I've been to a few coin shops and always wondered if it would be proper to ask the owner for a reduced price on a coin. Of course I wouldn't do this until I'd been to the shop a few times and even bought some coins. But say that there were two coins I wanted, one priced at $35 and the other at $$25. Would it be bad form to say I would like both of them but couldn't afford both, hoping to strike a deal? Is it alright to bargain? What if I said I'd be willing to pay $50 for both of them and use that as a starting point? Would even trying something like that be insulting? Or is it even attempted? And could I do such bargaining at a coin show? Please let me know, because I don't want to get a dealer mad at me.
Only once have I paid asking price for a coin from a dealer, and that was only after I had negotiated on every previous purchase. So trying to cut a deal seems to be the norm.
I only have a few years' worth of experience, so take this for what it's worth. My $0.02 is that it's a free country, and a polite request such as "Would you consider X for this coin?", "Do you have any wiggle room on this coin?", etc., can't hurt. And since it's still a free country, they are just as able to say, "Sorry, I don't". If they're rude about it, I'll make a mental note never to shop there again.
From the dealer's perspective, it is always acceptable to ask, unless you see a sign, or have been told in advance that lower offers are not welcome. I've seen such statements on eBay. At shows, some dealers net price their wares. In that case, if you didn't know beforehand, asking for a discount is forgivable. If you've already asked and been told about the net pricing, and continue asking about a discount, I expect you might not be treated well by the dealer.
Yes... @Kentucky is dead right. Most dealers (not all) do anticipate some dickering to take place. This ain’t Wal-mart... Now I wouldn’t go in wheeling & dealing on a ten dollar Franklin. There’s not much margin there for the dealer to live off of..... I been dealing with my guy long enough. I can tell if he has offered me a bottom of the barrel price. I can also tell when is is in the mood to dicker. Heck man, I been running a Construction supply business for a quarter century. Sometimes bouncing a deal back and forth is great fun. Both parties walk away feeling victorious. Sometimes when the day has worn thin, it ain’t..... Long and short. If a piece is $25.00 bucks. Pull a twenty out of your pocket and then closely read the mans face. If he looks troubled and mildly miffed. Just say something like the five is in my other pocket. If you see a twinkle in his eye.... The man is ready to bargain. Edit.... Keep this in mind. If you plan to dicker. Do it with cash. If you plan to use a card, the dealer is already taking a 3% hit on credit card fees. Don’t dicker then Hand a card. That’s very bad form.
Everything's negotiable cars furniture and coins if someone's not willing to negotiate with me I won't do business with them. JMHO Dave
As a dealer in coins and antiques always ask is that your best or what’s your best price. I almost never sell at sticker price. But I price it accordingly. If I need $350 I usually sticker it $395. And when you ask I say $350. I get really annoyed wit the people that seem to make it their mission to hammer on you endlessly to try and squeeze another nickel out of you. It goes right up my back. If I say $350 and you counter with $335 or $340 I may or may not say yes. It all depends where I’m at. If you want to spend half an hour trying to get it $5 cheaper after I say no then forget it. If you say can you do $250 you’re just going to piss me off. And people actually try that. It takes a lot of restraint to not tell them exactly where to go and how
Making an offer is fine. Just make sure it’s a good faith offer. Lowballing any dealer on any coin is poor form, IMO.
Similar to you, as an example, when asked what my best price is on a $295 coin, I would respond $260. Then when I heard "I'll give you $220 for it", I simply reply "My best price is $275." When the client argued that a minute previously the price was $260, I just say "Well, you didn't like that price, so I gave you another one." Then he says that the price was supposed to go down, I answer him "There are rules for bargaining??" At that point, if he walks away, I don't care.
Ever since I bought an Unc 1898 O Morgan for $55 I wondered what I could have gotten it for if I had dickered with the dealer. Thanks to the answers here, I know to do that next time!
You may find this link helpful. negotiate-at-a-coin-show-768324 The web site has many articles with some good advice for beginners. Happy collecting!
My approach, may or may not work for all: -Dont bother to negotiate on a coin that costs less than $10. Dealer has little room there anyway. -Pay with cash. Sometimes I'll even say up front, "I'm paying cash today." -If I like the coin and have a certain price in mind, I will say, "Would you be willing to take $xx for this one?" As a rule of thumb, I usually will take 10-15% off the sticker. I feel that anything more can be insulting. -if I love the coin and will pay whatever off the sticker for it, I'll just say, "What's your best price for this one?" I feel that closes the negotiation, though. Best price implies take it or leave it, not counter with a lower offer.
I like your approach and will try it when I go to a coin show. And it sounds right when you say asking for their best price would stop the negotiations. Good point.
You probably could have got it for $50. But $5 was a small price to pay for knowledge that could save you hundreds or thousands in the future
I always figured coin shows would be mostly cash like antique shows used to be 20 years ago. I can’t believe the amount of checks I get. Especially from other dealers. Always good though. Sometimes they ask me to wait a couple days to cash but that’s understandable. I’ve been in the business of buying and selling for nearly a quarter century now and there’s not much I haven’t seen heard of had to do to get it done
