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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 3821871, member: 101855&quot;]I generally worked on a margin of 10 to 25 percent depending on how expensive the item was. If I could get a quick flip in a 5-figure item, a gross margin of a few thousand dollars with a low mark-up was fine. This was especially true if I was selling a coin for another dealer. This worked well because the dealer was happy to get the turn-over and I was happy to get the gross margin with no commitment of my capital.</p><p><br /></p><p>Coin show owners have whole different situation. They have significant overhead costs to cover, and that changes their pricing structure. They can&#039;t pay as much, and they often have to charge more. That&#039;s why coin shops are generally a dying breed. The Internet has largely taken their place.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>There are many levels of “wholesale.” The absolute lowest one with many dealers is what they pay “the public.” Some dealers have the idea that they should pay “the public” as little as possible. I have never understood this attitude if &quot;the public&quot; is offering you a good coin. My attitude was that I would pay “the public” was much as another dealer if they were offering me a profitable, quick turnover item. My attitude is I would rather keep my inventory moving than try to get the last buck out a customer by charging the highest price possible.</p><p><br /></p><p>Unfortunately, most of the time, &quot;the public&quot; is trying to sell junk. Sorry, but that was the way it seemed most of time when I was a dealer.</p><p><br /></p><p>For example, a fellow at show offered me an uncertified 1877 Indian Cent that was an EF-45, using my grade. I paid him close to Graysheet money because I knew that once I got the coin certified that I could get a good price for it. I guess the other dealers had been giving him low-ball offers. I got the coin graded and made a nice buck from it.</p><p><br /></p><p>As I said there are various levels of &quot;wholesale.&quot; If you are carting stuff around at show to sell to dealers, that&#039;s one level. If you have other dealers coming to you at a show to buy the coins in your case, that&#039;s often another higher level. There are also areas of the market when some dealers get consistently higher mark-ups. These include the dealers who specialize in die varieties, like early copper and the token and medal people. For token and medal people they generally have to get a better mark-up because their gross sales tend to be lower.</p><p><br /></p><p>I sold a lot of Civil War tokens when I was dealer. It made for a wonderful side speciality that most dealers won&#039;t touch. I knew quite a bit and had the suppliers, so it worked out well for me.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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