A trip to a local B&M to find some slabbed gold.....

roadrunner

I've been trying to get my foot into the door for the past year of a relatively new B&M that keeps claiming they are getting in big deals of raw and slabbed gold. Big deals like dozens to a hundred+ $20's. I know NO dealers in this area pay top dollar or anything close for gold so I wouldn't expect that the local vest-pocket dealers could out bid me on ANYTHING. Yet when I show up there is nothing in stock except AU55 $2-1/2's that I can't buy (lol). It's always "we just had some of those in but a dealer bought them all yesterday."

Today I was driving in that area and stopped in. There were finally some coins for me to look at. Yahoooo! They were average MS slabbed $20's but I was licking my lips waiting for the price so I could say sold! The only problem was that they were priced at 21% higher than what I could have bought them from Heritage over the phone today. Ruttro! The owner though he was doing me a favor. Uh...ok! When I mentioned that I had turned down some identical coins in those grades at 20% less it didn't seem to register. Hemust have thought I was funin him. Looks like I was just another mark after all. The other guys can fight over the "hundreds of saints" when they come marching in next time. One less B&M I need to visit on the gold route. Fwiw this shop already has a state-wide reputation for taking from the widows and orphans...and those profits are not to be shared. When a shop such as this is often buying from the unknowledgeable public at 5c to 20c on the dollar one would think that getting 120% of retail would not be necessary.

roadrunner

braddick

Sounds sadly typical.

fc

such is the way things are at most brick and mortar stores. in my
area 1 out of 4 has an owner who strikes me as fair shooter. too
bad that most of the coin stores never carry better date gold when
i stopped by over the last few years.

one of the shops is so sad and prices out of whack i only visited it
twice before never going back.

RedHerring

<< <i>...such is the way things are at most brick and mortar stores... >>



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This has been my experience also. There's a very nice B & M store in my area that I have tried to do business with several times. They have an excellent inventory of NGC slabbed everything with some PCGS and raw coins mixed in.

Prices are always 15% higher than can easily be found on the Internet and they act like like they are doing you a big favor knocking off 5% for cash. Their offers on anything you might want to sell are 20% back of Greysheet.

They do a good business and hit most of the big national shows. Their walk-ins must not not normally be guys like me because they have traffic and buyers. I'd like to do business with them because they seem like good people and have a nice shop. I just can't leave that much money on the table but many others do and that's why they're successful.

CaptHenway

Just out of curiosity, how much is it worth to you, and to anybody else reading this thread, to be able to see a coin in your hand before buying it, rather than buying it from a picture on the internet? Can you quantify a percentage?

Today we had a gentleman bring a $20 Lib into the store with a large scrape across the cheek and out into the field in front of the face. It was in an MS-63 slab from one of the top two TPGs. I graded it an MS-60, and made an offer accordingly. How many coins like this do you have to return to the internet before you get one you like?

TD

fc

capt,

honestly... i prefer online. one just has to be capable enough to interpret
pictures and know when to play or pass. obviously one also has to
know when the picture is less then honest or the auction house,
for example, plain sucks at taking pics.

naturally everyone makes mistakes in this process but i will betcha
good money that people buy coins when in hand and also make mistakes
due to poor lighting or forgetting their loupe. I have heard too many
stories about that happening around here that they get the coin
home after purchasing it in hand and say to themselves.. what in the
heck did i just buy?!?

but keep in mind i am not talking about 2500+ dollar coins. I am
speaking of purchases between the value range of 1 cent to 1500.
With 1500 being way out there for me.

Would i like to buy rare coins in hand? Yes I would! But if i limited
myself to buying like that i would have missed many rare date half
eagles i enjoyed owning.

either way... my local brick and mortar stores plus the local shows
really did not cut it for me because i wanted rarity.. not widgets.
others mileage may vary.

doh

<< <i>Can you quantify a percentage? >>


Honestly, it's 0%. I prefer buying my coins online and here's why:
1. I can take my time looking at the picture, maybe even show a friend and ask his opinion without a dealer standing over me or other customers standing behind me waiting.
2. It's easier to pay. I don't need to carry wads of cash around like I would at a show or B&M.
3. I've seen a coin in hand at a show, been quoted a price for it and then saw the same coin on the dealer's website for LESS money. Sometime it's pays to wait. I fully believe that many dealers ask top dollar for their newPs at a show. If the coin doesn't sell there they might rethink their asking price and I'll get a better deal online.

Now, obviously, it's nice to see a coin in person, but I don't think it's worth paying the B&M markup just for that opportunity.

cohodk

Its unfortunate that greed must always kill a good thing.

Luckily I have a very good relationship with my local B$M and a very large wholesaler so its "usually" not to difficult to find coins at decent prices. But I contribute that to being a good and established customer. When the times are good, like now, shops can be very particular to whom they sell--usually looking for the guy with the least knowledge and deepest pockets.

roadrunner

Just out of curiosity, how much is it worth to you, and to anybody else reading this thread, to be able to see a coin in your hand before buying it, rather than buying it from a picture on the internet? Can you quantify a percentage?

On routine generic gold it's probably <5% and in the majority of cases <2%. If the coin is an old holder piece that looks clean I would sure like to see it in hand before paying a possible upgrade premium. But most of the time if you wait, it will be gone. I understand that choice or gem type is totally different. In those markets I'd put the percentage as high as 20-40% for non-CAC'd coins. On the sellers I've encountered on the BST most have described their coins accurately enough that 1% about covers it. That would certainly not apply to the general population.

Today we had a gentleman bring a $20 Lib into the store with a large scrape across the cheek and out into the field in front of the face. It was in an MS-63 slab from one of the top two TPGs. I graded it an MS-60, and made an offer accordingly. How many coins like this do you have to return to the internet before you get one you like?

On such a coin I'd be comfortable buying it as a slightly discounted 63 (-5 to -10%) if the surfaces were ok (films, streaks, bad spots, etc.). Obviously it would not be a keeper. With most of the people I have dealt with they would have described a massive scrape before the sale. Unfortunately in this go-go gold market a big scrape will only moderately affect the value of this coin. There are wholesalers/retailers standing in line to buy such a coin reasonably close to bid levels. As crazy as it may seem to purists like yourself, myself, and most here on the forum, that's the way it is. I see crappy gold in holders and still pay within 3-5% of bid knowing I have dealers who need it and will take it. Paying MS60 money ($1550) for a MS63 $20 Lib ($2450) regardless of a scrape is doing a disservice to the seller imo. The next owner can flip the piece for hundreds more with no problems. I also understand that if the $20 Lib market crashed tomorrow that slice would make a huge difference as the coin would only be saleable as < MS63. If the coin were that bad a better alternative to seller and buyer is to send the coin back for QC. At least that way the seller gets an opportunity to recoup some of that money rather than give it to the flippers that will follow.

roadrunner