Do you ever thank your coin dealer?

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

A few recent buys from Incitatus Coins and David Connors, respectively, have given me a lot of joy, and I sent them each a note about how much I enjoyed the coins.

Do you ever send a thank-you note for special coins?

 

 

[AETHER]

I thought about thanking incitatus numerous times. I have exchanged a few emails with him. 

[Phil Anthos]

Yes.

[ambr0zie]

Yes. Especially when I see top class service.

[sand]

The idea of thanking a dealer, had never occurred to me, until I read this thread. Now that the idea has occurred to me, will I thank dealers in the future? Probably not. For me, when I buy a coin, it's an equal transaction, in which money is exchanged for a coin. The dealer hasn't done me a favor, and the dealer hasn't given me anything, and I haven't done the dealer a favor, and I haven't given the dealer anything. Therefore, for me, there is no need to thank a dealer, or for a dealer to thank me.

However, I'm glad that coin dealers exist. And, if a coin dealer provides fast shipping, and is friendly when handling problems, and is knowledgeable enough to avoid selling fake coins or tooled coins (although even the best dealers may occasionally make a mistake), and has interesting coins in my price range, then I tend to buy more coins from that dealer. And, I tend to say good things, about coin dealers in general, on coin forums.

Edited April 18 by sand

[ambr0zie]

Composing pompous emails for every transaction is indeed silly BUT there are situations when they deserve this. I will give two real examples:

- I bought some coins a few days before Christmas, as a Christmas gift for me. Even if that house has a very good habit of shipping quickly, because of the calendar the package would have arrived after Christmas. They shipped, that time, using a MUCH FASTER shipping service than usually. This happened just that time. It was sure intentional and they charged the same shipping fees like for their usual shipping, but I received the envelope on 23.12. This would never have happened with normal shipping. 

- I bought a coin from a dealer. Cheap purchase. It is a gentleman from this forum. It was Sunday, at noon. He prepared the shipment as soon as I made the order. This was unexpected and a pleasant surprise. 

So for me there are 3 scenarios in this process of buying coins

1. When the seller does a great job and proves they want me as customer. Quick shipping (yes, this matters for me), using shipment methods with reasonable price (and this is happening with less and less dealers/houses), without hidden fees and also promptly replying to queries. These people deserve thanks + I usually remain their long term customer

2. Good work but nothing out of the ordinary. Reasonable shipping time and fees, but worse than point 1. 

3. Poor work. Delayed shipping, large shipping fees (and then you notice that they are using ordinary post), not replying to queries even if they were important. Usually for me this means I will ignore them. 

To clarify - my purpose is not making friends among dealers. If I am treated by default as a valuable customer and I see they make efforts to make my experience pleasant, well this is win-win. And they have my respect and I show them this. But if I see that they squeeze money with silly reasons ("handling fees"? really? or debatable shipping charges?) this means they have too many customers, they don't need me. It's tough but I usually survive. 

[sand]

Now that I think about it some more, there are some scenarios, in which I would thank a dealer. None of the following scenarios has ever happened for me, but if 1 of these scenarios happened, then I would thank a dealer.

Scenario 1 : If I screwed up, and accidentally ordered a coin. If I told the dealer right away, and if the dealer was nice about it, and canceled the order, then I would thank the dealer.

Scenario 2 : If I ever wanted to return a coin, within the seller's allowed return window. If I did that, and if the dealer was nice about it, then I would thank the dealer.

There may be other such scenarios.

Edited April 18 by sand

[CPK]

I do occasionally, if the service was particularly good, or if I am extra pleased with the coin.

[Roman Collector]

I often do. I'll send an email to a dealer -- particularly if overseas -- and say something on the order of, "The coin arrived in today's mail. Thanks!" It's hardly an inconvenience and I imagine the dealer is happy to hear the coin arrived without issue and that I'm a satisfied customer.

[JAZ Numismatics]

I can only speak for myself, but I don't expect any expressions of gratitude as a dealer. In fact, I'm the one that feels grateful for my customers, and I often write, "Thank you for your business" on the packing slips, and sometimes I send a gift to customers who make frequent purchases. It's easy to sell coins when everything goes well, but a dealer's integrity is tested when a customer wants to return a coin. Recently one of my customers wanted to return a coin that was a forgery - it slipped under my radar because it was part of a large consignment and didn't get properly vetted. The customer sent the coin to Harlan Berk and he sent me a link describing that particular fake in detail. So I told him I was of course happy to refund his payment, and did so immediately. He was very grateful and relieved - he had assumed that he was going to have to fight for a refund.

Recently I bought a collection that contained a few Toronto Group forgeries and one of our forum members drew my attention to them. They were promptly withdrawn from my inventory. That's one of the virtues of a group like ours - we can keep an eye out for each other and prevent mistakes. That's what I'm grateful for - the community. There's nothing more destructive to numismatics and dismaying to collectors than forgeries.

Edited April 18 by JAZ Numismatics

[ela126]

Vasja at Sol is excellent to work with and i always like to exchange a few emails with him after an auction.

Just bought a coin from Marc B on his website last night (frankly with money i didn't really have, oh the wife will be yelling about the CC). mentioned a previous coin i bought from him and how happy i was. He kindly responded with some additional information on the coin i just purchased. Really liked that.

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Yes, I should have elucidated; I was tired and kind of stressed out from the day.  I meant, in terms of thanking the dealer when the transaction is exceptional or something truly special.  It's silly to write over mundane situations.  Or, if their service is truly exceptional, one can thank them the first time, to let them know that their efforts are appreciated.

For example, the recent Magnus Maximus siliqua brought me a lot of joy.

I've done it three or four times.  Sometimes they write back.  Sometimes not.  The thank-you's are best done sparingly.

I had also written to Aaron Berk.  I wanted to discontinue the paper auction catalog, and I would never both someone of his stature with such a mundane request, but I had wanted to express positive feedback concerning his podcast and to pass along some special memories of shopping at HJB, so it was kind of a 'two-fer'.  He was gracious enough to write back, although unfortunately, the latest paper catalog just showed up. I guess it's like the "Cat Came Back" cartoon.

My potential black swan fear did occur.  The stupid catalog arrived at the same day as some coins.  I had feared the careless mailman would bend everything, but luckily, the coins were in a small enough mailer.  I'll try, try again with another HJB member.  No disrespect is intended; I am trying to declutter and since I'm legally blind in one eye, a catalog is kind of useless.

Or, I guess there's the opposite end of the spectrum, the plea letter, such as to a large European dealer, who through extreme carelessness, broke a cheap Nero, and then I never got any refund or store credit.  Lol, maybe I should hire Packgod (the platinum standard of insult comics) to make that entity a 'thank you' video.

 

[John Conduitt]

Thanking anyone specifically for doing something that will really help you - but they didn't have to - is pretty normal, I would think. It can make life more pleasant if people show their appreciation, as long as it doesn't become expected in the way tips are, which then does the opposite.

[JAZ Numismatics]

38 minutes ago, ela126 said:

Just bought a coin from Marc B on his website last night (frankly with money i didn't really have, oh the wife will be yelling about the CC)

I learned a long time ago to NEVER include the price of the coin in the mailing, just in case it falls into the wrong hands. 😇

[John Conduitt]

42 minutes ago, JAZ Numismatics said:

I learned a long time ago to NEVER include the price of the coin in the mailing, just in case it falls into the wrong hands. 😇

It's always the most expensive that arrive by DHL or someone with the invoice attached to the outside and the price in bold.

[ela126]

13 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

It's always the most expensive that arrive by DHL or someone with the invoice attached to the outside and the price in bold.

"So this is why we aren't renting the beach house this year"

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

I usually thank the dealer if a transaction is beyond what is expected or if they have been extraordinarily helpful. For example, Frank Robinson sent an email saying, comically, "don't let some SOB outbid you" when I fell behind in the bidding. It's nice to get a heads up when you are dealing with a dealer selling five or six hundred coins at a single auction.

[kirispupis]

There's one particular dealer who tends to list interesting Greek bronzes for great prices, and I've written him a few times mentioning how I look forward to new listings. I've also written to auctions who ship quickly to express thanks.

Mostly, it's a business to consumer transaction, but it's great seeing sellers who are truly passionate about the area and who have a knack for finding interesting coins to list.

[DonnaML]

I admit that I don't always write to thank the dealer, or even to inform them that a coin has arrived (because I assume that they can monitor the tracking information if they wish). But I certainly have on occasion -- especially to smaller/one-person dealers, as opposed to major firms -- when I'm particularly pleased with a coin, as when its appearance exceeds my expectations based on the dealer photo.

[ewomack]

11 hours ago, sand said:

The idea of thanking a dealer, had never occurred to me, until I read this thread. Now that the idea has occurred to me, will I thank dealers in the future? Probably not. For me, when I buy a coin, it's an equal transaction, in which money is exchanged for a coin. The dealer hasn't done me a favor, and the dealer hasn't given me anything, and I haven't done the dealer a favor, and I haven't given the dealer anything. Therefore, for me, there is no need to thank a dealer, or for a dealer to thank me.

I generally agree with this viewpoint. Giving a dealer business is likely thanks enough. Many dealers do send handwritten "thanks" on invoices (such as the last few coins I've purchased). If a dealer does go above and beyond, such as fulfilling a request, or handles a mistake or an exchange extremely well, I would probably reach out and thank them. But for the vast majority of transactions, I don't say "thank you" explicitly.

[JeandAcre]

I've never evolved to thinking about this as a wider, general practice.  But it tends to be easy to spot a dealer who's emotionally invested in what they're doing, as well as otherwise.  In those instances, especially, thanking them registers as part of the joy of the whole transaction.  More often than not, they're very appreciative in turn.

...But I've corresponded with lots of dealers about lots of different issues.  And, I must say, have had very good luck.  Even with larger dealerships, often there are individual members of the staff who are happy to correspond.  ...I like to think that these run to being basically decent, nice people, and that the exceptions prove the rule.

[lordmarcovan]

Yes, occasionally.  
 

I've done repeat business with both Incitatus and David Connors.  Both good.  Dunno if I ever thanked ‘em, but they did get my repeat business.