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 Replies: 19 / Views: 3,469 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5831 Posts |
Poll Question
I happened to stop at an estate sale over the weekend where an old woman had died and the nephew from out of state was trying to clear everything out of the house so they could sell the property as quickly as possible and return home. I picked up a nice framed print and some decorative containers. Before I left, I mentioned I was a coin collector and asked if the woman by any chance had any coins stashed away somewhere... Well, as it turns out, there were no coins. That night, however, I dreamed that the guy had gone back into the house and returned with a box filled with a variety of old coins, including Morgan dollars, Walking Liberty half dollars, Buffalo nickels, Indian Head cents, etc. When I asked how much he wanted for the whole box, he told me $100. And that's when I woke up. I honestly don't know if such a scenario is possible in real life, but after waking from the dream I starting wondering what I would do if it did ever happen to me. Keeping in mind that (a) I am not a dealer and certainly couldn't afford to pay anywhere near full retail price for a horde such as that, (b) it would take quite awhile to actually go through the whole box and figure how much it was all worth and (c) the guy set the price and was obviously more concerned with cleaning the house than with making a profit... Personally, given the situation, I think I would have probably just paid the $100 and then agonized over it all the way to the bank. What would you do?
- Option 1: Give the man $100 and take the coins
- Option 2: Offer him $50 for the box, on general principles
- Option 3: Tell him the coins were worth much more than $100 and offer him more money ($500? $1000?)
- Option 4: Pay the $100, but go back and offer to give him more after cataloging the contents
- Option 5: Tell him to take the whole box to a coin dealer in order to get the best price possible
- Option 6: Something else?
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Pillar of the Community
Korea, Republic Of
1881 Posts |
It all depends on the situation.
You can tell a guy that the coins are worth much more that his offer and tell him to go to a LCS to sell them for a higher price. Two things can happen:
One, the guy is just too busy with everything else and is in a hurry to sell everything----> take the offer.
Two, the guy can decide to take it to an LCS and get more than what he'd get from selling to you----> loses the chance to get coins with a big bargain.
In this specific situation the man sounds he's in a hurry to just get rid of everything, so I say take the offer.
Edited by Matteproof
05/28/2014 10:45 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
I would like to say option 4....but that would be a lie. If the seller set the price, regardless of true value, there is no ethical dilemma. It is not like a buyer offering a lowball price and trying to take advantage of a seller. Option 1 is my choice.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1888 Posts |
I chose -4- based on the possibility there would be significantly more that $100 value after a closer look.
Because the goodwill might lead to other scores. You never know about things like that.
Option one is also a perfectly acceptable choice.
Also, knowing what I do about dreams and how they can reveal the hidden nature of things, I would *seriously* consider going back and asking "are you -sure- there aren't some coins you might have misplaced or forgotten about?"
Of course the dream could be nothing but pure wish fulfillment.
But you never know until you follow through with a hunch or a mysterious clue.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8515 Posts |
He could take the box to Vegas and pawn it......" I'll give you twenty dollars and not a penny more "
I went option 4
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4409 Posts |
Option 1
I'd pay the $100 and take my chances.
-MV
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Pillar of the Community
United States
964 Posts |
Get the money in his hands as fast as possible, and the coins in yours. Then high step it out of the house stiff arming any person between you and the front door. Jump in your car and drive it like you stole it. Get to a nice secure place in your home. Open up the box and say to each coin you pick up "My Precious". Is that an Option? I pick that Option!!  Edited by Mr Click
05/28/2014 3:40 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
9862 Posts |
He set the price. It's not like you were attempting to lowball him.
"Dipping" is not considered cleaning...
-from PCGS website
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3049 Posts |
I have purchased 3 coin collections from estates.....
1st I went through the whole collection and paid pretty a percentage of the book that I thought was fair.
2nd we actually took the collection to a dealer and I said I would pay 10% more than what the dealer was willing to offer..
3rd I bought most of the items off of the individual at a percentage of the book price.. but there were a few coins I just couldn't afford and told them the value of the coins and let them know their best options.
I'm not a dealer... nor do I really wish to be... I like to collect the coins... heck I may even be a bit of a coin hoarder..
I just like things to be fair between both parties.. now if an established price of say $100 is set for a box of coins and both parties agree .. that's completely fine... but I am much happier (even though it's a bit more time consuming) to go through the collection and give a fair price... So I suppose I'm somewhere between option 3 & 4
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Moderator
 Australia
16806 Posts |
I would do option 3. If I sincerely believed they were worth much more than I could pay with cash on hand and I had a good enough look in the box to convince myself that most if not all of them were not fakes, I'd go for option 5.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2781 Posts |
#1 - If the seller sets the price and you pay it then deal is done fair and square. no different than picking up a great deal on ebay. but I only buy coins for my own collection, never with the intention of selling to make a profit. so if the guy was selling coins that I wasn't interested in I would 99% of the time tell the guy what they were really worth. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
541 Posts |
Pay the man his asking price and then ask him if he has any military medals and badges. Nice dream, when I go out looking all I usually find is way over priced junk.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
865 Posts |
I'd offer 20 and then slap the box out of the man's hand when he says no. Kidding of course. I'd pay the man and be on my merry way.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
I am on very good relations with a coin dealer who has the highest professional reputation recognized internationally.
The business auctions maybe more than $10 million in coins per year.
There would be a 'no brain-er' policy for such a client:
The coins would be auctioned, the client would take the price realized less fees.
The reputation of such an auction house / coin dealer is dependent on such a high level of professional integrity.
I consider option 1 to be somewhat dishonest.
Edited by sel_69l
05/29/2014 01:57 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
567 Posts |
I also consider option 1 slightly dishonest, I personally would try to give them a fair shake at what the values were, and then tell him that I would pay less than book but probably more than a dealer would pay, honesty is always the best policy, for your own dignity, and withholding information is dishonest.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
183 Posts |
tell him it's probably worth more but you'll have to check
the contents in detail to be sure. Ask him if he's sure he's still
willing to sell it for $100. if he does sell, then take it and
upon confirmation that it's a bargain, drop a random coin
into a charity box to try and pass the luck on to those
that really need it.
HH
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Replies: 19 / Views: 3,469 |
Posted 05/28/2014 10:36 am
