Tips For My First Coin Show As A Vendor

Nickelsearcher gave great advice on safety. If you have high end expensive coins not a lot of people carry 10,000$ in cash. Other forms of payment might be advised as mentioned by others. And I say no to checks as well. That is just a setup for a bad day if the check bounces. Good luck hope you do well.

In my experience, it seems that coin show dealers who will not accept electronic payment are now the exception. YMMV.

Bring a wholesale price sheet. Also, be ready for people to try to haggle. If you can't take anything off on the sticker price, and it doesn't make sense for you to sell at their offer, don't feel pressured to accept. Mark items fair, but also where you can take a little off in the event of negotiation. On the topic of sticker price, I always have my items priced where they can be seen. (When I am on the buying side, I tend to pass over those who have nothing priced). That's like walking into the grocery store and you have to ask what the price of the items are on the shelf.

Everyone should assume cash, and that's usually how I take payment. However, if they ask, I do electronic payment as well. Greet those looking at your table. I also bring cheap items to give away to kids. We have to get the younger generation interested too!

Good call on accepting credit cards. My wife and I share a Square account when we sell our work at art shows.

Be mindful that Square will charge you a 2.39% fee (plus 39¢ per transaction) so factor that into your pricing if you have some coins that are sold on thin margins.

Thanks for the additional tips. I'll plan on having a small sign that states 3% convenience fee for card payments to mitigate those processing fees. And yes, it is the Upstate Coin Show that I'll be setting up at!

Finished selling today. Overall, it was a good first show. I was able to sell a decent amount of inventory - nearly $3,000 worth - and network with some of the dealers. Bullion, Pokemon cards, and gold were selling like crazy. It doesn't seem like there are as many collectors interested in type coins. Nonetheless, I was able to sell some large cents, a 1794 Half Cent, 1806 half dollar, 1872 Seated Liberty dollar, and a few other earlier type coins. Additionally, it was refreshing to see that there were a lot of young collectors on Saturday in particular. I had a young girl, probably 11 or 12 years old, buy a Shield nickel from me. I also had a young man around the same age who bought a Three Cent Silver and Flying Eagle cent from me. It was only 10-12 years ago that I was in their shoes, saving birthday and Christmas money as a kid to buy coins at the show. With that said, it was such a full-circle experience to be the one selling coins and giving the kids a good deal!

Nice one! Good to hear positive story of how one becomes a coin dealer.

From your first experience, what additional tips / recommendations would you add, CoinEnthusiast?

Glad you had good results!

I missed the show this year. Had unscheduled obligations that preempted my Friday plan and another took out my Saturday backup plan.