Central States buying report
Wabbit2313
Posts: 7,268 ✭✭✭✭✭
I did some buying and selling there. This is my buying observation.
-There sure seems to be a bunch of junk for sale, and I mean way more than just since FUN. I found a bunch of cool coins at FUN.
-If it is not junk, the dealers are asking prices that might have been the norm several years ago, but certainly not today.
-With eBay and auction houses selling similarly nice coins at current market levels, perhaps it's time the show dealers find a way to do the same. The "I paid more for the coin" mentality is not working. Time to cost average down and freshen up your inventory.
-This of course is not every dealer.
-I bought only one coin. If you add in the travel, hotel, dinner, etc, that one coin cost me a fortune. The dealers I asked all complained about how slow the show was and tables were packing up already on Friday.
Comments
" The dealers I asked all complained about how slow the show was and tables were packing up already on Friday."
I heard a few dealers say this. We were so busy at our table buying and selling I could not get away from the table at all on Thursday and up until about 2 pm on Friday. Buying on the floor went until about noon on Saturday- I could have used another day buying on the floor though.
Edit: To clarify my comment, about "a few dealers," I meant a very small number. Most I talked to were pleased with their show. As another dealer also noted below, like our table, we were very busy with buyers and sellers at our table for an extended period of time.
I thought it was just the opposite honestly. I saw a lot of deals being made and cash trading hands. Quite a few tables I wanted to look at were packed full and a line for them. There were some tables that didn't have a whole lot but there were many times with high quality coins and a wide selection. I found there to be a lot of nice coins at great prices and had no problem negotiating with dealers. Both Thursday and Friday had very good attendance in my opinion and I left around 2:30 and only saw one dealer pack up to head home.
Your report is the first really negative report I have seen on Central States.... all the others have been positive. Cheers, RickO
In comparison to FUN, it was not at all the same. The year before, I had a great time at this show and found a ton of stuff. Unless the dealers are "never" happy that I talked to, there was a lot of complaining about traffic and it was light on Friday/Saturday when I was there. Maybe all the good stuff was gone. Who knows.
I had a great buying show.
FUN was at least twice as big as the Central States show!! I liked them both this year but expected a much smaller selection at Central States which is what went down.
Central States was both a strong selling and a good buying show for me and the other dealer set up with me at Table 910. Wednesday was a quiet, but it gave us an opportunity to walk the floor to buy and talk to other dealers. On Thursday and Friday I was so busy I only left the table for a few minutes on both days and was there until 6:30pm both nights.
We both had good inventories going in, bought on Tuesday night and Wednesday (dealers and early bird badges only), and bought and sold throughout the show. I wish I'd been able to find more to buy (I specialize in early U.S. silver coins, Seated and Gobrecht Dollars, and early copper). My partner specializes in Bust and Seated Silver and Gold.
I talked to other dealers that had very good shows, as well as a few that did not.
W. David Perkins Numismatics - http://www.davidperkinsrarecoins.com/ - 25+ Years ANA, ANS, NLG, NBS, LM JRCS, LSCC, EAC, TAMS, LM CWTS, CSNS, FUN
This was my first CSNS show. I was told it would be mostly dealer to dealer and day one I wasn't even able t step away from the table to get food. Had someone else run and get food/coffee so I could stay with customers. Hottest item I had were CC Morgan Dollars, I sold over 30 pieces in the first two days. Bullion was slow moving, we did sell some numis gold though. I was very happy to have some dealers come to my table and offer up great type coins. I purchased fresh coins for my store and sold older material that I couldn't move locally. This show will be on my yearly rotation from now on.
This show was invaluable for me as a dealer branching out and making connections in the industry.