Where do coin dealers get thier stocks at prices low enough to earn a proffit?

Question

I was wondering rather they have wholesale sources and where the sources are located? or do they just buy private collections and if so how do they find the collectors whom are selling off thier collections?

Answer 1

Auctions, estate sales, walk ins, from people who have no idea what the coins are worth. We had several places in Wi. that used to advertise in the paper, that they were looking for certain dated coins, that weren't worth much alone but were if in a series. So, if they needed 2 or 3 coins for a series and only paid 5 dollars for each coin, the series might be worth 10,000 once all the coins were obtained.

Answer 2

Most dealers obtain their inventories from private collections, walk-in customers, eBays, flea markets, foreign contacts & markets, auctions, etc. I was at a coin shop recently and some guy just walked in with 2 albums full of coins. The dealer took a look at them, and paid the guy $50 for the lot. Although most of the coins in the album are common, but there're a few old ones in pretty nice shape, which I believe the dealer can easily sell for $70-$100 each. Dealers advertise mostly on coin magazines and websites, and occasionally they got calls from regular contacts for pickups.