Setting up a dealer table at a local coin show starts with a plan.
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Click on image to enlarge
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Images courtesy of Bill Rodriguez
The bourse floor at the Greater Jacksonville Coin Club's annual coin show on May 31 featured 89 tables. Local coin shows come in all sizes and venues.
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Click on image to enlarge
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Images courtesy of Bill Rodriguez
Coin dealer Emory Robinson of Edgewood Coins in Jacksonville, Fla., assists collectors at the Greater Jacksonville Coin Club’s annual coin show. Robinson attends between 12 and 15 local and state shows a year. He said a local show is a good place to start for a new coin dealer, along with mini-shows often held at club meetings.
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In advising someone who has never operated a coin show bourse table before, dealers from across the country agree that several things need to be considered before the day of the show – location, venue, pricing and equipment.
Locating a local show
A good place to start is locating a show at which you can set up a bourse table, agree BES Coin Shoppe owner Brian Fanton of Cedar Rapids, South Carolina Numismatic Association President Jim Barry and Bill Green who is the bourse table coordinator for the Diablo Numismatic Society's 12th annual Contra Costa Coin Show in Concord, Calif.
"You could look in a coin show listing ... or a calendar ... or you could have attended a show as a collector and talked to someone that ran the show and ask them about setting up in the future," writes Gayle Pike, the bourse chairman for the Tennessee State Numismatic Society shows, which are held twice a year in Chattanooga, Tenn. "A wise person would check if the local show had a market for what they had."
Green said that shows can be located through Web searches or publications such as The Numismatist and Coin World, local newspapers and club notices.
Shows occur in a variety of sizes, offering unique opportunities to the customer and dealer. Sizes are based on the number of dealer tables at the show.
Small shows are generally located in malls and community centers, Mark McWherter, chairman of the Johnson County Numismatic Society in Olathe, Kan., said, while medium and larger shows are located at hotels, ballrooms and convention centers. Fees for tables vary depending upon the size of a show and the costs to the sponsors of conducting the event.
Different markets
Besides deciding the size of venue, dealers need to be aware of the market for different shows.
"I have had dealers call me that ... do foreign coins and ask how many foreign coins dealers I had as that told them how much interest there was," Pike writes. She explains that often times a dealer won't return if they pay $75 to $200 for a table and then sell only $10 from their inventory because few buyers were interested in their merchandise.
Fanton said that when he was starting out as a new dealer, he found other dealers were helpful.
In fact, he encourages anyone planning to set up a dealer table to "befriend another coin dealer to learn the ropes." He assisted a coin dealer for six months before operating a table on his own.
Pike also suggests that new dealers find a mentor to assist in learning the process.
Watch market trends
Fanton also encourages dealers to watch market trends, as well as current events and what other dealers will be there, when considering what inventory to bring to a show to offer for sale. For example, he notes at one show he attends, no dealers offer collector supplies, so he will bring more supplies to that show; at another show, he is aware of a strong token market and adjusts his inventory accordingly. Another thing to consider when deciding about what show to attend is the amount of advertising the sponsor uses.
"As a general rule, if the show does not advertise well, I don't set up at the show," Tony Swicer, president of the Palm Beach Coin Club in Lake Worth, Fla., writes. He said the size of the public crowd depends on the amount of advertising.
Barry reminds dealers that most local shows are geared for collectors, not investors. "It's about the hobby," he said.
After deciding what show to attend, a dealer needs to contact the bourse chairman.
Bourse chairmen may provide a contract that spells out details about services provided by the host, fees, set-up/show times and even a floor plan.
A typical show provides tables, chairs, backup space, covers, security and electricity. Dealers generally bring display cases with locks, lights and extension cords.
"Good lighting is pretty critical," Barry said. He prefers an incandescent, 60 watt light bulb.
Swicer adds that a dealer should bring a calculator, sales invoices, business cards, pens, a magnifying glass and a gram scale to weigh coins for authenticity.
In addition to a cash box and plenty of small money for change, Pike recommends, "... aspirin for those customers that will give you a headache, and if you are not used to retail, there will be some. It's like deciding you want to be a singer. You have to have some aptitude for it to be good at it."
Security
When contacting a show's bourse chairman, new dealers should inquire about show security. Show security is usually provided by an off-duty policeman, state trooper or private security guard. Guards wander the bourse floor, respond to any problems and see dealers safely to their vehicles when leaving the show.
For two-day shows, security is needed overnight.
"A coin show without security is not likely to see any dealer return again," the SCNA's Barry said.
Swicer writes that he has a concealed weapons permit and always brings his gun.
"It is always hidden, but I do wear a concealed weapons badge when I leave the show. Leaving the show and on your way home is the most dangerous time for a dealer," Swicer said.
McWherter said shows don't provide liability and dealers need to be aware they are showing at their own risk. He adds that it is "wise" for a dealer to bring along a friend to help at the table. The extra person can also watch the table and allow the dealer to shop himself.
Dealers need to be aware of security when moving inventory from their vehicle to the bourse floor and back again. It is not a good idea to leave inventory unattended in a vehicle.
A roller push cart is one way for a dealer to move everything at once, McWherter said.
Taxes
New dealers also have to consider sales tax issues. Taxing laws vary from state to state.
According to the Industry Council for Tangible Assets, 29 states have some form of sales tax exemptions for rare coins or precious metals.
Dealers describe taxes as a gray area with most dealers at local shows not collecting the taxes.
McWherter and Green said dealers are required to have a tax identification number to participate in their shows.
"Sales tax really is not a big issue at small shows. ... By law, if you do a retail sale you gotta collect tax but no one does," Pike writes. "Of course full-time dealers ... will file when they file their monthly return."
Swicer suggests opening a business checking account with a post office box address, registering the name of your business with the state and consulting an accountant about federal taxes. Swicer writes that the bourse chairman should be able to inform a dealer about legal and tax issues.
Another thing to think about is obtaining a vendor's license. This too varies from community to community.
Pricing
Another area new dealers must consider is pricing their inventory for the show.
Most dealers agree that it is a good idea to list a price on a coin. They also agree that most prices are open for negotiation.
"Price a little high," Swicer writes. "You can always come down on a price, you can't go up." He adds that the largest sales volume is dealer-to-dealer sales. "Decide early whether you want to discount coins to dealers, who will be at your table early on, or wait for the public to come in."
Dealer to dealer sales
Green estimates that half of the business seen at a local coin show is dealer to dealer. He said dealers are looking to fill a customer's want list and beef-up inventory.
Accurate pricing is important,
According to Pike: "If you don't know the market and how to price stuff, you don't need to be setting up at a show. It's very competitive. It's a learning process."
Prices give customers an idea if they can afford a coin, said Barry and McWherter. Dealers in the past placed a code on the back of a coin to tell them what they had paid for it originally.
Checks, cash or both?
A dealer also needs to decide whether he will accept checks or just cash for any purchases.
"Checks keep you from having a lot of cash on you, but ... unless someone knows you and can vouch for your check, no one may want it," Pike writes. "And the public selling something like some silver they do not want to report to IRS will want cash."
Swicer writes that he usually takes checks from dealers providing they have references from other dealers in the room and from the public up to a couple hundred dollars.
"You have to size up the customer when taking a check," he writes. When buying, he uses cash on small items and checks on large items. "If no one knows you, you might want to bring lots of cash."
At the end of the day, McWherter cautions new dealers not to expect too much at their first show.
McWherter, Barry and Fanton concur that most customers like to return to dealers they've worked with before. It takes time to build a base of regular customers.
"Local shows are about establishing a relationship," Barry said, "interaction between dealer and collector."
