$550... if you got taken, it wasn't by much. Dealer might sell this coin anywhere from $625 to $800. Might make some real money or maybe just a little, depending whom he knows, what they need, and how long he wants to hold out.
If you'd ebayed it you might have realized a bid of $750 or something, and you'd have netted a little short of $700. It would have taken some time, and you wouldn't have had the money in hand for a week or even two.
There is a price for instant liquidity. You paid it.
Coins, or any other collectible for that matter, is not where you want to be if you need money immediately. As the value of your collection increases it becomes more and more important that an exit startegy be developed. Running down to the first coin store you see and expecting the "best" money immediately is not a viable exit strategy. Coins and such should be purchased with discretionary income, not rent, food, medical, etc money.
$550 cash isn't terrible, even though retail is more like $900 on this coin. I'd guess that half of all the coin shops out there would have offered less than $550, some a lot less. A pawn shop might only offer $100 on that coin and that I would consider a rip. Be thankful you found a dealer offering a semi-reasonable price. The dealer probably sold the coin very quickly for about a $120 profit to a market maker.
The rhetorical question is what kind of pinch a collector gets in that he/she has to cash in a coin like that immediately. If $550 today instead of $750 in a month makes that big a difference, that person has way too much money in coins and too little credit. I know people fall on hard times, but usually there is some time to plan ahead and not make it worse by selling under pressure.
I vote that the dealer did okay. Odds are slim that this dealer has any retail buyers interested in the coin and he/she flipped it wholesale to another dealer. Could he/she have offered more? Yes. However, where might have you have gone if the dealer said $100, like a pawn shop might have? Dealers can often sense a person desperate for cash and will offer accordingly.
Now that the truth comes out let me say there is a big difference between 20% back of Graysheet and 20% back of Bluesheet. Your $550 offer is not great but certainly within acceptable norms and I would not classify as being ripped. However, I stand by my previous comment about a dealer offering a blanket 20% back of Bluesheet for sight seen coins. 20% back of Bluesheet should only be offered for coins that can be heard barking in their slabs well before the coin shop door is opened.
It looks as though my post did not "take" the first time so I will try again.
You got ripped off. Bluesheet is for sight unseen coins that typically make up the very worst coins that populate any grade level from a certification service. That was totally unacceptable. Go ebay next time and you will do much better.
Comments
If you'd ebayed it you might have realized a bid of $750 or something, and you'd have netted a little short of $700. It would have taken some time, and you wouldn't have had the money in hand for a week or even two.
There is a price for instant liquidity. You paid it.
The rhetorical question is what kind of pinch a collector gets in that he/she has to cash in a coin like that immediately. If $550 today instead of $750 in a month makes that big a difference, that person has way too much money in coins and too little credit. I know people fall on hard times, but usually there is some time to plan ahead and not make it worse by selling under pressure.
I vote that the dealer did okay. Odds are slim that this dealer has any retail buyers interested in the coin and he/she flipped it wholesale to another dealer. Could he/she have offered more? Yes. However, where might have you have gone if the dealer said $100, like a pawn shop might have? Dealers can often sense a person desperate for cash and will offer accordingly.
To take his first offer?
Did you have a price in mind?
You got ripped off. Bluesheet is for sight unseen coins that typically make up the very worst coins that populate any grade level from a certification service. That was totally unacceptable. Go ebay next time and you will do much better.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
of course, i often pay ask.