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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 13682, member: 57463&quot;]Some dealers take credit cards, but very few.&nbsp; Credit card processing companies charge fees that eat into profits.&nbsp; Also, you need verfication and that requires lines for computer-like terminals, which are an expense at a coin show.&nbsp; (The show pays the (union) electricians to wire a table with connectivity -- and the show charges the dealer back.)&nbsp; Also, credit card fraud is often harder to prosecute than check fraud.</p><p><br /></p><p>As for checks, dealers tend to prefer cash, of course.&nbsp; A check is better than no sale, but some dealers prefer to avoid the risk entirely.&nbsp; If you are known to the dealer as a good customer, at least by reputation among dealers, that helps.</p><p><br /></p><p>Basically, cash is king.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some people bring CDN (Coin Dealer Newsletter; &quot;The Greysheet&quot;) or similar price guides.&nbsp; Some collectors are terrified of paying too much for something and insist on bargaining at the dealer&#039;s price level.&nbsp; The other side of the coin is that dealers spot &quot;fish&quot; by the Greysheets they carry, thinking that it makes them look like the insiders that they are not.</p><p><br /></p><p>(Also, my own interests tend to be away from mainstream US collector coins, so the price guides do not help.&nbsp; And when the time comes for me to buy something like a Cameo Proof or Large Cent or Iron Mine Scrip, I just pay pretty much whatever the dealer asks, though I might counter-offer with a round down: &quot;$17.50? Can you do it for $15?&quot;&nbsp; And, really, I am pretty much in the Zen Blank Mind of the Full Moon on Still Waters mode.&nbsp; I just go there to look, and see, and buy what I did not expect.&nbsp; If I go to hunt for This or That, I feel that I have missed something that I closed my mind to.)</p><p><br /></p><p>I personally enjoy a convention as a practical examination in numismatics.&nbsp; When you hit the bourse floor, you either know your stuff, or you don&#039;t.&nbsp; If you haven&#039;t done your homework all term, crib sheets won&#039;t help with the final.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I do bring a magnifier and my reading classes.</p><p><br /></p><p>Dress comfortably.&nbsp; Use your _DEEP_ pockets.&nbsp; Avoid carrying any kind of&nbsp; briefcase or purse if at all possible.&nbsp; (Sometimes, I am on contracts that require some office gear and after 90 days or so on the job, I am pretty comfortable in a suit with a briefcase, so I dress that way for a convention.&nbsp; If I am not working, I go to the show casual.)&nbsp; Take your time.&nbsp; Arrive early; stay late.&nbsp; Come two days or more if you can.&nbsp; Spend the first hour just walking the floor, looking, and smiling and nodding.&nbsp; There are very few items that are so rare that two people are not selling them -- and you will not see them at all if you run through the show against your clock.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, a pointer: The seller quotes the first price.&nbsp; If you want to buy something, you ask, &quot;How much?&quot; of course.&nbsp; Conversely, if you have something to sell, you must have a figure in mind and say it out loud. </p><p><br /></p><p>Michael</p><p>&quot;Show dog&quot;[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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