Will Online Buyng Mean The End Of LCS's In The Future?

I don't think so. collectors still enjoy the satisfaction of seeing coin in hand. so it's either LCS or coin shows. my experience with BIN or BID online has not been too
rewarding for me. I would say 65 % of the time I have received inferior or problem coins. yes every once in a while you connect with a beauty .

The internet is my lifeline. If not for ebay I wouldn't really be able to collect as there aren't any LCS in my area. Plus I doubt coin shops that I could drive to, (over an hour away) would deal much in Canadian coinage.

It sure looks like the bricks and mortars will go the way of the DINOS. The world is a rapidly changing place when it comes to retail so why would coins be any different. Today ebay is the coin market like it or not. Most major coin dealers and auction houses also have an online presence. Same businesses just a different way of doing it.
I owned a coin shop for 14 years , issued mail order lists and travelled the heck out of the coin show circuit. You would have high powered coins sit in a show case basically forever as your market was very limited. The Internet has changed the coin business in a mind boggling radical way. So in the 21st century as with any other business it is adapt or die.

Any well traveled highway will have items for sale be it the Internet or Interstate. Most coin shops offer more than just coins they mix it up with hobbies, jewelery, pawn shop or what have you. What people seem to go for is one stop shopping, so, well timed location location location on whatever highway. What comes around goes around who knows what the next fad will be. The internet is getting more dangerous and invasive all the time, should be interesting to see what the next 20 yrs will bring. I despise outrageous shipping fees on average priced items, rather put the dough in the gas tank.

The brick & mortar store that successfully integrates online and mobile buying channels into its physical store strategy will do best IMO. This is for a couple reasons:
- Coin buyers will only get "younger" and more tech. savvy as time goes on.
- The online market is larger and will allow B&Ms to sell unique and niche items at higher margins. Most niche collectors currently rely on the internet to find what they need; it's hard to find any niche item in quantity in a regional search.
- A physical store is still appealing for those that like to view in-hand before buying. Using the physical store to draw sales to your online channels and vice versa will help drive up sales.

Or, a store could simply try to make a killing on PMs.

Another factor that may reduce the impact of LCS operations in future is the average age of the owners of those stores. Who is going to buy them and continue operations?

While it's nice to have the coin in hand before you buy, it's been just as good for me shopping online. There are Canadian stores that have websites with good quality photos, and ebay vendors too.

There are many advantages to ebay for the buyer, not the least of which is less tax paid, even if there is a shipping charge. Also, the prices listed in store by any LCS I've seen are typically higher than those on ebay. It's a buyer's market, and the online vendors offer the best deals.

If the photos are good, I've never been disappointed with an online deal. Sometimes I take a chance because photos are blurred, and that's at my risk. Some of those work out great, and others I get what I thought I would.

I'm with PC. Many of my Canadian coins also go to export into the US (and some world wide). And although I list in both currencies to try to cater to each market, I often get better results listing in USD. I think calling it a "rip off" is strong statement which insinuates some sort of wrong doing. It's purely a market decision. I also agree with PC that very few Canadians spend big dollars on coins (at least at the moment) so I also position my business towards foreign markets and bullion. It seems that many Canadian buyers are currently insisting on 50/60% trends for non key year coins in good grades and often significantly less for lower grades. It should be no surprise that dealers offer 20/30% of trends for older stock or melt for many modern day non popular NCLT coins. It's a different story down south. The Canadian market mostly collects Canadian coins, the US market offers customers that collect a much wider range of coins. Not only does the US market offer great prices for American numismatic material, it also offers buyers for coins that would never sell here.