Dazed and Confused....................

VonZipper

I just came back from my local coin dealer and I don't know if I should by upset or laughing,(I guess laughing). I went there with the intent to sell some graded coins, but when I let him look them over he wanted to know: 1. Where did I get them? From a dealer or internet or submitted myself. I told him on the internet from a dealer. He wanted to know what dealer and I said don't remember. 2. Which ones are the ones I have the most money in? I picked out a couple high grade coins and said these were the ones. How much do you want for them? I said make an offer and I'll tell you if it is good enough. 3. How much did you pay for each coin? I said a fair amount. He looked them over and said I can't use any of these because you won't tell me how much you have in them and I don't know if I would have a market for them. Wouldn;t even make an offer so I said ok, thanks anyway.Good bye. Now am I missing something here, am I supposed to tell someone how much I have in a coin in order to sell it? I thought that price guides and looking at a coin would get some offers.Some coins were common and understood if he had a ton of them, but I don't think I will do business with them if he can't even look at a coin and make some kind of offer without knowing my cost on it. What does everyone think?

Coins offered:
1943-D ICG Mercury MS67FB
1944-S NGC Mercury MS67
1945-D NGC Mercury MS67
1945-S NGC Mercury MS67
1949-D NGC Wash MS67
1953-S ICG Wash MS67
1956 NGC Wash MS66
1957-D NGC Wash MS66
1959-D NGC Wash MS66
1964-D NGC Wash MS66T

MadMonk

He was working you over. trying to get them as cheap as possible.
Thats why dealers use codes, so nobody, dealer or collector knows how much they have in it.
I'd stay away from that type of behaviour.

CLASSICS

he sounds like a stupid dealer, who cares what you paid for them, or for that matter where you got them. they where for sale , plain and simple. move on to someone else who has a brain, and knows how to think......

Baley

how hard is it for the dealer to separate 'em into 2 piles and say,
"I'll pay 20 you a piece for these dimes and this '49D quarter, and 10 a piece for these other quarters."
and start the negotiating there? would you have been insulted or started bargaining
( i know you wouldn't have taken that first offer..)


edited to add: what you paid is moot, as is when you got them.

the coins must speak for themselves, always.

paigowjohnny

Geez...did he read you your Miranda rights ???

ClausUrch

The dealer should have been straight up with you and told you he is in business to make a profit. He might have thought this was presupposed. If he paid market value for every coin that walked in, he would need a warehouse the size of Ft. Knox, and all the gold in it, to boot, in order to pay for all the inventory he would have. I believe the reason he asked you for all the information he did was to determine if he could offer you a price for the coin, giving you a profit, while still being able to mark up the merchandise and make a profit himself. He might not have wanted to alienate you with a very low offer.

1956Quarter

He was looking for your knees......

NumisEd

VonZipper, maybe the dealer is heavily overstocked with bullion items.

On another note, I have found that you will get MORE for your coins if you tell the dealer what you would like out of the coins. If you say, "I dunno, uh, just tell me what you will give me", the dealers will shoot low. You know what the coins are worth, what you paid for them and how much you will be willing to lose or make on the deal. Just put a price on your coins and don't be shy.

LucyBop

Just sell em on Ebay under the title Monster toned, Monster hoard from Grandma's Estate!

VonZipper

<FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #c0c0c0">Thanks to everyone who responded, I do remember him saying something about these being to modern and hard to price. When he started asking me 20 questions I kinda thought maybe he did'nt think I could own these and maybe thought he thought they were stolen or something. Almost made me feel like I commited a crime or something, very uncomfortable.I changed that thought when he was trying to get my cost out of me, and I told him to make any offer I would'nt take offense. He took awhile on the 1949-d ms67 wash and even had a discussion with another employee while going thru a price guide then came back and just shrugged his shoulders and said can't help you if you can't help me type comment. Whole experience was weird. Thanks for all the feedback from everyone. Sorry no Franky's LucyBop. </FONT>

coppercoins

Seems to me that he's trying to get you to price them for him since he doesn't know what he's doing. Any knowledgeable dealer with a CDN should have been able to knock them off in a hurry, around 20%-30% back of blue sheet. He might have been working on your bottom line without asking your bottom line, and I stay away from that. You slide the coins out in front of them, tell them what you want for them, and step back for the counter offer. Since they are your coins, you have to price them to him - don't make him offer to you first. He gives you first price on his coins, you give him first price on yours.

VonZipper

Good point copper, had'nt really looked at both sides of the coin.

Now I don't feel as bad and I see his point of view.

Conder101

I think I would have picked out a couple coins from his showcase and asked to see them, then start asking him the same questions. I'm sure he's going to like it when you ask him how much he paid for the coins, did he get them for a dealer, collector or just over the counter etc.

coppercoins

My experience is that when a dealer asks someone else who is rather experienced with the market (and anyone should be with coins like those) the question, "What do you have into these?" they expect that you're going to put your profit in with them. They have different words they use individually, but I believe by asking you your "cost" he may have been telling you to price them out to him. As to their pedigree, your response should have been, "what difference does that make?" I'd personally like to hear the answer to that. If it's in a slab and is the grade, it doesn't matter where the coins came from....especially when dealing with a transaction for sale.

BSqr

you don't have to tell and he does not have to buy - it's that simple

dorkkarl

THAT'S what i mean by dealer-wannabe!

K S

AbesNeighbor

I guess dealers have overhead and want to buy at 80% of bid and sell at +20% of offer.

dorkkarl

a legitimate dealer might well offer you 1/10 wholesale. that's ok. a ripoff, maybe, but at least there's some signs of life. but when the guy can't even come up w/ a offer, no matter how absurd, he's a wannabe.

K S

Gilbert

I would have been dazed and confused too, and I think you did the right thing.

When a dealer ask me how much I want for a coin or coins, I like to respond with something like, "Well, at least what their worth," which of course begs the question (or something like) "What are they worth to you?" Then I politely ask for the greysheet, and if he accomodates, we kinda' have a starting point; or it lets me know if he even will consider the price range. Of course, that still doesn't indicate he will pay or I will accept at those numbers, but it gives me an idea what he may consider.

Now, I realize that with some of those grades, they may not be on the sheet, so I look for a retail price list; again it determines nothing more than a price which we both can offer opinions on.

But, ... around 20%-30% back of blue sheet. Well, you have just insulted me, and I'll just take my football and go home.

CYBERKEN

When it comes to selling your coins-which you spent your OWN money for, and cared for for years-the LAST thing you want to do is deal with some mousey, undercapitalized schmuck who's trying to cover his rent on your back...

keets

..........shouldn't you always have an idea of what your coin(s) are worth and what your selling price is? by the same token, a dealer should have something to base his buying/selling speads on, the greysheet or something else. so simple!!

i sold some raw franklins to the local guy on tuesday. he asked what i wanted for them, i told him, he agreed and paid. i have no doubt that if i would have said "greysheet" or "just a fair price" we would have quickly arrived at something to agree on. all the 20 questions from the guy you went to was BS. no reason for it at all. dealers do that type of buying routinely. perhaps you need to go somewhere else.

al h.

lathmach

If you're wanting to buy coins from a dealer, you ask him how much he wants.
He gives you a price, you go from there.
When you're selling to a dealer, tell him what you want, and go from there. Forget the "what'll ya give me scene" when you're selling. Makes you look like you don't know anything. Don't ever ask dealers to make you an offer. You tell them what you want. Then they can either buy at your price, give you the bums rush, or make you a counteroffer.
Oh, and don't be offended when a dealer asks what you have into a coin. It's a way for them to quickly decide if it's worth pursueing working you up a price.
Man it drives me nuts when I'm buying a collection and I spend a lot of time valuing it, only to have the seller leave in a huff because he or she doesn't think the assessment is fair.

Ray

dlshaw

The guy was messing with you, I agree with lathmach. Tell him what you want, then he can make a offer if he dosen't like your prices.

Dog97

When I try to sell a coin to my local dealer (momnpop type) it goes like this:
I walk in and toss a slab on the counter and it slides across the glass and fall off the other side in the trash can.
Hey man, whatcha gimme for this?
He digs it out of the trash, looks at it, scratches his head, looks at graysheet, looks at me, looks back at gray sheet, lights cigarette, looks at me again.
They show $525 so I'll give you $550 for it.
I say you old @#$% tightwad, that's a $700 coin.
He says yeah well, I can't do anything with that kind of stuff. Most of my customers are little old ladies who want my $6.99 put together year sets for their grandchildren's birthdays.
I say well sell them a DMPL CC for their birthday.
He then says he knows a dealer in Mobile that has a collector that collects Morgans and if I want to leave it with him that dealer is coming over next weekend or that he will be going to Pensacola the 2nd Tuesday of next month show it to another dealer.
I say great, hang on to it & sell it to him for $675 then.

VonZipper your dealer clearly isn't familiar with the type of coins you offered him and was trying to judge the marketability of them by asking you those questions.

wayneme

i think you should stay out of that pawn shop lol
i have to believe most of these local coin dealers are hurting with the internet
dealers and feel no love for the people who buy from them
and most don't don't have a clue to modern pricing