A simple question about B&M advertising.

keets

Is it time for Brick and Mortar coins shop owners to start adverting in the public media?? I read time-and-time about the fleecings by various entities with collectors and dealers bemoaning the way they "rip off" non-collectors or the uninformed. Maybe with the prices of PM's right now it's time for dealers to run some ads stating clearly what their buy prices are. It seems to me that the "investment" of some air time would pay for itself.

Al H.

Bochiman

They are already doing it in some markets.
I hear it on the radio daily, and see it in the daily newspaper.

keets

i have seen the guys i work with run ads in the local paper, but i haven't noticed anyone else and there are quite a few within a 50 mile radius. it's hard to figure, but i guess they do OK without an ad.

erickso1

Would this be buy/sell prices with up to date (as of the production of the commercial) spot prices? I would assume with the production time of radio and especially print ads this could be a major problem for B&M's, at least with PM's or coins that have no more numismatic value.

It may be the same reason you don't hear gas stations/stock brokers/or anything else quote a buy or sell price in advertising (as long as it isn't followed by a long disclaimer, which usually leads to ill will from the customer who doesn't hear, or fails to listen to the disclaimer).

Just my thoughts.

Nick

streeter

There are quite a few in SoCal doing it, Al.

The problem with the 'hit and run' coin buyers is that they create a short buying window and prompt people to believe that when the BIG BUYER leaves the hotel, it's game over. For the hotel buyers, it's just a numbers game.

llafoe

All they'd have to advertise in a commercial is their wants and their website (which would have current buy/sell prices).

keets

"Hello Folks, this is Joe at Joe's Coin Shop and Supplies letting you know that we pay TOP DOLLAR for all Rare and Collectible Coins, Gold/Silver/Platinum and precious metals. Don't be fooled by all the "Buyers" who have popped up recently, we've been in business at the same location for XX years at _____________Main Street in _____________. Our hours are ___AM-__PM Mon-Fri, stop in or give us a call at 555-5555."

---------------nothing fancy, i can't help but think it'd work and put pressure on the fleecers.

RedTiger

"Air time?" No that costs way too much for the probable return. Only like 0.25% of the audience has any coins anyway, radio or tv ads are a terrible way to try to reach them, unless the plan is to fleece them. A radio or TV ad has to be listened or seen about ten times before the message even begins to break through the clutter of ad noise.

The old style yellow pages ads are about the only effective advertising. One reason the Hotel buyers pay so little is because they spend a lot of money on ads. A local coin dealer with a large advertising budget couldn't offer top dollar because 20% to 2000% of their revenue might go to pay for the ads. Stupid people will always find a way to be fleeced and there are lots of them. Many of those that advertise that they pay top dollar, actually pay like 50% below the going rate for many items. It is the way of the world.

The hotel buyer ads cleverly use a range of prices like paying up to $100,000 for old silver dollars. Folks see the high figure and think their beat up common coins are the rare ones. A legit dealer with a legit ad with legit market buy prices isn't going to sway most folks. The hotel buyer business model works because of the hit and run, preying on greed, paying a ton for ads, and mostly uninformed people (that's 95%+ of the population when it comes to old coins).

As an example, a friend has been sitting on a hoard of old silver dollars. I gave him the address and phone number of a reputable local dealer and told him that they pay top dollar for bullion items. So this friend sees a newspaper ad, with the range of prices and asks me about the ad. I told him they are scammers, but his greed was strong. He was convinced that some of his coins were certainly the rare ones worth a ton of money. Fortunately, I talked some sense into him, but greed gets the better of most folks. They go down there and get fleeced.

ambro51

I talked to a friend last night who is a main buyer servicing a local BM and he told me the public silver sellers have "been gone" for three days now.

PTVETTER

It's kind of hard to publish prices with the market rapidly changing both up and down.

Ads take time to produce and then run, by then the prices most likely will be outdated and unfair and too hard to explain to the public!

ricko

The B&M can always advertise a "% over/under spot" per a specific market guide like Kitco. Cheers, RickO

slipgate

"We promise we'll pay you more money than someone paying less than us!"