ASE And General Coin Market Help

Hello,

I have not been here to the forum in a LONNNNNG time but I'm starting to come up with a bunch of new collecting questions so here I am. I collect the following:
Proof Sets
Modern Commemoratives
Modern Uncirculated Coins (Cent - Dollar) from 1900 - present
American Silver Eagles

Today's question is about "The Market" and Silver Eagles. I have found that the current year eagle and the year prior are readily available and pretty close to spot (locally.) One of the local shops sells for $5 over spot and I'm OK with that. Anything beyond 2 years old they use the gray sheet. The other dealer has told, when I asked him about tracking the market, that there is no way to answer that question.

The example he gave me was he will not quote prices over the phone because chances are the person is going to call other dealers and looking up prices over the phone is a waste of his time. I asked how much for a 1988 Silver Eagle and he said $30 to $35 depending on the market. I said I'll be back this weekend and he said OK but the price will more than likely change depending on the market.

I'm only a part time collector with very common tastes and therefore will not subscribe to the gray sheet because it is REALLY expensive. I use Numismedia as a general guideline which works and has worked for me for everything but Silver Eagles thus far.

I'm always afraid of over paying for coins and have overpaid in the past but I try and use averages on MS-60 grades to help me (e.g. MS-63 $20, MS-65 $25, MS-68 $45, AVG=$30 Retail) so I usually pay no more than that average if I can help it. This doesn't seem to work with older ASEs. Since I don't have access to the gray sheet what other tool can I use to help me gauge these prices?

Thank You,
Rich