Farewell LCS And Goodbye Coin Shows

I used to like to go in to my LCS, hoist myself on the stool and look through the Lincoln cents trying to upgrade from a Fine to a Very Fine...those were the days. Details were important, what you did and how you did it mattered.

KK

There is an old saying that....

"Things change as things change."

That saying is so true now more than ever!

I live in Ohio too and there's nothing really around me either aside from the We Buy Gold/Pawn Shops. Someday I'll check out the nearest one to me but I don't feel comfortable I know enough to not get scammed yet. I always hear negative stories about rude dealers so I'm reluctant.

Unfortunately your experiences aren't uncommon, especially for those of us who are younger than the general coin show crowd as we usually get treated very differently by a lot of places. A lot of them just never adjusted from the days where they could charge whatever because there wasn't much other choice before the internet market got huge. The local coin shows are even worse from what I've seen with the out of town small sellers some of which have no shame.

That said there are still good coin shops out there. Most of the better lesser known ones I've been too seem to generally do something else like jewelry or other collectables as well.

I say good riddance. I've never had a positive experience in a coin shop. Even as an 8 year old kid. Actually I should say it was a positive experience but the memory became tarnished when I got back into collecting as an adult and realized that I got ripped off on all the coins I purchased from that shop.

The overpricing of coins at coin shops still continues to this day. I travel a lot for work so I have the privilege of visiting shops in multiple states and the story is always the same. Unreasonable markups on raw coins and even worse on graded coins.

I agree that regional coin shows are worse. I have never seen more junk Seated dollars and capped bust halves marked up to astronomical levels in one place. I used to get frustrated when leaving a show empty handed. Now I wear it as a badge of honor. It's not my fault that they are selling junk at inflated prices.

The internet auction companies are killing the dinosaur coin business models and unless they adapt they will end up extinct. Combine that with all the free education you can get online and it's no surprise that their naïve customer base of suckers are moving to online platforms to purchase their coins.

Side note: These days many coin dealers too purchase their coins at auctions and mark them up 15%. Once you understand and recognize this, unless you're a moron, you will start purchasing your coins at auctions as well.

By me not much ever changes as to coin stores or coin shows. We have at least 4 coin shows a Month by me and all within about 15 miles.

It's hard for coin shops to compete when they have to pay for rent, employees, utilities, etc. I have found that some of the larger ones have a very good web presence as well and probably do more business through that. There is one shop in particular that I like as they are always having sales of one sort or another. I have bought items from them and even after paying tax and shipping it is less than what I could buy those items at a coin show. There is also an online-only dealer in the U.S. that I like because they offer free shipping over $25 and I don't pay tax. The smaller bricks and mortar only shops are in trouble, especially when they are supposed to charge customers tax compared to no tax when you go to a show. ebay of course is a good source, but shipping outside of Canada can be prohibitive. I have never bought anything from an online auction, as they charge 15-20% buyer's premium and 13% sales tax. Then shipping charges, which are unknown in advance!

If you are a legit business in the US, you have to pay sales tax. You are permitted to just add it into the price you charge which is what most dealers will do. I wouldn't assume that all the people you deal with at shows cheat on their taxes.