Although my first coin show back in November was a bit annoying because there were two tables where the customers didn’t move for more than 2 hours so no one else could go look. I guess in person would bother me if they wouldn’t leave.
@johnny010 said:
I made an offer to a seller on eBay for $310. He countered at $370. I came up to $350 thinking this would get it done. He countered at $375 (went up on his counter) I emailed and asked why he countered up?
More than once, I've declined an offer and the prospective "buyer" came back with a lower offer. Who knows what people are thinking?
It's pretty simple. With someone demanding that much attention start spanning out your replies longer and longer. The faster you reply the more accessible you are and the more they will abuse it.
Start with a couple hours before replying.then go to 4. Then 8. Then next day.
Additionally, start reducing the amount of information you give. For instance instead of explaining the coin or the error or whatnot, give him a link to a site about the topic and say little else.
Third, the longer he stays on the hook and pester you, slowly raise the price. WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT COSTS MORE?! Inflation 😂
Glad you are keeping him for now but learn to manage him better and don't let him think you are at his beck and call every second of every day. Sometimes a short pause is enough to get them to realize they aren't your only customer. Other times you have to beat them over the head until they understand 😅🤔
During my career as an industrial sales rep, if I percieved that a prospective customer was going to be a problem child, I simply quoted a higher price that I felt would compensate me for a ton of additional hand-holding.
That way, if I did make the sale I provided the extra service willingly because it was already paid for.
Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally
Back in the mid 1990’s I made a decision to fire five clients a year - the pain in the a—es. After five years 25 clients were fired (out of about 500), and that was sufficient. Since then, work has been wonderful, with me dealing just with NICE people that I enjoy, and they’re appreciative!
Steve
A day without fine wine and working on your coin collection is like a day without sunshine!!!
I've followed @ErrorsOnCoins on many threads for more than a few years and I can't understand his business model at all. Don't misunderstand, I think it's great that he can, apparently, make a living dealing coins, but too many of his practices make no sense to me.
Yeah, I would just limit my response to one a day, like vitamins.
I see no reason to ban someone from my business for being overly enthusiastic. He may be annoying, but his money is still good, isn't it?
Unless someone was constantly returning items and making future sales improbable, I would just shrug it off. Good luck
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I'm in a completely different line of business, but for negotiations of a rather simply nature I made it clear that this is my settlement proposal. I tried to be fair and reasonable. If you don't want to accept it, fine, then we go down the necessary road, but I'm not going to waste days negotiating to get to the same point.
The back and forth for routine transactions is a complete waste of time. Made your best offer. If they take it, great. If they don't, move on. Folks seem to catch on pretty fast that your offer is THE offer if you politely tell them.
When communicating via email or text, remember, it is two dimensional. Face to face is four dimensional and much more effective. @ErrorsOnCoins is in a niche market, so has an advantage that most retailers of widget products do not enjoy. His specialty market makes it more difficult to communicate with potential customers when not dealing in person. Also, the market segment is smaller than general coin sales. All these factors must be considered when making a significant business decision such as 'terminating' a customer. Cheers, RickO
I will add, the couple of coins I purchased from your website were obvious errors a newb could grasp. Off center and clad layer.
Maybe have instruction section on some of the more uncommon errors and the mint process. Take from his and other emails the level ( or lack of ) education and try to fill those holes in knowledge.
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
EOC- I had a customer on the East Coast that sounds similar to your’s – although he rarely asked questions/best price questions on error coins over $1000 or so at the time -
Retired Collector & Dealer in Major Mint Error Coins & Currency since the 1960's.Co-Author of Whitman's "100 Greatest U.S. Mint Error Coins", and the Error Coin Encyclopedia, Vols., III & IV. Retired Authenticator for Major Mint Errors for PCGS. A 50+ Year PNG Member.A full-time numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022.
Comments
Although my first coin show back in November was a bit annoying because there were two tables where the customers didn’t move for more than 2 hours so no one else could go look. I guess in person would bother me if they wouldn’t leave.
Yes guess buyers do dumb stuff too
I would never survive in a retail environment working with the general public. Bless all the dealers who suffer.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
It's pretty simple. With someone demanding that much attention start spanning out your replies longer and longer. The faster you reply the more accessible you are and the more they will abuse it.
Start with a couple hours before replying.then go to 4. Then 8. Then next day.
Additionally, start reducing the amount of information you give. For instance instead of explaining the coin or the error or whatnot, give him a link to a site about the topic and say little else.
Third, the longer he stays on the hook and pester you, slowly raise the price. WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT COSTS MORE?! Inflation 😂
Glad you are keeping him for now but learn to manage him better and don't let him think you are at his beck and call every second of every day. Sometimes a short pause is enough to get them to realize they aren't your only customer. Other times you have to beat them over the head until they understand 😅🤔
Manage expectations and don't be 'too' available.
https://www.the4thcoin.com
https://www.ebay.com/str/thefourthcoin
During my career as an industrial sales rep, if I percieved that a prospective customer was going to be a problem child, I simply quoted a higher price that I felt would compensate me for a ton of additional hand-holding.
That way, if I did make the sale I provided the extra service willingly because it was already paid for.
I knew it would happen.
Back in the mid 1990’s I made a decision to fire five clients a year - the pain in the a—es. After five years 25 clients were fired (out of about 500), and that was sufficient. Since then, work has been wonderful, with me dealing just with NICE people that I enjoy, and they’re appreciative!
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
I've followed @ErrorsOnCoins on many threads for more than a few years and I can't understand his business model at all. Don't misunderstand, I think it's great that he can, apparently, make a living dealing coins, but too many of his practices make no sense to me.
Yeah, I would just limit my response to one a day, like vitamins.
I see no reason to ban someone from my business for being overly enthusiastic. He may be annoying, but his money is still good, isn't it?
Unless someone was constantly returning items and making future sales improbable, I would just shrug it off. Good luck
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I'm in a completely different line of business, but for negotiations of a rather simply nature I made it clear that this is my settlement proposal. I tried to be fair and reasonable. If you don't want to accept it, fine, then we go down the necessary road, but I'm not going to waste days negotiating to get to the same point.
The back and forth for routine transactions is a complete waste of time. Made your best offer. If they take it, great. If they don't, move on. Folks seem to catch on pretty fast that your offer is THE offer if you politely tell them.
The thing is EOC is a specialist and not dealing in widgets.
Neither the buyer or seller can likely find a suitable replacement.
I would just take the very good advice above and come up with a better policy of handling negotiations.
No reason to fire good money. You chose to be a coin dealer and it comes with risks and aggravation.
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
When communicating via email or text, remember, it is two dimensional. Face to face is four dimensional and much more effective. @ErrorsOnCoins is in a niche market, so has an advantage that most retailers of widget products do not enjoy. His specialty market makes it more difficult to communicate with potential customers when not dealing in person. Also, the market segment is smaller than general coin sales. All these factors must be considered when making a significant business decision such as 'terminating' a customer. Cheers, RickO
I will add, the couple of coins I purchased from your website were obvious errors a newb could grasp. Off center and clad layer.
Maybe have instruction section on some of the more uncommon errors and the mint process. Take from his and other emails the level ( or lack of ) education and try to fill those holes in knowledge.
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
EOC- I had a customer on the East Coast that sounds similar to your’s – although he rarely asked questions/best price questions on error coins over $1000 or so at the time -