Buying and Selling at Coin Shows

Mikey

Is it better for a person to sell part of a modest coin collection at the beginning or end of a show? and is it better to buy at the beginning or end?

Robgetty

If you wait to buy, what you want may be gone. Of course, there is a chance that someone might make you a deal at the end of the show if they don't want to haul back something. (Bags of $100 face 90% silver come to mind )

As far as selling, I would assume that you would want to sell sooner just so the dealer has the chance to move the material at the show, and also hasn't burned up his buying budget. But others may disagree.

Cameonut

I rarely go to shows toward the end - so I don't have much experience there.

When I have been selling, I have done OK at the beginning of the show. As already stated, the dealer has an opportunity to flip his purchases for a quick profit. On the other hand, I have run into the situation where a dealer is a little short of cash at the beginning of the show because he hasn't had much of a chance to sell anything. So be prepared to miss a sale or even accept a check. (Accept a check from a dealer - it isn't as bad as it sounds - never been stiffed by a dealer that regularly goes to shows)

Mikey

Any other helpful comments?

coinvet

Depending on what you mean by modest. If you find most of your coins available for sale on ebay then I would suggest avoiding the show and sell on ebay or BST forum or similar outlet.

If you have a few [5-8] choice coins priced about $2,000/ea then a show MIGHT be a good option. Here's an experience I had a while back....

Midway through a show I stop at the booth of a well known national dealer who is always buying at the highest prices blah blah blah. I pulled out 3 PCGS slabs [an MS64 early gold from a registry set, an MS66 Liberty half with crescent toning and a clean MS66 DMPL $1]. All nice no problem coins but not your run of the mill coins you see at every auction or dealer table. There was about $30-35k there and I was willing to trade for copper or Saints, credit, or a cash deal was also fine. Two of the 'dealers/principals' looked at the coins for about 10 seconds and without even looking at me one handedthe coins back and said no.

I had a similar exerience with 2 other national dealers albeit more polite.

Lesson learned? Sell your coins yourself or have them auctioned at a major firm. The above mentioend dealer either was out of cash, on the rag, or just wants to cherry pick collectors. Your guess is good as mine. I had the coins auctioned by a major firm and they brought in about $36k. Guess who gets more of my business now?

As much as people belittle ebay there is a large audience there that cannot be neglected. If your coins are sub $1000 I would turn there first and spend some time putting up a good ad.

Best ofluck to you.

ChuckC

I'd say dealers come down a few points when the show is ending. One guy came down on a slabbed war time nickel for me with an hour before the show closed on a sunday. Advertised for $35, wanted $30, and I bought it for $25.

jdimmick

Buying:

I have found that the best coins go first, in fact so fast that many times the general collectors never get to see them becuase they are scooped up by other dealers (for clients) and the occasional early birders before the floor even opens to general public. (at least at National shows)

Some say that best deals are at the end of the show, but from my experience, thats not the case, and if so, then its usually items that can be found at any everyday show, or poorer quality, priced very high intitally or lower priced items for the most part.


Selling: can comment on much here, but locally, if I am selling coins to dealers, its best to sell them at the early part of the show. IMO. I think its becuase the dealers feel that they may be able to flip the coins fast to all of the potential customers that will be comning thru, and not have to tie up to much capital.

jim

numonebuyer

I like to have a very specific coin in mind and check out as many different tables as possible. If I find what I am looking for, I don't beat around the bush and make a legitimate offer. Usually the seller can tell I am serious and we strike up a conversation that usually results in a good deal for the seller and a good deal for me.

I have also sold a few pieces at the show, but I knew what I wanted before I offered them for sale.

I think you just need to be reasonable and understand that the people at the show are trying to make a living.

Having said all that, the beginning of a show will be best if you know what you want and are willing to make a decent offer on a purchase. I don't see a low ball offer being accepted at the beginning. If you wait until the end, the seller may be gone or the coin may be sold. The sale of your coins will depend on the quality of the coins. If they are normal coins that you see all around you at various tables, then it really will not matter when you make the offer to sell. However, unique coins should require you to visit more than one table and let them know what you have for sale.

carl

My experience around here is that there are so many coin shows and coin dealers that if you don't buy it, someone else will. Also, as someone already said, numerous good deals are before the show even opens where dealers look around for the newbe that may have something underprised. Most of the shows around here are only for one day and open around 9AM. I get there at 9 because the dealers don't know how many people will show up for this show so they may just sell something to make sure they get something in case the show is a flop. There are at least 2 shows every month at the same two locations. There are several more that are more sporatic as to when. There is about 4 dealers at one of the flea markets I go to. Many of the dealers work for or own a coin or hobby store nearby so if you don't buy it for their price, tough, someone else will. In the downtown area of Chicago there are numerous places that deal in coins and I've seen some of the employees at the many coin shows so they aren't really worried about giving anyone a good deal. To sum up this thread thouogh I'd have to say first thing in the morning is the best time to buy.

roadrunner

Your selling experience with those $2000 coins is not untypical. I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of dealers at a MAJOR show either want to buy those cheap or won't bother. Many will have no idea what to do with them. But there are at least half a dozen major players who routinely buy anything decent in quantity and pay fair to get them (to name the 4 that I usually see first: USCoins (Kenny Duncan), Heritage (Jim Halperin), Numismatic Professionals (Mike Storeim), Delaware Valley (David Carr). This saves me a lot of time from tire kickers and cherry pickers. In less than 2 hours I can sell what I need to sell and be free to browse the bourse or auctions at my leisure. And best of all, I don't have to listen to all the stories about how I'm "asking too much" or what defects each coin has. It's refreshing and painless, pass or play.

To those that prefer haggling for hours at 1-2% on every coin, I can give you another list of 4 dealers to suit your needs

roadrunner

michael