Hilarious coin dealer experience.

D

Unfortunately it wasn't with coins...

I was at my local coin dealers shop(He also deals in jewelry) today when someone came in with a bowl for sale, he sold it to the dealer for a little above scrap silver value. Not an issue there...

A few minutes later, someone came in and wanted to buy the same silver bowl, apparently a noteworthy ultra cheap customer. The dealer weighed the bowl in front of him, saw the scrap amount, and raised the price a little above scrap. (So he could make some profit no doubt). The buyer then said "But that's above the price of scrap" The dealer then replied with "Yes, hold on." He threw the bowl onto the ground and jumped on it until it was like a garbage can lid, tossed it onto the other side of the table and said "Now you can have it for scrap prices". The buyer immediately walked outside and slammed the door.

I really tried hard to not laugh at the way the situation was handled, but the entire way home I replayed it in my head.

-Daniel

WTCG

That's actually pretty funny.

mgoodm3

Gotta love seeing things like that.

Kip

Good for him

tmot99

That's great.

mozin

Glad to hear it when things like this happen.

Barry

It makes one wonder why some people choose a job where they interact with the public.

TorinoCobra71

Thanks for the Chuckle!

TorinoCobra71

scher

The dealer lacks ...what did he gain by showing the guy up...treat em all great with respect and you will have more business than you could ever hope for..I could go on for days about this..what an ass.

Russ

<< <i>I really tried hard to not laugh at the way the situation was handled >>



You have more self-control than I do. I'd have laughed my ass off!

Russ, NCNE

MarineEAS1999

hilarious... definitely!!!

wam98

That's a funny one.

streeter

True story....not about coins...

1971...Tommy Hutton...one of the owners of what is now Pick-A-Part in CALIFORNIA--big auto recycler now but then just a hole in the wall..

has a customer come in and ask--"how much for the 57 Chevy conv" that Hutton had just dragged in.
A: $1000. counteroffer---I'll give you $700. Hutton hooks up to the 57 and drags it into the crusher--- proceeds to make the car about 18 inches high--

Accepts the $700 counteroffer.

nankraut

"has a customer come in and ask--"how much for the 57 Chevy conv" that Hutton had just dragged in.
A: $1000. counteroffer---I'll give you $700. Hutton hooks up to the 57 and drags it into the crusher--- proceeds to make the car about 18 inches high--

Accepts the $700 counteroffer. "

Now, that's sad. 1957 chevy convertibles are HARD to come by--even in poor condition.:

CIVITAS

Absolutely priceless. Losing one tightwad customer was well worth the few bucks he gave up on the bowl.

Reminds me of the story my business partner likes to tell about the stamp dealer who was at a show when a collector found an inexpensive (under $10.00) stamp he had been trying to find for 15 years in the dealer's stock. After informing the dealer of this, he proceeded to complain about the dealer charging him full catalog for this stamp worth just a few dollars. The dealer promptly tore the stamp in half and gave it to the collector free of charge.

Gemineye

OffMetal

I would have liked to see a video tape of this

ChangeInHistory

apparently a noteworthy ultra cheap customer.

Looks like this guy had it coming to him for a while. Great story.

Tonelover

So did you ask him for a discount on your purchase?

CharlieB

That would have been great to see, a lesson to be learned - keep your mouth shut when
you sense a good deal.

robertpr

That is freakin fantastic! The next time you're in there, be sure to shake the dealer's hand for me!

DaveG

Stories like this are the best reason I know why it's a really good idea to develop a good working relationship with a dealer!

The dealers I know are much more willing to give someone both a good price and first shot at good material that walks in the door (frequently much more important than price!) if you don't try to screw them on price every chance you get.

coinkat

There may be a moral to the story...

Be careful when you ask for the best price of a common coin because it may turn into a common coin with the signature of a frustrated dealer... and to think your comment at that point in time may have been the decisive factor in making someone's day more miserable...







It something to think about... isn't it?

CarlWohlforth

I have to admit I LOL!

Sher says: <<The dealer lacks ...what did he gain by showing the guy up...treat em all great with respect and you will have more business than you could ever hope for..I could go on for days about this..what an ass.>>

I had to laugh at the story. I think mostly because I would love to do something like that. I never have. I hold it in and treat 'em all with respect. However there are those times I wish I would do something like that!

21Walker

I'm with Russ...........no way I could have kept tears coming to my eyes laughing so hard............Rick

CalGold

EPILOGUE:

After crushing the silver bowl into a flat piece of scrap and having a good chuckle, the dealer notices the Paul Revere hallmark that he missed when he first purchased it.

CG

RYK

The dealers I know are much more willing to give someone both a good price and first shot at good material that walks in the door (frequently much more important than price!) if you don't try to screw them on price every chance you get.

I agree with DaveG. It does not pay, in the long run, to try to squeeze every penny from every deal.

Sher says: <<The dealer lacks ...what did he gain by showing the guy up...treat em all great with respect and you will have more business than you could ever hope for..I could go on for days about this..what an ass.>>

I know that Bruce has built a tremendous retail business, and as a rule, he is correct. Nonetheless, there are probably a few customers that are just not worth having, and I expect that this chap was one of those.

cartwheel

Great story!

cladking

Great stories. I'd never quit a dealer who did this to me but I wouldn't haggle as much.

Koinlink

Priceless moment!

Coinosaurus

I always ask for discount, even on coins I've already decided to buy. I've never had a problem with that. There is a difference between asking nicely for a discount and chiseling or giving the dealer a hard time, or in general whining.

777

I would have loved to see the customers face when this happened...

northcoin

Those are all great stories, and I'd bet they are all just that - stories. Their authors are imagining what they would like to have done. For example the 57 Chevy is no longer a 57 Chevy once it is made into scrap and there is no court in the land that would require the counteroffer to be binding. It is an elementary principle of contract law that a material change is sufficient to void the contract. As far as the torn up stamp - maybe since the amount is so small. As for the crumpled pan, who knows, but sounds more like a story than fact.

D

<< <i>Those are all great stories, and I'd bet they are all just that - stories. Their authors are imagining what they would like to have done. For example the 57 Chevy is no longer a 57 Chevy once it is made into scrap and there is no court in the land that would require the counteroffer to be binding. It is an elementary principle of contract law that a material change is sufficient to void the contract. As far as the torn up stamp - maybe since the amount is so small. As for the crumpled pan, who knows, but sounds more like a story than fact. >>



Thank you sir for clarifying what I witnessed this afternoon .

-Daniel

BlindedByEgo

<< <i>

<< <i>Those are all great stories, and I'd bet they are all just that - stories. Their authors are imagining what they would like to have done. For example the 57 Chevy is no longer a 57 Chevy once it is made into scrap and there is no court in the land that would require the counteroffer to be binding. It is an elementary principle of contract law that a material change is sufficient to void the contract. As far as the torn up stamp - maybe since the amount is so small. As for the crumpled pan, who knows, but sounds more like a story than fact. >>



Thank you sir for clarifying what I witnessed this afternoon .

-Daniel >>



again. Smoe people!

And for the tight butts that don't think that this is funny, or that it's demeaning... Bless you for being so perfect - I hope that I can measure up smoeday.

Still chuckling. Great story.

PerryHall

Sounds like the dealer needs to get back on his meds.

TheKidCollector1991

HAH FUNNEY!

bushmaster8

BAD DEALER! BAD! NO SUPPER FOR HIM TONITE!

I'll bet the poor victim (customer) is now suffering from erectile disfunction, depression, and may have trouble getting to the Currency Exchange to cash his disability checks!

eyoung429

I would have walked up and offered $5 over scrap for the bowl while the customer was there AFTER the dealer stomped on it.............


Modern art!!!!!

CarsonCityGold

My advise as a retailer was always "Water your flowers and pull your weeds" - Great example of pulling your weeds!!

MrEureka

I was at my local coin dealers shop(He also deals in jewelry) today when someone came in with a bowl for sale, he sold it to the dealer for a little above scrap silver value. A few minutes later, someone came in and wanted to buy the same silver bowl, apparently a noteworthy ultra cheap customer. The dealer weighed the bowl in front of him, saw the scrap amount, and raised the price a little above scrap. (So he could make some profit no doubt).

That sounds like a break-even deal. Something's not quite right here. In any event, my guess is that the dealer is every bit as "ultra-cheap" as the customer, if not more so.

Edited to say that I'd like to see more retail customers do this to their own silver when dealers offer them below-scrap prices.

Smittys

Wish I had the nads to do that..

Klif50

It takes all kinds. I worked in a small coin shop in Laurel, Maryland during the big gold and silver run up of the late 70's, early 80's. Prior to the run up I had a regular customer that would come in (always wearing a trench coat and a hat with the brim pulled down and we called him "sneaky") and he would say "dimes" and hand me a few hundred dollars and then leave. He would come back in 15 or 20 minutes, skulk down to the end of the counter and I would pass him a paper sack with as many silver dimes as he had bought and then he would skulk out. He never sold anything but just continued to pick up his "dimes" as he could.

Another customer came in and she had a very nice urn that had her deceased husbands ashes in it. The urn was sterling silver but I told her I couldn't buy it with his ashes in it. She asked if she could use our bathroom. She went back, I heard the toilet flush and she came out with the empty urn. She said she never could stand him anyway so she flushed his ashes. Seems she walked away with close to 700 dollars for the urn.

We also bought a ton of sterling candle sticks and people would stand and admire them where they sat on the shelf until we picked them up, bashed them together to break up the filler and then peeled the silver off. Only an ounce or so of silver in the things.

We also sold a lot of silver tea services and things like that and would price them just a few percent above melt. They sold really well. I would never consider smashing anything that a customer was interested in (until they left the shop).
Cliff

messydesk

Love the story. I assume the customer was a chronic PITA that has given the dealer far more trouble than he's worth. If not, then I'll agree with the post about the dealer needing to have hihs meds adjusted.

topstuf

Now in CALIFORNIA............ the dealer coulda been ARRESTED. A bowl is considered PERSONAL property here and not bullion or coins. Has to be held 30 days in condition received before ANY sale or disposition.

Dang it. We don't get ANY fun.

1907Quarter

boy does that story ever bring a smile to my face-wish I was there! thanks for sharing!

JadeRareCoin

That's a good one. I have seen similar things over the years, but not so dramatic.

jdsinva

somewhere over on the silver bowl collectibles message board

[OP] Man, I'm really peaved at my local silver bowl collectibles dealer, was I being unrealistic?

[SemiInterestedPerson] Uh, what happened?

[OP] Someone in front of me sold the owner a silver bowl for scrap silver prices so when I tried to buy the same bowl for scrap silver prices, the owner beat the hell out of the bowl and then wanted to sell it to me

[SemiInterestedPerson] Man, what an SOB, I don't blame you for storming out of there. . .

[AndOn] . . .

[AndOn] . . .

[AndOn] . . .

CaptHenway

Some people are just chronically cheap.

Jim Raye, our late foreign expert, used to have a coin shop up in Wisconsin. One day he bought a small hoard, maybe a dozen or so, of a token from an unlisted merchant in a town not known to have issued ANY tokens. He took them to a show and showed them to the man who wrote the book on Wisconsin tokens. The man confirmed that the pieces were unknown.

As a courtesy, Jim offered to sell the man one of the tokens for three dollars. The man snapped back "I never pay that much for a token!"

Tom D.

northcoin

Well D, it was the 57 Chevy that I was most focused on. Guess your point made is truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.

earlycoins1com

<< <i>Now in CALIFORNIA............ the dealer coulda been ARRESTED. A bowl is considered PERSONAL property here and not bullion or coins. Has to be held 30 days in condition received before ANY sale or disposition. >>




So in this California jail, there would be 2 guys in a cell trading stories.

Inmate #1: "Whaddya in for?"

Inmate #2: "Murder 1. But he had it comin', I tell ya'. What about you?"

Inmate #1: "I squished a silver bowl."