Dealers- Is the coin for sale?

Bruggs

I just returned from a small show, actually a flea market with a few coin dealers. I was looking thru one of the dealers boxes and came across a nice coin I was interested in. I pulled the coin out and continued to look. After about 20 minutes I had seen most of his inventory and was ready to pay. I had 3 coins to price. The first coin we agreed upon the price , the second coin he was too high and I passed. Now is where I had a problem with this guy. He's got $40 marked on the flip for this coin. He asks me "what do you want to pay" for this coin. I checked my price sheet and said I'd pay $40 for it (it was a nice variety he missed). Now he tells me that he need to have the coin looked at by a grading service before he was going to sell it. My question to the dealers here- If you have a coin out for sale and it's priced and a buyer comes up and wants to buy it for the marked price is it proper to not sell the coin? I was a little bit upset with this guy.

Bruggs

gemtone65

This sounds totally unethical. When a price is indicated on the flip, and the dealer asks "how much are you willing to pay," it is understood that he is really saying, "how much LOWER than the full retail price are you willing to pay." When you foolishly indicated that you were willing to pay, in fact, the full price, the dealer figured that you could be induced to pay more in negotiations, or that you saw something in the coin that he didn't, and he was trying to discourage or delay a sale until he could check further. Either way, I find the dealer's behaviour distasteful and deceitful.

wingedliberty

This dealer is a scumbag. If a dealer marks a coin with a price, he should stand behind it. I can understand if it was human error, like $40, instead of $400 on a proof Mercury, but just because he did not inspect it for added variety attributes, does not mean that you should have to pay for it. There is a difference between human error and scumbag tactics. Stay away from him and tell others about what he does.

Brian.

ms71

Absolutely the last time that dealer would see me, and I would take every opportunity to discourage others from doing business with him.

darktone

He must have thought you spotted something he missed is my guess. You almost have to have a poker face when cherry picking. I had a dealer at the International money show in Chicago a couple of years ago tell me all the prices on his coins were the prices he bought them at and not the selling price after I looked a coin over and said I would like to buy it. That really made me mad! mike

ARCO

Nobody is forced to sell you a coin at a price listed. Prices are for convenience and the dealer/seller has a right to decide another price. Maybe it was in his inventory for a year and he hadn't adjusted the price after a long time.

However, his protocol and behaviour are erratic and foolish. He asks your best price, but doesn't counter with his own, then denies you an option to buy the coin altogether.

Not everybody is dealing with a full deck. That is why he sells coins at a flea market probably.

Tyler

Typetone

Usually, when I see a price on a flip or on a holder, my first question if I want to buy, is whether that is the asking price. Sometimes I frown a little then. At that point the dealer usually confirms the price, or sometimes offers a discount right there. If I like the price he confirms, I buy without further negotiation. If the price is right, no point in negotiating as he might change his mind. Sometimes a dealer will not be able to sell at the sticker price. It might be an old price and the market has changed. In that case you can't blame him for changing the price.

However, the idea is to get the dealer to say the price first. I live by the rule that he who speaks first looses. If his quoted price is too low take it and win. If it is too high either pass, or negotiate. However, if you speak first, and your offer is too high, you lose. If too low, he can pass. The convention is that the seller has to speak first. If you let him flip you, you lose.

A had a good example last week. A local dealer had a coin I wanted and was willing to pay $500 for. It was an old holder and was marked at $395. After examining the coin, I asked if the price was $395, or if he could work a little. Posing the question that way makes it emotionally difficult for him to quote a higher than $395 price. He quoted $375, and I took it without talking anymore. Now look, maybe the coin really was worth $375, but the point is I got it for less than I would have paid, if I spoke price first.

Greg

BillJones

This is classic flea market dealer behavior. Some of these guys are ignorant, and some of them are crooks. If they catch wind to the fact that you are knowledgeable, they'll start raising prices and making coins unavailable.

The best strategy is to play dumb and get the money down on the coins as fast as you can. Flea markets are whole different ballgame from coin shows. You will run into some good guys now and then, but often times you are best advised to use your survival skills to the fullest.

One thing I will say. If you find a coin at a flea market that is a drop-dread bargain at the price marked, just buy it. Nickel and dimeing somebody when you are set to make a killing is dumb IMO.

coinguy1

Bruggs,

If the coin wasn't for sale, the dealer shouldn't have had it in his for sale box. Perhaps it was an oversight and he had meant to keep it set aside for grading submission. If that were the case, however, he shouldn't have asked what you wanted to pay for it and set you up to be disappointed. Shame on him!

Lakesammman

Must have tipped your hand somehow - did you lay your Cherrypickers guide on the table while looking??

parkave

In all fairness to dealers at an active show, sometime I buy coins and put my cost price on the holder quickly then reprice it when I have some downtime.

I've seen many dealers with the cost on the holder and they ask for a fair profit over.

I do not think it unethical for the dealer to withdraw the coin from sale any more than I think it unethical for a buyer to come back ten minutes later and return a coin he just bought because he saw an nicer one/or cheaper one two showcases down at another table.

He may not get your business again, but he should explain his position and apologize for the mistunderstanding which is what it sounded like to me.

crito

You need to work on that poker face Bruggs I would have made a feeble attempt to haggle him down, before calling him a tough negotiator and accepting the original $40 price

Russ

<< <i>apologize for the mistunderstanding which is what it sounded like to me. >>



This was no misunderstanding. Bruggs tipped his hand by agreeing to the listed price too quickly, and this dealer smelled an opportunity to try and jack him.

Russ, NCNE

satootoko

I've had a lot of success by asking "what can you do for me on this one"?

Another good technique with that type of sale situation is to find one or two inexpensive pieces that you can hand the dealer in a group with the real find and an offer of a discounted amount "for the bunch".

I found an early Meiji Japanese copper 1/2 sen in AU Red marked at the Krause VF value in a world coin box at Long Beach with only three other Japanese coins, all marked at less than $5, so I just gave the dealer all four with $10 less than the marked price on the 1/2 sen, and then gave him the additional 5 bucks he asked for.

relayer

By passing on the 2nd coin, you told the dealer "Hey, I'm not dumber than you. I won't pay that much"

Since you proved you weren't dumber than him on the 2nd, he is now worried that he may be dumber than you. So now he is scared and decided the smart thing to do was ask somebody else which one was dumber of the two.

If you sent somebody else back who just picked up the coin with the $40 tag on it without spending 20 minutes and using reference material he would have the confidence that the buyer was in fact dumber than him and would probably gladly sell it to them for $40.

So the moral of the story is use a a shill to be the dumb guy, and you'll probably get it.