An Ethical Question

I would pay $650.00 you don't steal coin in that way that $600 An older man may need $600.00 make ends met til his next S/S check or medicine for him a & wife.


that what I would

but if he look like he lived in a box. I would not buy they were stolen some how


@I am NOT per judging the person

I would probably choose option B.

You don't really know anything the man. He could be well off and on his way to a casino with the money. Just because he didn't buy overpriced stuff at Starbucks doesn't mean he doesn't have the money to spend. And he probably packed his lunch because he wanted to eat the food he likes or healtheir food than they serve at Starbucks. Lots of people don't like Starbucks coffee or just don't like big corporations which force all the locally owned and operated businesses to shut down. Lots of people with money don't dress well or show off with fancy watches, etc. He did his research, he knows what he is selling, take his offer of $600. He's a big boy, you are presuming too much, I might even offer $550 and see how firm he is at $600.

Silent, I cannot answer this question without more description. You state that your grading would /was very conservative. Is your conservative pricing an AU58 as a 50/52 or a MS60 as as 45? Just how big of a cushion was built into the conservative estimate?

For me the answer is simple. As stated earlier, haggling with a dealer or educated collector is sport and we all love it. Taking advantage of someone's lack of understanding is wrong in my lights. I would not be able to enjoy the coins or sleep very well.

Jim

Like was said above, option "B" is acceptable but I would probably go for Option "C" myself just because I am a softie for the elderly and I wouldn't want someone taking advantage of my grandfather (even though he set the price). If I though the gentleman was in dire need of cash then I would probably pay him his first asking price just to help out. I will give you an example of how much of a softie I really am, I was at the store the other day getting gas and this pregnant woman was in her car 3 isles over (I was at gas pump 2 and she was at gas pump 6). After I had already pumped my gas this woman walked up to me and stated how sorry she was to have to do this but said she was about to run out of gas and wanted to know if I had any money that could help her. I had exactly 1 dollar in my pocket and since gas is 3.09 a gallon 1 dollar isn't going to get her very far and I made this fact known as I handed it to her as I told her I wish I had more but that was all I had. She thanked me and walked back to her car and sat back down in the drivers seat, I got in my truck and proceeded to the light (which was green) and passed by the store looking over at the woman I then realized I have my bank card in my wallet and the pumps take cards at the pump, so I turn around and come in the way as to come in behind her and put my truck in neutral and apply the parking break and I get out and approach the womans door. I tell her I can get her some gas and tell her if she will pull the lever to open her gas lid I would take the cap off and pump her gas for her, she told me you had to open it manually (the cable was broken I guess) but it stuck out far enough that you could get a finger or two in it to apply pressure to open the outside gas lid. She got out of her car as I was putting in my card in the pump and said "You don't have to do this" I assured her it was ok and I didn't mind and that I just wish I had thought about it when she asked the first time. Well I asked her is she thought $10.00 would be enough to get her where she was going and she said "Lord Yes, thats too much" but I went ahead and put that in her car anyway and as I was pumping the gas for her she tried to give me back the dollar I had given her earlier (since she no longer needs gas) but I told her to just keep it because she needed it more than I did at the present time. Even though this wasn't a elderly person she was pregnant and I would have probably done the same thing even if she wasn't just because if my wife,mother,sister or anyone in my family were in the same position I would hope someone would do the same for them. Thats how I try to live my life, I try to put myself in their shoes and just see how much small things like this would mean to me if I was in their position needing help from someone else (I have been there so its not to hard to imagine, and I have to say there are a few members of this board that has helped me out and they don't even know me from Adams house cat). So as I stated above I would probably give him his original asking price for the coins (even though I may pay a little to much) just to help him out, if he gambles the money away thats on him, I can't base my actions on what he may do with the money, I just base my actions on what I hope he would do

Take it this way, if you are awful or made a bad deal, forums like this are quick to pick it up one day or another if you keep going. On the other hand, good reputation is totally hard work. There is this coin dealer that I keep on going even though his prices might be high at times.

It's not a matter of price - it's a matter of how he deals with the customers. What made an impression of him is that although he's older than the average coin dealers, he's very happy to help out the elders who come in and sell their collection and he makes an offer and tells them to go around other dealers to see if they make a better offer than him. Usually in many cases that I have seen, it would be insulting for a person to go around tables and ask for the best prices and go back to the first dealer. He didn't mind.

Personally though, I would have picked option B but will give more depending on the realistic value. I believe good impressions are very hard to earn yet bad impressions spread faster than wild fires.

From the other side
About 2 years ago, my dogs groomer, and daughter of a personal friend,
called and told me she had uncovered a box of silver dollars and half dollars that had been built into the wall of her home while she was doing some remodeling.

She knew I collected coins and wanted to know if I would take a look at them.

Not being an experienced collector of American coins, and the Australian coins I collect are graded on a different scale, I invited her over anyway-

of course on the way over she stopped by a coin shop-
Now mind you she is a single older woman with no knowledge of coins.

The dealer offered her $400 dollars - she phoned me and I told her not to take it - I was being selfish. I wanted to see them

She brought them to my home and I spent the next few days grading them,

my grading skills are not that great as I have never taken a course but with the help of the Internet a number of books and members of this forum- I completed an inventory including grades ( my opinion).

I was rather proud of myself for my first grading drill-
I had figured the coins were worth about $1200-1400.

So I travel to the coin shops. I visit the first with the coins and inventory in hand - he is not interested in the inventory and offers me $400 - same thing at the next shop.

The third shop offered me $800- now I am interested.

I did not know or ever dealt with the dealers in the first three shops before.

Now I had one more chance I went to a shop I knew and trusted.

The dealer asked me what I wanted to do with the coins. I phoned my groomer and asked her what her goals were- she was looking for $800 and a few coins for her grandchildren oh - she wanted to pay me by allowing me to pick 5 coins for myself.

having explained this to the dealer, he helped me sort out the coins on his counter- The best 20 were put apart for the groomers grandchildren- I got the next best 5.

after that the coins were assorted by value and the rest as bullion.

I left that shop with the 25 coins and $1685.00 in cash.

Needless to say my groomer was thrilled and I got free grooming for my dog for a year, but most importantly.

It showed me the value of a good and trustworthy dealer.

We have talked about this since that time and although I walked away with a good deal, my dealer was able to make money on the transaction as well.

Oh yes my dealer friend is a collector and I value his opinion and integrity.

Richard

Being new to collecting I would not really know what they were worth.

But, I did want to add something about coin shops. Since there are quite a few where I live . I have dealers that I will not buy anything from. Either because they are rude or untrustworthy. There is one I pretty much trust. So, I bought a couple coins and submitted them to be graded at a recent show. Depending how they are graded will determine if I go back or not. There is another I sort of trust but he has not had anything for me to buy and send in as a test.

If they screw me over on my first purchase they loose me as a customer and in the long run will loose way more then they would come close to making on one or two coins.