What percentage of collectors are "saps"?

291fifth · July 5, 2004 12:06AM

If you have been collecting for any length of time you have probably run into collectors who consistently make bad buying decisions. These are the folks who buy their coins at flea markets, from low-end Sunday bourse dealers or from tv pitchmen. They often brag about what a great deal they got. More often than not they bought counterfeit, altered or harshly cleaned and overgraded junk.

My gut feeling is that perhaps 20-25% of all collectors are like this. Any feelings on this from the rest of you people out in coinland.

robertpr · July 5, 2004 12:54AM

I believe the number may be higher than that right now because of all the new collectors brought on by the statehood quarters.

Some will realize they've been burned and will quit, and some will become more sophisticated and will have learned from their mistakes.

Shamika · July 5, 2004 1:12AM

Sap collectors probably make up a very high percentage of the collector base. Just look at what goes on with eBay.

razorface1027 · July 5, 2004 1:16AM

<------------------

Well, in the beginning anyway! I guess like mumzy always said, "Razor (Tom), you'll learn the hard way!" Oh, how true!

tincup · July 5, 2004 1:17AM

My guess is 60%. Someone is keeping the home shopping networks in business on TV. And the telemarketers. And every local coin auction I attend, and every estate auction that has some coins, there are alway 2 or 3 bidders that bid stupid prices.

Catch22 · July 5, 2004 1:21AM

About the same percentage as crooked, scumbag Dealers willing to pass off their crap to them.

BigE · July 5, 2004 1:35AM

Trees faint at the sight of sap

-----BigE

Russ · July 5, 2004 1:36AM

<< <i>These are the folks who buy their coins at flea markets >>

I guess I'm a sap.

Russ, NCNE

KlectorKid · July 5, 2004 1:43AM

30%

alergar · July 5, 2004 1:53AM

We all made mistakes in the beggining, admit it.
If you didn't learn from your mistakes your a sap.
If you continue making the same mistakes your a sap.
If you never tried to learn more about the coins you collect and the grading practices your a sap.
And if you wont admit that you've made mistakes you're the biggest sap of all !!!!

I know a little bit about a lot of things, I know a lot about a few things, I know everything about nothing !!!

DeepCoin · July 5, 2004 2:00AM

I made my mistakes when I first got back into the hobby. Fortunately, I only spent a couple of hundred dollars buying overgraded, cleaned Mercs from Paul Sims. Finding these boards saved me a bundle. I guess if you are a collector and seek out knowledge, you will find your way. If you are just an accumulator who chooses not to do your due dilligence you end up with coins from the Coin Vault.

Everyone makes mistakes, but the problem is never learning from them.

alergar · July 5, 2004 2:19AM

I have to admit I bought my first coins from the coin vault. In my defense that was before I had access to the internet. I learned very quickly thats not the place to get decent coins.

I bought 20 AU to BU Coin Vault Morgans only to find that all the coins had been whizzed/cleaned. Now I only buy unslabbed coins when I can check them through my loop first. And the only time I watch the Coin Vault is when I want to see how badly they are ripping off other people.

dollardude · July 5, 2004 2:56AM

I'd say 1/3, or 33%. Too many people pick a hobby like this who are too lazy to do their homework and get ripped off. Same goes true for buying a used car, buying antiques, buying mutual funds, etc. Take personal responsibility for your actions, and quit blaming everyone else. It's YOUR money, and YOU are responsible for it.

DCAM · July 5, 2004 3:05AM

Any of you sophisticated buyers want to send me $XX and I will send you XX coins? Trust me, I will send you good stuff! I may let you have some goodies from my "unsearched" pile if you are lucky!!

numonebuyer · July 5, 2004 3:07AM

Aren't most of us when we start. I like to think of them as growing pains. If you don't learn from the mistakes, then you are a sap.

Goober · July 5, 2004 3:56AM

Well I've had about 90% great buys and 10% bad, so I guess that means I'm only 1/10 Sap. But I do have a friend who is 100% certifiably sapped. He won't even buy off Ebay. Coins in folders, Franklin mint, circulated coins at a premium, tv shows. I told him he can walk downtown, and buy from our local dealer and save. He just won't listen.

braddick · July 5, 2004 3:59AM

<< <i>Well I've had about 90% great buys and 10% bad, so I guess that means I'm only 1/10 Sap. But I do have a friend who is 100% certifiably sapped. He won't even buy off Ebay. Coins in folders, Franklin mint, circulated coins at a premium, tv shows. I told him he can walk downtown, and buy from our local dealer and save. He just won't listen. >>

In my opinion, there are no absolutes. We are all "saps" at one time or another. Some just have an easier time fessing up to it than others.

XpipedreamR · July 5, 2004 3:59AM

I buy nice coins, but overpay for them. Does that make me a sap, or am I in a separate category?

Hurricane · July 5, 2004 4:16AM

When I first started, I bought many coins from the dealers in the trade mags. My contention was they MUST be selling good coins at a fair price in order to stay in business. Needless to say, I think the vast majority of the material I recieved was dipped,whizzed,thumbed,damaged...you name it. It amazes me that after 20 plus years,when I pass a magazine rack at the store and look through the Magazines(you know the one's), here are these companies still going like gangbusters.(again,you know the one's). It's all a matter of integrity in the coin business. These companies IMHO, use the newbies and uninformed as their "Stock in Trade", the "Meat and Potatoes" if you will. So, was I a sap? Gullible would be a better word,I think. I fell for the glossy paper and pretty pictures, and of course the 14 day return policy, and these guys are still shipping rolls and rolls of dipped AU Peace Dollars out the door as MS-63's. Numismatic education is the CORE of this hobby,and let's face it folks, after all the e-bayin' and wheelin' and dealin', that new kid coming into the hobby TODAY, trying to fill holes in a folder, is the future of the HOBBY and the INDUSTRY. It's up to reputable dealers not to make a SAP out of him by selling him a Morgan that's been scrubbed with a bristle brush.

Clankeye · July 5, 2004 4:23AM

I daresay most of us can be one impluse purchase away from sapdom.

UncleWiggly · July 5, 2004 4:29AM

Well, I am going to have to turn sap into a verb because I sapped 2 coins yesterday off e-Bay. Every time I snipe I end up sapping. Jerry

mrearlygold · July 5, 2004 4:30AM

It's amazing sometimes.

Really and truly amazing.

Tom

Gemini · July 5, 2004 4:31AM

It baffles me how someone could bid serious money on any item coin or otherwise without doing some research first.
With the Internet help and advice is not at all hard to get. Unfortunately scammers and crooks will be with us forever. Until the dumb saps learn to educate themselves in the real world the games will continue.

No offense Big E....

100proof1957 · July 5, 2004 6:05AM

i think even the most schooled suffers from sapitude here and again.
ya buy a coin thinking home run and send it off,comes back 2 grades lower than you paid for it.
keep your mistakes down to a pain threshhold you can live with.

Proof

Robgetty · July 5, 2004 6:25AM

I learned the hard way buying an ACG slab when I first started. But,
at least I learned my lesson. I'd say that there is a very healthy
percentage out there who repeats the same mistake over and over.

100proof1957 · July 5, 2004 6:38AM

<< <i>It behooves me how someone could bid serious money on any item coin or otherwise without doing some research first.
With the Internet help and advice is not at all hard to get. Unfortunately scammers and crooks will be with us forever. Until the dumb saps learn to educate themselves in the real world the games will continue.

No offense Big E....

>>

I think the word was "Baffle" not behooves !

Gemini · July 5, 2004 7:20AM

I am now un-hooved or is it un-shod?...I dunno...baffle is a better choice...thanks for the grammar lesson...and stop that tantrum already...I'm getting mildly nauseated or is it nauseous...

291fifth · July 5, 2004 7:25AM

<< <i>I buy nice coins, but overpay for them. Does that make me a sap, or am I in a separate category?

>>

You are in another catagory. The "sap" buys consistently bad coins year in and year out. He is not someone who is perhaps a bit too enthusiastic and overpays somewhat for nice material.

What percentage of collectors are "saps"?

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What percentage of collectors are &quot;saps&quot;?

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What percentage of collectors are "saps"?