Flea Markets & Coins

Flea markets are curious places. Depending on size and location, the merchandise and the vendors vary greatly. Plus, the prices can be economical, on par or expensive. In other words, remember the saying “buyer  beware.”

We visited one this past weekend that is billed as Georgia’s Largest Flea Market. To say the least, it presented a diverse mix of cultures and languages along with a large variety of vendors and goods.

For example, several vendors offered live animals including ponies and horses for rides, dogs, sugar gliders, birds, ducks, chickens, turkeys and peacocks for sale – some as pets, some as food. Other living products included reptiles and live plants from vegetable plants to lucky bamboo to bonsai to landscape shrubs and trees.

Throughout the market, different vendors set up booths with boxes labeled $1, $2, and up with nothing over $5. Some of their goods were interesting, some were obvious knock-offs of well-known brands, and some were Made in China with poorly translated English labels. Other goods without an English label became a challenge to figure out what benefit they provided.

In addition, vendors offered furniture and jewelry and clothing. The clothing displays ranged from G-rated to R-rated to not quite X-rated. Other booths included fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, canned goods, cleaning supplies and hygiene items.

In the midst of the organized chaos, one vendor offered coins for sale. Display cases held row after row of 2×2 holders with type coins in several grades. In their cases, they offered a variety of US Mint collector sets too.

It’s rare for us to see the retail side of the coin business or to see it as an observer rather than a participant. This business provided a totally different view.

As with many businesses, one wonders how this weekend flea market coin business survives.  Is this a hobby for him, or does he also have a brick and mortar shop? Or, does he work at another, unrelated business during the week? Does he get enough paying clientele to pay for the booth along with his and his employees’ time and effort?

This gentleman faces the added challenge of the merchandise being unprotected, other than the showcases, in a busy and high-traffic market. But, of that traffic, only a very small percentage appears to be potential numismatic clients.

On the other hand, perhaps numismatists are not his clients – especially knowledgeable collectors. You see, his prices were not realistic in the current market.

For example, he offered a four-piece Westward Journey set in the original US Mint collectible packaging for $175. But, in today’s market, you can purchase one of those sets for a fraction of that cost. Even the 2011 Red Book, whose value numbers are already out-of-date when printed, shows a value of less than half his number for the 2004 set and less than one quarter for the 2005 set.

Is he not aware of the current market or is he trying to make a profit regardless of the current prices? On the other hand, what does he do when the market goes up? Do his prices increase to follow the upward trend or does he keep his profit margin constant?

Since his coin business was none of our business, we chose just to observe and to keep our curious questions to ourselves.

But, the experience highlights the need for collectors to be careful, especially about impulse buying, and to keep educated about the current market.