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The Road Buyers..
A Lesson from Wal-Mart and Chattanooga Coin
By Norm Glovsky - Staff Editor at Chattanooga Coin
I recently had an experience with a Road Buyer but I didn’t realize that’s what the gentleman was called until I got this writing assignment from Chattanooga Coin Co. You, dear readers, must have also had Road Buyers visiting your hometown and not even known it.
Road Buyers are guys – sometimes gals -- working for companies that advertise nationally to buy all kinds of collectibles – coins, precious metals, knives, guns, what have you. They travel all over the country, publicize their willingness to buy collectibles from just about anyone and then set up for a week or so at a local motelwith a big lobby.
The prices they offer are often fairly low, sometimes even close to market value, sometimes not so close. This works out fine for both buyer and seller because most sellers often have no other resources, need some fast cash and are glad to make a quick sale and not have to bring their items home again to their over crowded garage. The Road Buyer can end up obtaining some pretty high-quality items at little or no premium cost. When times are bad or precious metals prices are on the rise, Road Buyers seem to just fall or crawl out of the woodwork.
My Road Buyer experience concerned not coins or precious metals, but collectible comic books, left over from the days when I owned and operated a used bookshop and coin store, a little memorabilia collectible emporium (and candy store). I recently saw this Road Buyer’s ad in the local newspaper – “Highest prices paid for 10 and 12-cent comic books.” “Wow,” I thought, “here’s my chance to get some cash for magazines I haven’t even looked at in 30 years or so.” So I loaded up my SUV and drove to the town’s fanciest motel with my prized collection and ended up with a lesson in just how these guys work. Now I’m not saying my merchandise was in Mint condition, but most of the comics, despite their years in storage, were in the Very Fine to Near Mint category. Covers were not retaped and content – and all 48 pages -- were all there, even those Red Ryder BBgun ads. Those comics were collectibles of a pretty high order.
The Road Buyer greeted me warmly and appeared to be fairly knowledgeable on the subject of comic collectibles. I proudly put my box of comic gems on the table. Mr. Road Buyer shuffled through them, separating the wheat from the chaff. He ended up laying 10 of those plastic-wrapped, colorful gems on the table, (ones I’d just loved as a kid and had treated venerably since re-aquiring them) including such hard-to-find and much-indemand gems as: The Marvel Family No. 28 (Oct. 1948); Blackhawk No. 21, (Oct. 1948); Joe Palooka No. 18 (March, 1948; and Mutt & Jeff No. 36 (Oct.-Nov. 1948). “I like these,” he said with a wink and a smile. “So do I,” I said. “Make me an offer.” “$15,” he said. “Each?” I asked. “Nope, for the 10.” Yikes! Well, sir, I just couldn’t believe such a low-ball offer. Not only do 10 brand-new comics cost more than that (and they’re not loaded down with 80 years of historic collectibility), but I could probably get more than that selling my collectible gems at a yard sale or flea market. Mr. Road Buyer looked at me expectantly. “Deal or no deal?” he asked. “Sorry,” I said, “No deal this time.” I lugged my cartons back out to my SUV. So, this is how these Road Buyers work. They’re friendly, knowledgeable and pretend to be just your good ol’ collecting buddy. But when push comes to shove, they make you a low-ball offer for your goods – in my case a very low-ball offer that I had to just let roll away. And didn’t feel any desire to chase after it. Big lesson learned: When it comes time to buy or sell your holdings – know your dealer for best deals. However, Road Buyer activities are not all bad for shrewd investor/collectors. Here’s the good news:
Those traveling road guys have to sell what they buy as fast as possible -- for two reasons: Most of them have no warehouses to store the stuff they score on their frequent buying trips. And, secondly, they need more funds to get back out on the road to pay for those motel suites and buy more goods, which they once again sell in bulk at a small profit. If they can’t move the goods, they’re, for all practical purposes, out of business.
If you want to stand a better chance in the market, that’s where Chattanooga Coin Co. comes in – at least that’s where our knowledgeable buyers come in. They’re ever on the lookout for Road Buyer sales where they can pick up all those coin hoards or collections at bargain basement prices. And then, of course, we are able to offer all those odd lots and mixed lots of coins (many of them high quality, slabbed and graded by NGC and PCGS) to our clients, again, at bargain-basement prices.
This is the same strategy Wal-Mart used in building its business and stalwart reputation and is also a road map for success in any business: Buy low, sell a little higher – just not too high. Those are the facts.
Another happy fact is that we here at Chattanooga Coin Co. always try to buy low and sell just a little bit higher (it’s called working on a smaller profit margin) which not only means more sales for us, but more bargain-priced coins for our satisfied buyers, obviously a good deal for all. And, of course, when it comes time to sell your holdings, call Chattanooga Coin Co. We’ll make you an offer you won’t want to refuse. - Glovsky |
