quote:
Originally posted by Mike
Based on Coinguy1's explanation I would expect to pay 15% less for privately sold coins! Since dealers bid on these coins as well, all of the associated fees are ultimately passed on to the retail buyer.
I can understand your thinking here, but most of the dealers who I see on a regular basis on the bidding floor do very little retail business. Most of the larger dealers trade actively among other dealers. Using my company as an example, we may sell 2 or 3 coins per year to a collector. This includes the coins at auction. Now as for buying coins, if you owned a key date, semi key date, or condition rare coin, where would you sell it? I often hear about using
ebay prices and while that is all fine and dandy for common run of the mill coins, it does not do much for the key coins.
If you have the minimum dollar amount to qualify for the Bowers auctions, your key coin will do
much better 99% of the time. Why? The answer is relatively simple. People trust Bowers and Merena. They know what they are getting, and they know who they are getting it from.
When I give advice to a collector it is the same that I use for myself and my company. When I spend my hard earned money, I want to know that it is safe. I only deal with reputable people based on my research. I would much rather pay a little extra to know "what" I am getting than get a bargain on "chance" material.
Lastly, dealers passing it onto the customer. That really sounds good on paper, but how many of you let the dealer set the price? There are way too many ways to check the value of a coin these days. If you are paying whatever the dealer marks on his coins without knowing the coins value, we need to talk
I will recommend better dealers to you.
First Page
Posted 04/10/2005 5:26 pm
