Crappy Coin Shop
F117ASR
Posts: 1,416 ✭✭✭
I just came back from my coin shop and I have just one thing to say. They hade about 5 free employees and none serviced me until 15 minutes later. Secondly, I asked to see some special mint sets and they got huffy when I asked if I could see more than one of them. As I am looking at them I see them staring at me. I'm pretty uncomfortable at this point and just about finished looking at their poor stock of SMS sets. Just to be nice I decided to buy one of those 50 state maps for my little brother and then looked at the silver maple leafs. I ask "how much for the unc. canadian silver maple leafs" and they say $18.95. Next I ask to see some mint sets from the 80's to maybe pick out one with a nice kennedy. This old lady tells me "We don't allow people to look at sets to pick out the nice ones". Well correct me if I am wrong but shouldn't I be allowed to pick the set I am paying for? I am the just a normal collector looking for something in particular. Isn't that what collector's do. Well, all i can say is that I hope their business gets screwed over by ebay and nice dealers. I guess I have to find a new shop. It's situations like these that make the hobby more frustrating than fun. Sorry to complain but I just feel like letting this out.
Beware of the flying monkeys!
Aerospace Structures Engineer
Aerospace Structures Engineer
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Comments
<< <i> Next I ask to see some mint sets from the 80's to maybe pick out one with a nice kennedy. This nasty old lady tells me "We don't allow people to look at sets to pick out the nice ones". Well correct me if I am wrong but shouldn't I be allowed to pick the set I am paying for? >>
I agree! I've never understood dealers like that. If they don't have the time to search their own stock, then why should they criticize us for it. Aren't they just going to sell these sets at the same price to someone else without ever looking at the coins inside? The choice for them is either us leaving and buying no sets, or us staying and cherrypicking and maybe buying a few sets. They probably don't even have the knowledge or the determination to pick out the nice coins, anyway, so why won't they let us do it?
Perhaps they are lazy.
Perhaps they do not like cherry pickers [however, they miss the point that if a cherry is found, the picker may well agree to pay more than the going rate for a run of the mill item just to get the cherry (I recently looked through a large # of proof sets at a shop for 45 minutes and finally found one set that I liked; a 1956 with a DCAM Type II Frankie; when I told the owner I wanted to buy he looked at the set, saw the DCAM Frankie and said $100.00, without blinking I paid the $100.00 which to me was worth it for the chance of picking up a 1956 DCAM Frankie that would grade at least 67)].
Perhaps they are insecure and afraid to do a deal with a knowledgeable collector [who might Rip them].
I say what are the coin shops in business for, if not to buy and sell coins. The shop owner and employees should at least make some effort to know their material. By doing so they will know what premium material they have and will be able to bargain effectively with a knowledgeable collector and actually make money in their business.
For those shops that do not allow customers to look at all of the inventory in a series, I come back once or twice more to see if the pattern is the same. If so I leave quickly, never again to return.
I went down the road!
Closest coin shop from me is over 90 miles, so I don't get to develop a relationship which I think would help and he is the store owner, if he wants me to go down the road that's what I will do. Next time I am in the city, I think I will go to one of his competitors and see what they say.
Just move along
Aerospace Structures Engineer
can't really blame them for not letting you look through their stock of mint and proof sets.
I've spent many hours at this when the dealer will allow it and always pay a strong premium
when I find sets I want, but look at it from his perspective. If you go through and pick out
all the good sets then there's little left for the next guy and he'll soon tire of buying sets at
that shop if there's nothing good in them.
In recent years I've been complaining a lot more about things like this and have found there
is often just a misunderstanding, so now I try to complain even before I get angry. It doesn't
always work though.
Perhaps a fair compromise is to tell collectors upfront that prices are 25% higher if they want to go through all the sets first.
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.
Local coin shops exist to buy coins, not sell them. There's no way most coin shops could stay in business if all they did was sell coins to collectors. Do the math. You could maybe pay the rent. You certainly could not pay yourself and/or employees a salary. There's just not enough volume. Except in the largest metropolitan areas, there are not enough buyers to support a coin shop.
Coin shops survive by buying a signficant amount of collector coins from people who have no interest in coins but who want to sell them quickly and easily. Not everyone wants to sell via eBay. I honestly don't know what happens next, but somehow the coin shop is able to turnover and quickly sell those coins to a wholesale buyer (I assume).
IMO, this is the only way I can see how a coin shop can possibly survive. That is why most coin shops have rude employees/owners. They could care less about selling coins. If you're not walking in with a bucket load of coins to sell, then they don't want to be bothered.
Fortunately I have a very helpful and knowledgeable coin shop nearby with a decent inventory. I honestly think the only reason he is so nice is because he is a geniunely nice person who enjoys the hobby.
<< <i> I honestly think the only reason he is so nice is because he is a geniunely nice person who enjoys the hobby. >>
I do believe this would help. Are all coin shop employees coin collectors?
At the last shop I went to, I picked out a 66 sms set, and had started to look at another item. The owner put the NICE set (that I had picked out) back into the display case, and pulled out a different set for me to take home! I almost didn't catch it, but I had to ask him "no, I wanted THAT set please". The ol' sms switch!!
Jerry
(This, in the face of having bought a 1931-D Lincoln from them in "BU red" that came back from PCGS and NGC as AT, and also a "BU" 1939 DDO Jeff that cam back AU58. I complained to them but they said it was my tough luck. So it was, and I chalk it up to experience. However, they are fundamentally dishonest or ignorant with their grading, and lousy in their dealings with customers.)
Hoot
To my knowlege, there isn't a decent coin shop in the greater Sacramento area. Just horror stories. There are two excellent dealers who are located here (one of them will grade coins for food), but I don't think they run a store.
If you go through and pick out
all the good sets then there's little left for the next guy
So who IS the next guy - no more of a customer than you are .... what makes the 'next' customer any more special than you are. If they are holding something for someone with a want list or regular, then why put that one in the display case as if it were for sale.
When you go to the product aisle in the grocery store, auto shopping, or whatever item you are buying, don't you do the same thing ........ ie. pick out the best one? the best bargain? the best find?
That kind of attitude sucks and I would give them a piece of my mind - what's left of it anyway.
I wouldnt go back either !
Some guy came by and spent hours going thru them picking out just the very best.
When he was finally done and had the coins set aside he wanted, he then tried to haggle with the seller about the price.
The dealer just took the coins the fellow had set aside, and tossed them back in the box and put them in his case and told the guy they weren't for sale.
Ray
can't really blame them for not letting you look through their stock of mint and proof sets
What is the point of these comments??? So if you go to a car dealer and go through his inventory to pick out the "best one" of a certain model (as regards to looks, not options) then it is okay for him to charge you 25% more???!!!! They are SELLERS, you are the BUYER, you can pick whatever you want to buy without their input or interference. You are paying good money for a product, if the products are all priced equal, then you have the right to pick out the best one in your opinion. If they don't like it, they don't need to be in a retail business.
F117ASR, you have a good reason for being pissed off, I would let them know what A**** they are, and make sure all my collecting friends know to avoid that store....it's called consumer pressure! Hope you find a better store close by. good luck!!!!
<< <i>Local coin shops exist to buy coins, not sell them. >>
- SDCollector
Interesting take. That seems entirely true in regards to this shop. The shop keeper has always blown me off when a potential seller came along. Nevertheless, a buyer can always be a seller as well. I may have been buying today but tomorrow I may sell. Now they have lost any chance of such a sale. I guess I will just wait for Long Beach. I missed it earlier this year but I can make it this fall. From what I have heard on this forum I definately don't want to miss such a big show.
Aerospace Structures Engineer
I wouldn't do biz there either.
Just take your custom elsewhere!
<< <i>I live in L.A. >>
So do I. Care to say which shop this is???
BTW -- What I found is that if you give a little, you'll get much more in return. There's a neighborhood shop that I go to. At first, the owners were a little leary of me since I wasn't the typical collector looking for state quarters. After a while of browsing I noticed some Type II 1981 proofs in his case he had marked as Type Is. I taught the owner the differences and he appreciated my honesty instead of cherrypicking the coins. Since then whenever I go in I get to see his "hidden stash" that he only shows to certain people and often he'll cut me a deal on prices. He's even given me a couple of freebies -- one a Type II 81-S Lincoln for teaching him the differences.
Michael
Based on my experience, the majority of coins in a coin shop are in the $20 to $40 range. I rarely see more than a few coins over $300. And I rarely see more than one or two customers in the coin shops at one time. I usually spend about 30 minutes or so browsing and I always buy something. So based on my unscientific sample, I estimate that's about 10 to 20 customers a day.
So 20 customers a day spending about $30 each on average is about $600 per day revenue, on average. Assuming a 50% margin on the coins sold, then that's income of $300 per day. That's probably less than a good handyman makes per day.
And how many serious, regular coin collecting customers are there in most cities. I live in a city of about 3 million and I bet there's only one or maybe two hundred serious coin collectors. And last time I looked there were 10 coin shops listed in the yellow pages! And guess what all of their ads say...WE BUY COINS. There's not enough collectors for them to survive selling coins.
Maybe my numbers are way off, but I think you can begin to see why coin shop owners dread seeing non-selling customers walk in the door.
As for Crappy Dealers, my first and foremost criteria for this category is being ignored. Especially at their table during a show. And I'm talking about being flat out ignored. I have no desire of ever doing business with them. I use the word "desire". The door isn't locked, but it sure is shut. I've also thought of the possibilty that some dealers are timid and uncomfortable no matter how many shows they've done. Unfortunately that still falls into the ignored category.
Jerry
What about the nickel(s) you pointed out in the album!
But even so, as a consumer there should be no reason to take that type of attitude.
In the shop you talk about there is a corner where stamp collectors can sit for hours picking out the stamps they want from a box full.
Why should it be any different for coin collectors?
Just give us a table some mint or proof sets, leave us alone for a while & we'll be happy.
I'm sure you have spent some hours going through those 2x2 & only finding a few you liked. Do you HAVE to score points first before you get that type of treatment?
My worst experience was in a shop in Santa Barbara, no, not that guys shop, but another where the owner is in a small room behind the counter.
You have to ask the 'counter girl(woman)' what you want to see, and usually 'high grade' or 'lo grade', graded or raw. So I ask to see some raw Liberty Dimes.
I pick out 5 or 6 keys & semi-keys. About $450 worth of coins. After asking for a loop I noticed hairlines. I asked if the coins where cleaned. The counter woman took the coins to the owner, then came back. Yes, 3 of the coins where cleaned (not noted on the 2X2). I looked at the others, picked out the worse of the rest & asked the woman to ask the owner if he considered the hairlines to be slide marks. She said that the owner couldn't be bothered with constant questions.
I told her that was too bad, turned around & walked out!
Thanks
i went through my account list for 1 store today (i have 4) and found 40 customers that did biz with us and no longer do so !
My goal next week is to visit all of those people and find out who pissed em off and regain the confidence they used to have in my company !
<< <i>Well,my new job as an outside sales person for an auto parts company is little different !
i went through my account list for 1 store today (i have 4) and found 40 customers that did biz with us and no longer do so !
My goal next week is to visit all of those people and find out who pissed em off and regain the confidence they used to have in my company ! >>
That's why I said said my door isn't locked, but it sure is shut. If I'm cordially approached by one of the dealers I have no desire to do business with again, I may change my mind. But I will let them know what happened when I stopped by their table at a show. Especially when it's being ignored. I hate it. And I don't care if they don't know how I feel or not. I don't care if they know and don't care either.
Jerry
Most coin shops look at mint products like this as commodities for newbies and gift buyers. In their mind, one SMS is the same as every other SMS and they charge the same for each. Why should they let you and every other cherrypicker to paw through their stock looking for a steal at the standard price? Sure, when it's just you it seems like not big deal, but you don't realize you're the tenth person today.
These sets are not like normal coins that can easily be inventoried, priced, and stored. Flat packs with nice coins tend to drift into lower-priced or wrong-date envelopes. The packaging gets ripped. The years get mixed together and mint sets end up with the proofs. I spent much more time keeping the stock neat than I ever did adding to it.
Besides, why sould I let you waste my time looking for UDCAM gems when I know there are none there?
Cool Things
Bust Coin Forum
I used to visit the coin shop every saturday morning with my bud back in high school. If anyone was going to get the cold shoulder, it was us 16/17 year old punks. It took a while, but the owner finally warmed up to us. Instead of short exchanges and hesistant attitudes, the store owner struck up conversations...about coins, about us, about how school was going. Before I knew it, we had free reign on "the stuff in the back" and my bud and I would go thru coffee cans of coins to try and complete our whitman folders. He even set aside a couple 1921 P&D mercury dimes for the next week knowing that I would buy them the following saturday. The point is, befriend the coin shop guy, and the door will open.
By the way, I just went back to that very shop after 6 years to sell some rolls of 40% kennedys...the owner, the guy we befriended so long ago, didn't want anything to do with me after the transaction was complete. You start from square one I guess!
and a few other modest purchases together on the counter waiting for him to add
them up. When he approached he winked and said "what are you looking for, Ken-
nedies?" I said, " No, clad quarters." He became beligerant and threw me out.
I guess I shouldn't have used that four letter word.
After this I always just told them I was looking for gems.
In contrast, in my area finding a coin shop is like hunting hens teeth, we have very very very few shops, and they either stock nothing but junk, or only high end stuff and keep touting over priced slabs. I finally found a shop not too far away that was referred to me. We stopped in two weeks ago, and were pleasantly suprised. It was a well lit shop, no smoke haze or smell of smoke, it was well stocked, and the prop was more than courteous. My kind of shop. I picked up a 1997 S Silver proof Kennedy out of his extensive selection, as well as a goregeous accented hair. I then asked about a "nice" 1970D half. He showed me 3 in flips. They were typical, pretty well beat up from the minting process. When I mentioned this he said well here check these. He handed me about 12 1970 Mint sets. I searched them all, and still did not find one that struck me as good enough. He said hold on. Went in the back room, and produced another 6 sets. I searched through these and found one really nice sample which I purchased. Now thats service. He has a customer for life.
Anyone need 1970 Mint Set coins sealed in the cello other than the half.... I'm sellin....
The last coin shop I went to, had all empty cases. Nothing out on display at all.
You had to ask specifically for what you wanted to look at.
Then they would lock the front door, and carefully open the safe, remove a tray, and lock the safe
and bring the tray out for you to look at. The good stuff was by appointment only though.
I remember going to a coin show a while back, and stopped at a table where the dealer had a bunch of worn down Morgans that caught my eye.
I found three that look like they'd be slabbable and good candidates for maybe a PO2 or PO1 too, worst case maybe Fair.
The dealer had to look at them for several minutes before he sold them to me. He never did ask what the heck I wanted them for.
But he sure did look sort of befuddled as to what the heck I was seeing in them to want them.
He even gave me a discount as he didn't want to have to deal with change.
I think it pays to be more patient and try to ignore the impatience that sometimes happens.
is that Kancel My Account??
<< <i>And you know, I also have to say, to those posting about not being allowed to cherrypick, YOU ARE IN A COIN DEALERS SHOP!!!! Coin dealers are the undisputed kings of the cherrypickers! Do you not think that if there was anything worth cherrypicking the dealer would have it slabbed already? If it was me, I wouldn't let any PF69DCAMS sit in the original mint holders for very long. >>
You would be surprised. I doubt if it even pays to slab PF69DCAMs any more, unless you're submitting huge bulk orders.
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.
However, I have found many shops/dealers where they, for whatever reason, view all proofs sets from the mid 1950's forward and all SMS sets to be the same. Even if they know of cameo examples of these coins, they have no interest in them. They view these sets as a fungible commodity and sell them for between bid (plus a small percentage) to retail.
Those shops/dealers who do not mind customers inspecting their inventory of these sets will be rewarded with repeat business and customers that will pay premiums for the gems that they find. Those who, for what ever reason, do not allow customers to inspect their inventory are simply missing out on a chance to obtain a loyal, repeat customer.
Various points of view have been expressed in this thread, both pro and con, on shops/delears who do not allow customers to inspect inventory. Both sides of the issue have good points, however since I am a collector, my point of view is that set forth in my previous post to this thread.
That's pretty much what I did in Pittsburgh too. I wonder if they know how much business they lose when I drop my money at the table next to them? Do they care?
Edited to add the right quote, as follows:
I finally started circling the "Being Ignored By" dealers in the show program. These I won't do business with now. Especially when there were plenty of dealers willing to spend time talking to me. And I spent money with them.
Chicolini: Mint? No, no, I no like a mint. Uh - what other flavor you got?