"Flipping" Coins - Do You Do It?

I just can't figure out how to sell coins. Just not much interest in doing that and no idea on really how. At coin shows I constantly think of buying, not selling. I never use ebay or other on line dealers. I did buy a few coins way, way back from an on line dealer but find so many better deals at coin shows.
Over many years of collecting and never selling a coin, many duplicates have gone to excess in quantity. Just can't part with coins.

I like to buy small lots or collections of coins for a few I may need and sell the rest to hopefully get the ones cherry picked and/or I need for my albums for cheaper.

Fascinating Topic...It says a lot about the character and sense of decency of the members of this community that this has not taken any ugly turns. One could see where it could easily happen. Of course there will be disagreements and different opinions on this subject. I am not a dealer, just a collector who has family obligations that have to come before my coin purchases. Sometimes I will have under a hundred dollars to spend on a coin, sometimes many multiples of that. If I can find a coin that I feel is either undergraded or undervalued and can be "flipped" for a profit I will jump on it. Not being a dealer, I have no overhead and if I can make a 20-30% profit it is a win for me. I don't have any moral or ethical problems with making a couple of bucks on a coin. If I did I would not do it. Over the years I have also lost money on coins. I wonder if anyone would be bold enough to tell everyone some of their specific buy and sell stories, either good or bad?

Some points I wanted to make about this since I have noticed alot of people on these types of forums seem to bash dealers.

1) People have to realize that the profit a dealer makes has to go towards utilities, rent, merchant service and bank fees, security system fees, phone and internet expenses, accountant fees, payroll, etc. Plus they have to pay income taxes on their profits. So just because a dealer makes $300 on a deal that doesn't mean all $300 goes into his pocket.

2) Do people have a problem with the company they're working for making a 40-50% profit on items they sell? Probably not because that profit allows that person to keep having a job.

3) With collector coins it's not always a quick sale. Sometimes that coin can sit in a dealers inventory for weeks or months or longer and that ties up their operating capital.Sometimes they end up having to liquidate or sell the coin at wholesale to another dealer just to free up the capital.

4) With scrap gold purchases, most states have a hold period of 2-4 weeks. So that allows plenty of time for gold prices to swing in the downward direction, thereby taking their profit margin down by alot. Also that allows ample time for an item to be determined to be stolen which means the dealer has to forfeit the item. They are out the item and the cash, so their buy prices have to account for these situations.

Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but my guess is that 99% of people here that bash dealers have never been 100% in business for themselves and have no idea what it's like on the other side of the counter. I'm talking about counting 100% on your business to put food on your table, a roof over your head, gas in your car, etc.

I started selling coins a few years ago as a way to help fund my own collecting needs. Then my wife lost her job and I realized I needed to make some more money. I started to buy alot more coins for the express intent of flipping for profit/extra income. I am still fairly small-time, buying coins from a few dollars to a couple hundred dollars, but I find that my profit margin is comfortable enough that I make an extra couple thousand dollars a year. Mastering the art of selling has had a fairly steep learning curve, everything from determining problem coins to accurately grading to determining market value to learning USPS shipping regs to perfecting digital photography of shiny metal discs composed of disparate metal compositions.

Have I lost money on a few coins? Sure, any dealer that claims to have never taken a loss is lying. Do I profit on the vast majority of coins? I most certainly do or I probably would have given up by now For better items, I typically want at least a 10% ROR but it could be as high as 50-75% for cheap items. I will also note that I typically use CDN Greysheet pricing for fixed price listings so it is not like I am trying to get top retail dollar for my coins.





If and when the cops come a callin', that dealer will be out of the money he spent to buy the coins. My local dealer IDs everyone who looks remotely close to 21 and will almost never buy from someone under 21. If dodgy merchandise comes in the store, he does try to buy it as cheaply as possible. What usually comes next is a call to the STLPD to find out if any coins have been reported as stolen. Having a retired STLPD detective working in the store helps with stolen merchandise as well.

one word NEVER!

I think flipping coins is more difficult then it sounds, yes profits are possible, but to truly have profits you need to include the time you spend working on it. Theres a lot of time required... how much do you pay yourself hourly? I think after deducting the cost of your time there is barely any profit to be made.

As for my opinion of flipping coins, I really hate it on ebay. As a collector its very frustrating to miss out on a coin by a few dollars only to see it relisted by the winner at a "buy it now" price based on PCGS price-guides which is usually at least 50% higher than the price they bought it for. Its really ruining ebay for collectors in my opinion.