Collectors: Would you rather be a professional coin dealer?
MrEureka
Posts: 24,332 ✭✭✭✭✭
Collectors: Would you rather be a professional coin dealer?
Assume that you would earn exactly as much money as a coin dealer as you now earn in your present career. In other words, this question has NOTHING to do with money. I want to know if you think you would ENJOY being a professional coin dealer.
Edited to say, AND TELL US WHY!
Assume that you would earn exactly as much money as a coin dealer as you now earn in your present career. In other words, this question has NOTHING to do with money. I want to know if you think you would ENJOY being a professional coin dealer.
Edited to say, AND TELL US WHY!
Andy Lustig
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
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Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Too much business travel and then dealing with demanding types.
Other then those few things, it must be a great life.
Camelot
I love Ike dollars and all other dollar series !!!
I also love Major Circulation Strike Type Sets, clad Washingtons ('65 to '98) and key date coins !!!!!
If ignorance is bliss, shouldn't we have more happy people ??
Right now (although my jobs are minimal) I'd say in the future I'd like to be a part time dealer of sorts- set up at some shows, maybe sell online- until I either was able to make a real killing selling coins, retired, or enjoyed selling so much that I become a full time dealer. Of course, that is many, many years down the road... my thoughts right now are on going to college, and then probably grad. school to get a PhD.
Jeremy
2. It requires alot of time on the road away from home and family. I like being home most every night.
3. I like working in a respected profession - I'd lose that as a coin dealer.
Ouch!
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Camelot
Just having a little fun! Don't take it personally.
i would worry about being robbed palmed at shows or whereever i hate to travel and crappy hotels and food besides being way WAY overpriced
the airport personnel always hasselling me
other coin buyers always wanting to buy a super great coin for less than i paid
coin sellers wanting more than retail for their coins and 99% is crap anyway being offered to me
a long day setting up and breaking down at shows
sending coins out on approval with the receivers never calling me back or letting me know what is up
taking checks from other seller goons that are always bouncing even cashiers checks............lol
playing the grading game and for the most part losing my ass on the grades
in haste sometimes making costly mistakes for myself
coin sellers wanting an offer and me giving them top TOP dollar and then they walk away from my table calling me a crook behind my back then coming back after showing it to every other dealer on the bourse and saying is my offer still good!
many so called coin sellers wanting free apprasals
price buyers arguing over small amounts for great coins
always have to spoon feed and hold the hand of buyers for my coins
always being in a cash crunch when the best deals come along
not enough hours in DAY
stress stress stress from all the GREEDY. goons pigs and creeps that come to my bourse table with all their bullsh1t
having to wait until 1 am to bid on a coin i want in an auction only to be run up by one of the consigners shill bidders
examining many raw proof coins from the19 century and missing some hairlines on the one i win the bid on and then losing my ass again on the coin
buying a coin from a legit sourse a great coin i got a good customer for and can make a decent profit and then find out down the chain the coin is stolen and i am the last one holding the bag
the list goes on and on
no i would not want to be a coin dealer
having to deal with the devil just to get a deal sold
i am sure it has its moments and is fun but i think it would not work for me as i have little patience for all the above especially when being burned out and tired all the time
all the fat dirty ugly older greedy goon dealers with even more ugly personalities with pinky rimgs and young buxom assistants
i guess if i was super rich really super rich and always had huge cash postitons then i would change my mind and be a coin dealer!
sincerely michael
sincerely michael
Traveling around wheeling & dealing and talking to people is right up my alley but the petty BS like the boss telling me I HAD to put 10 rolls of State quarters in 2x2s and staple them together before lunch or VAM attribute a roll of circulated Peace dollars and windex the display cases before I knocked off and went to the beerjoint would tick me off.
Working at the same place day after day and indoors sucks. I work outside, mostly on the beach and all day long bikini women walk by and whistle at me. Every 3 weeks I go to a new beach and take 3 tractertrailer loads of wood and turn it into some kind of monster beach house or duplex that sells for a million dollars and rents for $1200 a week. I haven't worn a pair of long pants in over 2 years and eat seafood everyday. Got a great tan and stay in shape running up & down 3 flights of stairs about 40 times a day. I get to shoot at seagulls with a nailgun and drive around heavy equipment like a kid on a giant Tonka toy.
Give all that up to deal with psycho coin collectors like I meet here and on eBay? NO WAY!!!
<< <i>I work outside, mostly on the beach and all day long bikini women walk by and whistle at me. >>
And then you woke up!!!
it's just me.
peacockcoins
Cuz I'd have to deal with people like ME!
Cheers,
Bob
I'd rather be their best customer.
Sales does not suit my personality. I think that I would miss the weekend and travel time away from my family. It would take the enjoyment out of the hobby for me.
Joe.
09/07/2006
<< <i>young buxom assistants >>
I'M IN!!!!!!!
--------T O M---------
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Dog -
Quite sincerely, keep that up and you may come back in your next life as a coin dealer.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
JUST SAY NO TO WANNABES! They lurk and prey on unwitting collectors in chatrooms!
NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER
I love working with people, but I really don't like selling things. And having to deal with people who think they know everything and will haggle on nearly everything gets old very fast. And there is dealing with all the travel, thanklessness, and security. Then there are the constant and pointless debates on slabs, raw, toning, blast white, early coins, moderns, etc. It's not worth it. As a collector, when I find a dealer who wants to argue those things constantly, I just move on.
Neil
Actually, I like whom I am and what I do. Besides if I was a dealer, who would I pick on?
Bulldog
No good deed will go unpunished.
Free Money Search
I'm just not calculating enough. I suspect you have to have a drive to nail the great deal and to have a barterer's soul, to really enjoy the business. I lack the patience, discipline and focus on detail to do that sort of thing. If you get a rush from calculating the odds, knowing the facts and the history of the coin, sizing up the buyer/competition well and pullingthe trigger at just the right time, I suspect the business can be appealing to some, even with the hastles Michael cites.
Now then: who wants Dog's job, and why?
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
Laura, I guess that explains some of your auction purchases?
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
NO!
While I feel less strongly than my friend Michael, the job does not suit my personality nor skill sets.
I could imagine it at a wholesale level or very top end retail but everything in between would be painful.
I couldn't sell cars either; even Rolls Royces.
Hopefully in about 15-20 years I'll be there. Got the name already picked out "Esquire Numismatics"
Michael
Camelot
<< <i>I thought Esquire was a shoe polish??? >>
I'm making my living with coins.
Can't grade
Can't negotiate well
Terrible salesman
Not a numismatist
Don't lie well
Hate to travel
Wasn't born with the killer instinct needed to survive(I'm working on it)
But
I love coins and it beats working for a living. After I go to the post office I can swing by Dairy Queen and get a chocolate dipped ice cream cone without having some boss looking at his watch when I get back!!!
JUST SAY NO TO WANNABES! They lurk and prey on unwitting collectors in chatrooms!
Many of us work in a pressure-cooker biz environment doing something that they have so-so interest.
EVP
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
While reading the replies for this tread this thought came to my mind: If most of the coin buying public wouldn't want to be a coin dealer for any one of the many reasons posted, why then do they continuously bash dealers. I mean it sounds like most of the people that replied understand somewhat what it is like to be a coin dealer (travel, long hours, risks, etc.), yet they expect us to do every thing in their favor (while we provide them a service), all the while doing it for 5% profit. Go figure.
njcoincrank
ps All said, I've always wanted to be a coin dealer (since the 8th grade), and I consider myself lucky to be one.
<< <i>While reading the replies for this tread this thought came to my mind: If most of the coin buying public wouldn't want to be a coin dealer for any one of the many reasons posted, why then do they continuously bash dealers. >>
I don't bash dealers. However, I question the ethics of a few I've encountered. But they chose this way to make a living, I didn't ask them to do that. But I do ask dealers to have integrity and ethics. That shouldn't be too much to ask.
My reason, ultimately, for not wanting to be a coin dealer is that it doesn't suit who I am. It doesn't suit my talents or strengths. I may not always like what I do for a living, or who I work for, but it's the best place for me to be. It fits who I am.
Neil
Please tell us more about your troubled youth. It's OK, we're your buddies!
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
The worst parts of job? Traveling on airliners with the intrusive inspection standards is a real pain in the butt. Personal security issues are the tough because your best and really only defense when you are traveling with expensive merchandise is to blend in with the crowd. When the idiot on the x-ray machine yells to the top of their lungs, "He's got coins!" it makes life miserable. The random searches before you get on the plane are the pits too. Why the hell are they required? I've heard they have never caught anyone with them.
To be a successful coin dealer, you must steel yourself to the FACT that every time the door opens, someone wants to take advantage of you.
People wanting values will NOT buy a $7.95 book.
People with OLD buffalo nickels with no date will call you a crook for telling them they are cheap coins.
You will see a NICE coin once every 90-120 days.
You will NOT travel to exotic places searching for Brasher doubloons.
You WILL make an off day appointment to view some mixed pocket change.
You will not BELIEVE how many people saved silver certificates and will call you a crook for not realizing that it is VALUABLE.
You will find out that EVERY Peace dollar has a misspelled word on the "back."
You will appraise a collection and the wife (husband) will say, "Honey, let's just give it to the kids."
The "kids" will be in one week later (after having cleaned the coins) and want MORE than you offered for the uncleaned "dirty old coins."
You will get bad checks from other dealers and if you are lucky, some major dealer will bail him out because he is holding a lot from the guy.
.........................................
You will meet some genuinely NICE people. You will learn to become a contortionist bending over backward to help THEM. They will be a MINORITY. Maybe one out of 200.
You will learn more about coins than you ever knew existed.
If you honor your checks, you will be AMAZED at the credit line that major dealers will offer you.
You will learn a lot. It's good and bad. I've done it. A few regrets over some lost deals but in general, not a bad business. Just DON'T try it on a shoestring.
Even if both my shoelaces were not broken, I would never want to be a full-time coin dealer for many of the negative items that you wrote.
However, all of the items that you wrote about in one way or another find their way into almost all walks of life, some good and some bad.
I think its how you deal with it that makes all the difference in the world.
You will find many posts where the poster asserts "How did he/she screw me? instead of "Am I missing something or is there a miscommunication here?"
IMHO Joe.
But that's not enough to make me want to do it full-time, even if money's not a factor. Too much travel. And there are a lot of dealers with big egos (present company excluded, of course), and that's a type of person I just don't get along with. I'm not competitive enough to enjoy it.
If I were a dealer, though, I'd have some fun with it since you guaranteed I'd make the same income as today. I would have two prices on all slabbed coins - the price for the coin (fair market value, since I'm not greedy), and the same price plus $200 for the coin plus the slab. If the buyer doesn't want to pay the $200 higher price, then I get to crack it out upon delivery.
I would make sure no one is buying the holder without knowing it.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
ooops, too many of those already
K S