12 good days a year.....wannabe a dealer?
topstuf
Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭
When I first opened up my coin shop I spoke to another friend who was already in the business.
He told me that I would find that in each month I would have at least ONE day that would pay for the entire month.
I found he was right. It's amazing but true. And that's for the BAD months.
He told me that I would find that in each month I would have at least ONE day that would pay for the entire month.
I found he was right. It's amazing but true. And that's for the BAD months.
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At one time, I would say that held true for me, but those 3-4 thousand dollar days seem to be a little scarce. What city are you in? I'm in Buffalo.....
Paul
Smitty
Thanks for your insights!
<< <i>I have always wondered how coin shops can stay in business when almost no one visits them! >>
Lots of people visit them both to buy and sell.
Cameron Kiefer
<< <i>
<< <i>I have always wondered how coin shops can stay in business when almost no one visits them! >>
Lots of people visit them both to buy and sell.
Cameron Kiefer >>
I guess you are right...maybe I just scare everyone away when I pull up in the parking lot...
Why didn't you just open on those 12 days and do something else the other 353?
MUST be capitalized ...or.... have home line of credit. Credit from wholesalers VERY easy to acquire IF you keep your word and do bizz with em.
Min $100,000 to start. That includes the bullion inventory.
Good day = Myriad of things. Have spent a day in a vault buying, MOST profit (but not most volume) comes from scrap gold and the occasional diamond. Diamonds have HUGE spread between wholesale and retail and local jewelers will take the stuff off your hands if you don't want to hold it for retail. (best deal for dealer as RETAIL jewelry buyers don't want to go to (shudder) C O I N shops.
Collections large and small. LOTS of silver coins. Aaaarrgh. Bitty bits and bags.
Adding a PAWN license will triple your profit.
Most pawn shops do not pawn coins and someone who pawns at even HALF of wholesale will PILE in the loans. And amazingly, pawn customers will LEAVE the stuff and never pick it up.
And....Veep.....that wudda been GREAT! It's da figgerin WHICH days will pop. Alternate between NOTHING to do and CRAZINESS. (an it usually happens at 4:30 when u got half an hour to finish the deal)
Adding a PAWN license will triple your profit. Most pawn shops do not pawn coins and someone who pawns at even HALF of wholesale will PILE in the loans. And amazingly, pawn customers will LEAVE the stuff and never pick it up.
What do you mean when you say they "pile in the loans." I don't understand. And why would a designation as a pawn shop lead to increased profits?
Diamonds have HUGE spread between wholesale and retail and local jewelers will take the stuff off your hands if you don't want to hold it for retail.
You know, I hate diamonds because of market manipulation. I hate DeBeers, I hate the artificial scarcity manufactured by DeBeers's hoarding of diamonds, and I hate the fact the price of your "rare" diamond falls 50% once it has passed from retail jeweler to customer. (Ever try selling back one of your so-called rare diamonds? You're in for a rude awakening.) And I love the fact manmade diamonds are coming on strong. Just love it.
In your experience, what is the spread between wholesale and retail? If you were to sell a nice $5K diamond to a retail jeweler, what would the typical markup to a consumer be? Something approaching $10K?
Admittedly, this guy is the most notorious gouger I know and stays in primarily low income areas where the chief concern is the monthly payment and the buyers do not check with other diamond sellers.
As to the loans "piling in" on coins. It is AMAZING. People will PAWN coin collections for peanuts. They only want $1000 or so for whatever and may bring in their whole collection for collateral.
Many people use pawn shops for security. It is EXPENSIVE security, but it's a rare pawnshop that doesn't have an alarm that will detect mosquitoes. So......they bring in the stuff.....take out a grand.....and go off into the wild blue yonder. In CA, where I was located, the pawnshop is required to mail a notice when the loan is due. MANY of those notices come back with no known address.
People lose track, die, forget, go to jail, etc. And NEVER show up again. Crazy? YES! But they do it.
And bullion coins come in very regularly for loans. I had one customer who didn't NEED any money but felt that pawnshop money was "lucky" to take to Reno.
???????????????
Anyhow, a coin shop that pawns will get rolls of maple leafs and all sorts of stuff that will eventually default.
And then there are still the regular coin deals that go on day after day.
But I'm small potatoes. My inventory is no more than about $10-12K, but my overhead is low. I say I am "semi-brick & mortar" because I have a booth in antique mall (actually, I just pulled my stuff out of one and will set up in another in March). I am NOT a flea market dealer, though I got my start that way. I am only part time, since I work a regular full time job to pay the bills. Numismatics is a sideline for me, albeit a serious one.
The beauty of the antique mall gig is that I don't have to be there. I print all my flip inserts on the computer, and each flip has three copies: one for the customer, one for the antique mall, and one for me. They sell it, take the payment, charge the sales tax, process the credit cards, and so on. I just have to come in and restock. I have wooden nickels printed with my phone and email if anybody wants to contact me (I buy by appointment, and the only antique mall only discounts from the marked prices if I give them approval). At the end of each month, the antique mall tallies up my sales, deducts credit card processing fees and booth rent, and cuts me a check.
The downside to the antique mall gig is that I don't get as much "face time" with my customers (or potential wholesale sources). It's as anonymous as eBay (perhaps moreso), unless somebody is a regular that the antique mall folk get to know pretty well.
Even in my small-scale operation, I would have to say that I do often get those "magic days" where one day pays for the whole month. But they don't happen for me every month. I usually only get five or six a year.