So I Decide To Visit A Coin Shop For The First Time.

And people wonder why so many coin shops went out of business.

My "local" (~25 miles) coin shop is not like this, fortunately, and I have known the owner for awhile. Even then, I never visit him anymore. Why?

It started when they got rid of the junk bins and bargain boxes. Then they got rid of all of the junk silver entirely. Then all of the raw circulated and AU/BU coins went away from the cases; the Dansco and Whitman albums soon followed, along with proof sets, mint sets, ancients and non-US coins. The paper money went away as well.

Nowadays the owner -- who is a great guy -- has cases full of bullion, from "silver bullets" and ingots to rows of Onzas, ASE's, Britannias, Maple Leafs, Gold Eagles, platinum bullion, etc. He has a great relationship with his bullion customers (which is not me) but I am sad to see the "old days" gone by the wayside.

I can understand that a lot of shop owners and dealers have been feeling the frustration on so many levels...a dearth of collectors, the rise of auctions and Internet sales, a much greater ability to locate specific coins without needing to come back every week and browse..along with exorbitant insurance costs, shrink/loss to theft, rising rents and payroll taxes.

That being said, there's never any excuse to take your frustrations out on a customer. I could never get away with treating a guest like that, with the cold shoulder, the apathy, the boredom, the lack of interest, because there's so many other options out there these days for that customer to choose. You never know who's walking through the door, and you can't possibly survive in business if you treat your guests as an inconvenience or an interruption instead of as a buyer and a customer.

And yes, I get it, as a dealer, when "that buyer" comes in, looks at a lot of your coins for an hour or two straight, and then picks out one dirt-cheap item and wants to argue the price. That same customer may have been "testing" you and then come back next week and dropped $15,000 in the blink of an eye, but you'll never know because you didn't think they were worth your time for a $15 purchase.

It is my opinion that if a coin shop owner or dealer cannot treat each customer with respect, enthusiasm, and appreciation -- whether it's a little kid buying his first Whitman album for State Quarters, or a serious collector dropping five figures on pretty coins in pretty slabs, or anyone in between -- then that dealer/owner has no business being IN business. They are hurting the hobby, hurting the reputation of the few good shops left, and possibly permanently turning people away from what might have been a long-term, profitable, enjoyable business relationship.

Sometimes when sales people are just so ridiculous in their actions or inattentiveness and I am beside myself ; I simply ask them the name / details of their main competitor.

But I only do that when they are extremely so poor in service I feel they need a wake-up call ; after all it might help the business or help them keep a job if they self-reflect a bit.

I once rang Home Depot and asked for the manager; he came on to the phone and asked hat the problem was ; I commended one of his floor staff.

He was literally blown away to get a compliment instead of a complaint ! ! !

I have similar experience when I go to my local Coin store. I've never been able to establish a relationship with anyone there. I must not be the type of customer they want. Now I buy lots of coins from auction and ebay.

Seriously!!

Crok only collects Gold graded 70! Yeah that leaves a massive market for the bricks and mortar coin store. Believe they make more money off beginners and average collectors, not over entitled snobs looking for fleur de coin rarities.

Thats what Bowers and Merena is for. My guess is Crok went in there, started sniffing at the less than in his eyes spectacular rarities and decided to descend off his ivory tower down to the level of us mortals and decided his descent from Mt Olympus of coins was not worth his time.

If some clown marched into my shop and demanded to see 70 graded gold coins under a counter (A major security risk given our crime ridden society and the fact the market for such things must be so minimal), I would tell him to beat it.

Seriously people, how many suburban or mall coin shops do you enter and see $25k and $100k MS70 graded 1907 Double eagles in the window. Every meth head in the world would be breraking down the walls in seconds.

We only have 2 in New Zealand and mostly its overpriced coins and modern sets that cost a few hundreds tops and a true rarity is a $1000 coin. Mostly its a box of 10 cents or $10 junk.

I am not the slightest bit sympathetic to Crok and feel sorry for my dealer. He pushed you out dude as he knew you would not buy anything and was just wasting yours and his time.

The world of the rich and the people do not mix, keep it that way.

I agree with Sel69 and others - establish a rapport with your dealers, even if they have nothing you want, a good one asks you on your coin interests and often they will try and buy stuff they know you may buy. It's happened for me in the stamp world, friendly with dealers and the coin people on Trade Me.

It also looks like Crok was not looking for an ally or regular commitment - just hopefully a purchase of a high quality coin at no doubt a low as possible price.

My Dad said the rich didn't get rich by being kind. Most are very tight and you only hear of them making big donations and stuff if some nice publicity comes along.

Okay, well he sounds like a scammer now - maybe it was better for both of you.

It sounds like you know what you were after, so no doubt you would not be easily fooled by this huckster. Sadly there are a lot of scammers out there.

@crok, you unfortunately picked a bad shop and/or one on a bad day. While I don't suggest that you go back there, try another couple of shops and you may have more pleasant experiences.

Good luck. Let us know how that turns out.

My LCS is an owner and his buddy and 3 old dudes sitting at a table all day reading the paper. and talking about God knows what.

He's got stuff to sell, nothing I want because it's either well overpriced or something I don't have interest in.
If I have interest in something he doesn't have he'll order it for me with a markup, basically retail+. Not wholesale+.

All in all, my impression is he's there to buy and sell bullion at bullion prices and has some other stuff as his hobby and the store just houses his collection he over prices so he rarely has to part with any of it except the bullion.

Just a clubhouse for the owner and his retired buddies to hang out at in my opinion and when he does buy up someone's collection he's going over it all with a fine tooth comb so there's nothing to cherry pick left for anyone to try bothering.

I guess he's nice enough but I don't think he's in it for the money except from bullion. It's a small store, mostly back of store. For all I know he lives in the back and it was cheaper than renting and a climate controlled storage unit. He's also closed a lot to go to coin shows so maybe that where most of his money is being made besides buying and selling bullion which he does have decent store traffic for.
Who knows but I get the feeling his "coin' business is a hobby for him more than anything else. Every coin shop is different, same thing went for comic book shops when I was younger. Some were there to sell and build business, some just wanted to sell the stuff behind the counter at high prices or fill subscription orders for people and get out and spend their days playing D&D with their friends.