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 Replies: 17 / Views: 2,840 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
SO, there I was... poised to buy a double handful of silver dimes, quarters, and halves... I got a large handful of $100s from my credit union account on Friday. I had lunch with my folks at a local fish house on Saturday and was looking forward to prowling the local coin shop for some terrific additions to my small silver coin collection. I drive to the shop, find a parking place, feed the meter a quarter, walk to the shop, and... find it closed. DOH! I check the hours sign in the window and it says that they are open Mon-Fri, 11 AM to 4:30 PM. Well, dang! What is this? Some kind of part-time business? Grumbling to myself, I drive home, all the way thinking, "You know... APMEX is open 24/7/365!". So much for the great coin shop prowl of 4/16! I AM BUMMED OUT! 
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Moderator
 United States
14463 Posts |
I stopped by my local coin store Saturday too, checking some ASE's. But walked away empty handed. ASE's purchases are cash only.  But I will be back Monday, after I stop by the bank.  |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
I've never understood businesses open only during the commonest hours that people work. Who are they catering to, the unemployed and thieves?
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Moderator
United States
14463 Posts |
I work at night, so I have places like the post office and the coin shop in my phone address book. I try to put phone number and business hours/days. I am sitting here because my local grocery store just opened at 7am, my bank opens at 9am, and the coin shop opens at 10am. I may swing by a hardware store that opens at 8am. I might get to sleep after the visit to the coin shop, or catch a nap between the hardware store and the bank   And today is one of my days off work Edited by Fuzzy317
04/18/2011 07:07 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2049 Posts |
Quote:
I've never understood businesses open only during the commonest hours that people work. Who are they catering to, the unemployed and thieves? I can address this somewhat. When we first opened our shop, our hours were 9am-6pm during the week, with one night being open til 7pm. We had little to no business during the 9am-10am and after 5pm timeframes that we eventually changed our hours to 10am-5pm. Our weekends were 10am-4pm on Saturdays. Honestly we didn't see any more business on Saturdays than we did on weekdays. We also offered to meet by appointment during non-regular business hours and not once did we have the request for an appointment. Being a small 2-man shop, it wasn't feasible for us to staff outside of these hours and there wasn't any demand for us to be open during outside of our regular hours which really weren't too different from what the original poster noted (minus the part where we were open on Saturdays and they werent). |
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Valued Member
Canada
442 Posts |
I think coinhunter has a point. How many people were actually buying anything coin related outside the hardcore collectors just 2 or 3 years ago?
My coin store is open 9 to 5 as well. it is a bit of a bummer, sometimes I sacrifice the lunch break just to get something for my silver kick!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1450 Posts |
At least you folks have a coin shop. We had a brand new shop open,was around for about 4 months,then folded the tent and moved on. That was the only coin shop in our town to my knowlewdge(Biggfredd can correct me if I'm wrong). We do have gold and diamond buying shops sprouting like weeds though!
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Moderator
United States
14463 Posts |
My coin shop is a little add-on to a beauty salon. I believe a couple own the building, she does hair, he does coins. This one is close to work. The other I know of "locally" is in a shopping mall about 30-40 minutes away. I buy much of my stuff online.
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Valued Member
United States
326 Posts |
During the winding down of my business I started a "Open by chance or appointment" time frame. Worked out fine for the serious customer. I may have lost some browsers and lookers but like I said it worked out for me.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4008 Posts |
Quote: stopped by my local coin store Saturday too, checking some ASE's. But walked away empty handed. ASE's purchases are cash only. But I will be back Monday, after I stop by the bank. - Fuzzy ASEs are definitely a hot item these days. My local shop can sell every single one virtually the same day they come in and for $5 above spot. Even at that, they are a good deal because there is no shipping / handling charge. Our local shop is also a cash-only business and I have no problem with that. A check or a CC would be a lot more convenient and I am willing to pay the extra fee for a CC. My CU is local and I am sure that they could verify my check with a phone call. I would probably spend more as well if it were more convenient to do so, so maybe they are doing me a favor. The part about being closed on Saturday was a bummer, though. One would think that most businesses would be open then and perhaps closed on Monday to make up for it. I understand that most shop owners work hard much of the time and need a couple of days off each week. I also know people who collect coins and bullion and some of them work long hours Mon-Fri. They have money to spend but no place locally to do it. The bottom line seems to be that it was my fault for assuming that they would be open on a Saturday. At least I now have their business days and hours schedule, so won't be showing up when they are closed. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
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I've never understood businesses open only during the commonest hours that people work. Who are they catering to, the unemployed and thieves? - BiggFredd
Or perhaps rich old retired guys? I'm sure that they have been open long enough to know when their business is most profitable. Unfortunately, that does not seem to include Saturday, a prime shopping day for most people, for some reason. I was thinking that maybe the owner does coin shows, swap meets, collectible events, bazaars, flea markets, etc. on the weekends. Could be. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
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How many people were actually buying anything coin related outside the hardcore collectors just 2 or 3 years ago? - Vinny
That is a valid argument but my local shop has been open for a long time, so I assume that he is getting enough sales to stay in business. Of course, it is always possible that he makes most of his money outside the shop via various coin buying and selling events. If so, then I could see him being less than dedicated to having the shop open more often. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Quote:
My coin shop is a little add-on to a beauty salon. I believe a couple own the building, she does hair, he does coins. This one is close to work. The other I know of "locally" is in a shopping mall about 30-40 minutes away. I buy much of my stuff online.
We have one of those too but it is a bookstore add-on. I kind of know the guy there because he used to have another bookstore a mile or so from his present location and I would go in there to buy and trade used books sometimes. Most of his stuff is for coin collectors with no bullion stuff at all. Since I am mostly interested in the bullion aspects of coin collecting, it's not a good place for me to shop... unless I need a book, of course.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
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I may have lost some browsers and lookers but like I said it worked out for me. - Tamshowoff
Well, there's browsers and lookers and then there's browsers and lookers. I often go places with no intent to buy... just to look... and end up walking out with a bunch of stuff. A lot of the time, I don't even know I want something until I have the chance to look it over. I'm sure that everyone is different in this but this is how I am about bullion coin buying. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
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That was the only coin shop in our town to my knowlewdge(Biggfredd can correct me if I'm wrong). We had a shop from 1975-2002. 11-7 daily, 10-6 sat. Holiday hours were 9-9, sunday 1-6. No idea what happened to that guy, or even who it was. |
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Valued Member
Cyprus
349 Posts |
I find coins online are cheaper that the local coin shops. I suppose they have greater overheads.
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Replies: 17 / Views: 2,840 |
Posted 04/18/2011 06:46 am
