Admission Fees At Coin Shows 2 2

[powermad5000]

I honestly could care less about paying a $10 fee to get into a coin show and I voted that way. Am I not in a sense paying more than that yearly in fees by buying coins online when the seller shoves it into the price to cover his own selling fees? Occasionally, this does not happen for whatever reason, but I am sure on higher dollar online coins, that sellers fee is buried in the final price of the coin. What about buyers premium on HA?? That is WAY more than $10. And also why I probably will never buy a coin at an HA auction. I refuse to pay the buyers premium.

To me, big deal. So I spend $10 to get in. To get into a show where I can view, hold, and examine RAW coins in real time not from a photo and make my decisions on whether to buy or not buy right then and there. Much worth the $10 to me to be able to do that.

I don't attend shows to buy a single slabbed coin, btw. While I may have slabs that I am trying to unload, I try to find a dealer who will make an even slabs for a slab trade (as typically I am trying to unload some of my less expensive slabs for a high dollar slab). I attend shows to ONLY buy raw coins. I don't travel the country to attend a show. If it comes to me, I will go. When the Worlds Fair of Money came here, I remember paying a parking fee that I wasn't thrilled with having the show in the suburbs and all, and if it returns there I am sure I will come up with a way to get around that (I see walking involved which is good exercise anyway).

I get that a show may have to charge something for entry. They have to rent the hall and people who run the building need to get paid to open the doors and clean the place and pay for the lights to be on and provide the water so you can flush the toilet while you are there. I would say reasonably anyone attending a coin show that if the $10 prevents you from making a purchase, then you need to save for a longer period of time before you attend. I'm not going to bat an eye about ten bucks when I am going to throw down $400-500 or more for a single Morgan or Peace dollar or whatever else fits my fancy that day. And I am certainly not some high roller by the way.

[zadok]

On 11/12/2023 at 4:20 AM, powermad5000 said:

I honestly could care less about paying a $10 fee to get into a coin show and I voted that way. Am I not in a sense paying more than that yearly in fees by buying coins online when the seller shoves it into the price to cover his own selling fees? Occasionally, this does not happen for whatever reason, but I am sure on higher dollar online coins, that sellers fee is buried in the final price of the coin. What about buyers premium on HA?? That is WAY more than $10. And also why I probably will never buy a coin at an HA auction. I refuse to pay the buyers premium.

To me, big deal. So I spend $10 to get in. To get into a show where I can view, hold, and examine RAW coins in real time not from a photo and make my decisions on whether to buy or not buy right then and there. Much worth the $10 to me to be able to do that.

I don't attend shows to buy a single slabbed coin, btw. While I may have slabs that I am trying to unload, I try to find a dealer who will make an even slabs for a slab trade (as typically I am trying to unload some of my less expensive slabs for a high dollar slab). I attend shows to ONLY buy raw coins. I don't travel the country to attend a show. If it comes to me, I will go. When the Worlds Fair of Money came here, I remember paying a parking fee that I wasn't thrilled with having the show in the suburbs and all, and if it returns there I am sure I will come up with a way to get around that (I see walking involved which is good exercise anyway).

I get that a show may have to charge something for entry. They have to rent the hall and people who run the building need to get paid to open the doors and clean the place and pay for the lights to be on and provide the water so you can flush the toilet while you are there. I would say reasonably anyone attending a coin show that if the $10 prevents you from making a purchase, then you need to save for a longer period of time before you attend. I'm not going to bat an eye about ten bucks when I am going to throw down $400-500 or more for a single Morgan or Peace dollar or whatever else fits my fancy that day. And I am certainly not some high roller by the way.

...this entire question of whether entry fees keeps collectors from attending shows has exceeded the original question's intent...i feel that the general consensus is that it doesnt, after all virtually every coin that every person on this forum buys is more than $10, big deal if it costs $10 to be able to spend more than $10...now if the question were..."would a $50 or a $100 entry fee cause u to not attend a show?"..that becomes a diff matter, the entry fee could very well exceed the cost of the coins u mite want to buy...now as to paying premiums at auctions, another not a big deal nor a show stopper, thats just n attitude adjustment factor, if u dont want to pay a 10%, 20% buyers premium just bid 10-20% less n its transparent, u pay the desired price if successful...every coin u buy unless its from pocket change has a premium regardless of how u buy it, coin show, auction, private sale...they all have their premium unless ur paying face value...as for the auction houses HA, SB, GC et al sure they charge u a buyers fee, its the price of admission after all they r bringing u to ur own living room coins u would never see or even know about at no travel expense to u...if u wait for the coins to come to u ur collection will never be what it could be n thats all well n good if that meets ur needs...coin collecting can be achieved at all levels of expense, everyone decides what fits their budgets n factor in all the costs n goes with the results, its not a big deal....

[GoldFinger1969]

What about a "Suggested Voluntary Donation" so if someone from the public is really hard for $$$ they can still get in with no payment or a token $1 or something ?

For a larger show, I can't believe any serious numismatist being put off by a $10 or other nominal fee.  Again, if I goto FUN it costs me $1,000 or so before I spend a dollar there so is $10 or even $20 a day going to be a dealbreaker ?  Not really.

But smaller 1-day shows or local shows, yeah, $10 might deter the public.

Edited November 12, 2023 by GoldFinger1969

[Henri Charriere]

FWIW... I have been reviewing in my mind a locale few were apparently acquainted with -- the American Numismatic Society, founded in 1858 for the appreciation of numismatics -- until they decided to move a few years ago in the dead of night, from the heart of midtown Manhattan to the far West Side.  A paper of record covered it because of the extraordinary security measures they employed and a total news black-out on the hours-long transfer of unique, seldom seen,  numismatica. I read the entire fascinating story in the paper and one item piqued my interest: a rare Lydian electrum circa 600 B.C., one of the world's first coins, which was produced in my father's country [Turkey] which was recently officially re-named Turkiye. A friend, possibly my wife, accompanied me.

We were greeted like unexpected intruders. Our sole purpose was to be afforded a glimpse of the coin.  Our photos were taken as were our government-issued ID cards, to no avail. 

The entire procedure should have taken no longer than it takes a person to identify a loved one at the morgue.

THERE WAS NO ADMISSION FEE.  Instead, we were asked to become members. Membership was a standard $50. Bear in mind, they do not sell anything. Recently, a number of pieces were auctioned off elsewhere and I had to be content with viewing those lots via the internet.

I can recall visiting the Chase Manhattan Museum of Money for free when I was a teenager in the 1960's. The holdings of the ANS are substantial, but they may have as well been held in an oversized safety deposit box.

Now, would you have been okay with forking over a significant amount of money simply to view a single coin?  If I get word the NYINC may have one of the coins I seek this January, I will gladly pay the paltry $20 fee. As a senior who lives uptown, I save on transportation (with a half-fare MetroCard) and lodgings. I can live with the exorbitant nearly 9% sales tax because I will avoid a bank wire transfer, USD to euro conversion fees, insured shipping costs, postage and an ever-present threat of a seizure by Customs for ransom.

[zadok]

On 11/12/2023 at 12:08 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

What about a "Suggested Voluntary Donation" so if someone from the public is really hard for $$$ they can still get in with no payment or a token $1 or something ?

For a larger show, I can't believe any serious numismatist being put off by a $10 or other nominal fee.  Again, if I goto FUN it costs me $1,000 or so before I spend a dollar there so is $10 or even $20 a day going to be a dealbreaker ?  Not really.

But smaller 1-day shows or local shows, yeah, $10 might deter the public.

...its a mixed bag, entry fees deter a certain % of potential attendees, the persons most shows (imex excluded) want to attend to spend their money, provide sales for dealers etc...n in some instances the promoters need all the financial help they can get, (imex? but then made show attendee unfriendly??)...in some cases at certain locations i suspect the entry fee is just to discourage freeloaders, grifters n non purchasers from entry...but if proposing a staggered entry fee, no way, human nature being what it is everyone will be impoverished n need food n drink just to navigate n some prob transfusions....

[gmarguli]

On 11/11/2023 at 4:26 PM, Henri Charriere said:

To my knowledge, COSTCO charges a $60. membership fee.

They charge a fee for access to items less expensive than you can typically purchase elsewhere. Totally different from charging a fee to access regularly priced items.

 

[Coinbuf]

On 11/12/2023 at 6:53 PM, gmarguli said:

They charge a fee for access to items less expensive than you can typically purchase elsewhere. Totally different from charging a fee to access regularly priced items.

 

Let me fix that for you.   "Totally different from charging a fee to access jacked up show priced items".   There you go.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Coinbuf

[Henri Charriere]

I am not sure what my thinking on this is supposed to be.  Seeing as how @VKurtB eschews the internet for personal in-person, in-hand inspections at coin shows, I am going to wait for him to weigh in.  I cannot speak on something I have no first-hand knowledge of.

My thanks to Moderation for allowing me to express my thoughts freely.

[VKurtB]

On 11/12/2023 at 9:26 PM, Henri Charriere said:

I am not sure what my thinking on this is supposed to be.  Seeing as how @VKurtB eschews the internet for personal in-person, in-hand inspections at coin shows, I am going to wait for him to weigh in.  I cannot speak on something I have no first-hand knowledge of.

My thanks to Moderation for allowing me to express my thoughts freely.

My main venue is personal in-person auctions, not coin shows. Auctions without Internet bidding, for the most part. And about 80% or so raw coins, not slabbed coins. Allen Berman, the VERY popular world coin dealer from Connecticut, admits breaking out virtually all coins he gets already slabbed. He thinks slabs are ridiculous, and all they do is take up valuable space. This, from the King of Bermania. He is the kind of guy who informs my opinions. No Registry fan, he. I bought one slabbed coin at Baltimore, and it is coming OUT of that plastic insanity.

Edited November 13, 2023 by VKurtB

[Henri Charriere]

UNADORNED FACTS...

1.  THE ENCAPSULATION OF A COIN, PROPERLY GRADED AND STORED, HAS NEVER LOWERED ITS FAIR MARKET VALUE;

2.  THE SO-CALLED RAW COIN, HOWEVER PROTECTED, by a 2 X 2 OR FLIP, WILL LIKELY BE MORE PRONE TO TOUCHING, IMPROPER FONDLING, POSSIBLE EXPOSURE TO INADVERTENT "DAMAGE" DUE TO ACCIDENTAL SLIPS, FALLS, COLLISIONS AND EXPOSURE TO KNOWN AND UNKNOWN ELEMENTS, SOME WITH KNOWN DELETERIOUS EFFECTS, OTHERS WITH UNCLEAR, UNKNOWABLE OR UNFORSEEABLE EFFECTS.

***

A RAW COIN REQUIRES REPEATED EXAMINATION, RE-EXAMINATIONS, EXPLANATIONS AND ENDLESS DISCUSSION. ONE SIDE DISPLAYS A STRONG STRIKE; THE OTHER MAY BE IMPAIRED.  THE RAW COIN, BY VIRTUE OF ITS UNKNOWN OR RUMORED PROVENANCE, IS SUBJECT TO ENDLESS SPECULATION. (One might purchase an automobile based on make, model, year and mileage -- even a test drive -- but one wouldn't really know what one has until he takes it in for a diagnostic examination by a licensed mechanic.)

THE ENCAPSULATED COIN SUFFERS NO SUCH INQUIRY.  ITS LATEST OWNERS ARE FREE TO SAY, "IF IT WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR A DISCRIMINATING COLLECTOR, LIKE A PARTRICK [OR AN ARRIUS 🤣] IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. IT'S BEEN FAWNED OVER, AUTHENTICATED, GRADED, CERTIFIED AND ENCAPSULATED, SOME WITH A CAC OR SIMILAR GOOD HOUSEKEEPING SEAL OF APPROVAL.