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Do part-time dealers provide a needed service to collectors, or are they not needed in the overall n
Longacre
Posts: 16,717 ✭✭✭
The avocation of professional coin dealer is a noble one. I get comfort from the fact that the dealer that I am working with is a full-time professional, and his full day is devoted to numismatics. Let’s take a comparison. How comfortable would you be with a part-time doctor or lawyer? I once worked at a very large Fortune 500 corporation, and when I arrived I learned that some of our tax returns were actually prepared by a full-time NYC fireman! Needless to say, I was not comfortable with that arrangement, and put a stop to it.
I know that there are a lot of part-time dealers out there. I am sure they are very good people and very ethical. That is not my concern. My question deals with whether the part-time dealers provide any needed services that the full-time dealers cannot provide? Do part-time dealers do anything better than their full time brethren? Or do they bring an element of risk to the numismatic market (because they are not in the market 40 hours per week) that is not really good for the numismatic world generally?
I know that there are a lot of part-time dealers out there. I am sure they are very good people and very ethical. That is not my concern. My question deals with whether the part-time dealers provide any needed services that the full-time dealers cannot provide? Do part-time dealers do anything better than their full time brethren? Or do they bring an element of risk to the numismatic market (because they are not in the market 40 hours per week) that is not really good for the numismatic world generally?
Always took candy from strangers
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
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I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
Mostly, these people have been knowledgable and pleasant, and more willing than the "pros" to engage in discussion about coins they are selling speifically as well as numismatics generally.
Of course, the most I've dropped on a purchase from a part-time dealer is maybe a couple hundred bucks. Higher-end coins don't generally seem to be within the purview of most part-timers, and should I be in a position to purchase coins worth $1000 or more, I'd likely be dealing with full-time professionals at that point.
I think the only "risk" involved (beyond the ethical risk one must contend with in any transaction) is that the part-timers can more easily find themselves in over their heads, and unwittingly (or wittingly) grasp at their customers for life support.
60 years into this hobby and I'm still working on my Lincoln set!
Brother, while I don't know if they are "part time" or not, there are dealers out there who seem to be "in" more than others. When it comes to classic coins, these dealers always have the good stuff or they know where to find it.
That being said, I'll deal with whomever has what I want. Some of the prettiest MPLs that I've owned came thru forum members LeeG and cohodk ( I guess they are considered part time ).
<< <i>Some part time dealers are great, just as some full time dealers are great. >>
I agree with that statement. However rarely do I purchase a coin from a full time dealer so my experience with fulltimers is limited. A couple of random observations since I have been attending local shows for many years and have acquired several close friendships with a few, they know what I like to collect and what I will spend for a nice coin, however there pricing is sometimes out of whack because they depend solely on sheet pricing. At the other extreme many coins I follow in national auctions end up in dealer cases at remarkable markups. Whereas a local dealer will sometimes pick up a coin for me in their various travels and price it for me fairly. I have a difficult time paying a 25-33% markup on a coin $1000 and up.
Part time dealers MUST provide a service because people are willing and able to buy from them. If they were not needed, they would eventually drop out of the market because they couldn't cover the cost of their time. For instance, while I generally buy from "full-time" dealers, I presume that some or perhaps many of the coins I have purchased on eBay are from part time dealers. These dealers provided a valuable service to me: They made available coins that are generally not carried by full-time dealers because they are generally inexpensive moderns.
...generally speaking...(in my generally honest opinion)...it is not generally a good idea to rely on generalities...
...part time or full time... it is not the amount of time but the quality that ultimately matters...
...there are full-time coin dealers who I would not trust with a dead flea...and their only contribution to numismatics is lending a bad name to the entire hobby...
...I, for one, buy/sell coins on a part-time basis...I do rather well and have had a few full-timers comment to me at shows that my stock and display is nicer than theirs...
...to me, this is a hobby first and foremost...I began selling at shows because it was my best chance of selling my 'extras' at a closer to market price than I would ever get selling to a dealer...and, I find selling on ebay to be a huge pita...
...anyway, when I began, it was going to be for only a short time...but I enjoyed it and found that I now had a different type of access to coins I might want for my own collection...well...one thing led to another and now I have business cards, invoices, a tax id and a growing list of loyal customers. a nice personal collection and a diverse "rotating" type collection otherwise known as my stock...
...my 1st rule...as long as it continues to be fun, I will continue...after all, I get paid by my employer to be aggravated 40 hours a week...I have no intention of being aggravated in my 'spare' time...
<< <i>..after all, I get paid by my employer to be aggravated 40 hours a week...I have no intention of being aggravated in my 'spare' time...
<< <i>
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
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
NumismaTwist for the day.
"Let’s take a comparison. How comfortable would you be with a part-time doctor or lawyer?"
It would be illegal for someone to pose as either a lawyer or doctor if he or she were not properly educated, trained and licensed to do so. However, the same is not true for a coin dealer. Anyone can buy or sell coins, either full or part time, without any licensing or accreditation required. So that comparison is not a valid or realistic one.
Like many here, I have dealt with both part-time and full-time dealers, and although I do purchase most of my more valuable coins from full-time dealers, that is not always the case. Many of my better coins I bought or traded from other specialists who were not dealers at all. I have also greatly enjoyed doing business with 'part-time' dealers who eventually became full-time dealers, such as Dick Osburn, Dr. Eugene Bruder, and several others, mostly because they have the coins and the quality that I seek. For me, it is not simply a question of how many hours a dealer devotes to this business/hobby, but rather a consideration of the dealer's character, integrity, honesty, and the quality of his coins that leads me to do business with them.
I knew it would happen.
Comparing the profession of a lawyer and a doctor, to that of a coin dealer is a stretch. Noble as the profession may be, a coin dealer doesn't need eight years or better of college and the consequences of buying from a bad coin dealer are for the most part, less than those one would experience if they went to a bad doctor or lawyer.
I make no distinction between parttime dealers and fulltime dealers. If you have a coin I want and a fair price, it doesn't matter to me if you are a parttime or fulltime dealer, or a collector just selling parts of a collection, I'm buying from you.
Even with rarities, as long as one can demontrate a depth of knowledge of the rarity they are selling and can answer my questions or concerns intelligently and professionally, I won't have a problem. There are advanced collectors in this forum that seriously know their cap busts. If I were to buy a cap bust, I'd almost certainly pick up one here as easily as I would at Heritage or Stacks.
<< <i>It would be illegal for someone to pose as either a lawyer or doctor if he or she were not properly educated, trained and licensed to do so. However, the same is not true for a coin dealer. Anyone can buy or sell coins, either full or part time, without any licensing or accreditation required. So that comparison is not a valid or realistic one. >>
I meant my comment in the context of someone who is licensed to practice law, but has some other job (or no other job), and practices law out of their garage for a day a week or something like that.
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)