly, I did a little searching online and discovered a lot of people complaining about this type of thing, and with anything from used clothes, to furnishings, and everything in between. It's not that I expect such stores to give things away no matter how they acquired them, but at least some do seem to, unfortunately, be getting away from their original mission.
I will not mention the name of my local store, but here is something that is not a part of their mission. I will call it their "Secret Room". The main building is a two story one. (There are also two more huge buildings with furniture) On the second floor is mostly seasonal items that change with the holidays. Off to one side is a room that is blocked from entry with a lot of large photos, frames and such. Curiosity got to me two years ago so I moved all this stuff and peaked inside the room. Loaded to the hilt with small antiques. All had been priced to sell. I went to my truck and got 6 grocery store shopping bags and filled them all up and it was at a time of a 50% off everything special. At checkout I was asked how I accessed the room as it was not open to the public. I asked why and was told it was none of my business. I asked if she would honor the sale this time and she agreed but told me point blank to never go into that room again. There is something terribly wrong with this from my standpoint. I did not argue but then did a little sleuthing, spending the next several weekends showing up at closing time, from a distance across the street and each time saw the same person loading their vehicle with items from the store. Just not right. I lodged a complaint through the Georgia home office, who sent it to the wrong store 35 miles away based on my zip code, even though I gave them the zip code of the store I was referencing and received a reply to which I had to apologize for this error. I tried again and the message was sent to another store in the opposite direction to which I had to apologize again. I finally gave up. It is a valuable organization but not all is currently well with it.
I find it very interesting that you bring this up, and is because in the earlier mentioned online searching, I found reports of this sort of thing, which suggests your experience more common than we'd like to think. One story that comes to mind was that of a store manager supposedly dealing with a certain family that deals in many of the same items goodwill sells, even going as far as to deny the sale of something overlooked and located by another customer. The gist was that this guy supposedly receives kickbacks from the family, and was really quite appalling to think about. Some rather expensive stuff is donated to such stores, not because the owners simply want it gone (like with clothes, etc), but as a form of charity expecting the proceeds to go to good works. In fact, since becoming skeptical about such stores, I've donated only to the local Humane Society I am confident uses whatever funds received for their intended purpose. Anyway, I appreciate you sharing your experience. That's really a very, very lowlife move on the part of those involved.
