Are you a patient buyer?

[nwcs]

You are walking the bourse floor, dealers and collectors flank your every side. High intensity lights make every coin look good. You are walking in a coin store, one where you have found some great coins before, and you wonder if a discovery is awaiting you or not. You are looking at a dealer's web site, the beautiful coins dance in front of your eyes and eventually invade your dreams.

 

Are you a patient buyer? Looking before leaping, thinking before buying, evaluating before impulse? Or are you an impatient buyer? Heart before head, go with your instincts, willing to try for the big score?

[jtryka]

I really think I am too patient sometimes. There have been several instances lately where I have not bid aggressively enough, or have passed on really great coins just because I was too cheap or too patient. On the plus side, I am pretty particular about the type of coins I buy, so I usually don't have a problem passing on a coin that is just not quite the level of quality I want.

[GP_]

I know I am! I dont have a lot of money to spend on coins so I buy carefully. I will walk the entire show, twice if I can before I go to TomB's table and spend all my money! Last show i went to i walked the floor twice before buying. If a coin doesnt have the right look twice I wont buy it.

[Dermott]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

 

On auction sites, I'm generally patient enough to not overbid on an item, and instead will bid what I feel is right for a number of the same item, then lose all but one or two... but I won't place a bid without a good crisp image of what I'm buying.

 

In person it a bit different. I generally try to have an idea of what I want to buy, but more often than not, that gets tossed out the window as I tend to do a lot of "zen" shopping... when a piece "calls" to me, I'll gravitate towards getting it. Sometimes I do ok, sometimes I get burned by it... but usually not too badly... and I do learn from the experience (mainly one of the most important questions in my mind... "Does it bother you if I were to take this coin to have it slabbed?"... if the answer is yes, then I don't deal with the dealer, plain and simple)

[Oldtrader3]

I tend to have become more patient as I become older. Firstly, have to be more careful with my money. Secondly, have been burned too often when buying on impulse. I have lost coins by being slow, but that is ok. I would rather miss on a coin than buy one that I will regret having bought the whole time that I own it. Also, learned instinct is a better indicator than many of us think it is.

[RobertB]

I too have become more patient as I'm getting older and smarter. I've been collecting for about four years now, and am currently 25 years old. In the beginning I would often go after a coin(s) like a hungry wolf after a lamb. Now I wait for an excellent deal on what I really was looking for. I have gained alot of control in four years. Loosing money and initial bad decisions early on will do that to you.

[jom]

Yeah, I'm more patient as I get more experience. When I go to a big show like Long Beach, I'll go around the floor looking and when I find a nice piece I'll jot down the type of coin and the table as I go. I find that if I buy the coin when I first see it I tend to make mistakes. Most of the time the coin is still there when I go back but about 5% of the time it's gone. Same with lot viewing. I like to go back and look at the coin again before I bid.

 

I suppose if I got into the "pre-show" with a dealer badge I'd have LESS success since the REAL good material, which is ususally gone by the time the public gets there, will disappear if I don't buy. This is one of the reasons I haven't bothered trying to get into "dealer day" as I'd probably miss on the opportunities anyway. At some point, however, I'm going to give it a shot....

 

jom

[BillJones]

After 40 years of buying, I can be pretty patient. I don't have many regrets on either side of fence (Why did I buy that? Why didn't I buy that?)

 

The biggest regret I've had in LONG, LONG time was why didn't I buy THE George Washington clothing button that I wanted when I had the chance? It was the PERFECT piece with an orginal shank. I only held up because my hobby budge was running a little thin. I could have taken the money from another pot. I could have had the a nice piece for $2,000. Now some probably "less that prudent" buyer has paid $11,000 for one! That's too much, but a fair price is still several times greater than $2 grand. Oh Well!

 

As for want lists, I make a list and pretty well stick to it. There have been coins that I have looked for for years before I finally bought them.

[kranky]

I'm very patient. I went 15 years without buying a single coin (not including sets from the Mint) while still keeping my ANA membership and Coin World subscription current and buying coin books.

 

Of course, I had no money for coins during that time, and that made it easy. Now I can get some coins, I go slowly.

[sanmary]

I'm not patient if you will, but picky. Living in Denver dosen't provide the greatest opportunity to see a lot of quality coins at shows. Long Beach isn't my backyard. That said, I usually leave the local shows empty-handed for lack of finding exactly what I want. However I will buy coins for my 1 yr old sons collection that I normally wouldn't purchase for myself. I suppose I used to be too patient in that a couple years ago I passed on a lot of coins I thought would still be available today that are not. Still kicking myself for a few of them. Now if I find a coin that is right I will buy it....no second thoughts.

[greghansen-migration]

I think I'm pretty patient. You may miss the occasional coin by not acting quick enough, however, lost opportunity is easier to make up than lost money.!

[LEAKYCOIN]

I am very patient. I always research the coins I am interested in. I have used BIN only a couple of times.

 

KINGKOIN KING OF KOINS

[MikeKing]

I am too patient, I think. Perhaps impetuous at other times. I often lose out on coins I've been considering and they're gone, both from dealers (which I'm sure can be very frustrating for them), and often at auction. I'm still beating myself over the head about coins I deliberated too long over, absolutely regretting not having made the move, or moved fast enough. On the other hand, if I had acted on a lot of other coins, which I deliberated on but never bought, I'd be scattered all over the place. Looking back at them, in retrospect, I wonder what got me interested in the first place.

 

I guess it all balances out in the end, and the more learned you become about choosing and when to buy, the more balanced an individual you may develop into.

 

Then, there are those coins (few) that I just simply have to pounce on even if it means crossing my fingers and hyperextending myself, because it's a such a rare buying opportunity. But perhaps that's not impatience but more the 'learned instinct' Oldtrader mentions above.

 

 

[reid1836]

When examining coins with the intent of aquiring a new addition to my collection! Patience is most definitivly a virtue. Many times a better specimen is just a table or scroll away. At relatively the same price.

Fools rush in, haste makes waste, etc.....

[Wihlborg]

Generally I am a very patient buyer. I am very picky about the type of quality and eye appeal I want a coin to have before I add it to my collection, but when I do find the right coin I don’t hesitate before buying because it my be a long time before I find another with the ‘right’ look.

 

There are coins that I have been searching years for and have not found the right coin yet. I also have a number of coins that have taken a few years before I found the one with the look I was after.

 

I guess my buying attitude is like the old saying ‘I’ll know it when I see it’

 

John

 

[Newmismatist]

"Are you a patient buyer? Looking before leaping, thinking before buying, evaluating before impulse? Or are you an impatient buyer?"

 

Wellll it depends - if its a real godzilla, really PQ for the grade, something I collect, Rare (not common & available everywhere on the floor) AND its fairly priced, I'll try & buy it - because those kind of coins usually aren't there when you come back later, a lesson I've learned the hard way. Sometimes you gotta go with you first reaction - "Gotta Have it!!"