More years ago than I want to think about or admit to, I impatiently waited weeks for a package to arrive in the mail. I was seven and had responded to an offer on the back of a cereal box. For those too young to remember, cereal boxes were effective ways retailers would market to kids. Too young for the newspaper, my brother and I would bury our faces in the back of our cereal box. Smart phones have long since replaced them....
As I returned home from grade school each day I’d beg to know if my package had come. Finally, it arrived. I had never received anything in the mail so it was a big day.
Understand, this was an era when any and all mail was significant. In the back of some magazines there were even ads telling readers they could, “Get on 100’s of Mailing Lists for Only $1.00.” That’s right. People were actually paying to get junk mail. Today, we do whatever we can to get off such lists for mail or robocalls.
There’s a noted adage, “What’s old becomes new again.” It might be equally apropos to say, when we become old, we want what was once new – again. That’s the case for Ellen Piper. She’s a woman in her 90s who lives alone on a farm in the Midwest. She’s not very ambulatory. Her sanctuaries are TV and the magazines she gets. Suffice to say, old ways are just fine for her. If you gave her a smart phone she wouldn’t know which end was up.
She’s captivated by promos on TV and in magazines. She regularly sees ads for things she believes are “great deals.” That can be dangerous. I say that because I was once in advertising. I know first-hand how words can be crafted to make anything seem irresistible, rare, or essential. Carefully hewn words can compel most anyone into an impulse purchase.
When I’ve visited Ellen she’s shown me countless print ads promoting coins, paper money and collectible stamps. Each ad masterfully persuades the reader to “act now before it’s too late!” She finds the TV ads even more enticing. There are channels especially adept at hawking coins, vintage paper money and stamps. The sales pitch is absorbing. Admittedly, anyone who doesn’t know about the products could be sucked in.
A dozen or so years ago, Ellen and I were watching one of the channels that was pitching the new George Washington golden dollar coins the US Mint had struck. The coin was supposed to have lettering on the edge including the words, “In God We Trust.” Because the technology for making the edge lettering was new, on a number of the dollar coins that lettering was accidentally omitted. That was big news.
People began searching for the coins missing the edge lettering. Many were found. They were scarce but not rare. Some coin dealers offered to pay around $30 apiece for the anomalies. Evidently, the TV ad folks acquired them in droves. They repackaged them and began promoting them as “extreme rarities sure to soar in value.” On TV they were selling for $400 each.
While I was amused, Ellen was convinced. This had to be too good to pass up.
To prove the coins were not rare, I ordered one from the TV for $400. (Yes, I was able to deduct the cost.) I also borrowed one from a local dealer who at that time was asking $40. I showed Ellen both. They were identical differing only in that one cost 1000 percent more than the other. Those same coins today are still worth about $40 each.
This is not to say all TV or print ad promotions are bad or fake. Some are just fine. And, fun! Of course, as always, buyer beware.
As we enter 2021, this is the ideal time for people such as Ellen to make a New Year’s resolution. Before picking up the phone to order a “collectible” at any price, take that same phone and call a local dealer. Find out what the item might be worth in the real world. It only takes a minute. It’s a sure bet Ellen and others will have a much happier and profitable New Year if they do.
For more collecting advice, visit www.peterexford.blogspot.com