My first bad dealer story......

IndianHeadMan · November 16, 2003 11:35PM

Help me out on this one.

I take an 1904 AU-58 "RB" IHC into a dealer, just to see what he would give me for it. He said all he could give me for it was $5, because he sees them all the time. Ok, resonable enough. I then ask him why there are none in stock because I would like to buy a couple. Just silence and then he walks away. that just rubs me the wrong way.

tjkillian · November 16, 2003 11:40PM

Was the indian cent in a holder? If so, whose holder? Did he just ignore you completely or did he come back to you and say something?

Tom

1957joe · November 17, 2003 12:14AM

I think the "dealer" of yesterday is on their way out! IMO

RYK · November 17, 2003 1:51AM

Gee, if that is the worst thing in coin collecting that ever happens to you, you will be very lucky. It sounds like the dealer did not want the coin (his choice) and gave you a lame excuse. You called his bluff, but it did not change the fact that he did not want your coin.

mgoodm3 · November 17, 2003 1:56AM

Hey, you didn't sell the coin, but you got the best shot in.

MacCoin · November 17, 2003 2:09AM

my dealer buys me coffee run back and forth to the safe to show me bunches of goods. anything I want he can help me with. he even tell me if I see something on ebay I'm not sure of to call him. its like having your own personal coin advicer.

docday2003 · November 17, 2003 2:12AM

<< I think the "dealer" of yesterday is on their way out! IMO >>

I agree!

UncleJoe · November 17, 2003 2:18AM

Not sure what rubbed you the wrong way if what he said was that he "sees" them all the time.

To me it just means that they are common and he couldn't justify paying very much for your coin. He didn't say he was overstocked.

Joe.

flaminio · November 17, 2003 2:26AM

I don't think this is a "bad" dealer. It's not like your coin is some great rarity, after all. What price were you looking for -- remembering, of course, that you're asking a dealer, and therefore not expecting to get anything close to retail.

Here's my take on the story: You proffered a relatively common coin, he offered five dollars for it. Rather than simply accept or decline his offer, you proceeded to ridicule him. He, understandably, walked away.

291fifth · November 17, 2003 2:46AM

You offered the dealer what, in his mind, is little more than a "service charge" coin. It's the type of coin that turns up in estate collections all the time. He doesn't want to tie up money in that type of coin. Capital is tight for most local dealers. I wouldn't have offered much for it either. Try selling him a much more desireable coin and see what happens.

RYK · November 17, 2003 2:47AM

Actually, it would be a good coin to offer on ebay. That sort of coin gets snapped up.

zenny · November 17, 2003 2:51AM

<< I then ask him why there are none in stock because I would like to buy a couple. >>

if you'd have just sold him yours for $5, he could have then sold it back to you.

maybe he would have even made 50 cents or so to help him pay his rent.

IndianHeadMan · November 17, 2003 2:54AM

He said it in such a way that he would pay a better price if he didn't see more of them and didn't have any in stock. I cann't believe some of you are trying to put this on me. I was nice and real about wanting to buy one and wasn't playing gotcha with him. I'm also not making light of the fact that he offered $5, the fact that he made up a story about why he didn't want it.

the coin is not in a holder and we both agreed on the grade. he didn't have a single au or ms coin in his case. He said earlier that he couldn't keep them in stock they were so hot.

flaminio · November 17, 2003 3:12AM

<< I was nice and real about wanting to buy one and wasn't playing gotcha with him. >>

Of course you were playing "gotcha" with him. You had already determined his "buy" price. What would you have done if he had some in stock? What do you feel is a fair retail price for this coin?

You may not like this dealer's attitude, but yours is no shining example either. You walked up with an agenda. The fact that the dealer wouldn't play your game is no slight on his part.

RYK's got the right answer: if you really want to sell this coin for a reasonable price, take it to eBay. Otherwise, stop playing games.

Shamika · November 17, 2003 3:23AM

I liked how you called his bluff. However, I suspect he was just being nice and really didn't want the coin.

It's like asking a girl out on a date. If she's nice and yet not interested, she'll say "I already have plans" instead of saying "YUK! DON'T TOUCH ME YOU CREAP!"

dougwtx · November 17, 2003 4:18AM

Why did you go into the store asking how much he would pay for your coin and then ask to buy some when he told you his buy price? Were you looking to sell or buy something?

IndianHeadMan · November 17, 2003 5:05AM

I wasn't looking for the same year, but early 1900's IHC's. I guess I am the bad guy here for expecting honesty. No wonder so many people quit the hobby. With friends like you, who needs enemies?

dougwtx · November 17, 2003 5:16AM

You are not the bad guy. Some dealers don't have a lot of "bedside" manners. Its just their personality. I shrug it off as usually they are quite nice once you get to know them. He may have just had a bad day.

topstuf · November 17, 2003 5:43AM

It's REAL easy to have bad days. When I was in the bizz, I used the OPPOSITE on creeps.

I bet I made a jillion declined offers on ............RARE..........circ silver dollars. The people would laugh like I was trying to rip them off so I would counteroffer to SELL them some for 50c each MORE than what they thought was the ripoff price.

They would then turn their backs and slink out.

A lot of people think that coins are priced in some catalog where dealers order them in case lots.

The pity is that offering to sell a customer a BOOK that would EDUCATE them pisses them off even more.

"Ah'm DUMB AS A POST an wanna STAY that way."

S'why I ain't in da shop no mo.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Relief at last.

RYK · November 17, 2003 5:49AM

Let me get this straight...you approach a dealer for him to purchase a retail $18.00 coin, he gives you an admittedly lowball offer ($5.00), you give him an in-your-face argumentative reply, and he walks away... Would you have preferred that he stayed and argued with you?

Clearly, he was not interested in buying the coin. Heck, it happens to me all the time when I show coins to a dealer that he/she does not want to buy. It is their way of saying, "I do not care to buy that coin, " but more indirectly. He could have said something like, " I do not buy that garbage." Then, you would have reason to be offended!

zenny · November 17, 2003 6:14AM

in your first post you state you took the coin in to see what he would pay. $5, he says, and with his rationale you say it's reasonable. then you ask "why there are none in stock" because you'd like to buy some. to which he walks away without saying a word.

in a later post you state that he didn't have a single ms or au in stock because, as he told you earlier, "they were so hot."

as in any one-side-of-the-story scenario, we have gotten a little more of a glimpse into your visit with the dealer.

unfortunately, or, rather, fortunately, none of us were in there with you so we have responded to the bits and pieces we were told.

if you had been speaking with him earlier, as you state in the later post, then you knew why he had none in stock (they were so hot). You had already been over this with him, and it appears, in fact, you were playing "gotcha" with him. He wasn't interested in playing and left.

possible dealer's side of the story:

comes into my shop with a fifteen dollar coin that i don't want. offer him 5 bucks. gives me a hard time. go back to eating lunch.

coinguy1 · November 17, 2003 6:18AM

This has been an interesting and surprising thread to me.

I would have predicted (apparently incorrectly!) that the majority of posters would side (almost) automatically with IndianHeadMan, whether the dealer was reasonable / polite / fair or not. In this case, however, it seems that IndianHeadMan has taken more heat than the dealer.

But, without having been there to see and hear what transpired (facial expressions, tones of voice, gestures, etc.), I don't feel like I know who was to blame. Perhaps one of them, perhaps both, perhaps neither.

That is one of the problems with hearing just one side of a story and in doing so, via means of a post, to this or any other forum. That is not a complaint, just an observation.

zenny · November 17, 2003 6:32AM

Mark

it's indianheadman who asks "help me out here" not the dealer. I'm just playing devil's advocate as to why he may have been treated in a way that he didn't expect/appreciate.

I know you're not really used to being the bashee, (and for good reason), but i for one, as a non-dealer, do get sick of the bashing, much of which we only hear the one side of, of course.

My point was simply that the dealer may have felt that he was being played and he didn't care for it.

thus my attempt at "helping out" was a possible look at it from the dealer's point of view.

z

coinguy1 · November 17, 2003 6:37AM

Z - PM sent.

zenny · November 17, 2003 6:45AM

Coinguy1 - pm received.

okay, okay,

ahem,,, i hereby vow to attempt not to collector-bash for the next week.

z

relayer · November 17, 2003 6:50AM

<< comes into my shop with a fifteen dollar coin that i don't want. offer him 5 bucks. gives me a hard time. go back to eating lunch. >>

RYK · November 17, 2003 8:10AM

Mark,

Sometimes this forum surprises me, too.

IndiaHeadMan,

No offense intended. I was just offering another perspective. Good luck!

My similar story:
At a local coin show, I was hanging out with the CoinLieutenant at the JadeCoins table. I brought several raw large cents, all pre-1820, in AG-VG condition, some with pitting/porosity, some with tics. I asked James if he would buy them. He looked at them, looked at the sheets, and gave me what I thought was a low offer. I had developed a pretty good rapport with him, and I asked, "Honestly, would you rather not buy these coins?" He answered affirmatively, and I took the coins home and sold them on ebay for about three times what he offered.

Moral of the story: If a dealer gives you a low offer for your coin, there is a good chance that he really does not want them, and he is just trying to be nice. Alternatively, the coin may not be as desirable/nice as you think it is. Rather than press him/her on it, it probably is better to walk away. My car dealer says this about cars, and it probably applies to coins as well. "Every (used) car has a person that will buy it."

Edited for grammar

Geoman · November 17, 2003 8:18AM

<>

So, what will be the dealer of tomorrow? Any thoughts?

coinguy1 · November 17, 2003 8:34AM

For the record, I had no problems with anyone who sought to play devil's advocate and / or present another possible viewpoint / side to the story, if that was all that was being done. It's just that, based on many other threads I've seen here, I thought the dealer would get piled on, whether he deserved it or not.

<< Moral of the story: If a dealer gives you a low offer for your coin, there is a good chance that either he really does not want them, and he is just trying to be nice. Alternatively, the coin may not be as desirable/nice as you think it is. Rather than press him/her on it, it probably is better to walk away. My car dealer says this about cars, and it probably applies to coins as well. "Every (used) car has a person that will buy it." >>

Rick, I think you summed it up nicely, though I would include one other possibility. If a dealer (or non-dealer, for that matter) makes, what appears to be, a very low offer, he might simply be trying to rip off the would-be seller.

My first bad dealer story......

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