Red Book Pricing

pennyholic

Here is the deal, i am trying to purchase some coins from an older gentlemen and he only uses the red book for pricing. My question is what percentage off is a good start on Lincoln cents in the early teens. There is no educated this guy and would just rather deal with his way. thanks in advance.

steveben

well, ultimately it's up to him to price them, of course. but, you could try negotiating the terms by offering what you think is a fair price and explaining that he might get red book prices by auctioning the coins...but, he'll have to pay fees, shipping, and put up with the hassle of selling them. that costs time and money.

also, explain that a coin dealer will always offer less...if, for example, he took them to a coin show or store to sell them.

i don't think there's a magic number or percentage...it's just a situation where you're going to have to negotiate and convince him that chances are he won't get the full red book price. good luck.

Steve

I think you are wasting your time with this gentleman. He probably is well aware that the Red Book pricing is full retail and that he wants to get the most he can. You are probably aware also that the Red Book is full retail and you just won't pay that much. So, why bother? JMHO. Steve

Dentuck

Maybe use the Blue Book instead? Or meet him halfway between the two books (wholesale and retail)?

AUandAG

The cost of selling cents is off the chart. Unless these coins are AU or BU you are probably just
wasting your time.
It's the mailing and packaging that kills selling common date pennies. I know it's not worth my
time unless it's a key, semi-key or BU coin. A lot, and I mean a lot, of older collections have not
been properly stored and the BU cents are butt ugly with spots and such. Be careful.

bob

ricko

You could try taking him to a coin show or a B&M.... might help, maybe not. Some will not negotiate. Cheers, RickO

BillJones

If he has been a collector for a while, he knows the score. The Red Book is for retail pricing especially on items like circulated Lincoln cents.

This guy might be "dumb like a fox." He's using the Red Book to try to get the most out of his material. Collectors can be the most difficult sources for buying coins because some of them have no idea how buying and selling works. Quite often they can’t separate the prices they see listed in “Coin World” from the prices dealers must pay to survive. They also might have an emotional attachment to their collections, and you can’t pay for sentiment.

My advice is control your emotions. If he won’t come down to a more reasonable level, pass. These coins are not the type of stuff that you will unable to find elsewhere.

AMRC

There are some items I would be happy to pay full Redbook on. How many $20 Saints does he have? (or anything with Gold in it) Where do I send the check? The point is that no matter what price guide you use, there is always descrepencies between the price guide and reality. So whenever you have a seller using only one price guide, you have opportunity. You can also in many cases pay full Red Book for Cherry picks.

But best for you to show up with the Blue Book.


Edited to add additional thought.

TheCoinGeezer

<< <i>Here is the deal, i am trying to purchase some coins from an older gentlemen and he only uses the red book for pricing. My question is what percentage off is a good start on Lincoln cents in the early teens. There is no educated this guy and would just rather deal with his way. thanks in advance. >>


Explain to him that Red Book prices are normally the upper limit of retail prices and there's no way he could ever hope to realize those prices at auction or from a dealer.
Show him your copy of the Blue Book.
If he's unwilling to budge, move on and let his heirs deal with his penny collection.

SamByrd

blue book is where I would be on generic material that I am interested in. Better coins that I want more maybe 10% better. Most Dealers don't want non key circulated Lincolns and when they do they pay less then blue book. The keys and simi keys are what they buy. I would make an offer if I wanted the collection at 35% less then red book maximum. This after sorting them carefully for problems.

coins like the 09s and 14d are exceptions these trade near retail on ebay most of the time.

The suggestion of offering between redbook and bluebook pricing seems to be rational as well.

TwoSides2aCoin

Show me a coin and I'll give you a fair assessment for ten dollars.

coolest

Actually red book is not so far from GS in many cases.

Let him get his best offer from a dealer then he will be seeing more eye-to-eye with you.

golfer72

It seems some here are assuming he is talking about circ cents. His original post did not say circ or uncirc.

pennyholic

First thanks everyone that took the time to answer this question. I just got back from purchasing the coins and the list included a 10s 12s 22d 24d and several other common coins. I ended up explaining the red book pricing and much to my surprise he took 40% and was well aware of what retail and wholesale was. I got all worried for nothing and it turned out great, conclusion is that there are still lots of nice older people collecting coins.

TheCoinGeezer

<< <i>First thanks everyone that took the time to answer this question. I just got back from purchasing the coins and the list included a 10s 12s 22d 24d and several other common coins. I ended up explaining the red book pricing and much to my surprise he took 40% and was well aware of what retail and wholesale was. I got all worried for nothing and it turned out great, conclusion is that there are still lots of nice older people collecting coins. >>


Technically, the old gent was no longer "collecting"