retail is the price a collector will pay for a coin, basically full book value,
most dealers (notice i did not say all) will claim to operate on a 10% profit margin, they will buy a coin at "bid" which is like 40% of the retail value, then they beat you up because the coin has a scratch on it, or some BS so they end up buying the coin for 10% of its actual worth, but once they put it in the showcase, all the problems "go away" and now the coin is gem, and the dealer makes 90% profit on that coin. you dont see very many coin dealers go out of business, they usually die very wealthy. anyone that doesnt agree, prove it to yourself, take a valuable coin to a dealer, and ask him what he thinks it is worth, but act like you have no idea that it could be worth anything more than a few bucks, if the dealer is honest, he will offer you about 75% of retail, which is still more than a 10% profit margin, but dont be too surprised when he offers you $50 for that 1916d dime i realize that dealers have to eat, but do they have to lie about thier profit margins ? if you sell to a collector, you will get the best price