Why Do Prices Seem Higher At Local Coins Stores?

I found You can negotiate with coin shops once they see you as a steady customer . But don't expect a huge discount , they still have that big nut known as Overhead .

It's a greatly mixed bag. I see things on ebay that are considerably less than the local stores, but you have to wade through a lot of garbage to find them. The local dealers don't usually have culls, and seeing it up close means there are no light tricks to be done as with a picture (which has happened to me a few times now).

ebay also has terrible prices on some things, Japanese WWII occupation money for example. Most of the average circulated ones there are $2-3 each. The local dealer gave me a few boxes to go through and at the end I got a much greater variety than is on ebay now and at a much lower price -- $0.50 each for the circulated ones, $1 for a few of the CU ones.

Everything is a matter of you knowing what you're doing.

You all know my thoughts. I prefer buying off the internet for reasons previously stated. I don't want to have to pay full retail for a few coins just to get a decent deal on the fourth. You end up losing in the long run. I understand why coins shops are closing and struggling. The owners of local shops in Kansas City seem so stressed out that they lost their passion for coins. You can see it in their eyes especially when you bring in your own coins and ask questions. It's a turn off but I understand their position. It not just coin shops suffering it's retail in general. If the internet trends continue with Amazon and other online shopping venues the commercial real estate market will collapse. Actually that outcome is probably inevitable.

I never buy from ebay. Too much bs and not to mention counterfeits.
Privacy and no paper trail is also important to me, so I will pay more and deal with my LCS.

I like to see coins in hand before I purchase them. That being said a high percentage of local coin shops have totally unrealistic prices even after negotiation. I have to search hard to find coins available locally for reasonable prices and sometimes I think I'd be better served buying online.

It seems like many dealers have forgone their B&M business. It is much cheaper to travel the coin show circuit and/or sell online.

At a few coin shows I've talked to dealers that also had a coin store. They all agree a coin store is OK but not a really great income place. One of the horrors around me is the property taxes. A small store can run over 30,000 a year in just property taxes. And that is for the owner of the property. If a person is renting that store, the owner has to charge enough rent to pay for those taxes. Many coin stores go out of business due to just not enough business. A poor location or changing neighborhood can really break a place. On place I know of that went under tried to sell stamps, sporting items, coin collecting supplies and several other items. Still a poor location just didn't help. And don't forget things like Insurances, safes, lighting fixtures, show cases and on and on and on.
Even stores like Kmart are going under.

I've found that if you deal strictly in cash so that the LCS can avoid fees of processing a debit/credit card or have deal with a check they are willing to deal a bit more on price. Also, if you are willing to hunt and keep an open mind, you can often find prices that are lower than online on some coins.