Latest in fun at Shop At Home and Robert Chambers

Bochiman

So,

I can't sleep well lately and am up watching TV.
They have the new 2004 Silver American Eagles and are talking about how great they are, that they are confirmed from the Mint on their order, that they will have trucks there to pick up the Eagles when released, that they will stop by the FUN show and be the major supplier to many dealers there, etc etc etc....

Then, he pulls open a "First Strike" 2003 SAE to show the luster and proceeds to paw it on the obverse with his greasy fingers.

Then, he shows it is OONLY $29.95 for one of them in their great proprietary packaging. Wow!
Only $129.95 for 5 of them! WOW!!!!

Then, for the kicker, it is ONLY $259.95 (and S&H of $10.96) for a 2004 Silver Eagle Roll of 20 coins. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

***For those that can't tell, I am being sarcastic with my "wows".

I would LOVE to sell a roll of 20 of them to anybody for $250 and I would ship it free (that beats SAH's price by $20 per roll).

Placid

Wow!

Bochiman

That's nothing...I typed my message too soon.
He showed buying 10 of the rolls for $1250 or so.
Then showed a green box (25 rolls) still sealed for $6149.95.

You can look on ebay and find people selling rolls for $150 (20 coins) and $10 S&H.

So, 1 green monster (25 rolls of 20 coins) would be ~$3750 + shipping/handling.
And, he keeps saying how he wants MS70s from many of these.

Sheeshhhh.....talk about mark up. Buy in bulk and save....by paying $1400 more than you have to pay

Sequitur

I couldn't agree more -- these cable shopping shows rival the fraud perpeatrated on Ebay.

Have you ever seen the fifty-state quarter "deal" where this company, I believe entitled CSN, will give you gold- and platinum-plated quarters from 1999 to date all for the "amazing" price of $99.00? "And it's SEVEN layers of platinum. Real platinum!" the excited host repeatedly exlaims. The best part are the so-called phones "ringing off the hook" -- you can hear the digital-sounding ring pattern repeat itself over and over during the infomercial, i.e. the ringing phones are blatantly fake.

Anyway, what in god's name are these gold-plated and platinum-plated quarters they are offering? Do they actually destroy those quarters by putting some gold or platinum plating on them? Who the hell would be stupid enough to buy that crap (for a hundred dollars, no less -- you could buy three legitimate silver proof sets from the Mint for that).

airplanenut

<< <i>nyway, what in god's name are these gold-plated and platinum-plated quarters they are offering >>

Exactly what they are... plated coins. My dad's lab can plate stuff... a speck of gold you can't see is enough to plate a dime...

Steve

I guess it is just human nature to post on a coin board to people "in the know" that a show like SAH's "coin Vault" is ripping people off. The fact is it brings newbees into the hobby. Sure, people are overpaying. Is there anyone here who never overpaid or got ripped off by a dealer in their collecting career? I believe that programs like Coin Vault are good for the hobby. It is a national prime time Monday night cable program for 4 hours in my area. I watch it, just like most of these posters watch it. Why, because we are coin collectors and the show is interesting. Of course, we would never buy anything from them because WE know we can get it for less elsewhere. But, I believe it is a legitimate place to market coins. The prices they charge is necessary to cover their costs IMHO. Is there anyone here who has bought a diamond ring or gold bracelet for a spouse or friend and wondered if they overpaid? We live in a system in which the name of the game in MONEY. Let's just enjoy our hobby. Steve

SportsModerator

Just for the record, having been in the cableTV biz in years gone by, the cable network takes 33-40% of the gross and payment is in 90 days following the last "showing" of the item to allow for returns and adjustments. It's the cost of doing business.

kranky

33-40% of the GROSS?!

Well, I think that answers the question of why the prices are so high. They would have to sell a $25 item for $50 just to get 25% before the show's OWN expenses are accounted for, let alone net profit.