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Ever have a dealer tell you....

tmot99tmot99 Posts: 5,238 ✭✭✭
...your want list is too specific? A dealer asked me if he could help me look for something on my behalf at Baltimore. I gave him my want list and he came back with a comment something along the lines of 'if that's all you are looking for, you must have a pretty complete set. Maybe you should look into collecting something different.'

Now I don't know this dealer that well, but I figured the more eyes I have on the street, the more likely I am to find what I'm looking for.

But isn't it a bit out of place for a dealer to tell me that what I'm looking for is too specific and to broaden my search into other series? I told him to forget it, that he obviously doesn't understand my interests. Did I react too harshly?

Comments

  • michaelmichael Posts: 9,524 ✭✭
    your want list is too specific?

    yes yes


    But isn't it a bit out of place for a dealer to tell me that what I'm looking for is too specific and to broaden my search into other series?

    no no no

    dealers need to sell you something anything or they are out of biz
  • Well Michael put it plain and simple.



    Jerry
  • A want list by definition IS specific. sheesh. cm
  • RegulatedRegulated Posts: 2,992 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm a big fan of specific want lists. That being said, I also like to know generally what a client likes, so that I can let them know about fresh material that is up their alley...

    What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
  • stmanstman Posts: 11,352 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Translation.... I don't want to have to work for you to make some money. Just buy what I think is a good deal for ya. Hahaha
    Look, they only have your best interest in mind. Heh
    Please... Save The Stories, Just Answer My Questions, And Tell Me How Much!!!!!
  • fcloudfcloud Posts: 12,133 ✭✭✭✭
    A local dealer begged me for a list everytime I was in his shop. I gave finally gave him a list and he tossed it in a junk heap. I will never give a list to a dealer again!

    President, Racine Numismatic Society 2013-2014; Variety Resource Dimes; See 6/8/12 CDN for my article on Winged Liberty Dimes; Ebay

  • ERER Posts: 7,345
    Next dealer!
  • ScarsdaleCoinScarsdaleCoin Posts: 5,245 ✭✭✭✭✭
    many of the forum members are advanced collectors, the want list that they would give a average small store dealer would be very hard to fill and that is probably why they toss it....however the dealers who specialize in the material of interest would welcome the request!
    Jon Lerner - Scarsdale Coin - www.CoinHelp.com
  • ShamikaShamika Posts: 18,785 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>But isn't it a bit out of place for a dealer to tell me that what I'm looking for is too specific and to broaden my search into other series? >>


    Some dealers have the social skills of a wart hog. He was out of line and should have politely said "I'll do my best" and then left it at that.

    Buyer and seller of vintage coin boards!
  • "Dealer's" dream want list:

    Circulated Morgans any slab
    Raw Wheaties
    Proof Sets

    I bet they would be all over it!
  • MyqqyMyqqy Posts: 9,777
    A want list by definition IS specific.

    Exactly- it sounds like a pretty lame dealer who isn't customer focused......
    My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable !
  • rec78rec78 Posts: 5,747 ✭✭✭✭✭
    There is no such thing as a want list being too specific. That is what you want-Sounds like he wants to sell you what he has instead of what you want. If i want a 1955 double die in XF45 then that is what i want,no not an XF40 or an AU50. I WANT WHAT I WANT AND THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT !! Bob
    image
  • Thanks for looking at my want list Richard !

    May i call you Dick ?
    image
  • kiyotekiyote Posts: 5,580 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That's a crazy reason for dismissing you-- even within a single COIN there's huge differences-- maybe I could afford a VG12 1916-D dime but if he came at me with a MS63FB version I'd have to sell both my spleens.
    "I'll split the atom! I am the fifth dimension! I am the eighth wonder of the world!" -Gef the talking mongoose.
  • tmot99tmot99 Posts: 5,238 ✭✭✭
    Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I'm glad I wasn't just flying off the handle. This just really ticked me off.
  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 34,222 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>...your want list is too specific? A dealer asked me if he could help me look for something on my behalf at Baltimore. I gave him my want list and he came back with a comment something along the lines of 'if that's all you are looking for, you must have a pretty complete set. Maybe you should look into collecting something different.'

    Now I don't know this dealer that well, but I figured the more eyes I have on the street, the more likely I am to find what I'm looking for.

    But isn't it a bit out of place for a dealer to tell me that what I'm looking for is too specific and to broaden my search into other series? I told him to forget it, that he obviously doesn't understand my interests. Did I react too harshly? >>



    Yea. If you tell me that you ONLY want PCGS graded coins, I usually don't go after the want list items. If you are looking for coins that really hard to find, cutting it down to one grading service makes it too hard for me. If you want to cross them, go ahead, but I don't play that game as a dealer or a collector. My money is too short waste it on grading services and holders. I do a lot of want list work, but when you specify PCGS OR NGC only, that is often a red flag UNLESS you are a very big customer.

    You should be happy that a dealer would even consider taking your want list. Most of them ignore them these days. They are more interested in the quick flip and turnover.

    When I was a very active collector I'd spend about $10,000 a year or more on coins from the mid 1980s to the mid '90s. That budget was not large enough for many dealers to bother with.
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • OffMetalOffMetal Posts: 1,684
    I don't really have a want list image

    The only thing I ever want is major error coins. I buy them all, if they are fairly priced.

    But I did have a dealer tell me that I'm really vague.

    "Can I see that chopmarked trade dollar?"
    "You're being really vague, I probably never had an unchopmarked trade dollar."
    (Case has only one trade dollar)
    "Okay, I'll pass, thanks though. May I please see that seated dollar?"
    "Again, you're being really vague."
    (Case has only one seated dollar)

    At that point, I barely look at the coin when he takes it out, thank him, and walked away.
    -Ben T. * Collector of Errors! * Proud member of the CUFYNA
  • TrimeTrime Posts: 1,863 ✭✭✭
    This thread is really wierd.
    I have never had a dealer refuse my want list.
    The list may often be forgotten but in the present era a computer list identifies potential customers for a given piece.
    The dealer may come back with, I didn't find the xyz on your list but I did find another coin that I thought you may be interested in.
    Trime
  • Steve27Steve27 Posts: 13,274 ✭✭✭
    It was just his way of saying that he didn't have anything you wanted.
    "It's far easier to fight for principles, than to live up to them." Adlai Stevenson
  • fcfc Posts: 12,793 ✭✭✭
    tmot99,
    i say post your want list and let us decide if you are crazy image
  • zennyzenny Posts: 1,547 ✭✭
    he must be a market maker!
  • he must be a market maker!

    image


  • shirohniichanshirohniichan Posts: 4,992 ✭✭✭
    Some dealers have great memories. I didn't give one a want list, but he called me once he got a chopmarked 1808 half dollar since he knew I collected chopmarked coins. I was at his shop in a few hours, and he even sold it to me for less than my estimate for the coin's resale value.
    image
    Obscurum per obscurius
  • mozinmozin Posts: 8,755 ✭✭✭
    This dealer only wanted coins listed that he knew he could locate without much trouble. No way he wanted to spend time looking for your harder to find coins.image
    I collect Capped Bust series by variety in PCGS AU/MS grades.

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