Have you ever paid MORE for a coin than what was asked?

[MikeInFL]

Have you ever found a coin for sale that you offered to pay more than what was being asked? If so, how did you justify it? If not, what are your thoughts on someone doing such a (seemingly silly) thing?

 

Just wondering.

[WinstonWare]

Yes I have. TomB picked out a couple of CBHs for me at a show that I couldn’t get to. He tried to sell them to me for what he paid for them plus shipping. I had to talk him into some miniscule amount of money. I can’t even recall what it was – something like $5 or $10 dollars profit for both of them.

 

Here are the coins. He bought them raw and I later submitted them.

 

[Zoins]

winstonware,

 

That's the second time I've seen the photo of that 1814/13 and I have to say that I really like that piece. Well worth the extra compensation to TomB IMO. Congrats to you both

[WinstonWare]

Thank you. I actually didn’t really pay more for the coin because of my compensation to Tom. He had talked the coin down from the asking price, so even with the added few dollars that I had to force him to accept, the coin still cost me less than the price on the holder.

[lkenefic]

I can honestly say...no. I've paid asking price...many times less, but I've never paid more...excluding shipping charges of course. Leo

[okbustchaser]

Yes, on a couple of occasions when I spotted an R-5 half (my 1812/1 large 8 and first 1827 O-145) I have offered considerably more than asked--admittedly, not as much as the coin would have cost if bought from knowlegable seller, but a definate windfall. On the 1812 I was told that his original price was fine--that it more than covered what he wanted out of it. On the 1827 the extra was gladly accepted--and led to my being given first shot at any new halves he buys.

 

Why? Because I honestly feel that in a one on one situation it is no more proper for me to take advantage of a dealer than it would be for that dealer to take advantage of me. At auction, where other buyers had the same chance at it as I did then all bets are off. Cherry away.

[TomB]

Thanks for the kind words, Winston.

 

I've also done this when I have had a table and folks have approached me with very nice coins that they hadn't realized were worth as much as they thought. There are two instances I can recall well and one of these was for a 1921-S WLH in problem-free VG8 that was offered to me for $9 but that I paid much closer to Greysheet for because it was so nice. The other coin was the 8R shown below, which was offered to me at under melt! The then-owner had bought it at an antique store or flea market, I can't recall, and later had buyer's remorse. I told him I would gladly pay more than melt and then did.

[realone]

I hate to, but if i really want something I have and probably will again, Funny thing as time marches on the true value usually catches up to the price i paid and eventually surpasses it, or maybe I have just been lucky.

[James_OldeTowne]

Absolutely, on several or more occasions. It usually has happened (for me) when a non-collector inherits coins and gets some appraisals elsewhere. Then, he or she decides to sell them to me. If I believe that a seller is a non-collector, I ALWAYS do a written appraisal and offer (which may be more or less than the appraisal). If my offer happens to be more than the original asking price, then the seller is very happy, and I sleep better at night.

 

We're usually not talking about big money here, but I really despise hearing non-collectors mentioning that such-and-such dealer offered them literally 10-15% of the market value of their coins. Nothing in coins burns me more .

[pendragon1998]

I've had a forum member offer me a couple of coins I needed at a very low price, as they picked them up for very little themselves. I included a little bonus on their payment as a thank you.

[lkenefic]

This is an interesting thread to me. I can see paying more for a rare coin that the seller has mis-attributed or a rarity that has escaped his/her radar screen (a certain low-grade 1932-D quarter springs to mind) but in what venue would you typically be wanting to pay more than the seller has listed for any particular coin? At someones' shop...at a show...? How about after the fact? ie... you win an eBay auction and discover the 1848 Large Cent you purchased for $50 is a decent grade N-33 variety and worth many times more than that.

 

L

[carson city]

About the same number of times a buyer of a coin has paid you more than you asked for ! Keep it Real !

[Hoot]

Like James, I've paid many people more than what they were willing to sell their collections for prior to bringing them to me. Collector or non-collector, people often get bamboozled by those who know a lot about coins, and it's simply a rotten thing to do to a person. Similarly, I will back off of a commission for selling a collection if a person does not make what is expected. I've charged as little as 3% under those circumstances, which only covers my fees and not my time. In either case, the person I've dealt with has gotten more than what they had initially expected for their coins - not exactly what Mike was asking, but similar.

 

Hoot