Today At The Local Coin Shop

SarasotaFrank

Not to get into too much detail on the background, but I went to one of our local coin shops today. There are a number in my area and the one in question is not my favorite. It is the best I have seen, but a condescending owner has made it less than a pleasing experience for me to buy there. I posted my experiences on this and another local coin shop in another thread

Today, I stopped in find the owner in question on vacation, and was therefore working with his partner - a very knowledgeable and personable guy.

He looked over some coins I brought in, gave me very fair prices to buy and we talked for a few minutes.

I inquired about a 1928 Peace Dollar in the display case. He showed it to me and gave me a price of $150.00. It looked pretty brilliant, and was pretty well struck. They had it listed as AU.

I told him I would take it, as it is the last Peace Dollar I need, and I have been looking for one for a while.

Considering I have not had positive experience at this shop with the other owner, I was stunned when the guy said: "You know what? Don't buy this coin. I think it has some problems."

He proceeded to get out a glass and he showed me slight indications of rubbing and cleaning that I had not picked up with a naked eye. "Coins that have a problem always have a problem" he said. I'll keep an eye out for a better coin when we get one and call you.

The guy turned me around on my opinions about buying there and I have to commend him on his effort to recognize a good regular customer.

Endocrinologist

It's nice to hear a good story about a local dealer.

My local guy is really friendly. Unfortunately most of his stuff is junk/cleaned coins.

mbbiker

sounds like a great shop wish we would get some people like that around here WI

the only coin shop within 75 miles of my house is a card shop with overgraded overpriced consigned coins

numobri

Lots of GOOD coin people out there,many of them are here.

stman

Thats the way you want it to be. I also have one of my local dealers I feel the same way about. And I looked at one of their coins and the owners main man gave his own opinion about the coin. It wasn't a positive one either.

I still don't like to go there. But at least you get some honesty.

stman

truthteller

GOOD!! Not to judge all people by the cover. Sometimes under the scruffiness is a heart of gold.

TRUTH

PQpeace

Nice to hear you had a positive experience.
Please let me know which shops have slabbed coins in that area.
I will be there oct 15th-20th,and will have alot of free time.
Larry

IvanOnly

I live in Eastern Washington State.
There are 2 local shops I go to, no matter when I go into them, everyone is always nice. No matter what I buy, $10 woth of Pennies or 5 Silver Eagles and a Morgan. They are always nice. I am taking a small trip to Western Montana, going to check out three shops there, hopefully they are as good.

barrytrot

SarasotaFrank,

Nice story nice post.

It is refreshing to here about someone treating a customer with respect. It warms my heart. I can tell a few horror stories about non-coin related retailers where the way I or a friend was treated was less than respectful and it made the buying experience lose a little bit of the luster.

leothelyon

That's how you can tell whether someone is about to hook ya out of your money or give you a fair shake. There's a couple of local coin shops in my area where I have learned to avoid. I do the same when I see them at a coin show, I wave, give their stuff the 5 sec. look-over and pass on by. Now there are 3 other shops that I enjoy visiting and if I can't find what I collect, I will always
buy something from them. Whether it be a type coin or a mint or proof set, maybe a book, I know they're providing something that I enjoy and I need to support it. It's like giving money to the church.
They do have bills to pay.

Leo

FC57Coins

There's an old saying that good customer service will reach an average of 10 people by word of mouth and bad customer service will reach 100. Guess that holds true in here too.

Frank

JoyofCollecting

That's super...I wish I could find a local dealer like that. I'm like leo....., if I go into a shop and the dealer is friendly, knowledgeable and helpful then I will buy something even if it's not something I'm looking for. That usually means a type coin or a book. And, I definintely come back and also visit their table at the shows.

Twowood

My local coin shopkeeper tells me that 90% of his business is done online with eBay so he pays little or no attention to walk ins.Nevertheless,he's a polite guy...but he never takes his eyes off the computer screen and he can type and talk,which I always admire!

SarasotaFrank

PQpeace:

check your messages re: coin shops in Sarasota and another question.

sf

keets

the shop owner by me is a nice guy who helps me a lot but doesn't try to influence my purchases either way. he watches out for what i like and gives me a good price on stuff. in return i stop in frequently and help out a little and sometimes just hang out. the other day i stopped in and mostly just talked about "stuff" and not collecting at all. there's a lot of dead time as a shop owner where there isn't anyone in the store and i guess he appreciates the company.

my suggestion to everyone is that if you like a shop and what it offers, take the time to get to know the proprieter. sometimes it isn't about coins, it's about people and the coins are the icing on the cake!!

al h.