How exactly is GSC's success possible for so long?
ACop
Posts: 1,479 ✭✭✭✭✭
Someone asked in another thread, why their bidders don't bid on their coins. And it really is an intriguing question. How can such loyalty exist for a seller who has for at least a decade now that I know of, sold problem coins as gems? Why are these buyers only going to this one seller so consistently, and have none of them gone and tried to re-sell their purchases later? It is mind boggling to me with such a small overall hobby pool and the internet that this can go on for so long.
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I have to assume it isn't the same people buying all those years....Some of them must have figured it out and moved on. New victims have stepped into their place....
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
The name is LEE!
80% of the people are stupid
This past year I can tell you several collections where family members came in to sell pops collection , and a few even had original receipts, but the coins were not what they were portrayed to be. Many like this, our same as our coin club members, are just accumulators and never sell till their heirs get the stuff. And they really don't care, they just want the money, sometimes Ill get a few that cant figure while pop paid like 399.00 for a 1928 peace $ that was supposed to be UNC, yet is a cleaned xf/au and I don't even want it or my offer is quite low.
Coin Club Benefit auctions ..... View the Lots
80% of the people are stupid
You two are being kind
People want to believe.
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
If that's the case, where is the overall success?
Either way, I haven't purchased from them yet do find it a bit tough to believe
so many people, let alone 80% of their buyers are stupid.
Sounds insulting and an answer that is a bit too simplistic.
peacockcoins
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Funny, I can put up an identical coin, date and mintmark, in a holder with a CAC sticker for less that the "sold" prices they realize and get no looks. Like most though, starting quality at a low price is just too stupid to attempt.
Well, I think since they start everything at $9.95 it's all a lock to sell. Since E-Bay uses algorythm's that reward sellers that bring them a cut, those coins get presented when you search for things first. Add to that the fact that they shill things and don't care about the consignors well being......
Funny, I can put up an identical coin, date and mintmark, in a holder with a CAC sticker for less that the "sold" prices they realize and get no looks. Like most though, starting quality at a low price is just too stupid to attempt.
I'm sure ebay has tricks up their sleeve but as soon as you go newly listed the algorithm is done.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
Many people who collect simply don't really care about the condition of the coins they buy.
No good, stay away, is my suggestion to all. JMO
except for the experienced.
a little bird told me someone(s) picked buff proofs and major varieties from them. hehe
i've done it.
ahh yes, good 'ol monkey-poo theory.
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I don't think it's stupidity or ignorance (well, maybe a little).
Many people who collect simply don't really care about the condition of the coins they buy.
I agree but why the loyalty to THIS seller?
As for GSC- they must have a return customer base that is happy with their purchases, or they wouldn't have lasted for so long on eBay. Personally, I bought one coin from them years ago and returned it without a problem.
All had problems, but their return procedure is very easy and they issued the refund very fast.
They seem to have an amazing throughput of key date RAW coins (like 32 D & S quarters). I have often wondered if they are nothing more than a RAW coin clearing house for major dealers or a dealer organization. Has anyone on this forum ever met anyone from GSC in person?
OINK
Latin American Collection
2.Many collectors never have learned how to grade their coins. Who needs to learn how to grade when TPG's can do it for you?
3.Many collectors are unable to identify a problem coin,even a coin with one or more major problems.
ebay is the perfect venue for selling overgraded,problem,"shlock" coins to the ignorant,misinformed coin consumer.
80% of the people are stupid.
I beg to differ.Most people are not stupid."Ignorant" is the better word. One can be quite intelligent but be ignorant to the point of inspiring head-shaking awe among knowledgeable people who have taken the time and put in the effort to educate themselves.
“I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am. When two expeditions of scientists, financed by the Royal Academy, went forth to test my theory of relativity, I was convinced that their conclusions would tally with my hypothesis. I was not surprised when the eclipse of May 29, 1919, confirmed my intuitions. I would have been surprised if I had been wrong.”
“Then you trust more to your imagination than to your knowledge?”
“I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
Albert Einstein- quoted in Saturday Evening Post interview (1929)
If you keep throwing the same stuff at the wall over and over, eventually it sticks.
My YouTube Channel
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayI..._trksid=p2047675.l2565
I often wonder how some of my local dealers with varying degrees of integrity have stayed in business for 30-40 years. Basically, they talk smooth, rarely want to buy back what they sold for a fair price, and rely on a fresh supply of customers as older ones wise up. For every person that gets burnt and doesn't return, another one takes their place.
The coin market relies on fresh newbies that have to go through the learning process of grading and evaluating problem coins. It keeps the $$ rolling in. I'd agree that 80% of buyers are either ignorant or lacking in adequate knowledge to compete with said dealers.
In the collectibles field, being really honest is almost 1 strike against you. People don't generally want to believe you when you speak the truth or are trying to give them a fair shake. They'd rather go the next guy who they don't even know, who is offering the same item (of lesser quality) for less. Why do people with stuff to sell beat feet to the wrong buyers and sell out for peanuts? I don't know...but it's how it generally works. Make a fair or strong offer, and invariably you won't get the coins.
I took up the "honesty is best mantra" early on when trying to sell coins to the public...and it never worked. Being part-shyster/huckster/promoter is usually the better business model for continued long term dealer success. For every Jim Dimmick though, there are 4-5 others using the shyster model.
The best way to combat this is to instill the notion that price is not the best determining factor in purchasing a coin. Finding the proper value is important. Value is the fair market price for the quality of the coin.
WS
Many of us are So selective and discerning, in fact, that there are NO coins for sale, anywhere in the marketplace, that meet our ultra-high standards of quality and value,
and therefore we no longer buy any coins at all.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Greed...and the tantalizing sensation of buying something of high value for less than its perceived worth.
PS. Baley, well said!!
Some people never learn because they never try to sell anything they buy. When they try to sell or their heirs try to sell, they find out the truth. They get angry, but their anger is directed toward the dealer who gives them the bad news, not the jerk who sold the coins to them in the first place.
As for embarrassment, I don't think that plays much of a role. If it did GSC would run out of suckers.
It makes it very easy to bypass when I'm looking for coins.
Shhh! Why don't you just blurb it out so the whole world can hear ya?
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Its local too, after reading several more posts since. I might mention that there are local dealers who are just as bad. They seem to be able to stay in business because as RR said, there is fresh new collectors continually taking up the slack for the few who later figure out what happened. We have one guy here locally that uses charisma and charm to sucker em in on the buying side, and the same charm when he sells. Its almost like he can sell people problem coins at full retail and make em feel good about what they bought because they don't really know what they are buying. There just taking his word because he has been around. This same guy, will put on a show in front of others and step up and pay higher in a crowd such as the local club meeting for a good impression, but let a little old lady come in with her late husbands coins and no body around and see what he does. He will flat put it to her.
I posted earlier in the thread about people that buy coins from places like GSC, but because they never sell, they have no idea what they truly bought becuase their heirs who inherit don't care and just come in for the money.
Its local too, after reading several more posts since. I might mention that there are local dealers who are just as bad. They seem to be able to stay in business because as RR said, there is fresh new collectors continually taking up the slack for the few who later figure out what happened. We have one guy here locally that uses charisma and charm to sucker em in on the buying side, and the same charm when he sells. Its almost like he can sell people problem coins at full retail and make em feel good about what they bought because they don't really know what they are buying. There just taking his word because he has been around. This same guy, will put on a show in front of others and step up and pay higher in a crowd such as the local club meeting for a good impression, but let a little old lady come in with her late husbands coins and no body around and see what he does. He will flat put it to her.
Makes me think of the dealers at shows who put raw coins in 2x2s and write MS65 on every one. There are always some dealers who take a lot of liberty with their "grading skills." And there are buyers who will take the dealer at his word for whatever grade he writes on the 2x2.
It amazes me the amount of raw coins at shows with high grades and high price tags on them. I'm always thinking, "if that coin really is that grade and the dealer really wants to sell at that price, then why doesn't he spend $25 and send it in to PCGS first?"
Every year some people wise and up and no longer do business with that type of dealer....only to be replaced by fresh meat. And that meat keeps rolling in year after year.
In the collectibles field, being really honest is almost 1 strike against you. People don't generally want to believe you when you speak the truth or are trying to give them a fair shake. They'd rather go the next guy who they don't even know, who is offering the same item (of lesser quality) for less. Why do people with stuff to sell beat feet to the wrong buyers and sell out for peanuts? I don't know...but it's how it generally works. Make a fair or strong offer, and invariably you won't get the coins.
Well stated; my sentiments EXACTLY.....except maybe it's two strikes against you.
We've all been to shows, shops, etc. where people literally line up to get ****ed by the same guys over and over again.
These guys sicken me. It has gotten to the point of them listing counterfeits as genuine pieces and when eBay is notified nothing is done.
The next time you see one, bring it up on this forum for the 'mass notification' service provided by forum members.
I don't know how they stay in business, but they keep doing it year after year.