Selling Ikes

[Styfflin]

I just made my first coin roll hunting sale. After picking through all my Ikes for varieties and higher grade coins, I put $300 worth of them on Craigslist. Sold them in day 2 of being listed for $400!
I worded my listing a little more broadly - not referring them to Eisenhower dollars but old large dollar coins. Age is relative. And also provided the all-or-none safeguard so that the buyer wouldn't leave me high and dry when he doesn't see any silver edges.

 

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[CoinFetcher]

I have sold a few ikes. nothing wrong with how you went about it.

 

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[CC-Hunter]

I'm not going to wade into the debate about the Craigslist ad, but in response to some other posts in this thread I can say that people do pay a premium for clad Ikes knowing exactly what they are. Not a huge premium, but 10-20% is pretty easy to get on Craigslist in my area. I saw an antique dealer selling them in his shop for $3. He said that people use them for poker. I somewhat regret selling all my Ikes. They are getting harder and harder to find around here, and I have failed in every attempt to get a bank to order them (they try, and then get the small dollars). A lot of tellers have said to me that they don't see many and when they do they keep them as a novelty or quickly sell/exchange them to people who come in asking for them. If an LCS or flea market dealer is willing to pay 10 or 25 cents over face, that's a good sign they can't be ordered too easily or the LCS/dealer would just do that instead of paying a markup.

 

[Owassokie]

Banks are not people and they count the money at face value. I have no issues with CRHing at banks.

If some person came up to me with a bunch of silver but did not know it, I would:
1) tell them the value
2) tell them how much a typical pawn shop would pay
3) offer somewhere in the middle

The reason for this is that honesty creates repeat business.

You seem really angry about some random internet stranger's (me) opinion.

Don't let the angry consume you. It will just extend your skunk streak...lol

You talk like you wrote the book on ethics. Everyone has a different moral compass. They are as unique as fingerprints. If you compare yourself with someone who you believe has the same moral compass, I guarantee you will eventually disagree on something. There are people that would say CRHing is unethical. It's not a hard case to make: You handle coins in large quantity for personal gain. This increases the cost for the bank to do business. The bank passes those costs on to the customers. CRHing is a disservice to hardworking bank customers.

I'm sure you wouldn't have to go any further than a different forum on Treasurenet to find people who believes this.

 

[silverdollarbill]

I've never received a ribbon before and I have certainly never written any books.

My point is that when you sell something you should be as upfront and honest as possible. That CL post was not.

 

[FormerTeller]

I'm not going to comment about ethical or unethical. I do know that I wouldn't have listed a CL post with that description, and I definitely wouldn't be bragging about it on T-net.

 

[The_EE]

Wow really silverdollarbill? Unethical? How did I misrepresent what I was selling in this ad? Old? Large? Dollar coins? 300 of them? A photo showing nothing but Ikes? Yeah, pretty tricky.
The guy was a normal 20-something. Maybe I came out ahead in this transaction by making $100. Or maybe this guy is a master of Eisenhower dollar coins and will make $200 on my mistake? Gee golly gosh...what if I was a kid, an old person, or mentally slow? What if I'm the sucker?
I guess we'll never know who came out ahead in this transaction, so why are you acting like you do?

I see absolutely nothing wrong with your craigs list wording.

Are they large? Yes they are.

Are they old? Yes they are, 70's is considered vintage/antique now

Are they Dollar coins? Yep.

300 of them? Yep.

Picture provided to show product for sale? Yep.

Was the guy forced to buy with a gun to his head? No he was not.

There are nothing unethical or misleading about your sale, I really dont see what people are upset about. There is more unethical misleading sales moves done with products in your grocery store than one could shake a stick at, perhaps they need to take the energy to get upset about that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29shrink.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

[maine_Jim]

Maybe the guy who bought them thought his time was worth more than the extra $50 or so he may have paid for them. It isn't that easy to get 300 Eisenhower dollars quickly if you happen to need them and you could waste a day driving around trying to round up that many. Looks like you are on to something here and I may just give it a try. Nothing underhanded and perhaps filling a need that the silver bugs aren't hep to. I've sold a ton of things on CL and Ebay that I thought were absurd but with an honest listing. You didn't force the person to hand you the money. All you did that raises an eyebrow with some here is call them old. Well to most outside the CRH hobby they are old.

Maine_Jim

 

[Styfflin]

I'm not going to comment about ethical or unethical. I do know that I wouldn't have listed a CL post with that description, and I definitely wouldn't be bragging about it on T-net.

Two things. 1) Bragging? Who doesn't post their awesome finds or CRH sales on this forum? I find it awesome that people brag about their finds on here. It sure would be boring if they didn't. 2) I wouldn't say I was bragging, I was merely sharing my experience. I shared a screen capture of the Craigslist ad to show people interested in selling Ikes what worked for me. Use it or not, that's up to you. I'm certainly going to use it again.

 

[50cent]

Two things. 1) Bragging? Who doesn't post their awesome finds or CRH sales on this forum? I find it awesome that people brag about their finds on here. It sure would be boring if they didn't. 2) I wouldn't say I was bragging, I was merely sharing my experience. I shared a screen capture of the Craigslist ad to show people interested in selling Ikes what worked for me. Use it or not, that's up to you. I'm certainly going to use it again.

Yo Styfflin FT is saying that you might have ended up selling them to a T-net member or reader and this said member/reader is gonna be upset when he sees you posted a thread about the sale. then think, dang. FT, ain't criticizing you directly.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Pretty unethical thing to do but you probably justify it by placing the blame on the buyer who was/is a sucker.

Was it an adult? Would you do the same thing to a kid, old person, or maybe someone who is mentally slow?

Let us know how your CRH karma is the next week or two. I see a trip to Skunk City in your future! Maybe a loss of a dump back or two. Lol

What the is unethical about that??...Can you name ONE thing he did to be deceiving?...its Criagslist BTW...where the seller can Easily say "NO thanks" to any sale

I have sold ikes in the past for 2 bucks a piece on Ebay... I think 300 Ikes for 400 bucks is pretty good....How do you know the buyer isnt out to make a few bucks himself...Your statement was ridiculous

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

I'm not going to comment about ethical or unethical. I do know that I wouldn't have listed a CL post with that description, and I definitely wouldn't be bragging about it on T-net.

Man, I hate saying anything to you, because i enjoy all your posts.....But I didnt really feel he was bragging...In a sense...arent we all bragging by showing our finds? I thought he was just happy with the deal he made. He sold them for 1.33 each....that is WAY below anything on Ebay.

I could see where if he said somethign about not know anythign about them...or using the word SILVER..which i see people do all the time.

I just dont get what he did wrong...or the bragging part

 

[Iamrussell]

I worded my listing a little more broadly - not referring them to Eisenhower dollars but old large dollar coins.
And also provided the all-or-none safeguard so that the buyer wouldn't leave me high and dry when he doesn't see any silver edges.

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=885430"/>

I think this is where silverdollarbill and myself had the problem or issue or what ever you want to call it- he knew they where eisenhowers yet he posted them as old large dollars- he even states himself that his post was worded broadly- which im my mind means on the verge of misleading or deceitful- and then his wording again- he included the all or none so he wouldnt be left high and dry when the buyer didnt see any silver-
Again leading me only from this tnet post that he was trying to mislead

My feeling came from the way he posted his original post here- to me it came off as he knew what he was doing and what that was was trying to be sneaky to sell the Ikes when really if he had listed them as ikes the guy probably wouldve bought them amyways- like everyone said the buyer was probably out to make a profit or look for errors and such

If you dont think it was deceitful or misleading (at least the way he posted it here on tnet)like we do- ok fine- we dont have to agree on all things- its not like it was illegal and gonna cause anyone harm- I know it has caused me to think before I post a little more carefully

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just keep stacking, just keep stacking, stacking stacking stacking

 

[Styfflin]

I know it has caused me to think before I post a little more carefully

Apparently not.

 

[Iamrussell]

Apparently not.

Lol

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just keep stacking, just keep stacking, stacking stacking stacking

 

[Coppercrazy]

Styfflin, there's nothing wrong with what you did. Like you said, age is relative. A mutual agreement was made on price, and you sold them to him. You told him what the coins were without lying. There is nothing wrong with being a good salesman.

 

[SilverForBrains]

OK here's a good one for you guys.

I listed ikes on craigslist for a few bucks apiece, I had 27 of them. $4 each (wow!) or $64 for the whole lot. There is an institution around here that uses them for graduation, but the new grads have trouble finding them so I figured hey why not supply the market. Demand is up, so I can get more than normal for them.

I specifically said "no S mints" on the listing. I described the exact reason I was selling them. I didn't say "none are silver", but keep in mind all silver ikes are S mints.

Anyways some young guy in his 20s emails me and says he wants to take a look at them, so I meet him across town. I hand him the bag of coins and say "take your time." He then proceeds to pull out a scale, and his smartphone which is on a coin site. He spends 15 solid minutes going through the coins, weighing them, and scrolling up and down the ike site he's on. "I want all of them but these 3" he says, but then says "but I might as well buy them all." he seems really happy with himself.

I get an email the next day that says "Looks like you really made out on that one, I learned my lesson."

Of course I knew what he was doing when he was weighing out the coins. I knew exactly. he thought he had found a seller that didn't know what he had and thought he was going to make a bunch of money. Should I have stopped him and said "wait, do you think those are silver? you know they're not"

hell no, at least in my opinion. If it needs to be said, I did not misrepresent the coins in any way, and he was the one who was trying to make out like a bandit. I gave him all the time he wanted, and he had all the resources right in front of him to make an educated decision. In face, in my opinion he is the ridiculous one for having the audacity to send me an email.

If you think about it, we screw people over all the time in suttle ways. I know where to buy and find things for cheap, and other people don't spend the time and do the research and they pay retail or near retail. Knowledge makes money. The poster here did nothing wrong either in my opinion, if someone really bought those thinking they were going to score big what can I say. At least the post didn't say "unsearched, potential silver but you can't look through 'em first!"

 

[Coppercrazy]

Exactly it's the buyer's own fault.

 

[Coppercrazy]

Anyways in the words of my uncle, "If the man thinks he got a good deal, he got a good deal."

 

[moff347]

Yall need to lay off Styfflin. He did nothing wrong or "Unethical". If you consider what he did unethical, then you would have to also consider all cherrypickers unethical. When I posted several weeks ago about trading my 1912-D liberty nickel for a 1912-S I found in my LCS's junk box everyone congratulated me on the find. Nobody was upset that I basically traded a 50 cent coin for one worth around $260. The seller missed it and did not research or have the appropriate knowledge to identify the coin and that was his fault. Same with the individual that found the 1928 peace dollar several weeks age. In all these cases somebody was outsmarted. It this case it was the buyer, but like Styffin and several other people have said, all the information was there for the buyer to make an educated decision.

Plus when was the last time you saw an Ike for less than $1.50 at your LCS. Using the previously stated logic all of those LCS owners and pawn shops are unethical people trying to take advantage of buyers as well. No, they are a business trying to make money just like Styffin. So lay off the insults and accusations.

PS Great sell on those Ikes Styffin, I wish I could find a buyer at that price

 

[Joe777Cool]

Selling them at $1.33 per coin might seem a bit high but as long as they looked at them before purchasing I don't think it was excessive. Who knows what the guy has plans for with them. He might already have a buyer lined up for them. Maybe he is going to split them out to $100 bags and dump a couple 40% dollars and a Peace dollar in them and put them up for ebay auction or at a local auction. I have seen people pay crazy prices for coins at local auctions. I don't think you did anything wrong here or was deceptive. I have had bank tellers call me numerous times about the "old" dollar coins they just got in and to hurry right over for -- you guessed it...Ikes. I haven't bothered selling any Ikes like this but if I was gonna spend the time dealing with them it seems about how much I'd like to make.


Maine_Jim

thats funny - NOT