dealer personalities/sales tactics at shows

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

A member of another forum brought up an interesting topic of dealer tactics at shows.  While I claim no credit for thinking of this topic, I thought it would be interesting to explore it in terms of dealers in ancients at shows.

His assertion was that there were three main types of dealers at shows; the friendly dealer who has a price on a coin, but offers it to the customer at a discount, secondly, the dealer who has no prices listed and is generally silent while handing over a coin, and lastly, the dealer who has a an allegedly inexperienced helper help the customer, while the dealer's chatting to another person.  The dealer does the actual transaction and usually ends up offering a discount.

It's been almost 15 years since I've been to a coin show but the dealers whom I dealt with the most were mostly at least somewhat friendly.   I've done the most business with Jon Kern (probably 65% of my coin show buys were from him) and Sphinx coins.  I think the Educational Coin Company might have been at one or two of the larger shows I was at. Most of the shows I reference have been semi-local to me, not the super-enormous shows like FUN.

I don't recall too many unfriendly dealers although I think I recall there was one nice guy at Pegasi and one gruff guy.  I'd always avoid the gruff guy.  There probably were a few of the silent types but I would have just moved on and I don't remember them after so long.

I have to spend my budget wisely so I'd always have an initial walkaround, and let the dealer know that I'm still in the walkaround stage. 

[ominus1]

...the last one sounds like the set up then enter closer...much used in time share sales....^^

[seth77]

All three categories as presented seem like the good kind of dealer. I can add the stupid kind of dealer: the curmudgeon past his prime who treats potential buyers with superficial snobbery and might not even acknowledge you if you are wearing a tshirt or a sports cap. These were the norm in Europe in the 90s to 2000s and once internet started taking hold, they were the first to complain that coin collecting 'was dying'.

[ewomack]

I'm not sure whether I would consider these "tactics" or just actions arising from coping with the environment of a coin show. It's distracting, noisy, sometimes you have to choose between helping one person over another, you're probably watching for theft or some other forms of skullduggery, etc. Dealers also seem to act and react differently whether they have one or five people to juggle at their booths. Situation and circumstance at a particular moment probably dictate a lot. These are my own speculations garnered from the few times I have sold things in a coin show type setting, or helped others to do the same. From my experience, it's pretty hectic.

The main division I've seen - and this drastically impacts my buying habits at shows - between dealers comes down to: 1. those who display their prices and 2. those who don't. Either type can be gruff or friendly. I heavily, heavily, heavily, do business with the dealers who display their prices. It's just easier for me as I make the rounds. If I want to do business with dealers who don't display their prices, I have to get their attention, they have to open the case, turn the coin over, or reference a sheet of some kind. It takes much longer than just seeing a price displayed. A price out in the open tells me immediately whether it's in my price range. As such, I will do business with dealers who don't display their prices only if they have a coin that I desperately want. In those circumstances, 90% of time I find the hidden prices way too high, I say "no thank you," and there seems to be an awkward moment of "why did either of us bother?"

As said already, either type of dealer can be friendly or gruff. But the inconvenience of needing to ask for prices, and the usual result of the coin being overpriced in those circumstances (in my experience), makes me overall avoid dealers who do not display their prices. I understand that prices can change and re-pricing can take a lot of time between shows and seasons, but many dealers do manage to display their prices. So, I'm not entirely sure why some do and some don't.

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

It's so much easier to shop at home, on vcoins, but some of my most memorable coins came from coin shows.

I'll also generally ignore the unpriced dealer, unless it's something I desperately want.  I'm pretty much in the same boat.

If the dealer in question is heavily busy, I'll just browse around until things are more calm.

I really love pick bins, but when one has a budget of < $600, then one has to be doubly careful to see if there's one or two special coins.  If it's the deal of a lifetime, then perhaps I could cheat and go up to $1k.

[ewomack]

3 minutes ago, seth77 said:

All three categories as presented seem like the good kind of dealer. I can add the stupid kind of dealer: the curmudgeon past his prime who treats potential buyers with superficial snobbery and might not even acknowledge you if you are wearing a tshirt or a sports cap. These were the norm in Europe in the 90s to 2000s and once internet started taking hold, they were the first to complain that coin collecting 'was dying'.

I have experienced this snobbery as well, but thankfully not very often. I usually dress comfortably at shows, which means my usual historical reproduction 1920s baseball cap (all wool and hand-stitched), jeans, a light coat, and a t-shirt from an off-the-beaten-path museum or tourist site I've visited in the past 5 years. In one of the coat pockets I usually have a wad of cash ready to spend. Purchased coins may sit in the other. The vast majority of dealers treat me just fine, but a small percentage (thankfully it's small), won't even look at me or say anything to me when I approach their booth. That makes it easy for me to take my wad of cash elsewhere. Though it likely doesn't happen, I secretly hope that they spot me buying from another dealer so they learn not to judge by appearances.

[seth77]

7 minutes ago, ewomack said:

I have experienced this snobbery as well, but thankfully not very often. I usually dress comfortably at shows, which means my usual historical reproduction 1920s baseball cap (all wool and hand-stitched), jeans, a light coat, and a t-shirt from an off-the-beaten-path museum or tourist site I've visited in the past 5 years. In one of the coat pockets I usually have a wad of cash ready to spend. Purchased coins may sit in the other. The vast majority of dealers treat me just fine, but a small percentage (thankfully it's small), won't even look at me or say anything to me when I approach their booth. That makes it easy for me to take my wad of cash elsewhere. Though it likely doesn't happen, I secretly hope that they spot me buying from another dealer so they learn not to judge by appearances.

People judging like that are usually playing themselves, since they cannot really discern the fact that casual wear is not at all a marking of social class (if it ever was outside wannabe aristocratic circles and totalitarian societies). 

[NathanB]

In my experience at lower caliber community type shows, the helper is often a family member. They really do know less than the dealer. I've only been to one national level show, and I don't really remember much about it except that I really didn't have the budget to buy almost anything.

[Hrefn]

I commonly wear a tweed jacket to shows.   That allows me to keep a loop in my right pocket for examining coins, and my checkbook in the inside breast pocket.  The ensemble is completed with blue jeans, glasses, white hair and beard, and a pleasant demeanor.   The only detail lacking is leather patches on the jacket elbows.  The intent is to project the impression of a retired academic, perhaps a Literature or History professor, knowledgeable in numismatics so worth a dealer’s attention, but probably not made of money, so high asking prices will not be a successful sales gambit.  All of this is not far from reality;  I am only semi-retired and I am presently teaching Advanced Pathophysiology.  And for most of my career I was not an academic.  

I bring a small leather backpack with my iPad for quick internet searches, and which also has an almost complete record of my collection.   Paperwork associated with sales goes into it, and if I buy a book or supplies I can conveniently carry them.  The backpack also has snacks and a water bottle, since the food resources available at shows are usually execrable, overpriced, and inconvenient.  

When I was much younger, I believe I may have been subjected to a customer quality check by a dealer.  When I told him I was interested in Byzantine coins, he said he had a gold coin of Basil II.  But he handed me a coin of Constantine VIII.  I examined it, and politely replied, “that’s interesting.  I would have said this was a coin of his brother, Constantine the eighth.”   He made a show of looking at the coin, and said I was right.  From then on, he always had time for me at his table, and I bought many wonderful coins from him.  

[JAZ Numismatics]

I make sure all of my coins have prices on them, and I have separate cases for Greek, Roman, Eastern, etc. I hate it when I have to ask a dealer for the price of a coin. I generally price my coins about 10% over what I want for them, which is generally 10% over the buy price, so a total markup of 20%. If a buyer asks for a discount, I take 10% off. Sometimes I sell coins at cost if they've been in my inventory for a while, collecting dust. Sometimes I give coins away for free. At my last show an old Marine (he had a USMC hat on) fished out a bunch of Lincoln Cents from my budget box, and I told him no charge for veterans today. Kids also get free coins. I don't really make any money, but I'm very popular, lol. (Is that a tactic?)

Edited May 13 by JAZ Numismatics