Dealers, has this happened to you? PMs taking the fun out of it?

BBN

I was at my local B&M shop today. The owner told me that the heavy emphasis on gold and mostly silver is draining the enjoyment out of his business. He doesn't turn away anyone wanting to sell him silver because it makes him money, but he feels that he's been dealing in so much junk and scrap silver lately that he has less time to sit and chat with his coin collectors.

I remember 5-6years ago before the rise of silver he enjoyed chatting with collectors while they sifted through his inventory looking for stuff to buy all the while chatting about numismatics. His store is small and set up with a table and chairs where people can just sit and hang out and chat with him. Now when those same people are there looking through stuff he's getting constantly bombarded by phone calls about silver or gold and people coming in and out with dead families junk silver coins and beat up silverware and very little time to chat with customers. Like I said he doesn't want to turn hem away because he makes good money on the stuff, it's just the fun isn't there much anymore because of the volume of people trying to sell him silver.

Has this happened to you B&M store owers?

droopyd

sounds like a replay of the silver run up in the late 70s - coin shops were transformed overnight into armed fortresses with bullet proof glass (at least the one i frequented made this sad transformation).

wasn't fun for anyone from what i could tell. not the customers, not the owners. and then silver crashed.

have a nice day, y'all.

Deadhorse

My favorite local shop has taken on new help and it's soley due to the increase in the silver and gold run ups.

Over 3/4ths of the staff is now dealing with just the PM walk ins wanting to sell.

Sure, they are making money, but every time I've talked to the owner over the last few weeks he seems to be enjoying it less.

I had a few new CC Morgans I took in while I was also doing gold and silver business last Saturday.

It seemed like his eyes lit up just getting a chance to look over some fresh material for a change.

He asked about buying them, but they aren't for sale just yet, if they ever will be. I paid a premium for them as it was.

I just wanted to show him some nice PL and DMPL CC Morgans and get his opinion.

He was more interested in them than anything else going on in the store and spent more time talking coins with me than he usually has time for.

So, yeah, I think it's taking it's toll on some shop owners.

He knows we are nowhere near the run up that is coming, and this isn't going to be over in just a short run.

He, too, believes this one has real legs and has years to go yet.

The higher the PM prices go, the more stuff it will bring out of the wood work. You can bet we are nowhere near the tops yet.

With this economy, there are likely to be more people who are going to need to sell in the future as well.

BBN

bump for the afternoon/evening crew

roadrunner

When one of my local dealers complained about how busy things were getting TWO years ago, I told him just wait a few more years when the metals go ballistic. While he will be chained to the store for a couple of years, he will also likely make enough $$ to retire much earlier than he probably ever imagined. I'd be happy to trade places with any other similar B&M store owners who are making money hand over fist.

roadrunner

Mercfan

Seems an awful lot like the way life is all the time for all the people who AREN'T coin or precious metals merchants: That darn business of earning an income is forever intruding on our pursuit of hobbies and our enjoyment of leisure time.