Do dealers make a commission to submit coins for grading?

RYK

If this has been asked and answered before, please slap me around just a little and link the answer.

If I take coins to Joe's Coins and Baseball Cards and have Joe submit coins to PCGS or NGC for grading, does he get a cut in the grading fees? Does he financially benefit from this transaction in any way, directly or indirectly (ie. discounted rates for higher volume submitters, free grading vouchers, etc.)?

segoja

It depends on what he charges you.

The dealer rates are ever so slightly below the collector rates. That said, on economy coins it's a wooping $2 per coin. Needless to say, a formula for getting rich quick.

I'd say the $2 premium is cheap for processing a coin for grading.

Tonelover

PCGS authorized dealers typically pay a few dollars less than the rates on PCGS' regular published fee schedule. How much anyone wants to charge over that amount for their services will vary from dealer to dealer. Speaking for myself I can say that we often lose money submitting coins for clients because we don't bother Nickel and Dimeing them for postage to and from PCGS, or even when returning their coins back to them. We can usually piggyback their coins with others of our own helping to minimize the postage costs but we won't hold their submission up if we don't have anything of our own to send.

JadeRareCoin

We have submitted many coins for our customers and have never made a cent on any submission. It is done as a courtesy and to build relationships. Kinda hard to charge something since anyone can submit to PCGS or NGC anyway.

roadrunner

I once submitted a coin via a dealer who had been working closely with who felt entitled to an upgrade that occured on one of my coins. He had done nothing but place it in one of his submissions and it upgraded. It happend to be convenient but normally I was submitting all my coins via another dealer out of NJ who at the time lived close to NGC (1989). This tripled the coin's value from $5000 to $15,000.

The funny thing was, this coin first came back NGC 64 to me. I felt it still had a shot so I tried again at PCGS. Lo and behold PCGS 63!
At that point I was sort of chided by this same dealer, who lo-balled me on an offer while it was still MS63. I had no choice but to resubmit for NGC and "hope" for the 64 back. Luckily it went 65.
The same dealer offered me "type" coin money for a pop 1 highest graded rare date coin. His reasoning was that he knew the previous history and as a 64 or less, it was worth under MS65 type money. Needless to say, I ignored his offers and sold the coin for 50% more on the first phone call the next morning. When he had heard of this he was incensed that he had "lost" his commish (ie $5000) for submittal. Claimed I sold it out from under him.

The story ended on an odd note when he called up the dealer I had sold the coin to, said I had screwed him out of it since we were still
"negotiating." He became part owner with this new dealer. He got in at a level that was higher than I was first asking....he still made money. Guess it....IS......all about the money.

roadrunner

RYK

Roadrunner,

Great story. You really have seen it all, done it all. I cannot believe that the dealer felt entitled to 50% of the upgrade value.

DennisH

RYK:

I think I've been told PCGS dealers get a rebate (I don't know how frequently) for their submissions, rather than a price break when they submit. For some reason $5 sticks in my memory for Regular ($30) submissions.

Someone please holler at me if they have accurate information on this; I'd love to know for sure.

roadrunner

RYK, I haven't done it all yet, because I keep running into new "opportunities" to lose money. This hobby/business never lacks for ideas or risks. Don't know if the dealer on my coin felt entitled to a $5K commish, but it was he was striving for initially.
No doubt we might have wormed our way towards $15K had I been more patient, but the whole affair approach was distastefull to me.
How many times do you get to buy a pop 1 highest D mint gold $5 for a type coin price.........not often I'm sure.....likely never.
The above coin was a New Orleans mint seated coin.

roadrunner

RYK

How many times do you get to buy a pop 1 highest D mint gold $5 for a type coin price.........not often I'm sure.....likely never.
The above coin was a New Orleans mint seated coin.

Unbelieveable. Of course, you cannot buy any D mint $5's anywhere near type coin prices.

Longacre

Interesting story Roadrunner!

roadrunner

During that time period I had several coins come back 3 different grades on 3 diff submissions....usually it was 63,64,65. More often it was NGC on the higher end and PCGS giving brutally low grades on toned type coins. Though I do recall a time when I had a pair of rare date New Orleans seated quarters. I sent the toned pretty one to PCGS and the slightly subdued but very clean one to NGC.
Both came back MS64's. I knew they were 64++ so I swapped them around and sent them out again to each service. The 2nd trip each came back MS65 and became pop 1's highest graded.

roadrunner

michael

in other words do they get lots of lulus for submitting

of course more then you think or could possibly know

majorbigtime

I once had a dealer rip me for transportation charges on a PCGS submission--the dealer was in Alhambra California, a few miles down the road from PCGS, and surely didn't make the trip just for my submission.

BlindedByEgo

<< <i>I once had a dealer rip me for transportation charges on a PCGS submission--the dealer was in Alhambra California, a few miles down the road from PCGS, and surely didn't make the trip just for my submission. >>



Dealers suck™

jdimmick

For the past year, I seem to have become the go-to guy for getting coins graded. Sometimes, I charge a very small percentage over the total cost, but I do all the necessary preparations, filling out forms, crackouts, packaging, etc. However, if I have something to submit myself, then I usually only charge actual cost, and then I ride mine in on the submission where postage is being paid who I am submitting for.

jim

Boothill40

Are you better off submitting via an authorized Dealer? Will your coins get a better grade as some letters in Coin World have professed stating a bias for the dealers by the grading companies.

I don't have the answer just wanted to hear what the Vets think after reading some of those letters---Tom