Is It OK To Ask Dealers To See If They Have Coins Available Without Buying Anything.

If a dealer makes it difficult for his customers to view coins, has a short fuse with customers, or is not reasonable, then take your business elsewhere. There are too many honest, friendly coin dealers in this world to be dealing with jerks. They lose your business, so it is ultimately affecting them the most. You can buy coins elsewhere, there are many deals on the horizon.

geez, I spent half of my childhood in a LCS just looking until I was ready to pull the trigger on something that wanted to come home with me

I've been been to enough shops and shows to understand there is simply a given % of dealers that are simply grumpy human beings. Maybe it was just a bad week, or maybe they reached their professional expiration date, or whatever. But they have lost their interest in dealing with humanity and we all annoy them in our mere presence. Customer service has gone out the door and they honestly don't care. I've felt judged more times than I can count where they think I am too young to afford anything or even carry a knowledgeable conversation, and treated me as just an annoyance.

But on the flip side there are lots of cool, friendly, serviceable, and motivated sellers who still have a passion for this and are cool sharing there time and knowledge along the way. Hang out with that crowd and spend some money as you can and this is where you will find your fulfillment with the hobby. I remember a LCS near where I lived in high school that was always cool with my spending 2-3 hours on a Saturday even though that might only mean $10 to them, they were cool talking the whole time and showing a few pieces. They once gave me terms on a $35 coin, lol. Today, I've graduated up to $50-$125 coins, but I know the local dealers and regular show attendees and I've learned who the friendly guys are, and they get my money. It's got to be something REALLY eye catching for me to bother with a couple of the others.

Have a short memory of the grumpy fellows and just move on. They will likely be gone sooner than later anyways. Very little in this hobby is truly rare, very little that the next guy wouldn't have too. Sorry for the negative experience.

Well of course he would. I'd appreciate it if people would buy every time they look at one of the products the company I work for sells.

But that's not how sales work. If you've ever worked in sales or for a company centered around sales, you understand that sometimes you win a sale, sometimes you don't. Good salesmen and saleswomen will follow any lead, provide any information requested and hope to close as many as possible. It's a numbers game; get enough selling opportunities and the sales will come.

So, no, you did nothing wrong, it's just sour grapes from a bad salesman.

I do not think I could have said it better.

This dealer is not local, I don't know when he is busy or not, like I said in a previous message I didn't tell him I was going to buy anything, and I really don't think somebody should call somebody out in a video it's bad business, I wouldn't do it.

hfjacinto - Can I ask if you are of colour? I ask that as some of your experiences are like mine, dealers telling you, that you can't afford stuff and only showing you one note at a time. This sounds dodgy as heck and I suspect these guys are being prejudiced towards you.

I can pass for white in the cool months, but in the summer I tan up and look browner like the Maori I am, in my country that is the same as being Black and some dealers don't take me seriously along with some collectors as they assume I am either too stupid to collect coins or I am likely to be too poor to buy anything other than junk and finally I am likely to steal their wares.

This ignorance is surprisingly common and I see it a lot, add to the fact I don't dress up (Casual beach wear in summer and trackies/ cheap sweatshirts in winter), add to that my "ethnic" name (You know your name is ethnic when no one can say it properly). Even the dealers I have great relations with, did not take me seriously until I brought some coins. My usual trick is I go in and charm them, get their confidence and the tell them my name. There is usually a blank look or sudden jolt of reaction, but that passes when they know I am real and sincere.

Plus where I live, our city is only 43% white, yet every collector I know apart from one wealthy Chinese guy, is 100% snow British white. I am the only person of colour who collects hardcore and I am seen as an object of curiosity for most and some never talk to me. Also its an elitism thing as I am not high or even middle class.

Finally if any of you encounter racism - walk the heck out of log off if its online. Never fuel or feed prejudice, even if your dream coin is sitting there at a give away price - never honour a bigot. Let them stew in their own hate.

Back to the topic - nothing wrong with asking to look before you buy. I mean if the dealer has nothing you want or you get a pang of remorse like "Maybe I should pay that bill with this money or buy my mama a new car etc", it is not your fault, you are a human that feels emotions too.

If the dealer is nice, let them know what you want and you will buy that thing if they ever get it. Plus not every collector is so specific. You may just collect Bust Halves, but one day you may be in there to buy a mint set, dig through the melt silver or decide to take Princetane on and collect British halfcrowns!

Well thanks for clarifying that, still that dealer's business model needs an upgrade. Some of my notes still however apply to my experiences in New Zealand as a low income person of colour.

I know New Jersey is a diverse state - from New York lite with many Italian Americans, up to heartland America in the far north west of it.