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What Qualities Make a Good Coin Dealer?
FlyingAl
Posts: 3,818 ✭✭✭✭✭
I've had many interactions with a lot of different dealers, all of which have their own different qualities.
So to you - what qualities do you look for in a good coin dealer?
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Transparency
Honesty
Knowledge
Integrity
Reputation
Backing up what they sell
Friendliness
Multiple buying (commission, outright sale, willingness to send in for grading or CAC first) and selling (flexible payment plans, negotiating) strategies.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Honesty. A good dealer will let you know their honest opinion on a coin as if they were looking at it to buy themselves.
There are multiple different collector dealer relationships.
For transactional relationships, it’s all about the coin, the price and the efficiency of the process.
For partnerships, I care about a lot more. I want someone who provides education and insights, knows what I like and adds value through interpretation of the coin against my standards. Someone who guides me in how to think about evolving my set…which coins adds value to the set vs. which are supplemental additions. I also want them to make money and value the relationship.
Latin American Collection
This pertains to dealers who deal with collectors and aren’t just wholesalers:
Honesty
knowledge
patience
fairness
communicative
connected
responsible
approachable
collector-oriented
dependable
responsive
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
See above to be sure. Adding to it would be dealers who specialize in the series/niche.
Hygienic
Be like TwinPeaks or MFeld.
peacockcoins
Ability to discern between Dijon and Spicy Brown mustard stains.
Patience. They have to deal with the GDP. Generally Dumb Public all day long trying to sell them pocket change.
http://ProofCollection.Net
Good personality. If I like the guy, I'm more apt to support him when buying coins.
God comes first in everything I do. I’m dedicated to serving Him with my whole life. Coin collecting is just a hobby—but even in that, I seek to honor Him. ✝️
Empathy and congeniality. A reminder that this is a business that requires working with people (whether that be other dealers or collectors). Eventually, one's personality and affability (or lack thereof) will define whether or not they are seen as a good coin dealer to John Q. Public.
Don't be a Puma.
Knowledge
Ethics
Good “bedside” manner
Mustard stains 🙄 (not)
It’s not at all surprising to see very little consideration for the collector.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Along with that, tolerance.
Some/many collectors have varying levels of OCD and/or personality disorders.
Coins on my Want List?
Don't get emotional. It's just business.
The above are the basic requirements to be a dealer. Far more is required to be a great dealer. As
The most important attribute in my mind is willingness to share information (which doesn't mean suffering fools).
I was thinking the same thing when I read the #2, as if the "bourse contract" is the primary reason to behave professionally...
Founder- Peak Rarities
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In my case, its friendship. I tend to use the same sellers whom I have become friends with(not all, but most) as I know I can trust them and could order from them even with item unseen. Yuk! I don't but could. lol Others are a gamble, but have very little trouble with the ones not satisfied with. JMO
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
@MFeld @PeakRarities
It seems far more often than not, dealers practice dealing in their own self interest. I find it rare to find a dealer that actually embodies the attributes Mark posted, and most posters here say are the requirements to be a good dealer.
Define "good". Good for collectors or good as in "successful". They aren't always the same.
The question was simple enough.
what qualities do you look for in a good coin dealer?
Up for the poster's interpretation.
Integrity, honesty, knowledge, and respectability.
The last one is especially important for me. If you act different when you talk to a YN vs. someone who will buy a million dollar coin for you, I find it extremely off putting. Unfortunately, most major dealers I've ever interacted with fails this test. It's also especially weird when the same dealer interacts with you differently after learning who you are.
A good ear(s)for listening. Clearly, spoken skills. Time for informative dialogue.
Good communication to me is "say what you mean and mean what you say."
The main dealers I work with at shows are wholesalers for inventory procurement adding to what I already have at my table. Or what I call recruiting. They usually are very busy and are their to sell, work their angle, but have pricing that fits my business model. One owns a shop in a nearby major city. Many times I pickup slabbed usually b4 the public comes in that I am even able to retail at the show. Everything’s all busines. A smooth operation to execute. Just about everything he has is at CDN bid. I guess it walks into his shop at a good price lol.
One major buyer of currency has a nuance -wants a 20 pct discount in what all he’s selected adds up to. This could be about 20 or 30 notes adding up to $2k or more (makes my show). Then pays cash money. Knowing that, transactions are easy to execute, work smoothly for me. Another dealer next me looked at some currency, quoted me a rip off price below my cost and of course I passed on that. Never paid any attention to him again. A lot of it reminds me of my college football game app. B4 the game it shows their off and def formations. I pick the ones for me which will have the best chance to be successful against those.
Some buyers of my slabbed bullion coins want an outrageous discount. I resist that and and may counter with a price where I am making at least something or for that matter reject their low ball offer. Some buy some pass. I am there to work my angle not cave into some other player. I think many of them are basically ignorant of pricing and throw out some lowball hit the jackpot pass.
Confidentiality
Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
Successful BST transactions with: Namvet Justindan Mattniss RWW olah_in_MA
Dantheman984 Toyz4geo SurfinxHI greencopper RWW bigjpst bretsan MWallace logger7
Off topic.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Ethics, calm personality, respectable to all, and responsible.
The things that make anybody a "good person" are the things that make a good coin dealer. The only other attributes needed would be a love of coin collecting and numismatic knowledge. James
I am a dealer. I like to think honesty and fairness kept me in business all these years, and integrity is either on the other side of the counter, or it isn’t.
He stormed off.
I once went to a show with very little inventory. Around the end of the show, one of the more prominent dealers came up to my table , perusing. After a few moments he asked me : “is this all you have ?” I answered in the affirmative. He said: “well I don’t see much interesting here, but I noticed people were crowded around your table all day”. I said : “ Oh ! Well you see , I’ve got personality”.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
>
So simple it could be interpreted different ways.
Considering the subject matter here, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Yup I was going to say honesty followed by good hygiene. A nice clean non-mustard stained shirt is a must. RGDS!
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
Wooooha! Did someone just say it's officially "TACO™" Tuesday????
I didn't say it was a bad thing. I just asked the OP if he had a specific preference.
There are dealers who are very successful because they understand the market but aren't particularly useful to a beginner or someone more interested in learning facts. There are dealers who are great to talk to but who don't have premium material because they are coin geeks at heart and not business people. There are some dealers who do both.
There are dealers who are great to buy from but not worth selling to because they can be cherry picked. There are dealers who sell low but buy lower. There are also dealers who sell high and buy high.
In the end, the only thing I think i want in all my various dealers is honesty. If I can't trust you, I just don't want to be bothered having to deal with you.
Very positive points from many good posters. I would add a small twist of a non-numismatic component . . . . . . . .
Humor.
Drunner
I should be able to hear them play guitar while I'm there and bring home fresh farm eggs too.
@TwoSides2aCoin
Usually, you hear banjo music with some dealers.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
One who sells his coins to cheaply.
Who is “cheaply” and why didn’t you capitalize his name?
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Yes patience (don’t let them bug you), maintaining game face a must.
Lowballers - I may ask them if they have one sell me at that and at times procured some good pickups. One guy said “your competition over there has one for less” trying haggle me down on a nice slabbed SLQ. I rejected his low ball offer, went over to that dealers table and looked at that coin - it was an obvious inferior piece vs mine.
For the GDP I have cheap junk box raw material mostly raw collector coins in 2x2. Sales of that help pay show expenses.
My mistake. I thought you might know him. Cheaply is a buyer for a very large coin firm based in Texas.
I feel sorry for the “Generally Dumb Public” who has to deal with you.
I applaud your effort to provide coins for everyone at your table. In fact, most of my greatest "cherrypicks" came from the junk boxes of GDD although it's getting harder to do these days. In January I scored one of the common 1788 Machin's Mills Copper with a planchet flaw (VG+ to F) in the dollar box. I cannot wait to see what's next.
A good coin dealer will take the time to get to know you and then treat you accordingly. For better or worse.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Apparently disdain for the customers is one of his angles...