Buying coins from general public (UK)

[RockySpears]

  Is there any reason I cannot buy coins, gold and silver, from the general public?  For instance a stall at my local market.

I see the the rip-off values given by pawn brokers and wondered if I, for any reason cannot just put up a sign saying that I will buy x,y and z for cash, there and then.

I understand the precautionary measures I may need to take regards fakes etc and holding cash on the High St, but I can think of ways around each of those. 

I have traded on markets before so understand the need to do it through the council too,

Thank you,

RS

[sixgun]

2 minutes ago, RockySpears said:

  Is there any reason I cannot buy coins, gold and silver, from the general public?  For instance a stall at my local market.

I see the the rip-off values given by pawn brokers and wondered if I, for any reason cannot just put up a sign saying that I will buy x,y and z for cash, there and then.

I understand the precautionary measures I may need to take regards fakes etc and holding cash on the High St, but I can think of ways around each of those. 

I have traded on markets before so understand the need to do it through the council too,

Thank you,

RS

If you have a testing machine - if you have electronic scales - magnifier etc etc - if you can be certain it is real - i don't see why not - it is a private contract.

[RockySpears]

  Gold especially always seems to have some ancient laws attached, so just wondering if buying Gold/Silver  was "Special" in some way,

 

Rs

[blindguy]

just be careful of what and who you are buying from. get a I.D. from the seller and give a receipt and keep a copy for yourself. as far as fake coins I have bought fake coins here from dealers as well as from the public. it is just part of the game. just because you buy from a dealer does not mean the coins are real.  around here I see quit a few fakes so much so that I do not buy key date coins, such as 1909-s vdb cents, 1916-d dimes and others unless they are ngc or pcgs graded. i will help the public send the coins to ngc for grading and after the coins are graded i will buy them. i also do this with gold as there are a lot of fake gold coins around here.  good luck buying and be careful.  jim

[Tattoedamat]

The best piece of advice I ever had was if it's too cheap there's a reason for it

[ChrisSilver]

Is your aim to buy and resell? Or to just buy for your private collection?

If you are buying to resell you would be classed as a business and would need to be self employed or have a registered business etc. 

If you wish to buy as an individual for your own collection, not sure the market would rent a space to you? (as they likely rent to businesses/self employed only) also, how would you cover the costs of the rent? The rent will be a lot, far more than buying coins from a dealer. 

What rates would you offer to buy at? If less than spot or 98% of spot, your market would be only those who do know the value of their items and that they can sell to a dealer for a higher price. And what rate would you sell at?

You would need to work out the margins and work out what sales volume you would need to break even. 

P.S. I added (UK) to your title, so that members can clearly see that it is a UK based question, and they can help with any knowledge about any permits from council or anything else you need etc.

[RockySpears]

  Cheers all,

  Markets are £20 per day here in North east England, so no expense.  I have asked a number of pawn brokers here what they would give me for sovereigns and 1/2 sovereigns, out of four places, the best I was offered was 60% spot, the worst a smidge under 45%.  try it yourselves, it is truly horrific.  If I offer anything more the sellers are winning.  It is just for me to add to my own collection (stack) without thought to numismatics,

RS

[Tarsal]

Sounds like a good plan if you were below the threshold for VAT registration which is ~£80k revenue (I think). Would be good however how much volume of trade is there that you could get enough buyers and sellers? Maybe in Birmingham Jewellery quarter you could get more business.

Seems better placed to be an advertised one off event where people come and trade PM.

[Notafront4adragon]

On 12/03/2020 at 20:46, RockySpears said:

  Cheers all,

  Markets are £20 per day here in North east England, so no expense.  I have asked a number of pawn brokers here what they would give me for sovereigns and 1/2 sovereigns, out of four places, the best I was offered was 60% spot, the worst a smidge under 45%.  try it yourselves, it is truly horrific.  If I offer anything more the sellers are winning.  It is just for me to add to my own collection (stack) without thought to numismatics,

RS

Whilst it seems a good idea with not a lot of expense there are other costs to consider, least of all security. I'm not sure a market stall is the best place to potentially have 1000s of pounds worth of gold and/or money so exposed regularly. Also whilst the market may only cost £20 there's your time sat there all day for potentially no sellers, meaning any savings you may make vs buying on here or from bullion dealers, is easily wiped out, with the added bonus of getting ripped off.

I do see why you'd wanna do it, many places that will buy gold offer, to us, shockingly low rates. The best I was offered was about 85% at an antiques place that specifically mentions they buy gold coins esp sovereigns, and the worse 40% at a family jewellers on the high street. In their defense buying and selling coins is not their primary business and they have all sorts of overheads etc as well as the desire to make decent profits. 

What would you offer to buy at?