Couple of roadshow quotes

jdimmick

Everybody already knows how they operate, but the roadshow is in the town south of us, had three people come in today and sell

here is what they had and what the road show offered.

40 1 oz rounds of .999 silver 325.00 , the after negotiating with the manager, they could do 350.00
1 oz AGE 850.00
72 grams of 14k 864.00

7over8

unbelievable.

they should be shut down and run out of town. there should be a minimum buy price set at 60% of value for bullion related (waaaaay more than enough profit to cover costs and fluctuations)

it is always surprising how these characters call out the dogs when someone burns them with fake coins, but they can "rob" you of your good holdings.

TheCoinGeezer

I was talking to a friend of mine's mother (who is in her 70s) recently and she was telling me how her friend sold to some hotel buyers.
$1 each for 40% Kennedys, $2.50 for 90% Kennedys and equally low prices for her other stuff.
I told her her friend got ripped off big time (silver was around $40 at the time) but she insisted her friend got a "good deal".
None so blind as those who will not see, I suppose.
Frankly I am amazed that local D.A.s don't do something about the hotel buyer scammers.

savoyspecial

>> there should be a minimum buy price set at 60% of value for bullion related (waaaaay more than enough profit to cover costs and fluctuations)>>



you would honestly welcome this added regulation to our industry/hobby?? who would enforce it?

UtahCoin

As much as I hate these guys, the practice is not illegal. An offer was tendered by the buyer and accepted by the seller. The seller was under no duress to accept the offer. Immoral? YES. Illegal? No. It's possible, although unlikely that a civil action could be initiated and prevail.

Although it could be interesting if about 100 sellers filed Small Claims actions against them and forced these guys to spend days or weeks in court defending themselves.

DoubleEagle59

I once was an expert witness in a court case involving a similar scenario.

The 'accused' buyer of jewelry was asked 'what is a fair price for you to pay?'

You know what he answered (and this may surprise some of you).

He said 'it's in my best interest to buy the merchandise as low as possible. If I can buy it for a dollar, then I will".

You know, after that was said, the case was for all purposes was over and he was not charged.

.....I'm not defending these guys, and I'm certainly not in favor of their somewhat shady business practises.

But, if the transaction took place between a willing buyer and a willing seller, then that's the way it goes.

19Lyds

<< <i>As much as I hate these guys, the practice is not illegal. An offer was tendered by the buyer and accepted by the seller. The seller was under no duress to accept the offer. Immoral? YES. Illegal? No. It's possible, although unlikely that a civil action could be initiated and prevail.

Although it could be interesting if about 100 sellers filed Small Claims actions against them and forced these guys to spend days or weeks in court defending themselves. >>

I agree and as long as they do not say "Thats more than it worth" or "Thats ALL that its worth", they are unprosecutable.

It would be interesting for a knowledgeable individual to go in with 10 SAE's and when quoted a price, loudly exclaim "but Silver is Currently xx.xx and ounce and these are 1 oz of pure Silver!"

I wonder what would happen?

dollarsandcents

Has a month gone by already?
I was wondering when the next "horrible hotel buyers" thread was going to get posted.

ricko

I stop at the mall 'Gold Buyers' kiosk about once every six weeks... always a different person there. Never anyone who understands the market. I like to mess with them.... first ask what they would pay for a gold Buffalo.... some say "Can I see it?"... some say "What is that?" Occasionally one will say "We are offering $7,8,900".... I say.. "This is .9999 pure gold.." Then they launch into the "But I have to have it assayed/smelted etc" routine. Always some sob story about how much their costs are to run the kiosk etc. I usually end by saying "My local coin dealer will give me melt plus $50". They get all huffy and I laugh and walk away. Cheers, RickO

Oh yeah...I had two ask me "What is melt?" Cheers, RickO

johnny9434

i was doing some work at a hotel one time and stopped by and asked them about a gold buffolo ($50) and what they paying. they to said we would have to see it. i said what are you paying. got the run around so i walked out and went back to work. what a shameless crew they are

BillJones

I don’t watch that “Road Show” program because I think those guys are a bunch of chiselers. To me buying something for well below the market and then bragging on TV about how you made a killing from that purchase is in total bad taste. It’s like the coin dealers who rip off the widow of a deceased collector and brag about how much they made on the deal. One Boston dealer once characterized it as, “It’s the most fun you can have with your pants on!”

The purchases you describe are about par for the course with those two. It does not surprise in the least that they would pay half the value for an ounce of gold.

Timbuk3

Crooks !!!
Here locally is a story about a couple
who went to one of thoses gold/silver
buyers at a hotel and sold a 1909 O
$5.00 Indian for $60.00.

golfer72

<< <i>Crooks !!!
Here locally is a story about a couple
who went to one of thoses gold/silver
buyers at a hotel and sold a 1909 O
$5.00 Indian for $60.00. >>

How are they crooks? No one forced the sellers to sell. If the sellers are too stupid to know what their stuff is worth that is their fault.

BillJones

<< <i>

<< <i>Crooks !!!
Here locally is a story about a couple
who went to one of thoses gold/silver
buyers at a hotel and sold a 1909 O
$5.00 Indian for $60.00. >>

How are they crooks? No one forced the sellers to sell. If the sellers are too stupid to know what their stuff is worth that is their fault. >>



Okay, here's a story from the early 1970s about a well known old time collector-dealer (well known from a collumn he wrote in, I think, in COINage magazine), who has long since gone to his reward.

A widow had a collection of 10 boxes of coins (pre slab days) that was said to be worth $100,000 which is like a million dollar collection today. This dealer takes one box and pays the widow $10,000. The trouble is he took all of the good coins, put them in the box he bought and leaves the widow with the rest. Are you ready to defend that?

If you are than you and I have a disagreement about ethics.

jdimmick

I dont care how you slice it, whether somebody knows the value or not, the reason they are going to the place to start with is to find out what they have is worth, problem is they dont get the real answer, nothing wrong with making a profit, some dealers/firms larger than others, but no body expects places not to have a profit margin. This is just plain ripping folks.

lets flip it around , lets say i inherit a few antiques. My intention of going to an antique dealer is too find out what the items I have is worth. I would hope that I would get a fair assessment as that is the purpose of the trip to find out an potentially sell it . The one difference in myself, is I would check more than one place and possibly do some research myself before selling to the first place.

I am tired of hearing people say that they didnt have to sell, the point is these places are crooked and they prey on the un-informed.

mrpotatoheadd

What is the cutoff price below which it is wrong to offer to buy a 1 oz. gold eagle?

BillJones

It all depends about where the spot is, but let's say the piece is really worth $1,600 and the buyer pays $1,550. I guess I really would not complain about that . The market is a low mark-up business.

For collectors' items the discount is more, especially if the item has not been slabbed. There you need to cover yourself for slab and postage expenses, and the risk of not getting the grade you think you deserve. For most slabbed items (major slab company, not the third world stuff), I'd say 30% back is fair if the item is something that will turn over within a reasonable time. For slow turnover stuff, I guess you could go down to 50%. Some things take years to sell at the so-called market price or require a heavy discount.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>It all depends about where the spot is, >>

Okay- it's $1500/oz.

savoyspecial

>>What is the cutoff price below which it is wrong to offer to buy a 1 oz. gold eagle?>>


according to 7over8 it is at 60% (60% of what, i'm not sure; presumably melt)


and at 59% you are whisked away in handcuffs

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>>>What is the cutoff price below which it is wrong to offer to buy a 1 oz. gold eagle?>>


according to 7over8 it is at 60% (60% of what, i'm not sure; presumably melt)


and at 59% you are whisked away in handcuffs >>

What about 59.5%? Or 59.9%? Or 59.999%?

There's got to be a way to define the point, or there is no point.

BillJones

<< <i>

<< <i>It all depends about where the spot is, >>

Okay- it's $1500/oz. >>



Same idea, $50 under melt. Not a great price, and you could get more if you to whom to sell it, but for a lazy ignorant person that would be okay. The buyer flips quickly for a fast little mark-up.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>Same idea, $50 under melt. Not a great price, and you could get more if you to whom to sell it, but for a lazy ignorant person that would be okay. >>

What about $51? Would that be wrong?

savoyspecial

$51!!! my God man, I am about to Taser you myself!!

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>$51!!! my God man, I am about to Taser you myself!! >>

Ok- I'm convinced. Time to mend my ways.

Would $50.95 be okay?

Baley

they really should go after and prosecute the people holding the guns on the sellers forcing them to accept such low offers

BigE

Cant really complain about these modern day carpetbaggers without approving of the Wall Street marchers-------------------------BigE

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>Why do some of the people here who defend unknowledgeable coin and bullion sellers, >>

I don't know. Seems to me, becoming knowledgeable about the stuff you own is a good idea.

BigE

BTW, does anyone know what types of receipts these companies give out, one would think they would have to be sufficiently detailed in case of an audit.--------BigE