Question about sharing coin values with sellers

[Rhino]

Have any of you ever been in a situation where you wanted to buy a certain coin or banknote from a seller, and knew its true value, but the seller was unaware of it? What do you in that case? Do you tell the seller how much their item is worth, and then pay up what you told them? Or do you take advantage of the fact that they did not want to learn about their items and did not do research on their own, while you spent the time and money buying books and catalogs?

 

All opinions welcomed

[Burks]

Unless the person is old (because lets face it, a lot of time they sell stuff just to get a couple bucks), it doesn't bother me. I've never done it, but I know it wouldn't. Shouldn't sell things you have no idea what they are worth.

[Art]

My normal approach is to tell the person honestly the going price and then make a reasonable offer that gives us both some wiggle room.

[Rhino]

Interesting... I think I side with Burks on this, if you don't know what you're selling, don't expect to get top notch prices. You could sell it if you want, but I don't think sellers can ask for the market price if they have no clue what they are holding. Morally it's tough to "pull a fast one" on a person, but I don't know if you're necessarily deceiving them, because the resources are out there for them to find out the worth of the item... you're not stopping them from looking it up.

 

Has anyone had an experience like that with an item they wanted to buy?

[thedeadpoint]

I'm afraid of telling the buyer what I want to pay (what I think it's worth) before they tell me what they are asking. I've occasionally spat out a value I thought they would go for BARELY but they agreed quickly. I felt bad afterwards because they could have gone lower!

 

Anyway, that's a circuitous answer to your question.

[hiho]

I used to own a pretty large collection of old (1916-1955) banknotes from the Netherlands and became pretty good at spotting the rare stuff.

 

One day I noticed a note being offered on eBay that I knew was a replacement, worth about $2000 instead of $200. I could have just shut up and bid at the last minute and would probably have won it for about $200.

 

Instead I informed the seller that it was special and it eventually sold for a hair under $2000.

 

I'm no angel but I try and do the right thing whenever possible, I sleep better at night.

[bill]

For me the question is one of respective roles. As a collector, if a dealer or other seller (say on Ebay) offers at item at their asking price and I believe it is worth more, I'm fine paying their price. I may or may not be right in believing I am receiving good value and it is my risk. If a individual approaches me to ask about the value of an item, I have a responsibility to answer honestly. If I see an item that is not marked for sale and ask if I can buy it and the individual asks me what I would pay, I have a responsibility to provide an honest, fair answer. As a dealer, if someone asks me to make an offer on an item or offers it to me at a price that indicates they don't know its true value, I have an obligation to be honest about the market value (wholesale and retail).

[ScottO]

on my view, if its on ebay the coin should make its value regardless, i have found my fair share of bargains on there.

found a fair few underpriced pieces at my dealers (10p for a coin worth 125 euros?) but that was the only coin i knew was worth more then asking price, i knew the date was key so snatched it up, if the price has been set already, i'm not going to say.. erm yea i'll pay more, its up to the sellers to do the research.