My experience using a dealer to sell most of my collection - Thanks CRO!
BryceM
Posts: 11,840 ✭✭✭✭✭
Quite a while ago I decided, for a variety of reasons to sell the bulk of my collection. This was a decision I arrived at over quite a few months of consideration. Somewhere on this forum there's a thread about the decision and thought process. I had an absolute blast building the collection, but life changes, goals change, and it was time to go a different direction.
I considered consigning the whole lump with one of the big auction houses. HA would have been the logical choice, as Mark Feld is a connection there and we have built a relationship over the years. I also considered selling at a show (or shows), advertising everything here, on eBay, giving GC a shot, or a few other options. A few years prior, I had liquidated a smaller part of my not-so-good stuff with John Agre from Coin Rarities Online and it was a good experience. Some of my favorite coins had come from John, and we also had a good connection from visiting at a number of shows over the years.
We traded a few e-mails and phone calls back and forth, and we decided to divide up the collection into four lots. It was around 200 PCGS slabbed coins, the majority CAC'd. Several were worth under $100, and a few were 5-figure coins. The back-and-forth lasted for a few months, including one handoff in person when my wife and I were in Boston for business. Many (the good ones) he sold from his website, others directly at shows, one or two were re-graded or re-holdered, a few went via other random Internet venues, and several lesser coins and stragglers were forwarded by him to auction houses. He took care of all of it.
We just wrapped up the final part of the sale recently. I have to say it was an absolute pleasure to work with John. Communication was excellent, any little hiccups were quickly resolved, and he was a true gentleman in every way. Without question the net proceeds to me were superior to auction, and it was hopefully a good deal for him too. Anything he earned on the transactions was well-deserved. Turning a collection back into cash would have faster with an auction house, but I wasn't really in a hurry. I possibly could have realized more selling a few of them on my own, but on average, the exposure he has on his website and at shows is impossible to beat. Besides, my time is worth something, and he's way better at doing this on the regular. There were some disappointments on individual coins and some remarkable success stories. That's to be expected, of course.
So, kudos to John and his business. I would make the same choice again without hesitation.
Comments
Glad you had a good experience! It’s always wise to consider all options when selling. I’ve never met John, but just from what I know and have heard, he seems like a standup guy.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Thank you for sharing your experience.
As an auction aficionado the one thing I have really learned from this forum is to consider all options when selling one's coins.
CRO is and always has been one of the good guys.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Coins in my collection come and go, as I sell or trade to upgrade or move on to other interests - just like most collectors.
One thing I’ve never done is to sell or trade a coin I’ve purchased from CRO - every single one I have is a “keeper”.
John is pure class and integrity, and his “eye” is unmatched IMO.
Any favorites from the collection to share?
Latin American Collection
It's been all positive with cro here. Glad to read you did well 👍
CRO highly recommended from me too. I've never sold anything to him but bought six coins for my primary collection over the years.
I’m glad you did well with CRO and John is a great guy but how did you conclude doing better with him versus going the auction route?
I can offer a small but recent comparison. I recently sold 8 coins. many of theses were long held coins so no need to concentrate on the final profit.
I thought the coins (no fees counted) should sell for $2,425. Final sale was $2,454.
My initial purchase prices equaled $1,314.
The with G.C. sales result was $2,762.
My net check will be $2,297.
G.C. For listing, photographing , advertising and handling all funds equals $463.55.
I have no problem with those results and doubt anyone could have delivered a better return.
just mt view as a collector and not someone looking to flip coins or what not. I think much like the orginal poster. James
T> @seatedlib3991 said:
Thank you for sharing your experience. On which price guide did you base your $2,425 valuation?
Also, if GC's $463.55 is based on a seller's commission of 12.5%, GC actually received 10%. The additional 2.5% goes to charge card companies.
This is a fair question. There’s no way to know for sure, of course. I’m basing my assessment on several factors, and maybe it could have turned out better than I imagine. Again, there’s no way to know for sure.
John has a discerning eye, and has a base of clientele that are familiar with that. He also has excellent photography, which for some coins is incredibly important. These two factors “add value.” I thought his commission was fair.
We did, eventually use the auction route to move many of the coins. Some were moderns and some were “lesser” coin. Obviously you can’t compare those results with the good stuff.
Others were perfectly nice in both of our views, but did not move quickly for whatever reason. It happens. The net to me on stuff that went to auction was disappointing. I even ended up buying back a couple of them that were fixin’ to sell at fire sale prices. Many of these ended up in esoteric, perhaps poorly viewed auctions. Most had HORRIBLE photos that severely handicapped certain coins with color and positive eye appeal. You don’t really have any control over that with a big auction house.
Finally, the best deal I’ve been able to personally negotiate with the auction houses wasn’t all that great, even with a reasonably big consignment.
Are you saying you gave all of your coins to CRO and then CRO decided how to best market them?
We had many, many discussions along the way, and in many cases discussed strategies for individual coins. This was obviously more important for the 5-figure coins than the $50 moderns.
All of my interactions with John have been great. I would highly recommend him to anyone.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/mysetregistry/set/172592
@Disneyfan. I use the Heritage (My coins) program and the Numismedia guide, but adjust according to the strength or weaknesss of the indvidual coin. i have concentrated almost all my collecting on Seated coins and will say straight out. Seated coins are the only coins I feel comfortable pricing. I have no idea how the ccoin flippers do it. James