Am I Wrong ?

Agree completely; sometimes it seems we look at coin dealers differently, maybe as someone that knows way more than we do, at least for those of us that lack numismatic experience.

Retail manager here, so I know what I am talking about. And those of you who are comparing a coin shop to a retail establishment are so far off base its not even funny.

In a retail store these employees get paid no matter what. They are being paid an hourly wage to do that job. At the end of the week they get their paycheck regardless of wether people browse or not. And dont start with "if no one buys anything the store will go out of business and then they wont get paid." That gets addressed...

In a retail store like Walmart, it is expected that a certain percentage of people are not going to buy anything. It doesn't matter that that small number of folks dont buy. The majority of people going in there DO buy, so no biggy. And just how many thousands of people go into a Walmart every day?

This goes for any larger retailer. This hlds true in the medium to smaller retailers as well, but dedicating time to a non buyer begins to be more costly. They have less foot traffic, therefor even a few browsers that dont buy start to cut into profit.

I work for one of the large pet retailers. Let me tell you, when someone comes in and picks my brain for a half hour about how to set up a marine aquarium, then doesn't even buy a book from me, I am TICKED. Yes, I get paid no matter what. But he just took me away from other customers and or tasks I could have been doing. But again, its just an annoyance as I do still get paid.

Now, the coin dealer. Unless the dealer is HUGELY succesful and can afford to pay 3 or 4 employees, he/she is runnning the store by themselves or with some family help. They are not employed by a corporation. They do NOT automatically get paid each week. They do NOT have the luxry of counting on the 150 other folks milling around to make up for you tying them up going through their merchandise. There are NOT 150 other people. Maybe 50 for the whole day, IF they are lucky. And if smeone else comes in while you are monopolising his time, he can not help them. Would YOU walk away from someone looking through YOUR coins to do something else? If you would, you are a fool.

So, you go in, you ti this man up for who knows how long going through his merchandise. I am quite sure you were not doing this without asking questions as well, mining information and knowledge. And all of this time he is NOT being paid. And then you say nah, I'm not going to buy any of this stuff? And you have the nerve to wonder why he was mad? You just WASTED a good chunk of this mans time and he got NOTHING out of it. YOU got plenty out of it. And all for free.

Again I say, all of you think that that is OK?

I think it is ok.
If he is really that cut up about me looking through his coin shop to see if he has something I want, maybe he shouldnt be in the coin selling buisness.

I used to sell cars, if they saw nothing they wanted why should I get angry at them?

But saying that.... I CAN'T go into a coin store and not buy something....

I agree that the dealers are to serve the customer. I can also see how tying up time for no good reason would be irritating.

smokeriderdon: What if the dealer's coins are mostly cleaned or overgraded? If that's the case, then part of the blame for the customer cherrypicking is on the dealer.

I've never had a problem with coin dealers. When I go in and look at coins, my favorite dealer will unlock the glass cases for me and let me look at the coins as he waits on other customers. I know that it has to be rare for a dealer to trust a customer that much, but I've bought coins from him for 20 years (and I think he has a big gun behind the counter, too.)

I wouldn't let it worry me if someone got upset over a special trip they made if they had a coin that didn't match the grade they gave it. I would tell them why I didn't think it was worth the money, but don't let someone guilt you into buying.

A good salesman will do what the customer wants or needs.

I looked at a car for 4 years before buying one. In that time, I took my wife, her parents, my co-workers and made a total of maybe 50 trips to the dealership by myself just to look at the car. Each time I went, I would talk to the same salesman and he never said anything to me but "See ya soon!" as I left. If he ever had a problem with me he didn't show it.

When they final offered all the features I wanted on the car I put down a deposit, ordered one built to my specs and then waited 4 months while it was being built.

I kept going in at least twice a month while I waited for it to get updates on what point the car was at in the process.

I would never settle for anything but what I wanted in a coin. If the seller has a problem with the way I shop, too bad. They need to understand that I'm the one that has to like the coin after the purchase. I can always go elsewhere and find what I want if they don't have the time to let me shop "My way."

From what I've read, you can order coins made to your specs now too, but I only want real ones.