What has made you successful in Coin Business

Options
Cougar1978
Cougar1978 Posts: 10,067 ✭✭✭✭✭
in U.S. Coin Forum

What factor has made your coin business successful or struggling?

Market forces, knowledge base, contacts, inventory, area of specialization?

Investor
«1

Comments

  • Cougar1978
    Cougar1978 Posts: 10,067 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 20, 2018 1:44PM
    Options

    One area would be technical skills. One fellow told me his photographic memory enabled him memorize greysheet pages....a lady said her study of acting helped her coin business.....

    Investor
  • BillJones
    BillJones Posts: 35,933 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    When I was a dealer, want list service and the fact that I marketed more Civil War tokens than anyone else at the local shows.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • Jinx86
    Jinx86 Posts: 3,729 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Find what makes that customer excited, that makes them come back for more over and over. I like to work retail, however most of my earnings for the company are from wholesale buying and selling. Just wish there were more retail customers locally.

  • BillJones
    BillJones Posts: 35,933 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    @Jinx86 said:
    Find what makes that customer excited, that makes them come back for more over and over. I like to work retail, however most of my earnings for the company are from wholesale buying and selling. Just wish there were more retail customers locally.

    Cultivating retail customers is always a challenge. A lot of my business was selling to other dealers. A few of them used to say, “You are one of the few dealers who brings good stuff to these local shows.” That was only because I had contacts with a number of bigger dealers and was able to get the better material.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • ctf_error_coins
    ctf_error_coins Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 20, 2018 2:39PM
    Options

    Being a Collector First, Hard Work, Knowledge, Timing, Professional Photographic Skills, Contacts, Excellent Customer Service, and OCD.

  • ARCO
    ARCO Posts: 4,475 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Impulse buying...no wait, that is what has caused the most financial loss.

  • Jinx86
    Jinx86 Posts: 3,729 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    @BillJones
    Getting good material is not an issue. Its not having retail customers. I sell better at major shows, to mostly dealers than locally.

  • TwoSides2aCoin
    TwoSides2aCoin Posts: 45,216 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 22, 2018 7:21AM
    Options

    .

  • Owen1793
    Owen1793 Posts: 368 ✭✭✭✭
    Options

    My mentors, the (coin-related) education I've received, my work ethic, and some luck

  • PTVETTER
    PTVETTER Posts: 6,133 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Knowing when to walk away
    Understand you can’t win them all.
    Of course you need money more than hundreds

    Pat Vetter,Mercury Dime registry set,1938 Proof set registry,Pat & BJ Coins:724-325-7211


  • Beneteau
    Beneteau Posts: 28 ✭
    Options

    Ebay

  • COINS MAKE CENTS
    COINS MAKE CENTS Posts: 1,907 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Being polite to customers and not judging people on there budget or what coins they want to collect!!! Never discourage people on what they collect just help them try to make the right decisions.

    New inventory added daily at Coins Make Cents
    HAPPY COLLECTING


  • MrSlider
    MrSlider Posts: 142 ✭✭✭
    Options

    Thank you all for the contributions. I might add that for myself photo taking and imaging coins has been a huge. I’ve noticed a significant increase in business as my skills have improved, as most my retail sales are online.

    https://tinyurl.com/wbuh7ba (Search PCGS on ebay)

  • jdimmick
    jdimmick Posts: 9,992 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Integrity (trust) paying fair and selling fair, being honest which has led to countless referrals, (even helps in slow times)

    knowing where to and how to get rid of things that come in

    being able to identify cleaned, problem issues, but at same time recognize a gem when it presents itself.
    (not as great on varities as I would like to be, if I take the time to check, I can, but many times I forget or don't take the time)

  • Aspie_Rocco
    Aspie_Rocco Posts: 3,872 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    My eye for varieties has helped me immensely. Fees and capital have made things less than successful. I am not a dealer, more of a peddler I guess, reselling left overs and found varieties to fund my Jefferson (and new trade yen) addiction. I am persistent, so I hope in the long run things get better.

    https://www.autismforums.com/media/albums/acrylic-colors-by-rocco.291/

  • ctf_error_coins
    ctf_error_coins Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 20, 2018 7:19PM
    Options

    @Aspie_Rocco said:
    My eye for varieties has helped me immensely. Fees and capital have made things less than successful. I am not a dealer, more of a peddler I guess, reselling left overs and found varieties to fund my Jefferson (and new trade yen) addiction. I am persistent, so I hope in the long run things get better.

    That is how I started except I went for minor errors. Resold them for a profit to build my PayPal balance until I could buy a major error coin. Rinse and repeat. Over and over again endlessly.

  • CCGGG
    CCGGG Posts: 1,267 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 20, 2018 7:48PM
    Options

    I'm not a dealer, but I'm sure I've helped a lot of dealers with success in their business.

    I actually had one dealer tell me at a coin show, that had just opened for the day, that if I buy all the coins that I had pulled from his cases to look at, that he was packing up early and going home (smiling all the way).

  • BLUEJAYWAY
    BLUEJAYWAY Posts: 11,794 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    A dealer I know said his way "was buying low,selling high".

    Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
  • QCCoinGuy
    QCCoinGuy Posts: 335 ✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Listening carefully and paying attention. Doesn’t hurt to have a good memory and interpersonal skills. This is aside from the obviously required coin knowledge.

    Dealing in Canadian and American coins and historical medals.

  • ilikemonsters
    ilikemonsters Posts: 767 ✭✭✭✭
    Options

    What's made me successful? Knowing what to spend, and not what to spend. Once I spent a 1909 S VDB...

  • Cougar1978
    Cougar1978 Posts: 10,067 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    I have found it’s good be cash rich and not buried in inventory.

    Investor
  • mr1931S
    mr1931S Posts: 7,308 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Cultivating retail customers is always a challenge. A lot of my business was selling to other dealers. A few of them used to say, “You are one of the few dealers who brings good stuff to these local shows.” That was only because I had contacts with a number of bigger dealers and was able to get the better material.

    This. I can see where having good fresh inventory available is a distinct advantage over other dealers.

    "Two things are infinite: human stupidity and the universe; and I'm not sure about the universe."
    -Albert Einstein-

    Mistakes are natural. But repeated mistakes without reflection are something else. That may be the “stupidity” he was referring to. In research, he admitted uncertainty openly. “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” This shows humility. Even a Nobel laureate accepted doubt. That humility makes the quote less cynical and more observational.

  • DCW
    DCW Posts: 7,874 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    @ilikemonsters said:
    What's made me successful? Knowing what to spend, and not what to spend. Once I spent a 1909 S VDB...

    Details?!

    Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
    "Coin collecting for outcasts..."

  • ctf_error_coins
    ctf_error_coins Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    @Cougar1978 said:
    I have found it’s good be cash rich and not buried in inventory.

    For me, I need to have a large killer inventory to make my mark.

    That said, also having a cash reserve and no coins on credit is a big plus.

  • johnny9434
    johnny9434 Posts: 34,049 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    being courteous and a keen eye. the rest should take care of itself

  • Veep
    Veep Posts: 1,513 ✭✭✭✭
    Options

    There have been many keys to being successful. As the OP asked for one, I'd have to say that its been the same thing all of my life both in and out of coins -- There is no substitute for hard work.

    "Let me tell ya Bud, you can buy junk anytime!"
  • SaorAlba
    SaorAlba Posts: 7,593 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Staying a collector and not dabbling in selling coins.

  • RogerB
    RogerB Posts: 8,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Not buying or selling coins.... :)

  • Ronyahski
    Ronyahski Posts: 3,120 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    @Regulated said:
    Mostly dumb luck.

    Didn't realize you were on the dealer side. With whom?

    Some refer to overgraded slabs as Coffins. I like to think of them as Happy Coins.
  • bidask
    bidask Posts: 14,057 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    I help dealers by paying retail .

    I manage money. I earn money. I save money .
    I give away money. I collect money.
    I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.




  • amwldcoin
    amwldcoin Posts: 11,269 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Trying to stick with coins I would only keep for myself. Obviously that can't be 100% when you buy collections!

    Last but not least being a straight shooter!

  • Regulated
    Regulated Posts: 2,994 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    @Ronyahski said:

    @Regulated said:
    Mostly dumb luck.

    Didn't realize you were on the dealer side. With whom?

    Senior Numismatist at Kagin's.


    What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
  • TwoSides2aCoin
    TwoSides2aCoin Posts: 45,216 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 22, 2018 8:35AM
    Options

    Im a failure. Would you guys start a GoFundMe page ?

  • ricko
    ricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    There are many ingredients to a successful business.... Funding and inventory are fundamental.... maintaining and growing a business depends on honesty and customer service...Good customer service will maintain a base and your reputation in this area will grow your business. Cheers, RickO

  • skier07
    skier07 Posts: 4,833 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    In today’s market being tech savvy is crucial. Coin shows are dying. Having an easy to navigate website with GREAT pictures is mandatory. It amazes me that dealers are selling 5 figure coins with pictures that look like they were taken by a 5 year old.

  • Type2
    Type2 Posts: 13,985 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Let's see I buy a silver nickel for$1.50, a dime for $1.10 a Quarter $2.75 a half dollar for $4.50 and a dollar for $13.50 I thank I'm doing good my wife thinks I am crazy so I think I'll keep doing it. Just to keep her on her toes.

    But it's like every thing in life the harder you work the more you will make. There is no easy way to do it you may make it look easy but it's because you know how to do it. Hard work the harder you work the luckier you get.



    Hoard the keys.
  • bigjpst
    bigjpst Posts: 3,236 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    I’ll be happy to share this information with you when and if I ever become successful. :)

    JRobinsonRareCoins.com

    My Ebay Store

  • Strat
    Strat Posts: 612 ✭✭✭
    Options

    Great question! To be honest, I wasn't very successful as a dealer on my own, because I made a lot of mistakes early and often. When in doubt, I repeated those mistakes! Once I learned the value of wholesaling to other dealers at every show, I did a lot better, because I moved a lot more inventory and could make a profit too. Holding out for retail business never worked, but cultivating relationships with certain collectors over time did work. Finally, there was nothing better than placing coins in an active auction during a show that had strong collector attendance (Long Beach and Baltimore were my faves, but NOT during the summer time). My best decision though and most successful so far was to stop dealing, earn a Master's in Education, become a teacher and return to the collector ranks. I'm a lot happier in the long run, and have found that as a collector, it is a strength to be able to focus on a series or two. As a dealer, I felt compelled to look at every auction lot possible in every auction possible, and that just wears a body out, although I will say that there is nothing that hones your grading eye better than constantly looking at and evaluating coins.

  • Cougar1978
    Cougar1978 Posts: 10,067 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    Being cognizant what regular customers want.

    Investor
  • derryb
    derryb Posts: 38,604 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    The customer is never wrong.

    Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Bastiat

  • Jinx86
    Jinx86 Posts: 3,729 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    @derryb said:
    The customer is never wrong.

    I had a customer make over an hour drive so that I could tell him face to face his 1964 Kennedy was not from a special mint set.

  • derryb
    derryb Posts: 38,604 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Options

    @Jinx86 said:

    @derryb said:
    The customer is never wrong.

    I had a customer make over an hour drive so that I could tell him face to face his 1964 Kennedy was not from a special mint set.

    OK, the customer is almost always never wrong.

    Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Bastiat

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Format
SpoilerCodeQuote
Heading 2Heading 1
Emoji
:):D:(;):/:o:s:p:'(:|B):#:*<3o:)>:)
Url
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file
Comment As ...

Categories