| Author |
 Replies: 14 / Views: 2,729 |
|
|
New Member
United States
3 Posts |
Hello coin collectors out there my name is jake obannon and I am 18 years old I am a college studen... My revenue streams are on the low side to say the least and a man came to me sometime last week and said why don't you try selling coins... He said he was having a meeting I should attend but that's in a couple days and before I go to it I am just wondering if there is actually a market for this... Or can I make money doing this... Any help from the novice or armature coin experts out there would be greatly appreciated.. Thank you!
|
|
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
 If you have absolutely no numismatic experience, then there is no possible way you could make a legitimate(read: legal) profit by buying and selling coins, regardless of spurious "business opportunities" presented to you by unknown individuals. The learning curve to become an average collector is no small task but it takes many years of experience handling, grading, and attributing coins to become a successful dealer- definitely not something you can just ease into and turn a profit. However, novices can make a decent amount of money speculating on precious metals such as gold or silver. However, there is a significant financial risk if PMs were to tumble and the working capital needed to start such a venture would be above that of an average 18 year old college student. Edited by biokemist6
10/27/2011 6:37 pm
|
|
Valued Member
Canada
272 Posts |
I was a professional coin dealer for 10 years until my recent retirement and I can tell you becoming a dealer at age 18 will not work.
For one thing a collector of 30 or 40 years experience will be leary of talking to you and that alone will make it very hard to survive in this business.
biokemist6 hit the nail on the head, if you wont listen to my advice at least listen to his, I have been dealing with coins both as a collector and as a dealer and I am still learning.
As for making money, yes I had very good days where I made alot of money, but I had more days where I didnt make anything, remember we are talking about a collectable here, once you sold a piece you have to replace it and they dont grow on trees.
Not to burst your bubble or anything but I would give this venture a great deal of thought.
|
|
Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
 Damain22, I completely agree with biokemist6. I just renewed my interest in this hobby about a year ago. During the past year I have spent about an hour every day just reading and learning about coins and probably another hour looking at the loose change in my house with a magnifying glass. So far I have bought FOUR coins. I still have a lot to learn, years worth of learning. The point is, you can't sell coins without buying coins first -- and how do you know what you're buying? Even looking for error coins in pocket change is a huge undertaking -- just look at the size of the books written on the subject. I'm a collector for the love of the hobby. If you don't love the hobby, I think you're going to hate the business because there is so much to learn. Meanwhile.... if you do love coins, hang around. Or at least -- if you decide to go to that meeting, come back and tell us what he was really selling. Seriously, though, don't buy anything at that meeting. Take some pictures and post them here first. |
|
New Member
 United States
3 Posts |
HA! Well I really do appreciate the honesty guys as for my venture I guess I really didn't shed much detail on the matter I am not really trading coins I guess I am giving coin collectors an opportunity to receive a coin of the month in which I receive benefits for the subscription.My dad got me involved by signing me up for it and I got have a pretty respectable collection right now... All things aside still a bad business venture.... What do you guys think?
|
|
Valued Member
United States
257 Posts |
Oh boy lets buy crappy coins at inflated prices!
|
|
New Member
United States
3 Posts |
I don't no I'm going to the meeting in a couple days or so so I'll go and let you guys no what the whole scheme is...
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
9792 Posts |
Well at least you seem to agree it's a scheme! That's for sure. I would not even waste my time with a MLM coin selling scheme.
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector. See my want page: http://goccf.com/t/140440 |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
9792 Posts |
You should watch this short clip posted here today. https://goccf.com/t/101327If you want to learn the coin trading business, my best advice is to start out by learning everything you can about grading US coins, pick an area or field that catches your interest and is still affordable to a degree, study the dates and varieties. Go to some coin shows, find some dealers willing to help you with your begining purchases, eventually with enough sweat and equity into learning and studying and buying, a mentor will step forward or you will know of one. That is the way of the coin business, fly by nighters, scammers, and wheeler dealers - none last, most go bust or get busted. Use your common sense - I'm still betting this is a MLM company where recruiting others to the business side pays way more than selling product. Let us know what you find out. I've had tables at many small town coin shows it's fun, great way to make friends, customers, and money, but you won't get rich doing it! "Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector. See my want page: http://goccf.com/t/140440 |
|
Pillar of the Community
1028 Posts |
The advice given here is all really good advice, particularly what was said by biokemist. I don't know about this coin of the month thing or what this meeting is gonna be. Most coin dealers have been collectors for 20 years or more first. I can also tell you that pretty much all the coin dealers I have met are currently not doing that well in this economy unless they have embraced and speculated on precious metals. Even before the "recession" hit coin dealers were never making THAT much money. There's a few who consign rare coins or get huge cuts from auctions and rare coin sales (i.e. Rick Snow), but that's not something you can just fall into. It takes a lot of capital, connections, and once again, at least 20 years experience. If you're interested in coins, just start collecting on your own. Maybe start trying to sell a small amount of coins on ebay on the side. See if you can make a tiny profit. Right now I'm doing terrible on ebay (if I include the fees I incur) and I have 22 years of collecting experience, 13 years of serious collecting experience, and 5 years of selling experience, so it's pretty tough. |
|
Forum Mom
 United States
5877 Posts |
Damain22, you have received some very good advice here. Aside from the lack of experience, this is not the time to get into the business of selling collectable coins. I had 30 years collecting experience before I started to sell and now have 10 years selling experience and, although I'm doing okay, it's a lot of work and money investment for a pretty narrow profit margin. Speculating in precious metals yields an even more narrow profit margin if you are even lucky enough to make a profit in such a volatile market.
In addition to the investment of money into inventory and the amount of work involved, there is also the investment into educational materials. If you don't know about the items that you are selling, your chances for success are nil. So far, I have invested over $5,000 close to $10,000 just in books for research. None of these are collectable - just informative. This amount does not even take into consideration the memberships in organizations for grading, variety attribution, and research. These dues can add up, too.
One of the most profound changes in numismatics came with the advent of the internet. While this venue made socialization between more collectors possible and a greater variety of coins available to more areas, there are also drawbacks. The internet made it possible for counterfeits and forgeries to be sold anonymously. This is very dangerous and makes it imperative that collectors be more educated to avoid the scams that are being run through the sales sites, emails, and even on television. A dealer needs to know significantly more than a collector. A collector can focus on one series and be done. A dealer must know something about everything - even items that he/she does not normally sell.
In short, becoming a "coin dealer" is not something that someone can do overnight from one meeting. I am very curious to know what company is conducting the meeting that you will be attending. Please be sure to come back and post the results of your meeting.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
968 Posts |
The only people that I could see signing up for a coin of the month club would be people that aren't really coin collectors but think they are (people that buy overpriced coins on HSN for example). So I think you may have a hard time finding people to sign up.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1745 Posts |
Be very careful, If something seems like too good of a deal, it probably isn't on the up and up.
|
|
Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
Damain22, as you can see we don't think this is a good idea...so if you are still considering it you have to decide if you can get back however much you are expected to invest in this plan.
As for learning about the coins, it may not matter that much because what you will be selling is SUBSCRIPTIONS. So if you like cold call sales...have at it ... but the economy isn't real great these days.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1213 Posts |
I would be very careful with this if I were you and think about it for at least a day before signing up for anything. Also, if they try to get you to sign-up or pay for anything on the spot, RUN!
|
| |
Replies: 14 / Views: 2,729 |
|
Posted 10/27/2011 6:55 pm
