Specialized dealers

Moldnut

Do dealers who specialize in a certain area(copper, bust, seated) of numismatics help or hurt that area? Many times these specialized dealers pay and price their inventory well above what a non-specialized dealer would. Yes, the heavy hitters like myself ( ok. I'm not such heavy hitter) will pay up for my area of collecting but do these sometimes way high prices turn people off to these areas? Thus limiting the collector base for their specialized series.

RYK

I see your point, but, overall, I believe that specialized dealers are a net positive for the hobby and the market. They improve liquidity in areas in which the buy-sell spread may otherwise be large and the pricing chaotic. They also often tend to be educators and mentors in their area of specialty (ie. Doug Bird in early copper, Doug Winter in southern gold, Rick Snow in IHCs, etc.).

BillJones

Specialized dealers contribute a real plus to the hobby because they can supply material that you can’t buy elsewhere. Some of them have also contributed to our body of knowledge and research.

As for pricing it can cut both ways. Yes, sometimes specialized dealers do charge higher prices than the generalists. But it can cut the other way too. Some of the generalists who don’t about a certain series can overcharge because they don’t know any better.

illini420

When I first started I thought some of the specialists were out of their mind in their pricing of certain areas of coins... but once I started to learn more and learn just how difficult it can be to find quality coins in those specialty areas, my opinion definitely changed and I ultimately ended up becomming a loyal customer of a few of them who specialize in what I collect. I've also learned that those specialists often pay similar high prices for good stuff as well, more than most other dealers would even dream of paying.

Of course, for areas I don't collect, I still look at specialty dealers in those areas and think their prices are just way too high, but of course that could be because I just don't know

Moldnut

<< <i>Of course, for areas I don't collect, I still look at specialty dealers in those areas and think their prices are just way too high, but of course that could be because I just don't know >>




You see, it did turn you off And yes, the wealth of knowledge the specialized dealers contribute is second to none.