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I have two 3.0's.

@jfriedm56 said:
You’d have to be a dumb-ass if you accepted a dealer’s first offer. Never have I done that. I check prices on line, such as PCGS price guide and CAC price and pop.
It’s equivalent to purchasing a new car. Do I pay the dealer’s first quote? Absolutely not! I’m not one to lowball in a ridiculously low offer, but I expect to pay, what I believe to be a fair price. I don’t want to steal a coin, as it is usually a compromise. Sometimes I may pay price guide, sometimes more, sometimes less. We both have to feel comfortable about the sale.

Funny car story. I am handicapped and need an old school gunboat sedan for the leg room and for ease getting in and out. For this reason I have been driving a series of Mercury Grand Marquis since the late 1990's. Of course they discontinued them around 2011, but my third one was a nice low mileage used one that I got many years worth out of before it was damaged in a hailstorm. My insurance company totaled it out and wrote me a check but let me keep it, so I kept driving it for a while but started looking for another one.

One day back around 2020 I got a notice from CarFax that a dealer in my region had just gotten in a 2004 with about 42,000 miles on it. I called and asked if I could come and take a look at it and was told yes. Went there with my wife as a spare driver, took a test drive and said "How much," since they had not yet listed it with a price. The salesman I was working with said $9,000 and I said "I'll take it." They had previously told me that they would not take my old one as a trade-in since it had been totaled out.

I must have sounded too eager because the salesman said he had to go "Talk to the Manager," and he came back and said that he had given me "the wrong price" because it was the deluxe edition and the price was $11,000. I told him that he had quoted a price and that I had accepted it without making a counter offer (which I remembered from my course on Business Law in Business School) and that we had a contract. The bastiges spent half an hour trying to get me to pay more than 9, but I held my ground and bought it for 9 and then garaged it for two years till my damaged one gave up the ghost.

P.S.: It probably was worth the $11K, but because I knew NOT to dicker I got it for $9K.

One of the recent Cabbage Coin podcasts devoted significant time to discussing this topic. I found it informative. Here’s the YouTube link. The full episode it worth it, but the relevant portion starts at about minute 36:00.

https://youtu.be/syBsTeIRD4U?si=QdS2bADw2plrWL8I

@Walkerfan said:

I don’t sell a lot these days, but when I do, I like to sell to serious collectors and not other dealers. I’m not responsible for their bottom line. Especially, when they’re looking for a 50% to 100% profit margin.

The example that still bothers me is when I sold a nice duplicate tough date large cent to a major EAC dealer. He examined it multiple times with different magnifiers, checked several different guides, consulted his helper, and chiseled me down to the last nickel, taking nearly 15 minutes, to where I was not going to go any lower and was ready to leave. He finally pulled the trigger and wrote me a check.
I saw him again a few weeks later and he had the coin marked up >3x what he paid for it.

I remember asking to look at a coin in Westchester when it was a big show in the White Plains convention center and the dealer told me I couldn't afford it, but I was prepared and pulled out a 1795 half dime in PCGS 63 and said, this is what I collect! He spread the word around the room that I had a stolen coin in my posession, but in the end I got a laugh out of it.

The wurst experience has to be the acid reflux.

I've paid tuition behind the table a few times, and each time, it is something different. At least I can say I'm learning.

First one was an 88s in DMPL RAW with color. Something screamed wrong with it, but the price was right and the vest pocket guy was insistent. I was going to show it around before purchasing, but i bought it anyway. Cost me a bundle. I kept that coin for about 10 years as a reminder of what not to do, and to trust your instincts. Same guy came by two more years running and tried to engage me again. Each time I just pulled the coin out and asked if he'd like to buy it back for the same price. He just nervously laughed and left. Haven't seen him in the last 5/6 years now.

next one was last year. Bought a bunch of gold and silver, correctly done. Using a tester from another dealer. It was one I hadn't ever seen before, but he swore up and down a tree about it being ok (the gold was mostly marked). Long story short, everything was off and when I went to melt instead of a $400 profit, it was a $1500 loss. I'm buying my own tester now.

Its all good tho. Those experiences go as tax losses, so there is some sort of bright side. But yeah, sometimes it just doesn't work out. Stick to your guns, remember your gut, have a trusted source help out....

Surf

As always, nice coins, everyone! I don’t have much to show off this morning. But I did recently pick up an unattributed FS-110 1936-S dime. It’s the controversial possible-overdate vs it’s-just-die-gouges variety.

I spun the wheel and this came up....