I Remembered Today Why I Stopped Going To Coin Shows

As a buyer I rarely stop by a table that does not display it's prices. Almost always those are going to be the overpriced coins.

As a Dealer I always mark my prices and expect to be "talked down" about 10 percent. If they don't talk me down, I just give it to them anyway. I have been known to give young collectors a better deal. If fosters excitement in the hobby and usually ends up making a repeat customer.

My prices rarely change. I know what I paid for it and I price in the profit I want. Now if I discover that some coin I thought was dead common is really a zillion dollar VAM, or some such, THEN I will adjust the price to reflect it's-market value. So re-pricing is not an issue, though I know dealers that reprice every time a new Grey Sheet comes out.

Lastly whats wrong with $5 and $10 dollar buyers? I would rather have a hundred buyers at $10 then one or two at $300. I know one dealer, a very nice man, who only sells high end slabbed coins. Like PCGS MS67FSB Merc's. But the truth is he counts it a good show if he sells ONE coin.

Necro-bump.



Leaving early on a Saturday makes no sense. A Sunday I can see, but not Saturday. The local coin shows here close at 3PM on Sunday, but are open until 6PM on Friday and Saturday.

Wow. That is just... Wow.

"howell1018"
How do you know it is because "they're leaving early"... Or that this might be "the reason the hobby is losing devotees". Why make those assumptions?

I attend many coin shows and often make conversations with the dealers about how they like the show and what shows other shows they attend or going to attend next. And you'd be surprised at what I've learned.

First of all they are all human's with lives and families just like us. Surprise.

Secondly some of them have retail stores with normal business hours and don't rely solely on coin shows for business.

Third there's all sorts of behind the scenes politics involved at shows, and gripes and complaints about everything from high table fees, to who gets preference for the best table location, to poor or declining attendance by the public. Shows that are dying and where dealer's spend more on table fees than they make selling coins.

In particular with the larger 3 day show I attend, the busiest time is within the first couple of hours. Then it quickly turns to about a 5 to 1, dealer to buyer ratio. And on the 3rd day it's a ghost town.

And then there are the competing shows from other towns or states.. It is not uncommon for dealers to attend shows throughout their respective geographic region. Where I live dealers come from and travel to shows in and throughout several surrounding states. Quite often 2 or more shows of those shows are scheduled for the same weekend. Or the days might overlap.

Ok now Knowing all of this, and if you were a dealer, if 2 shows were scheduled for the same Saturday which show would you want to be renting a table in; the slow show that's ending, or the busy show that's just beginning?

I bet if you attend the show and speak to some of the dealer's you'll find out a lot of what I'm saying is correct and theyvare not the reason behind the hobby seeing a decline in devotees.

I have gone on Fridays. Even though it is not that crowded, the dealers seem less engaged (it may just be me). Saturday are the best for me. There is always a good crowd and the tables are full.

I have only ever gone on a Sunday once. Even though they are supposed to be there until 3PM, I think most dealer had left the day before. This was several years ago and things may have changed, but I am not willing to find out.

Harry213. In response to the points you made above, what I find strange is that the Long Beach show takes place over a 3 day period (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) where in the past (my first Long Beach show was in 1976) I seem to recall (and I could very well be wrong) it ran from Thursday to Sunday and I think the first day was dealer to dealer only (but once again..I could be wrong). Most working people work from Monday to Friday which means they can only attend on the weekend. I recall back in the day, people complaining that they went to the show on the last day (Sunday) and that there were lots of empty tables, which was of course discouraging to them. I also understand the dealers wanting to make planes, and whatever, but at least back then the working stiff had Saturday. Now the back end has been eliminated and Saturday looks like what Sunday used to look like. I never made the assumption that "this is THE reason for losing devotees," I said this MAY be ONE of the reasons they're losing devotees. I they have family or other commitments that limits their participation, perhaps they should advise the show promoters who could then make clear that these sellers would not be there on the final day (though I don't think promoter would be very excited about that as it would serve to cut back on attendance). I'm assuming (once again) that the reason for the loss of Sunday is because more and more dealers were leaving on Saturday and that day became extraneous, so they cut it out and added Thursday for the public. Perhaps this is a chicken or the egg scenario. The dealers leave on Saturday or early Sunday because of lower attendance, but maybe the reason for the lower attendance is the result of the dealers leaving early. As I said previously, i"m retired and I plan on going on Thursday, but I have that luxury being retired.

There are a couple of nice shows around here in central Ohio. If you want to set up in them, you WILL be there all day Saturday and at least till noon on Sunday. If not, you don't get to come back. The big boys did complain once and boycotted the next show. The people who ran them just sold the spots to other dealers and the big boys missed out on their sales.

They can say what they want for public consumption, but I am a dealer and I talk to the other dealers, and the ones that got left out ( and this was a few years ago) complained profusely when they found out that they ban was for real. Since then, most people pretty much obey the rules. If you want to buy on Sunday, you better be there early and move real fast. However, you will find some real good deals.