If doing a BIG deal with a dealer, is it uncouth to ask about his financial stabililty, esp. in toda

Longacre

Let's say that you are looking to do a BIG deal with a dealer, most of which involves the orderly liquidation of a very expensive collection. Suppose further that you agree to get 15% in cash up front, and the remaining cash paid to you over time. The remaining cash will not necessarily track the timing of the sales of the coins. Rather, you are relying on a scheduled payment stream from the dealer.

Given today's shaky credit climate and liquidity issues, is it uncouth to ask a dealer about his liquidity position or other credit issues prior to entering this transaction? I know that no one likes to be asked about these sorts of things, so is it best to keep things unsaid and assume that the dealer would not have entered into the tranaction unless he could cover the cash payments?

tradedollarnut

I certainly would ask. You run the risk of being an unsecured creditor in the event of a bankruptcy.

Doogy

no.

if you have truly nice and fresh higher end stuff, today's dealers will fall all over themselves to get it. More than a few are willing to pay outright for this stuff, so i don't understand the credit thing at all. Espeically in today's economic climate, i'd sell outright, walk away and be done with it.

wondercoin

What would "asking" really accomplish? I recall a week or two ago watching "Mad Money" with Cramer and a CEO was on the show discussing just how strong his company was (close to a $10+/share stock that shot up to nearly $20 shortly after the broadcast). A few days later the company stock was down to less than $1 and a few days after that the company was essentially history.

IMHO - forget "asking". Go with you "gut". Go with proven "winners" with track records and be careful in all situations - selling to dealers, consigning coins to auctions, selling or buying coins from or to collectors.

Wondercoin

MrEureka

What would "asking" really accomplish? I recall a week or two ago watching "Mad Money" with Cramer and a CEO was on the show discussing just how strong his company was (close to a $10+/share stock that shot up to nearly $20 shortly after the broadcast). A few days later the company stock was down to less than $1 and a few days after that the company was essentially history.

Of course this is true. That's why I ask for a personal guaranty when I have concerns about credit risk.