| Author |
 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,388 |
|
|
New Member
United States
44 Posts |
In the vein of continuing to help this newbie understand the biz, I once again lean on the CCF. Won't go through my whole story again, but suffice it to say I'm looking sell off some of my grandparent's collection for reasons of practicality, to allow me to focus my efforts. I've used the forum to help me grade some of the items I'm looking to sell, including an 1873 Seated Liberty dollar, where the consensus was about an AU-53. Full PCGS retail for this coin (which I know I cannot sell it for) appears to be around $950. When I contact a local dealer, he tells me he only uses the "grey sheet" (which values this coin at $650), and can only offer me ~70% of grey sheet value for the coin, or ~$455. The only comparable analogy I can come up here is if this were a used car sale, with a Kelley blue book value of $10k, and a trade-in value of $8k, and the buyer wants to pay me ~70% of the trade-in value. By no means am I trying to be insensitive with this analogy, but I'm just trying to get a better understanding of what fair is. One of the constant recommendations I see on this forum is to do one's homework, and I'm trying to do that. In general, is this the kind of math I should get used to? Please help this confused lad, and thanks in advance for any assistance. NHcoinster |
|
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12477 Posts |
When trying to sell to dealers, get used to that math. They have to resell it and profit. You would get more selling directly to collectors (auction, ebay, etc.). Edit:...if it were graded and slabbed. Otherwise, you might be better off taking the dealer's offer. In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
Edited by spru
04/05/2017 10:36 pm
|
|
New Member
 United States
44 Posts |
Fair enough spruett001. In the simplest of terms, the only reason I'm considering a dealer is to move some of these coins quickly, and obviously that comes at the expense of price. I may have to go that other route, but it will take some time.
Thanks a ton!!
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3843 Posts |
30% back of greysheet seems a bit low even for a dealer, especially if it is nice for the grade and doesn't have any issues. Choice Seated dollars are fairly difficult to locate and expensive when you do find one. You might want to shop the coin around and get multiple offers. Some coin dealers may not be well funded, connected enough to make decent offers on all material offered to them. Better to find a dealer that would want to retail themselves than one that would need to wholesale it up the food chain. |
|
Rest in Peace
10197 Posts |
NHcoinster, you HAVE done your homework. You've found out all the figures, like Spruett said, dealer's are in it for a profit, why so many are giving low offers like yours, if they don't do that every chance they can, no more brick and mortar, online only. No you won't get a book value but you just may get your 60-70% on places like ebay. All us collectors' are in the same boat, we'll never get near the intrinsic value we put on our collections or items we sell. There's one member here who just sent 6 tubs of stuff to auction, just...get rid of it for what he can get. Others like me try to sell some to keep going, but seem to get discouraged because it's a buyer's market now, seller's have the short end of the stick. Either we drastically cut or prices, sometimes so low as not to break even just to unload these items. I know your relative would be proud that you are trying to do the best with his collection, mine goes to grandkids who care less about "Gramp's pennies" and would just bank dump for face value, including the $90 1909S Wheat and the 1908S Indian worth $125, all that going in circulation! Sure would make some of you CRH junkies HAPPY! PS: And that's just the Pennies...got almost full sets up to Dollars, have no idea it's face value even... Edited by Crazyb0
04/05/2017 10:52 pm
|
|
New Member
United States
44 Posts |
Thanks for the feedback Joe2007 and Crazyb0. The side bar to this is that I'm starting to catch the bug that my grandparent's obviously had, and so many of you all have too. No doubt that "fair" will always be a relative term, and it'll take me quite some time to navigate this process.
Thanks again!!
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1000 Posts |
NH, ask around here. I think someone on ccf should be able to get you a copy of the Greysheet so you can see if they're even quoting you the right prices. (I'm not suggesting deception, but if a dealer reads one line up or down, you may end up with a drastically different figure.)
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
12477 Posts |
@NHcoinster I think the best course of action would be to submit it to a trusted TPG (PCGS, NGC, ANACS in that order). Having it graded and slabbed has the potential to add mucho dollars in value to a piece like that. It's easy to see the disparity on ebay between slabbed and raw coins for almost every type. It will take some time and added expense but especially if you have more coins that qualify for grading, it will be worth it in the long run. Personally, I don't have any coins worth that much but if I did, I would have sent that baby in for grading long ago. One plus to that with a dealer is that it makes it very difficult to dispute condition and therefore value when considering offers. In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1000 Posts |
In this case, I think ANACS might be the best return for your money. They're running a special this month for grading silver and gold coins. $8 per coin for a minimum of 15 coins, a threshold you shouldn't have trouble meeting if you want to start moving significant portions of your grandfather's collection.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
 Slab it and sell it to a collector yourself! ebay buyers are rightfully cautious of new sellers, but posting clear, fair pictures of the slabbed coin along with the certificate number will go a long way to getting you what you deserve. I would set a reserve on the higher ticket items; if you start the bidding at the dealer's offer, you might be listing for months before someone bites. Fees are also worth consideration. ebay takes about 13% of the sale price, due at the end of each month. If you are lucky, ebay sometimes sends a selling promo to either limit the fees or give a rebate in the form of ebay bucks to spend on coins you do want. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1274 Posts |
Agree with anacs. then put it up as a buy it now on ebay. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4211 Posts |
As you mentioned you could not sell it for full PCGS retail, and neither can the dealer that made the offer.
My dealer often sells close to grey sheet price and pays 20% to 30% back of bid when he buys.
But he will pay a little more on a nice example. Your dealer would probably submit this for grading before offering for sale.
They have to make a profit and may set on a coin for months - years before the right buyer comes along.
Or it may sell the next day. They never know how long their $'s will be tied up in the purchase.
|
| |
Replies: 11 / Views: 1,388 |
|
Posted 04/05/2017 10:27 pm
