Pros and Cons of buying somebodys collection at what a dealer would pay them

[kennedyfan]

Pros and Cons of buying somebody's collection at what a dealer would pay them

Hi folks. I was at a garage sale recently where the seller was interested in selling her late husband's coin collection. I got a chance to take a look at it, but she wants to take it to a local coin shop to see how much he'd pay for it. But I'm hoping she won't sell it on the spot, but would be willing to let me buy it from her for about that amount.

It sounds like a great opportunity, right? Rather than buying all that stuff at retail, I'd be able to buy it at "wholesale" (e.g., less than retail) cost.

The problem is that she wants to sell it all in one batch, and so if I bought it from her, I'd have some stuff that I want to keep, but some other stuff that just doesn't float my boat, and I'd rather sell it.

I guess in an ideal world, I'd be able to then sell off the stuff I don't want, and get exactly the same amount that I paid for it, because I'd be selling it to a dealer. Then I wouldn't be up or down any money. But this isn't an ideal world, is it? Though I'm familiar with the dealer she'd be taking it to, and I think he's fair, I'm worried that I might end up overpaying for some of those things, especially if he was willing to buy them only because it was along with the interesting stuff. Maybe he, or other dealers I'd try, might not give me what I paid for some of these things.

I was thinking I might try selling some of the things I don't want on eBay; that way I'd be more likely to get something close to retail, so I could theoretically turn a profit (taking into account eBay's commission of course).

I guess it depends on what percentage of the collection, in value, is stuff that I want to keep, vs. want to sell. If 25% of the value is stuff that I'd just be reselling, and not getting any good deal for, maybe that's OK. But if it's closer to 50%, maybe I should just walk away and let her sell the whole thing to the dealer. (Or maybe try one more time to see if I could just by the stuff I want!)

I'm just curious if you all here have had any similar experiences. Anything I should look out for that I haven't considered?

 

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[capt-zero]

Don't know the value of my opinion, but I tend to stay away from entire collections. After culling what I want from them, I've experienced difficulty selling the rest for any kind of value. Usually I prefer to let them get the appraisal from whatever dealer, then make them an offer on the items I want from their collection. Most dealers will pay only up to about 50% or so of real value, so there is still a lot of room to play with from a collectors point of view. If you are upfront with them about the numbers of the situation, they will often hold off selling to the dealer and give you a chance to top the dealers bid on the items you want. Honesty pays in this situation, though, because what you have to convince them of is you are not trying to take advantage of them.

 

[diggummup]

I think for this particular scenario, it depends on what the collection actually consists of as to whether or not I would buy the whole thing. In particular are there any slabbed coins, amount of silver (and/or gold) coins versus non precious metal coins, as well as errors or key date coins. Age, variety and overall quantity of the coins in general should also be considered. Depending on the collection, you could do very well by getting the whole thing at a dealers price or even a bit more. I know the dealers around here don't pay squat, for the most part. I'd take all the above factors into consideration, and make a judgement call from that. Personally, I could beat any dealers price and still make a decent profit, depending on how much of the collection I keep for myself that is. If nothing else, just sell enough to break even and you get the rest for free.

 

[trdhrdr007]

If the collection is mainly junk silver and/or bullion gold & you live in a big enough city there is a dealer out there that will pay 90% of melt. If the bulk of the value is "numismatic" then most dealers will pay in the 30-60% range. You need to see what the dealers offer is before you know if it's worth buying the collection.

 

[diggummup]

If the collection is mainly junk silver and/or bullion gold & you live in a big enough city there is a dealer out there that will pay 90% of melt. If the bulk of the value is "numismatic" then most dealers will pay in the 30-60% range. You need to see what the dealers offer is before you know if it's worth buying the collection.

This is the better, condensed version of what I was trying to say. Good explanation.

 

[Diver_Down]

You need to "sell" her on the idea of selling it to you. Some dealers will press her that their offer is while she is in the store. They do not want their offer shopped.

 

[Generic_Lad]

It really depends on what all it contains and what the dealers are paying. If the "dealer" she is taking them to is a Cash 4 Gold place, you'd be able to get the entire collection for cheap enough that you should be able to flip it at a reputable dealer and make quick cash.

The problem is, a lot of people's "collections" are nothing but junk, a few silver coins, a bunch of wheat pennies, one or two Indian heads, some common Canadian and Mexican coins and thats about it.

Post what the collection contains and we should be able to better tell you if its worth it.

 

[kennedyfan]

It's actually a decent collection, unlike your description. A lot of silver value (though a bit over-packaged for my taste - like individual silver eagles presented as if they were olympic medals) in the form of silver eagles, morgan/peace dollars, silver proof sets (mostly recent, but a few 64-and-earlier), some slabbed quarters and dimes, and a number of older foreign silver coins. But also a bunch of things like non-silver recent proof sets, and casino tokens. Personally I have no interest in the casino tokens and I probably would rather not hang onto the silver proof sets since I prefer the raw silver value in coins over numismatic value, which I don't feel is stable in an uncertain economy.

The dealer is a good dealer, so whatever he offers her is probably about what I would be able to get if I tried to flip the stuff I don't want.