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Where does Coin Vault get their absurd retail valuation comparisons from?

For pure entertainment value, I catch a few minutes of Coin Vault several times a week. They always show their "competitor's" retail values for many different coins. The values are utterly absurd retail values that you wouldn't find on 99+% of any LCS or online retail site. So, who is this secret retailer they're comparing with? For instance (although this is a minor one), this secret retailer prices average circulated 1958 Wheat Cents at $2.50 a coin.

Bonus question. Who the heck is buying from this channel?

Comments

  • Namvet69Namvet69 Posts: 8,949 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I think it's called showmanship, which unfortunately can obscure actual worth. IMHO

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  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 28,271 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I bring a manure shovel when I watch it, it's to bad as well cause the have some nice stuff sometimes, jmo

  • BStrauss3BStrauss3 Posts: 3,402 ✭✭✭✭✭

    As I said in a meeting Friday, "They pull estimates from one orifice or another and I wouldn't walk behind them when they're estimating"

    -----Burton
    ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
  • NJCoinNJCoin Posts: 2,026 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 19, 2024 5:34PM

    @JBK said:
    There is a long-time mail order company in NH that is/was used as a basis for a lot of those inflated prices. ;)

    This ^^^. It's the Littleton Coin Company. They run loss leader ads in advertising circulars to rope people into a coin approval service.

    Then they publish what the Coin Vault refers to as a "leading numismatic catalog." I don't buy from them, and haven't seen one of their catalogs since I was a kid, so I honestly have no idea whether even they sell at the catalog prices, or use them as a reference point to discount from.

    The catalog prices, though, are clearly insane, given that the Coin Vault can significantly discount them and still sell at a profit on TV. I do know that they (both Littleton and the Coin Vault) are big buyers at coin shows, and pay very fair prices, so they must be selling a lot, and at a significant mark up to what we here would consider full retail.

  • davewesendavewesen Posts: 6,111 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I saw a coin show (not sure which one) and they compared to a BIN listing price on eBay ... one of those overpriced widgets.

  • NJCoinNJCoin Posts: 2,026 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 19, 2024 9:05PM

    @davewesen said:
    I saw a coin show (not sure which one) and they compared to a BIN listing price on eBay ... one of those overpriced widgets.

    Sounds like Rick Tomaska's RCTV. Same idea. Selling on TV is very expensive.

    The only way to make the pricing appear reasonable, to those who don't know better, is to compare it to something even more unreasonable. Fortunately for the TV sellers, there is never a shortage of examples.

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