The20Percent
02-17-2015, 11:09 AM
An out of town buying group just ran three full pages of ads in a Sunday paper that most of us know and read. Another full page ad today in this same paper wanting to buy your collectibles at a local hotel on the lake. I'm not mentioning names of the hotel or newspaper because it is obvious they are both benefiting from this buying group and revealing the names may not sit right with the moderator of this board.
I went in there yesterday with a rare piece of US currency, thinking that I "might" get a fair offer for this 1865 lazy deuce $2 note. Even though I paid $2,300 for this graded note 15 years ago, I expected to take a loss on this note because I realized this buying group is in business and therefore needs to make a decent profit on items they buy in order to pay for the overhead of renting this room, cost of expensive full page ads, travel expenses , etc, etc. On the flip side, I also realized that my note has most likely appreciated over the last 15 years and that this appreciation would hopefully help get me closer to what I originally paid for the note. Now factor in that I am not a novice to collecting paper currency and with my past knowledge I knew that I had paid a fair and reasonable price for this note 15 years back.
I handed the note to the younger man in the room and he inspected it with his jeweler's loupe under a light. He acknowledged it as a lazy deuce right off the bat and automatically and instinctively starts downplaying it..."well, it's graded a VF-25 by this company but that doesn't mean it is that grade", he then said that "he doesn't like dealing with notes by this grading company and that I should take it out of the holder and send it to a grading company that meets their preference". I told him that I realize grading is subjective and that I am not going to the trouble of getting this note regraded and that I am just interested in selling it the way it is. He picks up the phone and calls someone (appeared to be an associate at his home office) and tells this person on the phone what my note is and that it has no pinholes in it. He then hangs up and proceeds to inform me that my note could be worth $200-$300, which immediately sends my blood to a boiling point! I then inform him that I paid $2,300 for the note 15 years back and that I won't be selling it to him for that price! I angrily told him that if he thinks its worth such a small amount he apparently doesn't have any knowledge about paper currency and that if he did he would have a buyers guide with him that shows the worth of currency. This flustered him and without thinking he reached behind him and pulled out an actual greensheet (which is like the NADA book of car buying) that shows the bid (dealer buy prices) and ask (dealer sell prices) of US currency. Seeing that I now confused him into producing this dealer's buy/sell sheet, I told him to look up my note to see this month's stated value of it. He started arguing about the grade once again and I said, okay lets say my note is a VG (very good, which is many steps below my notes stated grade of Very Fine 25) and I agree to sell it to you for that grade...what does your price sheet show it to be worth in this grade? He refused to open his price sheet to show me this information, I proceeded to take the note from his hand and immediately walked out the door!
In this particular case I had knowledge of my item and was still willing to take a reasonable loss on it but I darn well refuse to deal with someone who tries to take me to the cleaners in the process! I am going to the trouble of writing about my experience yesterday because I hate to see people being taking advantage of, especially seniors who might have lost touch over many years with the monetary value of their jewelry, diamonds, antique watches, etc. Knowledge is power and if you don't have knowledge of the item you are selling, it's worth paying for an independent appraisal to at least put you on an even playing field with an unscrupulous buyer who may try to rake you over the coals if he senses you don't have this knowledge. Seller beware!
I went in there yesterday with a rare piece of US currency, thinking that I "might" get a fair offer for this 1865 lazy deuce $2 note. Even though I paid $2,300 for this graded note 15 years ago, I expected to take a loss on this note because I realized this buying group is in business and therefore needs to make a decent profit on items they buy in order to pay for the overhead of renting this room, cost of expensive full page ads, travel expenses , etc, etc. On the flip side, I also realized that my note has most likely appreciated over the last 15 years and that this appreciation would hopefully help get me closer to what I originally paid for the note. Now factor in that I am not a novice to collecting paper currency and with my past knowledge I knew that I had paid a fair and reasonable price for this note 15 years back.
I handed the note to the younger man in the room and he inspected it with his jeweler's loupe under a light. He acknowledged it as a lazy deuce right off the bat and automatically and instinctively starts downplaying it..."well, it's graded a VF-25 by this company but that doesn't mean it is that grade", he then said that "he doesn't like dealing with notes by this grading company and that I should take it out of the holder and send it to a grading company that meets their preference". I told him that I realize grading is subjective and that I am not going to the trouble of getting this note regraded and that I am just interested in selling it the way it is. He picks up the phone and calls someone (appeared to be an associate at his home office) and tells this person on the phone what my note is and that it has no pinholes in it. He then hangs up and proceeds to inform me that my note could be worth $200-$300, which immediately sends my blood to a boiling point! I then inform him that I paid $2,300 for the note 15 years back and that I won't be selling it to him for that price! I angrily told him that if he thinks its worth such a small amount he apparently doesn't have any knowledge about paper currency and that if he did he would have a buyers guide with him that shows the worth of currency. This flustered him and without thinking he reached behind him and pulled out an actual greensheet (which is like the NADA book of car buying) that shows the bid (dealer buy prices) and ask (dealer sell prices) of US currency. Seeing that I now confused him into producing this dealer's buy/sell sheet, I told him to look up my note to see this month's stated value of it. He started arguing about the grade once again and I said, okay lets say my note is a VG (very good, which is many steps below my notes stated grade of Very Fine 25) and I agree to sell it to you for that grade...what does your price sheet show it to be worth in this grade? He refused to open his price sheet to show me this information, I proceeded to take the note from his hand and immediately walked out the door!
In this particular case I had knowledge of my item and was still willing to take a reasonable loss on it but I darn well refuse to deal with someone who tries to take me to the cleaners in the process! I am going to the trouble of writing about my experience yesterday because I hate to see people being taking advantage of, especially seniors who might have lost touch over many years with the monetary value of their jewelry, diamonds, antique watches, etc. Knowledge is power and if you don't have knowledge of the item you are selling, it's worth paying for an independent appraisal to at least put you on an even playing field with an unscrupulous buyer who may try to rake you over the coals if he senses you don't have this knowledge. Seller beware!