CAC Should Raise Its Prices

CACfan

I have been meaning to write this post for quite sometime. The submission suspension email just received from CAC has finally inspired me to do so.

CAC is a for-profit business, not a charity. Now that CAC has a strong foothold and wields such power, prestige, and influence, CAC's tiered fees should be increased to, say, $50, $100, $250, and 1% of any coin whose value exceeds $50,000.

I would have no problem paying the higher fees because I would be getting what I paid for instead of receiving the current de facto freebies. Just $16 to increase a coin's value by $5,000? Fair is fair.

CAC deserves a bigger piece of the pie, just like the TPG's get, including their many extra fees. The higher fees will help offset any mistakes that CAC makes and thus has to eat. CAC takes risks and helps submitters and dealers get rich, so why should they do it for chump change?

[Insert outrage below. But I will not change my mind.]

TurtleCat

You're welcome to pay more. As a pure collector, not even a vest pocket dealer, I don't see why I should have to pay a lot more for the few I send in each year. The stickering service is there to funnel into their real business: dealing in coins they like. They aren't a TPG and if they raise fees to the level you indicate people will expect a whole lot more out of that fee.

Wabbit

Feel free to send in your extra money next time you submit.

brocmitchell

The main issue I would guess is the $1-$10,000 tier. It would take some analysis but the fee for a $100 coin should not be the same as $1,000, $5000, etc. $1-$300, $301-$1000, $1000-$3000, $3,001 - $10,000 with scaling prices ($16, $20, $25, $30) for example. Have the tiers also tie to turnaround time and some improvements would occur naturally. E.g highest value 5 days, lowest value 15-20 days and scale from there. If you want lower value coins coming back quicker, you can pay more $.

MarkFeld

Damn CAC and its low prices - the nerve! 😄

CACfan

TurtleCat said:

You're welcome to pay more. As a pure collector, not even a vest pocket dealer, I don't see why I should have to pay a lot more for the few I send in each year. The stickering service is there to funnel into their real business: dealing in coins they like. They aren't a TPG and if they raise fees to the level you indicate people will expect a whole lot more out of that fee.

I have heard from reliable sources that CAC barely breaks even, even including the two-way market they make in their own coins. They exist to protect consumers.

And they are a TPG. They approve coins with whose TPG grades they agree.

What more would people expect "out of that fee". As a retailer, I promise you that CAC coins bring GIGANTIC premiums.

CACfan

MarkFeld said:

Damn CAC and its low prices - the nerve! 😄

LOL

Stevie

Looks like you’re wish will come through after CAC announcement 

TurtleCat

CACfan said:

You're welcome to pay more. As a pure collector, not even a vest pocket dealer, I don't see why I should have to pay a lot more for the few I send in each year. The stickering service is there to funnel into their real business: dealing in coins they like. They aren't a TPG and if they raise fees to the level you indicate people will expect a whole lot more out of that fee.

I have heard from reliable sources that CAC barely breaks even, even including the two-way market they make in their own coins. They exist to protect consumers. And they are a TPG. They approve coins with whose TPG grades they agree. What more would people expect "out of that fee". As a retailer, I promise you that CAC coins bring GIGANTIC premiums.

If they were a TPG they would be encapsulating coins. They would also be offering guarantees. I don’t think they exist to protect consumers. And your hearsay on their revenue isn’t convincing. I’d want to hear that from the people themselves. 

Also not all CAC coins bring gigantic premiums. 

JohnTCoin

Frankly, I'm amazed that the submission pricing is as low as it is. I don't wish to pay more obviously, but a modest increase is more than reasonable.

TurtleCat

JohnTCoin said:

Frankly, I'm amazed that the submission pricing is as low as it is. I don't wish to pay more obviously, but a modest increase is more than reasonable.

They did raise prices last year. 

TheCoinHound

Well, the submission fee on sub-10K coins did effectively go up to $35, so that's a step in the "right" direction. But if the Yorks and 38-D Buffs keep coming in at $35, time for a Plan B.

CACfan

TurtleCat,

Who has made the rule that requires TPG's to encapsulate coins? CAC definitely grades coins, so they are definitely a grading service no matter how you spin the semantics. And CAC does offer de facto guarantees, such as by buying their approved coins (even mistakes) sight-unseen for fair wholesale prices.

All CAC coins that I have sold have brought significant premiums. And I doubt that CAC's owners are making windfall profits by charging $16 per $10,000 coin, LOL.

As for CAC's trading network, the CDN Exchange, CAC conducted a whopping 64 transactions in the prior 12 months (63 Asks and 1 Bid), mostly for cheap generic stuff. These numbers do not seem so lucrative to me. Our firm pays just $1,800 annually for membership yet CAC itself does not even get that mere pittance, LOL.

And yes, CAC does exist to protect consumers, as per JA's interview.

CACfan

p.s.- By drastically raising its fees, CAC would further increase the desirability of its already prestigious brand.

CACfan

TheCoinHound said:

Well, the submission fee on sub-10K coins did effectively go up to $35, so that's a step in the "right" direction. But if the Yorks and 38-D Buffs keep coming in at $35, time for a Plan B.

True, but that $35 fee lasts only until April 1 (maybe there is an April fool's joke in there?).

Wabbit

CACfan said:

I have heard from reliable sources that CAC barely breaks even, even including the two-way market they make in their own coins. They exist to protect consumers.

Can you please provide proof of this? (Or should we just set up a GoFundMe account for John.)

CACfan

Wabbit said:

CACfan said:

I have heard from reliable sources that CAC barely breaks even, even including the two-way market they make in their own coins. They exist to protect consumers.

Can you please provide proof of this? (Or should we just set up a GoFundMe account for John.)

Read JA's interviews.

MarkFeld

CACfan said:

TurtleCat,

Who has made the rule that requires TPG's to encapsulate coins? CAC definitely grades coins, so they are definitely a grading service no matter how you spin the semantics. And CAC does offer de facto guarantees, such as by buying their approved coins (even mistakes) sight-unseen for fair wholesale prices.

All CAC coins that I have sold have brought significant premiums. And I doubt that CAC's owners are making windfall profits by charging $16 per $10,000 coin, LOL.

As for CAC's trading network, the CDN Exchange, CAC conducted a whopping 64 transactions in the prior 12 months (63 Asks and 1 Bid), mostly for cheap generic stuff. These numbers do not seem so lucrative to me. Our firm pays just $1,800 annually for membership yet CAC itself does not even get that mere pittance, LOL.

And yes, CAC does exist to protect consumers, as per JA's interview.

Regardless of the “significant premiums” obtained for the CAC coins that you’ve sold, plenty of CAC coins trade at very modest premiums.

And it sounds as if most of the trading that CAC does isn’t on the CDN Exchange. Surely you realize that they do a highly significant amount of trading off of that exchange that’s not for “cheap generic stuff”.

Wabbit

CACfan said:

Wabbit said:

CACfan said:

I have heard from reliable sources that CAC barely breaks even, even including the two-way market they make in their own coins. They exist to protect consumers.

Can you please provide proof of this? (Or should we just set up a GoFundMe account for John.)

Read JA's interviews.

Post the proof, you made the claim.

noahlh

I'd actually make a slightly different (serious) argument: I think they should end the policy of only charging collectors for coins that sticker.

(Sorry collector members! Don't kill me for suggesting this.)

It's a really good deal -- too good a deal, IMHO -- and I know lots of folks who say "Well I'll just send in all 100 coins I own since I only pay for the ones that sticker!".

That being said: If CAC's goal is to see as many coins as possible, then never mind. But if their goal is to maximize revenue without raising prices (and cut down on volume / backlog), that's probably a good place to start.

MeantToBeSpent

CACfan said:

CAC Should Raise Its Prices

Where's the strongly disagree button?

Shhh....A lot of you should just keep your metaphorically speaking mouths shut!