Pre-sale or reservation?

[+9Key]

Hello everyone!

With the 2007 Texas coins coming in a few weeks, I'm contemplating doing a reservation system to gauge initial sales as opposed to the usual pre-sale. It seems most reservation-type sales I've seen don't actually guarantee that you'll receive a coin though and I've never been too keen on that aspect, but it would give me a better idea of how many coins to order. Which do you prefer and why?

[+wolfmaster]

Hello everyone!

With the 2007 Texas coins coming in a few weeks, I'm contemplating doing a reservation system to gauge initial sales as opposed to the usual pre-sale. It seems most reservation-type sales I've seen don't actually guarantee that you'll receive a coin though and I've never been too keen on that aspect, but it would give me a better idea of how many coins to order. Which do you prefer and why?

 

I personally prefer the presale. My money may be tied up but at least the coins are paid for.

[+sillygirl & jrr]

I prefer reservations; I've never NOT received a coin I reserved. I've always gotten and paid the invoice and received the coins I ordered without a problem.

 

I prefer reservations (so as not to pay for a coin that doesn't exist yet), while I understand sellers would prefer a pre-sale (to get the money up front). For a buyer the only downside of reservations would be not having the money available to pay the invoice once the coins are minted, for the seller this becomes an ordered but not paid for coin.

[LoriDarlin]

Either way works for me

[+tsunrisebey]

I prefer to pay when the coin is actually in hand, so I guess with the choices given, my vote would be for reservations.

 

If you knew how many you were minting, you could move to a waiting list when the mint run was all reserved.

 

~tsun

[+wyohunter]

My $.03 would be for a reservation. I agree with Tsun, I prefer to pay when they are in hand.

[+The_Geomonkeys]

As a new collector who has now completed both a pre-sale order and a reservation order I don't really see any difference. The pre-sale was paid and the reservation was deducted out of quicken so the money is already set aside for the coin when it invoices. Either way it works out the same for me (as long as the coins are minted and arrive safely).

[+Evil Chicken]

Hello everyone!

With the 2007 Texas coins coming in a few weeks, I'm contemplating doing a reservation system to gauge initial sales as opposed to the usual pre-sale. It seems most reservation-type sales I've seen don't actually guarantee that you'll receive a coin though and I've never been too keen on that aspect, but it would give me a better idea of how many coins to order. Which do you prefer and why?

 

I personally prefer the presale. My money may be tied up but at least the coins are paid for.

I guess I'm in the minority, I lean towards the presale as well. I'd rather pay for things upfront and not feel like I owe someone money. When I do reserve, I try to put money into paypal asap to cover it for when the bill comes, so that I don't have to worry about several forgotten reservations all hitting me at one time. (That happened once and I learned my lesson!)

[+Droo]

Reservation for me please. That way when the invoice arrives I know the coins aren't too far behind. Pre-sales I forget what I paid for and when I get it I wonder if I got what I paid for but since I can't remember I got's to trust the coin maker whom I may not know, or remember that I might have known... very coinfusing!

[+Mama Cache]

I prefer the luck and challenge of putting them in a cart and hoping you actually get the coins in your cart when you go to pay!

I like to live life on the edge.

 

But if that is not a choice either of the others are fine, if I really want a coin.

[+Crowesfeat30]

When I do reserve, I try to put money into paypal asap to cover it for when the bill comes, so that I don't have to worry about several forgotten reservations all hitting me at one time. (That happened once and I learned my lesson!)

That is a GREAT idea! I would have never thought of that. Thanks, Evil Chicken. I think I will start doing that too - and for the same reasons! (signing into PayPal as soon as I'm done here to set aside money for some coins I just reserved...)

 

CF30

[+DresselDragons]

Either way is fine with me.

[+501_Gang]

I say do a reservation by having people email you with their info, and when the coins are in hand, send them an invoice and give them 5 days to pay for it. If there are coins left after the Reservation payment period, then offer them up to the public.

 

What good is doing a reservation if there's no guarantee that I'll get the coin after I reserved it. Kind of like making reservations at a hotel in FL and getting down there only to find out it's really first-come, first-serve and all the rooms are gone.

[+coreynjoey]

I like presales because I'd rather pay for it now instead of 3 months later when an invoice pops up and I have to remember what it's for.

 

That's just me though, either way is A-OK!

 

 

Edited to add I've missed out on some coins I've made reservations on because I happened to be on vacation when they came in and by the time I got home my invoice had been cancelled and I missed out on the coins Doubt that happens often, but another reason I prefer the presales over the reservations.

Edited August 22, 2007 by coreynjoey

[+Mr.Explorer3]

If I know when a coin is coming out and it is one I want I will save some of my coin budget for it rather than miss the pre-order because my budget is short that week. Unless the pre-order is a longer period than a few days.

 

Great idea EvilChicken.

[+tadpole379]

I prefer a reservation to a presale. I have purchased a few coins on presale and then ended up waiting over a month for them to arrive. I feel that if I am going to put down money, I should be able to expect the coin in a reasonable amount of time (a week or two).

 

I reecently just minted my own coin, and I chose to take reservations instead of preorders. I really had no idea how long the minting process would actually take, this being my first coin, and I didnt want to hold on to peoples money for an extended period of time with no coin to send them in exchange. I directed those interested in the coin to a reservation page where they filled out their contact info and the number of coins they wanted. I kept a list of the people who reserved coins in the order that the reservations came in. Once the total being minted was reached, I began adding people to a waiting list in case people who had reserved changed their mind later on once it was time to pay the invoice. Once I received the coins from the mint, I sent out the invoices starting at the beginning of the list.

[+AtlantaGal]

Reservation. I hate having my money tied up for weeks.

[+Renegade Knight]

Reservation. Having seen what can delay a coin, I'd rather not put my money down until it's time.

[+dflye]

Pre-pay for me, one less trip to the web site and no more trying to figure out which coins I've already paid for versus those I'm just hoping to eventually be able to pay for.

 

Not like my money sitting in the bank making a few percent interest a month (if I'm lucky!) is going to make me a fortune between the time I would normally pay for a coin and when I'd receive it, I don't order THAT many coins.

[+AtwellFamily]

Reservations... I hate HAVING people's money especially when things could go wrong.

[+MustangJoni]

Pre-sale for me. I'm on a very tight budget, and I buy coins when I can afford them. If I have to reserve and wait for weeks, I might not have the money when the come in.

 

I'd much rather have them paid and out of the way.

[CLAMM]

I definitely prefer reservations. I've been involved with too many presales that dragged out to 4-8 weeks.

[+Rockin Roddy]

Whichever you decide, either is a good way to tell what the demand would be for a coin and help the people decide how many to make...maybe making the remint argument moot?

 

People say they have no idea what the demand will be for a coin, doing either of these would give you a ballpark figure (even closer if you pre-sale, but pre-sales should be for a short time before coins arrive). You could also have enough extras to allow for sales after the fact, but that's only a thought!

 

eta: of course, this only works if you don't post amounts to be sold and would probably lessen the trade value of some coins.

Edited August 22, 2007 by Rockin Roddy

[avroair]

Presale. I buy on impulse so when it gets to paying, you should collect the money from me there and then. I would use reservations if you are a long way from ordering the coin.

[+S&G.Davison]

Torn here - I like to pay up front as there have been a number of reservations that all come in at the same time. Mind you my excuse is that I've reserved these so have to pay (so it's out of the budget scope). Then again in a bad week when the budget is blown anyway its nice to reserve and know the payment will be later. The pre-pay for some coins is way too long as it goes past the paypal get my money back grace period. I'm still waiting for a coin I paid for in April which is I think taking the pre-pay to the extreme.

 

If I had to choose it would be a pre-pay at the point the final samples are known and the order is about to be placed.

 

Sue

[+Team Sand Dollar]

I start by taking a preorder on my coins to get a feel for how many are desired ,plus this allows me to put a more realistic price on the coin by spreading the base cost against the projected total number of coins.

 

I generally have enough money to cover the initial 300 coins but if there is a greater demand I may do a prepay to allow me to cover the cost of the additional coins. This was the case of my 2006 and 2007 coins as I had buyers wanting 20+ coins each and it really cut into my stock.

 

Then again I usually try and not collect any money until I at least have the proof coins in hand or better yet the coins are scheduled to arrive within a couple of days.

 

IF someone doesn't want to prepay before I have the coins in hand I just move them to the wait list and process them in the order received after taking care of all the preorders and trades. Then again I do not limit my coins so all orders will be filled. Just some will take longer thatn others.

 

I myself do not mind a prepay as long as the coins can be expected to ship within a month. Tying up funds for more than this amount of time should be avoided but as we know sometimes there are problems and coins get delayed.

 

Team Sand Dollar

[+Marky]

Pre-sale for me. I'm on a very tight budget, and I buy coins when I can afford them. If I have to reserve and wait for weeks, I might not have the money when the come in.

 

I'd much rather have them paid and out of the way.

You know you can set aside the money for when the invoice arrives, right? (I know that this doesn't actually work in the real world though.)

[+MustangJoni]

Pre-sale for me. I'm on a very tight budget, and I buy coins when I can afford them. If I have to reserve and wait for weeks, I might not have the money when the come in.

 

I'd much rather have them paid and out of the way.

You know you can set aside the money for when the invoice arrives, right? (I know that this doesn't actually work in the real world though.)

 

No I can't! I'll spend it on another coin that I can pay for right then and there. I'm impulsive like that!

[+WWC-World's Worst Cacher]

As a seller I like Presales . . . but for me not the reasons you would think.

 

The easiest way for me to sell coins is through my shopping cart. However, with something like a state coin (West Virginia) the demand is so hard to judge which is why I am doing a presale. I will then make an additional small number(less than 100) of coins for retail sales. But in return, I have offered a much lower price.

 

The mailing and packaging process actually takes me more time on a presale. To do a reservation just adds one more layer of complexity and one more set of things to go wrong.

 

As a buyer I like Reservations

 

My thoughts

[+MustangJoni]

 

The mailing and packaging process actually takes me more time on a presale. To do a reservation just adds one more layer of complexity and one more set of things to go wrong.

 

The mailing and packaging takes me less time on a pre-sale. Right before the coins get to me, I get all the envelopes and packing lists ready. When they arrive, I just throw them in the envelope and out they go!

[+coreynjoey]

Pre-sale for me. I'm on a very tight budget, and I buy coins when I can afford them. If I have to reserve and wait for weeks, I might not have the money when the come in.

 

I'd much rather have them paid and out of the way.

You know you can set aside the money for when the invoice arrives, right? (I know that this doesn't actually work in the real world though.)

 

No I can't! I'll spend it on another coin that I can pay for right then and there. I'm impulsive like that!

 

 

Yup! This is my problem as well!

[+MustangJoni]

Pre-sale for me. I'm on a very tight budget, and I buy coins when I can afford them. If I have to reserve and wait for weeks, I might not have the money when the come in.

 

I'd much rather have them paid and out of the way.

You know you can set aside the money for when the invoice arrives, right? (I know that this doesn't actually work in the real world though.)

 

No I can't! I'll spend it on another coin that I can pay for right then and there. I'm impulsive like that!

 

 

Yup! This is my problem as well!

 

Maybe we need a support group!

[+larry739]

Pre-sale for me. I'm on a very tight budget, and I buy coins when I can afford them. If I have to reserve and wait for weeks, I might not have the money when the come in.

 

I'd much rather have them paid and out of the way.

You know you can set aside the money for when the invoice arrives, right? (I know that this doesn't actually work in the real world though.)

 

No I can't! I'll spend it on another coin that I can pay for right then and there. I'm impulsive like that!

 

 

Yup! This is my problem as well!

 

Maybe we need a support group!

err my name is Larry739 and I am a coinaholic

[ParentsofSAM]

I guess I am wishy-washy. I like both.

 

Sometimes I am impulsive and have spent all my coin budget when reservations come due and then I end up giving up a coin I wanted and at the same time I don't like having all my money out and tied up. But I also like reservation when I can make them and then budget the coin money in. That way I know I will get a coin and I am happy.

 

On the other hand I want to pay for coins upfront that I really rally want so I know I have them and because I really want the coin so much I really do not care how that my money is tied up.

 

So the best thing I think is to do both. Take reservations with out money and invoice when it gets closer and also take pre-sales. Then everyone can have the best of both worlds.

[+T"n"T]

As a buyer and seller I perfer pre-sales. With reasonable periods of time.

 

As a buyer, I see something I want. I want it covered paid out of the way. Then if I forget I ordered it and it just "shows up" I think wow a surprize.

 

As a Seller, If I have coin samples ready I normally know about how long till getting coins in hand. Can do pre-sale for a week. Get basic idea of how many and order extra over that amount. It helps get things shipped faster also. Packages and shipping lists are ready when coins get here. Again just my two cents.

[+~tasia~]

Hello everyone!

With the 2007 Texas coins coming in a few weeks, I'm contemplating doing a reservation system to gauge initial sales as opposed to the usual pre-sale. It seems most reservation-type sales I've seen don't actually guarantee that you'll receive a coin though and I've never been too keen on that aspect, but it would give me a better idea of how many coins to order. Which do you prefer and why?

 

If it is going to be more than 4 weeks until it will be shipped - reservation

 

If it is going to be less than 4 weeks until it will be shipped - pre-sale, or if it will be more than the 4 weeks but they are offering a discount on the coins if you pay for them early I don't mind paying for them right then.

 

Me personally, as long as they've got a sample coin, and are going to put the order in for the coins in less than a week, I don't mind paying for the coin up front. Some people have really neat ideas, but can't fund the entire price of minting the coins, in that instance I do understand where they are coming from. If they are just doing a presale so that they can get free coins though (sell a certain number of coins, that way the remainder are free) I don't like that because it is not fair to the other people having to buy the coins up front so that the person can get theirs for free.

[+guinea gal]

For me, Pre-Sale, for pretty much the same reasons MustangJoni mentioned. Sometimes I have money, sometimes I don't. If I see a coin I like...I would rather have my name on the list right away, and have it paid for....rather than hope in 4 weeks I will remember to check on the progress of it and get my name in then, and wonder where to cut corners. For the Reservations I have purchased through...9 out of 10 times I didn't have the funds readily available when the invoice came through.

If I pay for it, and I forget about it, and it arrives 6 weeks late..it is a surprise. But at least its mine!