If it was a stranger I would agree with them, however if it is a known customer that has sold most of the time and or you bought many items from them, It out of line.
They did not take the time to look you up and apparently don’t think customer service is important.
But yes it takes a lot of time. Most don’t have a minute to spare.
@Martin said:
An appraisal I will paying for. Asking a dealer what he will pay for my coins not a chance.
Martin
To play devil’s advocate, do you submit to CAC? Isn’t this sort of what CAC does at $14.50 or $29 per coin but for PQ coins?
To answer your question I have not submitted coins to CAC. The difference there is I'm asking for a service, it is like an appraisal (i have no problem paying for one if I need it). The company likes the coin they sticker it. That is their business.
AMPEX or other dealers are in the business of buying and selling. If they choose to charge a fee to give someone a buy price for a coin or a lot of coins for that matter, they are free to do so. I will just choose a other venue to sell. I just don't feel I should pay a fee for them up front to give me a price on something I want to sell. Their price might be crazy low or they may not be in the market for the type of material I have for sale. You could pay $250 to get a insult price.
I am NOT paying $250 to find out what their buy price is. Especially since this last time where I was low-balled and the rep 'accidentally forgot' to add some sum or other in. And it was still low.
APMEX left me a voicemail asking me to give a call back - but no details or offer sent to me as requested. Very disappointed. Will call them next week when I have a chance to give one last try.
I have not ever bought or sold anything with Apmex,
so I don't have a dog in this fight.
Is it possible that this fee is to discourage collectors
from calling or emailing them 24/7 for Bid Prices or
offers, and the quantities are either small, or the
requested 'quotes' are for 20+ different coins - ?
We don't know the quantity of 'What's your Offer'
questions they get, nor the rate of actual purchases
from those inquires. It does take time to look up
prices for all of the material that they are offering online.
Maybe they have decided it's a lot easier and faster
to run their buy prices on the dealer network, and
buy 10 or 50 of something from a dealer who knows
they need nice packaging, or retail friendly non-damaged
plastic holders, instead of spending time giving quotes
on coins or sets they have found that they just don't buy
(or buy enough of the time), and/or that in a certain
number of cases, the product must be returned to the seller
because it's not complete (box/cert) or damage.
I'm not defending the $250, I'm just saying that maybe that's
their way of discouraging the hours it could possible take
each day to answer all the emails and phone calls, and they
have simply figured out it's not worth their time vrs. their actual
purchases of these items. It might be better than saying
"sorry, we don't buy from the pubic', as some dealers do.
I know there will be a lot of disagreements with what I
said above, and that's fine - I'm just trying to offer another
possible explanation for the fee.
Retired Collector & Dealer in Major Mint Error Coins & Currency since the 1960's.Co-Author of Whitman's "100 Greatest U.S. Mint Error Coins", and the Error Coin Encyclopedia, Vols., III & IV. Retired Authenticator for Major Mint Errors for PCGS. A 50+ Year PNG Member.A full-time numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022.
None of my business, but this doesn't seem a good time to be selling. On the contrary, it seems time to be stacking at the current levels.
Of course.... as a capitalist, I like dips and blood in the street.
@TwoSides2aCoin said:
None of my business, but this doesn't seem a good time to be selling. On the contrary, it seems time to be stacking at the current levels.
Ya real bullion though. So avoid anything APMEX wants $250 to look at for ease of future sale
I'm looking at you grotesque ATB guys , MS69 first strike silver eagle guys, girl scout dollar hoarders (semi-semi-semi-key date)
First you have to catch them being sold in a category that pays the bucks. 8% bonus bucks are worthless if you never get them [which I and some others here] never seem to do.
You have to accept all of the email offers in your eBay settings to get the bonus eBay offers. You just have to accept all of the other emails they send if you want the good offers it seems.
First you have to catch them being sold in a category that pays the bucks. 8% bonus bucks are worthless if you never get them [which I and some others here] never seem to do.
You have to accept all of the email offers in your eBay settings to get the bonus eBay offers. You just have to accept all of the other emails they send if you want the good offers it seems.
I have done that [as have others] long ago but to no avail. I get their crap emails and messages, but never any extra bux.
I usually use Heritage email for bulk buys of US gold like graded misc. Saints.
They're usually a BIT cheaper. Today it's only $19 cheaper for 64s but still cheaper.
And I only buy generic 64s for bulk.
but for bulk I only buy US gold occasionally. I get better prices locally for American Gold Eagles.
An appraisal is not an offer to buy or sell-just an opinion from a company as to what the value of something is MANY TIMES USED FOR INSURANCE PURPOSES.
By APMEX using their stationary to write up appraisals, they have to be able to back it up if they are ever called on it.
This is a liability and something that needs to be considered on appraisals.
I used to work for a company that charged $500 for written appraisals- a fee that would be returned if the person decided to sell the whole group back to this company. I have heard that $500 is actually very fair in the real world of appraisals. Perhaps you are thinking about 1-5 coins. What about when its 50+ slabbed coins? that takes time. And when you are as large as APMEX or some other major companies, you get lots of requests on a given day.
It costs money (by time being used) for any company to handle appraisals or even offers and they should be compensated accordingly.
This past year I took an add in my local newspaper offering my services. i got some descent traffic. I would advertised free appraisals and learned that many times my offer was shopped around and sometimes used as leverage-even to sell a $9000 deal for $25 more (this happened).
This turns into my time being wasted- and leaves a bad taste in the mouth-but its the cost of business that I was willing to accept. I very much understand APMEX's choice and think that not wanting to deal with them because the cost of being nice has finally caught up in this market seems unfair. Nobody has to give anyone anything for free.
I remember years ago I tried selling a bigger coin to Harry Leibstein and asked him what he would pay. He looked at me and said "its your coin-what do you want for it?" "I have all my coins and I could tell you what I am selling them for".
While some people may not like that he didnt give me an offer I understood that since its my coin I should price it.
Till today I use that adage with other dealers- and secretly thank him for that lesson.
@keets said:
Bajjer, why do you insist on being so obtuse?? scroll up the page and re-read my post.
It's not obtuse. PCGS for as long as I can remember has never not charged if a coin doesn't grade, since it takes the same time to assess the coin whether it grades out or not. CAC OTOH chooses not to charge for coins that don't pass. It's merely a business decision based upon how much it costs to evaluate deals that don't materialize. I was merely trying to clarify that what APMEX is intending to do is not an appraisal, but it sounds less put offish then calling it a don't bother us fee.
I checked out their buy page, but they don't seem to have posted notice yet that if you want to sell something not on their buy now list that they will want to whack you for a fee. Perhaps they should have a separate list of items for which they will charge a fee to respond to any offers to sell.
Then again, if on resubmission to PCGS the same coin grades then one could make a case for not having to pay for a second look.
I am NOT paying $250 to find out what their buy price is. Especially since this last time where I was low-balled and the rep 'accidentally forgot' to add some sum or other in. And it was still low.
@TwoSides2aCoin said:
None of my business, but this doesn't seem a good time to be selling. On the contrary, it seems time to be stacking at the current levels.
Ya real bullion though. So avoid anything APMEX wants $250 to look at for ease of future sale
I'm looking at you grotesque ATB guys , MS69 first strike silver eagle guys, girl scout dollar hoarders (semi-semi-semi-key date)
I guess this is the other part of the problem here. Unless I missed it we have no idea exactly what the OP sent in to sell / have appraised. If it were rolls of silver / gold eagles, maples, krugs etc. I'm pretty sure they will still give you a quick quote over the phone or via the website, free of charge. I'm guessing we are talking slabbed commems or "limited edition" coins. Again certainly not the stuff you should be trying to sell to the Big A anyway.
If a company does not meet your expectations, then complain to them and to others. Many businesses will try to be helpful - just remember why are are in business. But, like the fellow who got a bait-and-switch Eagle a few weeks ago, do not hesitate to make your objections known.
A business that is forthright with its customers will prosper and one that does not will go bankrupt.
@TwoSides2aCoin said:
None of my business, but this doesn't seem a good time to be selling. On the contrary, it seems time to be stacking at the current levels.
Ya real bullion though. So avoid anything APMEX wants $250 to look at for ease of future sale
I'm looking at you grotesque ATB guys , MS69 first strike silver eagle guys, girl scout dollar hoarders (semi-semi-semi-key date)
I guess this is the other part of the problem here. Unless I missed it we have no idea exactly what the OP sent in to sell / have appraised. If it were rolls of silver / gold eagles, maples, krugs etc. I'm pretty sure they will still give you a quick quote over the phone or via the website, free of charge. I'm guessing we are talking slabbed commems or "limited edition" coins. Again certainly not the stuff you should be trying to sell to the Big A anyway.
The other lesson to be learned here is not to buy oddball stuff that you may regret owning later. Hard to sell and you almost never get your purchase price back. Put it up on the BST board here and people who are interested will make you an offer without wanting to be paid for doing so.
@TwoSides2aCoin said:
None of my business, but this doesn't seem a good time to be selling. On the contrary, it seems time to be stacking at the current levels.
Ya real bullion though. So avoid anything APMEX wants $250 to look at for ease of future sale
I'm looking at you grotesque ATB guys , MS69 first strike silver eagle guys, girl scout dollar hoarders (semi-semi-semi-key date)
I guess this is the other part of the problem here. Unless I missed it we have no idea exactly what the OP sent in to sell / have appraised. If it were rolls of silver / gold eagles, maples, krugs etc. I'm pretty sure they will still give you a quick quote over the phone or via the website, free of charge. I'm guessing we are talking slabbed commems or "limited edition" coins. Again certainly not the stuff you should be trying to sell to the Big A anyway.
The other lesson to be learned here is not to buy oddball stuff that you may regret owning later. Hard to sell and you almost never get your purchase price back. Put it up on the BST board here and people who are interested will make you an offer without wanting to be paid for doing so.
I've noticed a lot of stackers have some sort of pathological need to own stuff no one else wants. Smartest guy in the room syndrome , they are so much smarter than the heard and they are going to prove it , not just stackers all sorts of collectors can be much worse. I've seen 20 rolls of statue of liberty silver dollars in a person's stack. Like nobody even wants one of those ??? Why have 400 I know a coin collector who over the course of a year bought nothing but raw circulated copper nickle indian head cents off of ebay , his average price was $8 each and he was convinced they were going to the moon. All of them the prices paid and dates purchased carefully noted on the 2x2 .
When sell time comes around they usually need to be committed to an institution .
Comments
If it was a stranger I would agree with them, however if it is a known customer that has sold most of the time and or you bought many items from them, It out of line.
They did not take the time to look you up and apparently don’t think customer service is important.
But yes it takes a lot of time. Most don’t have a minute to spare.
Best place to buy !
Bronze Associate member
To answer your question I have not submitted coins to CAC. The difference there is I'm asking for a service, it is like an appraisal (i have no problem paying for one if I need it). The company likes the coin they sticker it. That is their business.
AMPEX or other dealers are in the business of buying and selling. If they choose to charge a fee to give someone a buy price for a coin or a lot of coins for that matter, they are free to do so. I will just choose a other venue to sell. I just don't feel I should pay a fee for them up front to give me a price on something I want to sell. Their price might be crazy low or they may not be in the market for the type of material I have for sale. You could pay $250 to get a insult price.
Thanks
Martin
Nopers.
I am NOT paying $250 to find out what their buy price is. Especially since this last time where I was low-balled and the rep 'accidentally forgot' to add some sum or other in. And it was still low.
APMEX left me a voicemail asking me to give a call back - but no details or offer sent to me as requested. Very disappointed. Will call them next week when I have a chance to give one last try.
Bajjer, why do you insist on being so obtuse?? scroll up the page and re-read my post.
I have not ever bought or sold anything with Apmex,
so I don't have a dog in this fight.
Is it possible that this fee is to discourage collectors
from calling or emailing them 24/7 for Bid Prices or
offers, and the quantities are either small, or the
requested 'quotes' are for 20+ different coins - ?
We don't know the quantity of 'What's your Offer'
questions they get, nor the rate of actual purchases
from those inquires. It does take time to look up
prices for all of the material that they are offering online.
Maybe they have decided it's a lot easier and faster
to run their buy prices on the dealer network, and
buy 10 or 50 of something from a dealer who knows
they need nice packaging, or retail friendly non-damaged
plastic holders, instead of spending time giving quotes
on coins or sets they have found that they just don't buy
(or buy enough of the time), and/or that in a certain
number of cases, the product must be returned to the seller
because it's not complete (box/cert) or damage.
I'm not defending the $250, I'm just saying that maybe that's
their way of discouraging the hours it could possible take
each day to answer all the emails and phone calls, and they
have simply figured out it's not worth their time vrs. their actual
purchases of these items. It might be better than saying
"sorry, we don't buy from the pubic', as some dealers do.
I know there will be a lot of disagreements with what I
said above, and that's fine - I'm just trying to offer another
possible explanation for the fee.
None of my business, but this doesn't seem a good time to be selling. On the contrary, it seems time to be stacking at the current levels.
Of course.... as a capitalist, I like dips and blood in the street.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
Ya real bullion though. So avoid anything APMEX wants $250 to look at for ease of future sale
I'm looking at you grotesque ATB guys , MS69 first strike silver eagle guys, girl scout dollar hoarders (semi-semi-semi-key date)
You have to accept all of the email offers in your eBay settings to get the bonus eBay offers. You just have to accept all of the other emails they send if you want the good offers it seems.
I have done that [as have others] long ago but to no avail. I get their crap emails and messages, but never any extra bux.
I usually use Heritage email for bulk buys of US gold like graded misc. Saints.
They're usually a BIT cheaper. Today it's only $19 cheaper for 64s but still cheaper.
And I only buy generic 64s for bulk.
but for bulk I only buy US gold occasionally. I get better prices locally for American Gold Eagles.
An appraisal is not an offer to buy or sell-just an opinion from a company as to what the value of something is MANY TIMES USED FOR INSURANCE PURPOSES.
By APMEX using their stationary to write up appraisals, they have to be able to back it up if they are ever called on it.
This is a liability and something that needs to be considered on appraisals.
I used to work for a company that charged $500 for written appraisals- a fee that would be returned if the person decided to sell the whole group back to this company. I have heard that $500 is actually very fair in the real world of appraisals. Perhaps you are thinking about 1-5 coins. What about when its 50+ slabbed coins? that takes time. And when you are as large as APMEX or some other major companies, you get lots of requests on a given day.
It costs money (by time being used) for any company to handle appraisals or even offers and they should be compensated accordingly.
This past year I took an add in my local newspaper offering my services. i got some descent traffic. I would advertised free appraisals and learned that many times my offer was shopped around and sometimes used as leverage-even to sell a $9000 deal for $25 more (this happened).
This turns into my time being wasted- and leaves a bad taste in the mouth-but its the cost of business that I was willing to accept. I very much understand APMEX's choice and think that not wanting to deal with them because the cost of being nice has finally caught up in this market seems unfair. Nobody has to give anyone anything for free.
I remember years ago I tried selling a bigger coin to Harry Leibstein and asked him what he would pay. He looked at me and said "its your coin-what do you want for it?" "I have all my coins and I could tell you what I am selling them for".
While some people may not like that he didnt give me an offer I understood that since its my coin I should price it.
Till today I use that adage with other dealers- and secretly thank him for that lesson.
I bet there are many places to get free appraisals in Lebanon.
It's not obtuse. PCGS for as long as I can remember has never not charged if a coin doesn't grade, since it takes the same time to assess the coin whether it grades out or not. CAC OTOH chooses not to charge for coins that don't pass. It's merely a business decision based upon how much it costs to evaluate deals that don't materialize. I was merely trying to clarify that what APMEX is intending to do is not an appraisal, but it sounds less put offish then calling it a don't bother us fee.
I checked out their buy page, but they don't seem to have posted notice yet that if you want to sell something not on their buy now list that they will want to whack you for a fee. Perhaps they should have a separate list of items for which they will charge a fee to respond to any offers to sell.
Then again, if on resubmission to PCGS the same coin grades then one could make a case for not having to pay for a second look.
Amen
I guess this is the other part of the problem here. Unless I missed it we have no idea exactly what the OP sent in to sell / have appraised. If it were rolls of silver / gold eagles, maples, krugs etc. I'm pretty sure they will still give you a quick quote over the phone or via the website, free of charge. I'm guessing we are talking slabbed commems or "limited edition" coins. Again certainly not the stuff you should be trying to sell to the Big A anyway.
If a company does not meet your expectations, then complain to them and to others. Many businesses will try to be helpful - just remember why are are in business. But, like the fellow who got a bait-and-switch Eagle a few weeks ago, do not hesitate to make your objections known.
A business that is forthright with its customers will prosper and one that does not will go bankrupt.
The other lesson to be learned here is not to buy oddball stuff that you may regret owning later. Hard to sell and you almost never get your purchase price back. Put it up on the BST board here and people who are interested will make you an offer without wanting to be paid for doing so.
I've noticed a lot of stackers have some sort of pathological need to own stuff no one else wants.
Smartest guy in the room syndrome , they are so much smarter than the heard and they are going to prove it , not just stackers all sorts of collectors can be much worse. I've seen 20 rolls of statue of liberty silver dollars in a person's stack. Like nobody even wants one of those ??? Why have 400 
I know a coin collector who over the course of a year bought nothing but raw circulated copper nickle indian head cents off of ebay , his average price was $8 each and he was convinced they were going to the moon. All of them the prices paid and dates purchased carefully noted on the 2x2 . 
When sell time comes around they usually need to be committed to an institution .