Loved APMEX....until now
jclovescoins
Posts: 1,928 ✭✭✭✭✭
Always felt I was treated fairly at APMEX, and sold quite a few times. Recently I sent APMEX a list of items I am looking to sell asking for a quote and received this:
To complete your quote request, we do require an Appraisal Fee:
· We will need your credit card information and authorization for a $250.00 appraisal fee before we begin.
· This fee will be waived as long as at least half of the dollar value of the completed quote is sold to APMEX.
· For the fee to be waived, this transaction to sell to APMEX must be created within five business days of the completed quote being provided.
· If less than half of the dollar value is sold to APMEX, if none of the items are sold to APMEX, or if five business days have passed and no sale to APMEX has been created, $250.00 will be charged to your card as an Appraisal Fee.
Isn't this ridiculous or is it just me? Why should I have to pay $250 to get a quote? I have a history with them of accepting 80% of their offers. Doesn't a policy like this incentivize them to lowball? They have lost my business permanently unless they change this policy.
Comments
It's time to say good-bye to that business. Just move on and don't look back.
yes, by-by forever.. and let them know in one simple sentence.
Wow. Maybe it can be a new strategy for dealers at shows?
"I will tell you how much I will pay you for your coins but I need your credit card first. If you don't sell me at least half of your coins I quote you a price on you owe me $250."
Sounds ridiculous to me.
Yes, that is bad.
They should do what happened to me a few years ago at another large company.
After sending list, they replied they could not make accurate appraisal without seeing coins in hand. I sent them the items and waited, and waited. After a couple weeks I contacted them to see if they got the items - yes, they have not gotten around to looking at them yet. A couple weeks later I got an offer for the entire group - take it or leave it. It was a little low, but I needed the money, otherwise I would not have been selling them anyway...
Also, all coins are modern mint products (silver and gold commems, ATBs, etc.). Stuff that they should be able to turn around a quote for in less than 30 mins.
Yeah. They should have essentially commodity pricing on stuff like that. Makes it even more ridiculous. I'd move on until they figure out how stupid that policy is and change it back.
Almost sounds like blackmail.
Sounds like a "hacked" account to me...does not sound like APMEX at all. Season change...people change.
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"Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your reply. We certainly understand your concern and want to provide more details on the matter. Please note that this fee will only be charged if a transaction does not take place after the price quote is provided. This is a new policy that we have had to add as it takes an extensive amount of time to contact our specialized Product Managers for pricing on each item and to compile the price quote for your collection. In the past, before this was in place, many individuals have used this as a free appraisal service without the intent to sell anything to APMEX.
This policy allows us to still offer this service for serious sellers as we do not charge the fee if a transaction is completed. However, it also allows us to be compensated for the time that it takes to compile a price for a list of items should a person not choose to sell anything to APMEX.
Please also feel free to take a look online at customer reviews of APMEX. We have been in business since the year 2000 and would not have lasted this long without thousands of satisfied customers. Please let us know if you have any other questions; and we look forward to working with you soon!"
"soon" should be never.
With the public exposure Apmex gets, I can only imagine the junk that must get sent to them.
I finally had to do that in my dinky shop as local competitors were using the "appraisal" tactic of.....
"Take it to topstuf's place and whatever he offers, we will beat it."
No kidding. Two separate towns I was in and two separate competing dealers.
It sometimes doesn't PAY to know more than the competition.
And I'm pretty sure that Apmex isn't interested in boxes of mint and proof sets and "silver pennies."
I wasn't as high as that, but even my modest $35 bothered some people.
On larger batches, I just told them that I'd waive the fee if they'd agree to say yes or no ...ALONG THE WAY
Meaning that I'd start with some good stuff, give them a price and ask if it was satisfactory. If it was, I'd do all the paperwork and pay for that portion and ...THEN... continue. Finding out if they want to SELL is very important.
MOST want a price to tell their neighbor, brother-in-law, co-worker, etc.
I never had time to create "deals" for others.
And
The number you get will be low despite a value over 10k because they perpetually blame high inventories
I think $250 is a little excessive but it's accomplishing what they're setting out to accomplish - stopping the thousands of people trying to shop their 4 ASE's around and wasting their time. I think they could have had the same success with a $20 fee though. I bet they spend 95% of their time dealing with 5% of their potential business and they got tired of it.
Again, it's excessive, but I don't blame them at all.
Good info
Note: If it was a $25 fee, I would do it as it sends a signal of being a serious seller. $250 - no way. That is excessive and it is an insult to a repeat customer (whether the policy was recently changed or not). I sold them $30,000 worth of coins in the last 3 months.
If you have been a long time seller to them and now they need your credit card it's time to hang up.
It's about like shopping for a pickup truck and get a price quote and the dealer telling you that if you don't buy it you owe him $250.
Lafayette Grading Set
Heckfire, they should waive the "fee" for you since you have a record of being a serious seller.
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I don't know anything about them other than their ads appear frequently on websites that have the google clicks which most of them do.
Their prices are high.
As a small business owner I appreciate how many jerk offs and time wasters there are in this world...and I'd guess that APMEX put a significant amount of thought into creating this new policy...for it is not without work on their behalf in terms of making more paperwork for their employees...
I'm sure if the OP had bothered to pick up the phone and call them they would waive the fee for him if he has been a good customer...
Always surprised to see how quick people are to bash without collecting all of the facts....
Wow.
I have never sold anything to them (and definitely won't now.)
Buying side I have never had an issue.
Jon - Incorrect. I asked twice and they are not waving it.
I am all over the place on this. Most of the replies have some merit.
To me, the bottom line is, APMEX is setting up obstacles to sellers. I understand their stated reasons, but especially for generic widgets, they could even have an automated tool to calculate an offer.
It almost sounds like APMEX wants to make money from the appraisal service. $250 is pretty steep for an online quote, and the charge is not based on the dollar value of the items being "appraised". As someone mentioned, what stops APMEX from low-balling people so that offers are frequently refused so they can whack the potential sellers with the $250 fee. I am sure APMEX would insist that is not their intention, but I am always wary of people who insist that I have a higher level of trust for them than they have for me.
Combined with the other thread about a subpar coin being shipped in place of the coin pictured, APMEX has slipped significantly in my opinion.
Too many people use APMEX as a starting point and they (and a lot of dealers) wind up spinning a lot of cycles for people that have no intention (regardless how good or bad the offer is) of selling to them. "They just want to know what its worth" that's called an appraisal, and you should pay for that.
I have seen it all. From very sincere people who really do want to sell, and from those who turn it into an auction between dealers. I had this happen just last week, with the customer saying the infamous quote "if I like your offer I might sell it," which is code for if you are stupid enough to pay full retail for it I MIGHT consider it.
No Thanks, but for $500 I will tell you what you should insure your coins for, and how much you most probably would get for it from a reputable dealer. But please stop pretending that you want to sell, when all you want to do is use someone else's time for free. In a market like this dealers cannot afford to spend the time pricing out junk and widgets because they know the market is so bad for them that they HAVE to offer low prices just to move stuff and almost no one wants to take those offers. A big waste of time. I know you think your modern commemorative is worth X,XXX, but what you do not realize is that they can be bought by the truckload for very little over melt. I got a call last week for 20,000 wheat cents that I did not want at ANY price. The customer acted like I was somehow obligated to buy them because they are coins!
I understand charging a fee to prevent time wasters, but $250 is quite steep. Also, does this vary based on the number or value of the coins?
Actually, appraisal fees aren't that unusual on large lots. Otherwise, you could end up spending 10 hours sorting, counting, researching and make an offer only to have the "seller" use your offer as leverage with another dealer.
LOL money fee waived if half sold to Apmex..??? tried to sell to apmex couple of years ago ..got low ball offers.. run away fast
Showed thread to dealer friend in the shop ..... he just laughed ...
This is why competition was invented. Apmex is changing their business model and I wouldn't be surprised if the market changes while Apmex isn't looking. Someone else will come along and treat Apmex's customers better.
Well, I said in that other thread...I will miss the popcorn tins. This is actually the second thing that has put me off APMEX (after being a good customer for over a decade, mostly as a buyer, but a seller a few times as well).
Anyway, I do confess to contacting them recently and being so thoroughly disgusted that though I have taken every other deal, I turned them down on that one.
Sure, they put time and effort into it. However, their agent gave me a verbal offer, and when I told her that was much lower than I was expecting she suddenly realized that she 'forgot' to add something in. Kicked up the price a few hundred, but at that point I insisted on an email copy of what the offer was. It may have been truly an oversight on the part of their agent, but frankly her voice was less than sincere sounding.
I wasn't expecting something unreasonable and I wanted to trade the lot for generic bullion, not even cash. The offer was barely melt for something they mark up and sell regularly. Seriously, I double checked and they had a raw set (and mine are in NGC MS-70 slabs) with a LISTED BUY PRICE that was HIGHER than the total she gave me. For the slabbed ones.
Anyway, yes putting that offer together did take them a tiny bit of time. No, the price was not acceptable even after the 'oops I forgot' moment. Add in a $250 appraisal fee? Um, no.
Lame, particularly with an existing customer who has a strong selling history with them.
They clearly don't want your business, so I'd say it's time to move on. Gook luck selling your coins..
Dave
Could see $25. Also understand that they stick out their neck for 5 days with active bullion prices. Long list also can be a menace.
To a good repeat customer, that is hogwash.
If you've sold them $30k in coins in the last 3 months , I can understand your feelings. Although I have not worked with APMEX recently my past experiences were positive. Don't get your blood boiling though. It's not worth it.
A little effort to send that email only to low-volume or no-volume sellers would have helped. Time to find a new shop I guess. Too bad. I liked them.
Its not real bullion , that stuff is not that easy to move not a commodity . There is no demand for ATB's at what APMEX lists them for. Modern commemoratives? Are they the good ones or the ones that sell for melt? Widgets and dreck
I bet if you call up and offer $1000 face in 90% or a handful of 1 oz gold theres no problem. If you try selling modern US mint stuff you are going to get offered melt or back of melt. Maybe thats not going to sit well with someone who paid $50 for the latest proof silver dollar .
Silver would need to be $85 an ounce to break even on a modern commem bought from the mint . Don't buy any more at retail .... ever .
Appraisal fees are fine. No one is sending in stuff to APMEX for an appraisal.
Reread your post and I understand what you are saying. But to me it's just part of the business. If you want to buy stuff, then you have to deal with it. Win some, lose some. Its the way it works.
Its not an appraisal fee , its a nudge . A polite way of saying take this stuff somewhere else
This will be Heritage's next move.
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Not really or at least not always.
For example, there's a local stamp dealer who charges a refundable $50 per hour fee for appraisals. The goal isn't to scare the people away but to incentivize them to sell. After he spends 10 or 12 hours sorting, inventorying and researching the collection, he makes an offer. You can walk away and pay him $500 or you can take his offer and pay him nothing. Without that fee, the "seller" could take the number, call me and offer it to me at 10% over his offer. And it does happen.
I once had someone offer to sell me a bunch of material with a coin offer in hand from another shop. I told him I didn't want to get into an auction. The guy offered it to me for $1050 when the other guy had offered $1000. I refused to buy them and told him I wasn't going to do that to the other guy, whom I knew. If that coin dealer had charged him $100 appraisal fee, the guy isn't trying to get an extra $50 from me.
It's tricky.
On the other hand, sometimes the fee is designed to scare away material you don't want. There are times I want to charge $100 an hour on stamps (I don't charge appraisal fees) because a lot of stamp collections end up being postage which I buy at 55% of face and sell at 65% of face value. It takes FOREVER to count the stamps and, if I buy it, to remove them from the albums and package them for sale. I would really be far better off not handling that material at all. Same applies to coin collections that are mostly face value material.
I don't know what was offered to APMex in this case. The $250 flat seems excessive only because I don't know if it was 10 pieces of bullion or 1000 rare coins. But it can be either an incentive to sell or an incentive not to waste their time at all.
Why not just call Spectrum Numismatics they can give you a quote over the phone. They pay more than APMEX
I called yesterday and got a quote in 5 minutes at no cost.
They gave me their price and I told them I'd wait until silver reaches $50 an ounce.
I don't have any experience selling to the big A. I prefer to sell to individual stackers / collectors in attempt to get best sales price but I will say this:
They are hands down the best dealer to buy from and I do so frequently. The sales they run on Ebay are phenomenal, nobody can touch them, it's like Walmart for coins. Most of these small time dealers can't even purchase inventory for the price the Big A is selling to the public.
I wouldn't be upset, simply look somewhere else to sell, that's all.
I've never done any business with APMEX, but I saw they put an 1806 PCGS AU50 old holdered bust quarter on eBay today. I was looking to attribute the variety, but they only put up a picture of the obverse slab, really great.
1TwoBits
jclovescoins you probably weren't around in this forum back when the 5 oz ATB's first came out. The shenanigans that APMEX pulled soured me in doing business with them. I have not bought another coin from them since. Every time I see APMEX mentioned in a post I flash back to this bad memory for a couple seconds. The impression in my head of questionable ethics on their part lingers still.
They've been known to use stock photos, so proceed at your own risk.
Yes, there is that to remember. Next time I get an email from them I should remind them about the unethical chit they tried to pull with the pucks just to see what they say.
Any number of big sellers do the same thing on eBay that APMEX does. I guess the small time dealers are free to stock up with the specials too. With these specials going on, I would never buy an ounce of gold from them at their regular price of $70 or more over spot.
The Mint were morons for having such a low mintage and expecting resellers to keep the price down.
Can you name one of the reselling companies that didn't try to rip collectors off for the pucks? AFAIK, they all did, and most were only offered to their elite customers.
The good thing that came out of that mess were the 5oz collector pucks. We probably never would have gotten those if the initial fiasco didn't take place.
Exactly, right now the have raw AU double eagles for $24.99 over spot. With the current ebay bucks offer of 8% bonus bucks you earn $100. So who doesn't like double eagles for $75 under melt? It's a no brainer.