Coins for sale for more than a year?

coolest

Are these coins part of your personal collection or are you just waiting for the market to recognize that your coins are undervalued by the rest of the coin collecting community?

Is it just good business to ask too much assuming you can lower the price latter or just in case someone new to collecting might just buy the item?

I see the same coins listed for year after year and I wonder what is the seller thinking.

When I sell a coin on eBay it is sold in one week, am I doing it wrong?

Elcontador

Some dealers who do this refuse to make less than what they consider to be an acceptable (ie., very high) profit margin on a coin when dealing with the retail public. I think they have instructions that if they die, said coin(s) should be buried with them. A business model is irrelevant here; it's all about ego.

Most of this ilk will either try to unload such coin at a Heritage Auction after six months or quietly wholesale the coin. I have seen one guy with a bleached Bust $ that someone managed to get into a first world holder in his case for at least the last year and a half. People like this buy expensive problem coins that got holdered cheaply, and look for suckers, though I haven't seen many like him.

ctf_error_coins

I have many coins on my website that have been there for a year. I sell eye appealing error coins and error type coins. I am willing to sell them, that is why they are on my website, but I am also willing to keep them. Many of the coins are also in my personal collection so I do not care if they sell or not as I like the coin. Plus errors are a specialty so it may take some time to find the right buyer for a particular coin. Also the coin is new to you if it's the first time you have seen it. No worries it's all good.

BigE

Interesting concept to collecting, I kind of like it. Price the coins you love way above what they are worth, and if you sell them good, if you dont, oh well-------BigE

JCMhouston

Yep, I know a dealer with 2 coins I would be interested in, except they are priced $1k above what they should sell for at auction. He's had them for about 18 months, and in another 5-8 years the market might catch up.

LindeDad

Sometimes they just cost too much to list cheaper. I have a couple listed that get inquiries asking me to sell at a loss. I'll keep them until someone realizes the price guide is wrong.
BTW the reason there listed is I paid too much for ones like them with higher grades on their holders.

Frankcoins

I pay substantially over Greysheet for my inventory, as I select slabbed coins only with high quality and eye appeal. Most all of my picks have a shot at the next higher grade. And if I can't get a reasonable profit, I don't mind holding on to it myself.

WTCG

One year is nothing. I know a few dealers who have offered the same coin for sale for almost a decade. The coins are fairly common ones, nothing terribly scarce.

I don't know if it's because of ego, principle, or other factors but many coin dealers operate their business with models that contradict common sense. Many will only sell a coin at a price that offers them a profit over the amount they paid, regardless of the current market values or conditions. Even if they realize they paid too much and buried themselves in a coin they cannot fathom the thought of selling that coin at a loss to free up capital. Often times doing that is the best business decision, and good business decisions cannot be made based on ego or emotions.

Other dealers are so one-dimensional in thought in being obsessed with selling coins "retail". Shockingly many dealers will let a large deal fall through the cracks over a few lousy dollars. Just a few days ago another (shop) dealer decided not to sell me a common date silver dollar deal worth $2783 because he felt he had a chance to sell the group retail for $2789. He let a four figure deal slip through for a mere $6! Unfortunately in the numismatic business similar anecdotes are not uncommon.

A few years ago I got a call from Stacks during one of their auctions asking me if I would be okay letting a handful of my lots go (average value about $6000) for $5-$20 dollars below my reserves as there were bids in place at those numbers. To me that question wasn't even worth a phone call as the answer to me is obvious. I was surprised when they told me that I was the exception and that most dealers would let a four or five figure coin not sell over a matter of the cost of lunch.

grip

Sounds like an ego thing.

coolest

<< <i>One year is nothing. I know a few dealers who have offered the same coin for sale for almost a decade. The coins are fairly common ones, nothing terribly scarce.

I don't know if it's because of ego, principle, or other factors but many coin dealers operate their business with models that contradict common sense. Many will only sell a coin at a price that offers them a profit over the amount they paid, regardless of the current market values or conditions. Even if they realize they paid too much and buried themselves in a coin they cannot fathom the thought of selling that coin at a loss to free up capital. Often times doing that is the best business decision, and good business decisions cannot be made based on ego or emotions.

Other dealers are so one-dimensional in thought in being obsessed with selling coins "retail". Shockingly many dealers will let a large deal fall through the cracks over a few lousy dollars. Just a few days ago another (shop) dealer decided not to sell me a common date silver dollar deal worth $2783 because he felt he had a chance to sell the group retail for $2789. He let a four figure deal slip through for a mere $6! Unfortunately in the numismatic business similar anecdotes are not uncommon.

A few years ago I got a call from Stacks during one of their auctions asking me if I would be okay letting a handful of my lots go (average value about $6000) for $5-$20 dollars below my reserves as there were bids in place at those numbers. To me that question wasn't even worth a phone call as the answer to me is obvious. I was surprised when they told me that I was the exception and that most dealers would let a four or five figure coin not sell over a matter of the cost of lunch. >>




WoW!

Coinosaurus

Also note, if the coins are consigned, the dealer has no capital tied up. He still has to haul them everywhere, but that is a lot cheaper than actually owning them.

AnkurJ

I just sold a coin at heritage for a $600 loss. It was in the higher four figure range. The coin was a problem coin, and I was happy to get rid of it. I understand some dealers not wanting to take a loss, but having capital freed up is huge in my opinion.

ricko

If the coins are not part of a dealers personal collection (which he/she will price high because they want to show but not sell), then it really is all ego... and the business truly does suffer for it. Excellent input by Wei. Cheers, RickO