Does any other collectible field have as low a margin as coins?

291fifth

I just got back from my local used book store. I decided to sell some of my art and history books as I just have too many. The full retail cost of the books I ended up selling (6 books in total) was about $150.00. My actual cost had been about $60. The amount, in cash, I was able to sell them for was $10 (he offered $15 if I would take a trade credit). These weren't junk books. The condition was excellent, no writing, no stains, no smells, no tears.

Coins sure look good by comparison. Do any other collectible areas have as close a buy/sell? margin as coins?

Sonorandesertrat

You should have donated them to a charity and taken a tax credit.

ShadyDave

I'd say firearms. Along with coins, firearms have a large group of consumers who purchase (in the US at least) and are knowledgeable of market prices and trends. Prices are pretty easy to determine with auction records, lots of gun shops, and many experts and collectors who stay on top of prices.

AUandAG

I can buy unused postage stamps for less that face, far less.



Negative margin there my friend.



bob

291fifth

Originally posted by: Sonorandesertrat
You should have donated them to a charity and taken a tax credit.

I have dealt with this bookstore for nearly 20 years. I have been a regular customer. His offers in the past were low but the last two times I offered him books his offers have been downright insulting. In spite of that I took the $10 today. I just didn't want to be bothered with the books anymore. There were six additional books I offered him that he declined outright. His store is starting to look very overcrowded. I suspect that he has more coming in for sale than he can use so he is getting very selective and has cut his buying price. Needless to say, my interest in making any purchases at his asking prices has now gone to zero.

291fifth

Originally posted by: AUandAG
I can buy unused postage stamps for less that face, far less.

Negative margin there my friend.

bob

That has been true for several decades, at least.

telephoto1

I hope I'm wrong, but what I fear is that printed books are slowly becoming passe' as you can now download a library's worth of them onto a thumb drive that takes up zero space. Thus used bookstores are likely going to go by the wayside at some point. I love books and would hate to see this happen.

BAJJERFAN

Originally posted by: Sonorandesertrat

You should have donated them to a charity and taken a tax credit.

You don't get a tax credit, you get a deduction whose amount will end up depending on what your tax bracket is. That's why it's often/sometimes stupid to take a tax writeoff unless you absolutely need to. I'd rather spend a dollar on enjoyment and pay 30 cents to Unka Sugar instead of giving the dollar to a banker and getting 30 cents of it back from Uncle Sugar. A tax credit comes right off of your taxes; a deduction reduces your taxable income.

BAJJERFAN

Originally posted by: 291fifth

I just got back from my local used book store. I decided to sell some of my art and history books as I just have too many. The full retail cost of the books I ended up selling (6 books in total) was about $150.00. My actual cost had been about $60. The amount, in cash, I was able to sell them for was $10 (he offered $15 if I would take a trade credit). These weren't junk books. The condition was excellent, no writing, no stains, no smells, no tears.



Coins sure look good by comparison. Do any other collectible areas have as close a buy/sell? margin as coins?

There are a hell of a lot more coins than there are Picassos or Rembrandts.

WaterSport

I know of no one talking about their high yield returns with Beenie Babies either...



WS

LindeDad

Pet rocks come to mind.

Tomthecoinguy

Originally posted by: AUandAG
I can buy unused postage stamps for less that face, far less.

Negative margin there my friend.

bob

I know you were probably just joking, but the stamp dealers will probably buy it for less than 50% of face, and then try to get 75% of face. So for every $1 in face they spend 50 cents and make 25 cents, that is a 50% margin. Not bad at all. It is the collector that bought the stamps originally that takes the loss.

DaveG

So, if he was buying them for $10, what would he be asking for them?



How long does he have to keep them in inventory before he sells them?



Will he be able to sell them to walk-in customers or does he have to compete with every Internet- and eBay-based used bookseller in the world?



If he does, how much will shipping prices continue to increase?

Sonorandesertrat

If there were really a good profit margin and sales volume in books, I think that there would be more booksellers. Just looking at numismatic book dealers and auctioneers in the U. S. today, the number of businesses has contracted by ca. 50% during the last 5 years or so.

Type2

I think if you would buy like the guy you sold the books to you would be just fine. When buying any thing you or any one should try your best to get the best deal. Pick your fight and you will win most of the time..... Sell high buy low.....

291fifth

Originally posted by: DaveG
So, if he was buying them for $10, what would he be asking for them?

How long does he have to keep them in inventory before he sells them?

Will he be able to sell them to walk-in customers or does he have to compete with every Internet- and eBay-based used bookseller in the world?

If he does, how much will shipping prices continue to increase?

Actually, I know this used book dealer well enough that i can predict his selling prices. He will ask $25 for one of the books, $10 for a second and $5 each for four more for a total of $55. He does not care about how long they sit in inventory. Used book dealers are used to holding books for a long, long time. He will probably wait for a walk-in customer but may put the $25 book up on the internet. I don't know what he pays for shipping but do know that he reuses shipping materials.

291fifth

Originally posted by: Type2
I think if you would buy like the guy you sold the books to you would be just fine. When buying any thing you or any one should try your best to get the best deal. Pick your fight and you will win most of the time..... Sell high buy low.....

Without an actual shop to use as a buying point there is no way you can buy like he does. Think estates coming in the door all the time with heirs that just want to get rid of the books.

davewesen

There are some coin shops with the same margins as your example book shop.

mustangmanbob

Valuation guide on books, hardcover, is $1 - $3 each.



Unless you have a receipt for what you paid for them, and information as to what a particular book sells for (not the 1 person somewhere sometime asked $$$ moon money price), you might not withstand IRS scrutiny.



Anyone remember Bill and Hillary taking a tax deduction for donating their used underwear ($2 for each piece, did not identify it is was Bill's or Hillary's underwear)

ricko

Good firearms, maintained, kept over time, appreciate nicely. I can double my investment

on many of mine...Cheers, RickO

TwoSides2aCoin

It's not worth the time if you ain't got the money. When the banker, ebay, pay pal, HP, USPS, and a host of others take their cut before I present a coin, it's a losing game.

And there are only like 5 coins in the whole world worth collecting. Seated, capped, flowing hair , draped, and colonial…

No, I don't think I know of any trade that has thinner margins.

Sonorandesertrat

TS2C: Watching what dealers have been doing during the past half century, it seems to me that most boutique dealers make significant chunks of their income by adding 'value'. That is, they buy raw and get coins graded, or exploit variances in grading (resubmit until they get a higher grade, etc.), etc. Markups for low-end material are significant, but the sales volume usually isn't there.

BackroadJunkie

VHS movies and DVD's have lost more value than books!



If you want to make me cry, make me show you all my (film) photography equipment. Couple Nikon bodies, a dozen lenses, flash units, light meters, 3 enlargers, safe lights... I could probably trade it all in now for a decent Yugo. And maybe not even that. (And yes, I know there was never such a thing as a decent Yugo... )

ctf_error_coins

Originally posted by: BackroadJunkie
VHS movies and DVD's have lost more value than books!



If you want to make me cry, make me show you all my (film) photography equipment. Couple Nikon bodies, a dozen lenses, flash units, light meters, 3 enlargers, safe lights... I could probably trade it all in now for a decent Yugo. And maybe not even that. (And yes, I know there was never such a thing as a decent Yugo... )

LOL, I know I got way, way more photo gear that is underwater than you.






Wait no, those tools help to produce my stock photo inventory .....






Actually, photography cost way less than it use to, Now all you need is a great sensor and some high end fixed lenses and you are good to go .....






Back in the day, the major cost in photography was film and processing which now is ZERO.......

TwoSides2aCoin

I don't think people who paid premiums for beanie babies and decided to collect them , or dolls, realize the margins (of the field) as they collect. So there's a big difference between a collectible field (area) and a "numismatic" trade (hobby). You do ask some seriously provocative questions, though.

BackroadJunkie

Originally posted by: ErrorsOnCoins

Originally posted by: BackroadJunkie
VHS movies and DVD's have lost more value than books!



If you want to make me cry, make me show you all my (film) photography equipment. Couple Nikon bodies, a dozen lenses, flash units, light meters, 3 enlargers, safe lights... I could probably trade it all in now for a decent Yugo. And maybe not even that. (And yes, I know there was never such a thing as a decent Yugo... )

LOL, I know I got way, way more photo gear that is underwater than you.

Really? Should I list my large format gear? :-) (Though some of it might be worth something these days.)

Back in the day, the major cost in photography was film and processing which now is ZERO.......

Near zero. You have to get past the initial cost of the memory card and the hard disks for backup. (I have four rotating backups of my photo archive and website, which currently exceeds 3GB of disk space...)



And the problem with that, is a major road trip in the 90's might have been 20-25 rolls of film, or 400 to 500 frames on a two week trip. My last few one week trips have resulted in 2000-2500 images (plus video), because I can. Sucks in POST.



Wait, what was the topic again?



(Yes, I'm wasting time until Noon, Eastern.)

ctf_error_coins

Really? Should I list my large format gear? :-) (

Dude, you wanna go there .... that is all I shot for 36 years. I wore out many 4x5 view cameras ... Toyo even gave my a brand new one to wear out for a trade for an ad.

Whole RB 67 system collecting dust for the past 28 years .....

Whole Cannon F1 system unused for 32 years ....

whole studio set up with strobe lights.... lol .... I still use the quartz modeling light to shoot coins ......

4x5 film scanner, wow that was expensive and now it's junk .....

I could go on for hours .....