PCGS Value Vs Price I Should Pay?

I never use PCGS listed value.... I heard they can be up to 40% above market price, especially high dollar coins.
Check "completed auction" on ebay for market value price of any particular coins you plan to buy.
Numismedia Fair Market Value is pretty good (retail price).
If you can pay at Greysheet price then that's even better.

Almost forgot...

I have found out the hard way that if I want a coin bad enough, you can throw out all previous sales, values, etc... out the window. If you want/need it...the price is up to you on badly you want/need it.

If it seems too high, walk on by!

If it seems too low, don't let go!

If it seems just right, you will sleep at night!

I am sure that I am plagiarizing someone, that popped into my head too easy.

oih82w8 is correct there are a few coins I would bid 50% over the top PCGS price on if they came up for sale, and I still probably wouldn't win them at auction. most coins I go at 70-80% of their pricing, unless the coin is top end for the grade. You either know that because you've been in the business for decades and have seen a lot of similar coins to base your call on. There are coins many think are truly rare and in actuality there are lots of them out there, they may not be for sale currently but they do exist. I've seen rolls of uncirculated 1955 DDO LWC, 1909-S vbd LWC, 1932-D and S Quarters, thousands of PL and DMPL morgans, used to pick through rolls for DMPLS in common dates and replace them with average inc coins, I knew a dealer that would bring me 5-10 rolls every month of S & O mint Morgans to go through, my pick + a solid unc replacement was only $5.00/coin premium, today many of those would ealiy make MS66 DMPL or higher at the TPGs. If I recall a roll of premium unc morgans was around $90.00-120.00 back in 1982.

I had 2 O mint dollars that I traded across the board to a guy for a 2 - Double Eagle Saints, no lie, he knew the dollars were that nice, the Saints were worth maybe $500 at the time that was crazy money to spend on O mint common dollars, you know I wonder what they graded at today, wouldn't be surprised if they were in 67 or 68 DMPL holders now, I'd rather have those 2 dollars back than the Saints I took in trade, they were 1882-O and 1883-O and at 67DMPL or higher were talking $20K+ per coin now.

Money always chases quality while average never really gets the full price asked.

and with all the above!

I like to use various combination of pricing guides, all of which have already been stated above. I like Numismedia, compared to prior sales on the bay, my Red Book which is HIGH, how bad do I want the coin, how good is the coin for what I'm willing to pay, if I get it in hand and don't like it, can I return it? How reputable is the seller?

Most importantly, always be ready to walk away. There are many fish in the ocean.

Best of Luck in your hunting!

As others have stated, the PCGS and NGC/numismedia prices on their sites are RETAIL prices. Thus inflated by a fair margin for most coins.

Since I don't care to pay for a greysheet subscription, I find that 80% of retail is a decent rule-of-thumb for wholesale prices. The Heritage auction site is a good resource for seeing what past auctions have "paid" and also lists the "WHOLESALE" prices from the same resources they list the retail from ( PCGS, NGC, numismedia ). You have to sign in to see all of that info but IMO it is the best resource for a good true "FMV". I find it better than looking at ebay past records as a fair amount of eBay-ers overpay for coins IMO!

Between auction prices and Wholesale that is typically my TARGET when haggling/bidding/etc. And 75%-80% of the retail lists is about right ( I saw someone else post that they target 80% of retail and I think that is pretty accurate in my experiences ).

That said, for many slabbed coins sellers want retail! Many ask 110%-300% of retail when selling BIN on ebay for example. So it is difficult to find good quility coins at wholesale prices. You have to be patient! Some bargains can only be had during auctions where you luck out and have few if any other bidders looking at that coin that particular week.

I admit that with a "certified" set of Buffalo nickels, I paid closer to 85% for many of the coins I wanted - I was too impatient with it in retrospect. On some coins people will just not budge from close to retail. Waiting for a good auction price or a good bargain at a coin show is the way to go typically, IMO. Most Buy-It-Now prices are retail or higher. I have found a few decent deals but they are rare.

Shows are better for gold, certified coins, and deals in-general. It is much easier to haggle face-to-face and many dealers want the turnover so they are more willing to deal at closer margins. Plus tax and shipping doesn't add on!

JMHO