When is Coinguy1 going to answer all those great question we asked him yesterday?
mdwoods
Posts: 5,549 ✭✭✭
I getting all antsy like.
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Cameron Kiefer
Ooops. It may be that some questions were answered. I must check...
We'll use our hands and hearts and if we must we'll use our heads.
Russ, NCNE
Russ, NCNE
Thanks for answering my question. Any other dealers?
Great thread and I personally wish I had thought of it. Hope it is ok for me to chime in as well.
Er,
To address your question.....and I will also try to answer some of the many VERY good questions when I have a chance.....our mark-up is anywhere from 10-25% depending on what we view the "market" to be....not necessarily what we paid. Like Mark said, this is an average spread. We will make more on a few and less on average. This might depend on if we have a coin on consignment from a client. In that instance, we work on less and try to give to client as much as we can. 99% of the time, we own our inventory so the average is going to be 18-25% with most falling in the 20% range.
Hope this helped ER. Some really great questions here. I'd like to note for the record that I too have been asked if I had any "wiggle room" and have thought nothing about the statement......but now I will.
Mike Printz
My site
Harlan J. Berk, Ltd.
https://hjbltd.com/#!/department/us-coins
Now, for my answer to stman's intriguing questions. By the way, I will also post this reply to the original thread and continue to post answers in both places, so that people can find what they want in either thread.
stman, you asked
<< <i>"...... First, does your wife look over your shoulder when you're on here?....Probably, but here it goes.... I know most coin dealers complain how tough it is being on the road for shows (even though not like it's every weekend) but while on the road and staying at hotels, do you have any "Ladies of the Evening" try and hit up on you? >>
No, my wife does not look over my shoulder when I post. And, I can honestly state, that I have never posted anything in a thread or said anything in a PM that I would have any concern about her reading.
Yes, I have PM'd at least one forum member about how my wife thinks I'm crazy to spend as much time as I do on this forum, etc., but, that is not a secret I keep from her.
Now, for the "ladies of the evening" question
One time, approximately 20 years ago, I was at a (coin) show in Las Vegas. As has always been my habit, I was up early, went downstairs and bought a newspaper.
While I was waiting on an elevator to take me back upstairs, one of them opened and a woman walked out, but then started to follow me into the very elevator she had just exited. As she was following me into the elevator, she said something like "Do you mind if I come in?"
I thought she had finished her question so I said something like "No, I don't mind." or "Sure".
But as I was saying that, she was FINISHING her question which ended up being "Do you mind if I come into your room with you?"
I quickly said, "oh, no thanks" and later muttered, "have a nice day". I was quite flustered and taken aback, to say the least! Only when she exited the elevator (without me) did I notice her outfit and I felt a bit naive about the entire incident.
Edited to add : if anyone has additional questions, please post them in the original thread so that I can view them all in one place and answer them all.... well, most of them, anyway.
The question above was from Singapore and I think one of the best questions asked.
For us, it is simply trying harder to find "nice coins"....coins with excellent eye-appeal that are technically accurate with respect to grade as well. Over the past several years this has become more difficult, but going back to clients and working a bit harder overall has been the real answer for us. Beyond that, this question has so many nuances to it that it simply can't be addressed....this is not a cop-out, but a fact. It is a genuinely great question and one that any dealer in quality coins like Mark, Laura, Adrian and myself along with others here struggle with.
P. S. We always find a way to eat!!
Mike Printz
My Site
Harlan J. Berk, Ltd.
https://hjbltd.com/#!/department/us-coins
Idhair, you asked (not of me, but you noted that have been tempted to ask a local dealer)
<< When do you plan on learning to grade >>
I will try to answer on his behalf, without the benefit of knowing anything about him: "Listen here, sunny boy. I know how to grade just fine. I've been in business for 72 years and don't need those damned grading companies to tell ME how to grade. Coins are either circulated or perfect (mint state or proof) or not. What on earth else could you possibly need to know?! If things change, I'll change, whether I'm dead or alive at the time."
Marty, in your SECOND post to this thread, you asked
<< Did you take a shower this morning >>
If I had answered your question last night I would have answered with a "yes". However, as this is a new day and I am writing this at 5:50 AM, my answer is "no'.
Jim, you asked
<< What is the standard percentage markup, on a coin, is required to keep the dealer in business? >>
There is no standard markup required to keep someone in business. The reason is, that many other factors affect the required profit margin required to turn a profit. For instance, if someone has particularly high expenses (travel, office, insurance, advertising, etc.) they will require a higher mark-up to break even, than someone with lower expenses. It is also a matter of volume. Some dealers handle primarily bullion related items, deal in huge volume and can do fine with very small margins. Others might have very low volume but work on much larger margins.
Frank, you asked
<< 1. Why are you so mean to impressionable newbie collectors of colonial coins?? OK OK that was a gimme. But...
2. When you make offers to buy coins, where do you start as your point of reference? 20% below bid? Lower? Inquiring minds want to know!! >>
This reply will not be identical to the one I sent you by PM: I don't know what a colonial coin is, so how could I be mean to a newbie collector of one?
For a point of reference in making offers for coins, I consider blue sheet and gray sheet prices, dealer sight unseen and sight seen prices on the Certified Coin Exchange and my recollection/knowledge (if applicable) of current market prices and trends. I take all of that into account, along with what the actual coin looks like and how it compares to an average example for that grade, type and date. Many times, even with help from the sources mentioned, it becomes a matter of gut feel, based on experience.
Les, you asked
<< If using grey sheet as a price guide for better quality coins is dumb, how does a collector who doesn't buy as many coins as someone in the biz. know what "the market" is ? >>
First, I don't think that using a grey sheet as a price guide is dumb! It is often a very good general guide, for value, if not a reference point.
As I mentioned in my answer to Frank's question above, there are also other considerations and one of those is the actual coin and how it compares to others of the same date, type and grade. If the coin is a typical example, it is more likely to trade near gray sheet levels than if it is a "monster".
I would suggest that people examine prices realized from major auctions, though again, that is just a reference, as prices can be all over the place, due to coins being undergraded or especially beautiful or due to two or more bidders deciding they must own it. However, sometimes you can get a sense of the current market for a given coin and grade, as well as how much more a truly wonderful coin can/will fetch, compared to a not-so-nice one. Hopefully you also work with a dealer or dealers who you can trust and who will assist you in that area.
Singapore, you asked
<< Knowing you have to buy a certain amount of material each month in order to have adequate inventory to sell, what do you do when the only coins available are lousy? Note I didn't say overprices, I said lousy. Do you just not buy anything, and therefore not sell anything, and then not eat? Or do you buy some below par stuff, swallow your price, and then try to unload it? >>
We do our best to stick to a particular quality and assortment of coins, regardless of how difficult or easy it is to buy at a given time. We are fortunate, in that between our relationships with many wholesalers and with private clients, we are usually able to come up with a fairly steady supply of fresh/new material, no matter what the market conditions are.
Sure, there are some months when we buy (and/or sell) much more than others but that is part of the business and we have a long term approach. I have never been pressured to make any sacrifices in the quality of the coins I buy, even on those few occasions when inventory was unusually low.
fantasiize, you asked
<< if your average markup is 15 to 20% (on average) then why is there a 30 to 40% difference on this coin that I originally bought from you a month ago, that I want to sell you now AND the coin actually went down in price ... isn't that "triple jeopardy" ?? >>
I hope that question was not for me, in particular.
More answers later....Pat's question about "wiggle room" will be the next one addressed.