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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,640 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1316 Posts |
Aloha everyone! I just wanted to discuss strategies and experiences when it comes to trading coins.
This past weekend I was at a local show and attempted a trade on two occasions; one of the two resulted in a deal.
With the successful trade, it was simply trading error coins of similar nature and grade, just different dates. I swapped my 1989 off center cent for their 1982 off center. Easy peasy. Another great 1982 in my hoard of '82s.
With the unsuccessful trade, I offered 3 coins with a total retail value of about equal to the coins I was hoping to obtain; about $200 for $200. The counter offer from the dealer was essentially crediting me $100 for my coins and I'd add $100 in cash. I declined, and they made a second offer of my 3 + $90 for coins. I understand dealers to make some money, and I'd have been happy to have covered their dinner; but this counter didn't seem like fair value. Please help me if my math is wrong, but if I show up with $200 value and have to add in $100 for a $200 coin, then I just gave $300 for a $200 coin. Or I suppose another way to do the math is the dealer would be turning his $100 investment into a different $200 sale inventory + $100 bonus cash in his pocket for the effort of tweaking his inventory. Either way, the math + sentimental value wasn't working for me, so I moved on. Hopefully I'll get my deal another time :)
So I'm just looking to hear from others who have made trades. In my successful trade did I just get lucky and it rarely happens this way? In my unsuccessful trade, was not understanding the nature of the game and their offer is what the market tends to be like for trades?
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1747 Posts |
First off you did mention the 1st rule of business, and that is stay in business. this dealer is there to make money, not make sideways deals into other products. Perhaps he had similar coins you were offering and could not sell them?
If you were really there to make a deal I would have thrown another offer to him at say +$40, and seen what happened. or you should have kept a 4th coin in your back pocket to make your offer sweeter, maybe something worth $40, but you had no use for.
Note, that doing a show is not easy, and requires hours of time before and after the actual "show time" dealers need to make profits to cover expenses and need to feel that their time is not wasted, because if they don't then they wont be back.
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Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
You were right to walk away from the second trade because you weren't happy with it and you probably wouldn't have been happy when you got home and thought about it more.
That being said, I have no problem with a dealer making a profit. There's a bunch of work to prepare for the show and then after the show. They pay rent for the space at the show and have to make that money back. They have travel expenses and probably have to pay for an insurance rider to cover their inventory.
Some dealers will negotiate on the price and some have a fixed "show" price. But if all they do is make even trades, they're losing money.
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Valued Member
United States
311 Posts |
Anytime I've traded with a dealer, it's never been even, but I understand they have to make a profit. All depends on how much you want that particular coin and how much you care about the coins your trading.
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New Member
United States
35 Posts |
It's hard to say what went wrong, but if you're not liking the deal it's good you have the wherewithal to back away when you know you're not going to be happy in the future!
I've done a few shows for the store I work in. Because we specialize more in bullion than numismatics, we handle trades basically as two transactions: a buy and a sell. We have a buy and sell price posted for types of coins and bars we have or expect to see at the show. Since our spreads are very competitive, especially at shows, we have little wiggle room and can only negotiate if it's a bulk deal. It makes things much simpler.
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
I agree with ace. Things are going to be different when working with a dealer and not a fellow collector. Of course, that does not mean you have to take a deal that makes you uncomfortable. There might be better deals out there, for sure, but we have to understand that a dealer is going to have overhead and other costs to consider.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1316 Posts |
I appreciate the feedback. I figured the small deal's success is more of an aboration and it was my lucky day. :) made me feel like a winner!
I hope I didn't come across as complaining that the 2nd deal would only be fair if the dealer didn't make any money. I completely understand the dealer has costs for being there that are real. This was all over UNC Morgan's, 3 of which are VAMs. Maybe in my head, I figure that in a trade in which I am giving up assets of equal value to what I am receiving, I should't have to take as big of a discount as if it was simply a coin for cash deal. At $40, I'd think about it. My "doing the dance" personality tends to be if an offer is well out of range to start, I tend to not make a counter because we're so far apart.
Edited by Collects82
01/21/2016 4:09 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
509 Posts |
The only time I attempted trading with a dealer was bc he said he has most demand for 90% halves.. I asked him if he'd trade dimes and quarters for my halves figuring I'd be doing him a favor (he sells all his silver, so not huge favor).. He offered me at the time 10x for my silver halves and that'd get me credit" to exchange for 14x for his silver. I passed, but it was more of a casual conversation...just like pawn stars says " sure I'll make $$ off it, but I need to pay someone to sell it. It could be sitting around for years. Need to attract right buyers... I'm in business to make money and not break even"
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Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
Quote:
I tend to not make a counter because we're so far apart. Me, too. And I think you probably were too far apart in this case. If you'd have met in the middle the dealer still would have wanted $50. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
757 Posts |
Quote:
Perhaps he had similar coins you were offering and could not sell them? This is probably the biggest factor to consider. While everything has a "value" if you have multiples of the same item that you can't sell, why buy/trade for more? That is unless you can get them for a series discount. If you were trying to trade a key date for some random type set kind of coin I'd be willing to bet the trade would go off without a hitch. Edited by davec13
01/21/2016 6:33 pm
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
Most dealers know which inventory is moving at a profit and what stuff sets forever without a sale, even at cheap prices.
As has been mentioned, what they already have in inventory makes a difference too.
Also, some dealers are known for certain inventory and if you are outside their specialty, it might take longer to sell.
In the end it's a matter of how much work for how much profit.
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,640 |
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Posted 01/21/2016 3:25 pm
