Newbie Question - ‘pre-owned’

[TSR]

This is going to sound silly but does ‘pre-owned’ have any additional meaning other than it was previously owned? Does it denote that it is going to be damaged or lesser quality in some way? Would something that is essentially pristine but was owned before be classed as pre-owned?

It just seems odd that a dealer could have items from pre-2012 for example but only some are preowned, as though the rest has been sitting waiting to be sold for a decade. 

[CANV]

just sales words..  its either brand spanking new or it isn't.   i'd say its a precursor to a damaged coin/bar etc 

[LawrenceChard]

35 minutes ago, TSR said:

This is going to sound silly but does ‘pre-owned’ have any additional meaning other than it was previously owned? Does it denote that it is going to be damaged or lesser quality in some way? Would something that is essentially pristine but was owned before be classed as pre-owned?

It just seems odd that a dealer could have items from pre-2012 for example but only some are preowned, as though the rest has been sitting waiting to be sold for a decade. 

It simply means what is says.

Yes of course it may be lower condition, but not necessarily.

If you bought a 10 year old pre-owned car which had done 100,000 miles, you could expect it to have condierable wear and tear. Much would depend on its previous owner, and how carefully it had been treated.

I / we happen to have many thousands of new coins, for example mint bags of 1967 pennies and halfpennies, which have never been in circulation. Probably also mint and proof sets, dating back to 1999.

😎

[dragafem]

Always ask about condition.If it clearly says pre-owned the quality is not there otherwise it would say mint condition or great condition or no damage at all.You get the picture😉

[modofantasma]

I like that on Hatton Garden Metals they have things like 'bullion condition' or 'better than bullion' 

If I'm looking on 2nd hand market I'd ask to see a better photo if there wasn't one that's clear. 

[Oddjob]

12 hours ago, TSR said:

This is going to sound silly but does ‘pre-owned’ have any additional meaning other than it was previously owned? Does it denote that it is going to be damaged or lesser quality in some way? Would something that is essentially pristine but was owned before be classed as pre-owned?

 

Just to clarify....are you talking PM's or wives? 😁 If the latter, pre-owned may have some advantages!

[TeaTime]

5 hours ago, modofantasma said:

I like that on Hatton Garden Metals they have things like 'bullion condition' or 'better than bullion' 

If I'm looking on 2nd hand market I'd ask to see a better photo if there wasn't one that's clear. 

The trouble with stating that something is 'bullion condition' is that those two words are pretty much meaningless when describing a coin. It can range from being hit several times with a hammer to pristine / straight from the mint....

In most market places the terminology for vintage unblemished/unused items is new, old stock. I would suspect anyone advertising coins as just 'pre-owned' with no other description is using the phrase as a catch-all cover for sending out the all their sh*te. I'm a glass half empty person 😁

[SidS]

I always think of the glass as totally empty... 

[Silverlocks]

On 26/08/2022 at 22:51, TSR said:

This is going to sound silly but does ‘pre-owned’ have any additional meaning other than it was previously owned? Does it denote that it is going to be damaged or lesser quality in some way? Would something that is essentially pristine but was owned before be classed as pre-owned?

It just seems odd that a dealer could have items from pre-2012 for example but only some are preowned, as though the rest has been sitting waiting to be sold for a decade. 

If you're talking about silver, pre-owned items don't attract VAT.  Irrespective of their condition, this is the significant item W.R.T. sales.  You might see something like 'our choice' or 'sellers choice' on a listing, which means that the condition may be less than pristine.  

[Silverlocks]

So, I made the mistake of buying some dealer choice coins when I first tinkered in silver not so long ago, and bought some maples that were clearly the rejects from some exercise in grading; they all have milk spotting or some minor marks from handling.  Not all pre-owned ones will be in this condition, but this dealer, at least, clearly had sorted out the B grade ones.  You probably want to ask what you're actually getting.

 

 

[Foster88]

On 26/08/2022 at 22:51, TSR said:

This is going to sound silly but does ‘pre-owned’ have any additional meaning other than it was previously owned? Does it denote that it is going to be damaged or lesser quality in some way? Would something that is essentially pristine but was owned before be classed as pre-owned?

It just seems odd that a dealer could have items from pre-2012 for example but only some are preowned, as though the rest has been sitting waiting to be sold for a decade. 

You ask an interesting question but you give very little context.

If, for example, you were buying a 1900 sovereign, it would of course be ‘pre owned’. I’d be more surprised if it wasn’t or listed as ‘new’.

With regards to your comment “as though the rest has been sitting waiting to be sold for a decade”.

Ask The Canadian Mint…. they, in recent years, found many gold coins which sold for a premium.

They ‘found’ many Canadian gold coins and much less publicised (but discussed here on the forum) was the degrading of the Canadian minted sovereigns in the latest 2021 Marsh book.

Anyway, I digress, but you need to give your post more context.

[Ukbullionfan]

OCD?  then pre owned isn’t for you lol

[SidS]

5 hours ago, Foster88 said:

If, for example, you were buying a 1900 sovereign, it would of course be ‘pre owned’. I’d be more surprised if it wasn’t or listed as ‘new’.

I dunno, I reckon @James32 might have bought some 1900 sovs brand new.

😁

[Darr3nG]

6 hours ago, SidS said:

I dunno, I reckon @James32 might have bought some 1900 sovs brand new.

😁

A pre-electric hoover?

[SidS]

2 hours ago, Darr3nG said:

A pre-electric hoover?

Yes the sort with hand operated bellows!

[Foster88]

2 hours ago, Darr3nG said:

A pre-electric hoover?

I think they’re called a Ewbank? 😆

[Scootermuppet]

Or a Bissell 😏😉👍