Is Honesty The Best Policy?

Mr. Monkeyman, what you experienced has nothing to do with honesty. Honesty is when a 90 year old lady loses her purse, you find it and return it! YES, that's a must and that's honesty, however, on E-bay it's a dog eat dog free for all.
If someone is listing coins, regardless, of what the error is, the onus is on the Auctioneer/owner to review their listing before going live with it.
I've had many great deals this way without regret or apprehension, and if you don't believe I'll do it again, try listing a $1,000.00 coin on a "Buy it Now" for $100.00 and see what I do!

Glenn

I am part of the old school mentality that seems to still be prevalent in little towns and rural areas. It makes for a much better society for EVERYONE if we are willing to help point out each others mistakes and not "take someone" over one of their errors.

I am a fairly well known dealer in another hobby and have a reputation of honesty and integrity - this is worth more to me than any dollar value.

I have been known to tell someone when they have something under-priced on their sales table. It has paid off more than getting a one time stash of cash over someone else's mistake could ever bring me. Not only do I normally gain a good friend, but I also have these friends come back to me with deals they never would have given me before.

At times I have bought pieces, (surprisingly) sold them for a good deal more than I bought them, and went back with some of the money to the guy I got it from. B/c of this I have had people come to me the next time they have more to sell.

Last year I sold a 500 piece to a friend for 250.00 b/c I got it for less than that (did not know what it was worth at the time and could not find the original dealer). You better believe the guy I sold it to has come back as a repeat customer.

A pushing/shoving/get-rich-quick-at-the-expense-of-others world is a hurtful, hard, and undesirable place to live in. This concept has been flooding into our nation for a good long time now and is the root of rising costs on everything (like health care). This mentality is the birthplace of additional rules and regulations being imposed upon us b/c of liability (whoever heard/needed bicycle helmet rules when I was a kid - we would have laughed it off as a ridiculous power-grab!)

Congrats on being honest. "What goes around comes around," and "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" are not such old sayings b/c the lesson they teach is worthless

I TOO get sick of the rip-off attitudes and lies, not only in this hobby but in so many others where money is concerned. I was also consistently disgusted by the prevalence of cheating throughout school and college. So many want to get by without any work or struggle - when that is what makes the destination worthwhile.

Anyway, my latest pet peeve is hearing the "but that is less than I paid for it" mantra in coin deals. I don't care if you got ripped off and overpaid, why should that affect my price? I'm sure 80% of the time they are lying anyway, but it is tiring to hear it so much.

I'm at a coin show Sat and this one dealer had only one coin I had any interest in. It has a price marked on it WAY over "listed FMV" ( from sites like NGC/PCGS/etc. that are already inflated over reasonable FMV IMO ) but is fairly graded. I ask what he wants ( since he has a sign saying every coin is negotiable ). He quotes me less than marked but 20% above list. I offer him $5 below list and he says he has $10 more into it. So he paid more than the inflated list price - supposedly.

My issue is that he had over 5,000 coins for sale in many books and displays ( this one was buried in a book ). I'm not sure he could "possibly" know from memory how much he paid for every one of them. Yet he didn't look up anything or consult anything when quoting me. He only had the "marked price" as input. So he either marks everything up by the same % or amount above what he pays - which seems dubious - or he just makes it UP ( most probable ) or he has a brilliant memory for what he bought every single coin he has for.

I probably heard the "that's less than I have in it" thing 10 times at the show. Pass or counter, the story of WHY that offer is too low doesn't interest me! I don't go around scolding sellers for overgrading or overpricing - and most do one or both, so don't lay this - I gotta make a profit line of BS on me.

RANT OFF

Integrity and Honesty are in short supply I'd say.

Earle42, you rock. Honesty and integrity are out there, you have to develop relationships with people that are straightforward and aboveboard, and it IS a two way street. Honest people are seldom taken for a ride. They know there are NO fail-proof get rich quick schemes, nor is there a Santa Claus in numismatics, and by and large, they've done their homework and read the book first.

Monkeyman, you did the right thing with the bonus that you caught a scammer and scared him off. For that you get kudos.

The "I have more than that into the coin" line is nothing more than an attempt to get more out of the customer. While I am sure some dealers mark coins up on a flat, set percentage, the majority do not. It is then up to the prospective buyer to decide wether he/she wants to pay what the dealer is now asking or not. I don't believe that has anything to do with a sellers integrity or honesty. They say that rather than saying " I need to make a larger profit than that on this coin". No matter what type of business someone is in, if they do not make enough profit to cover costs, expenses and enough money to continue on they will not be in business long. Earle, I commend you for your fair business practices and am sure they pay off in the long run.

Thank you

"I have more than that into the coin"

Gee, that's too bad. Well thanks anyway. Bye.