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When spreads blow out: busy markets, thin cash, and honest caution
The gap between buy and sell gets ugly when everyone wants to do the same thing at once. That is risk, not a personality defect.
The week everybody wants to sell, shops get pickier.
The week everybody wants to buy, premiums jump and the case looks empty.
Both times, people say “you’re gouging.” Sometimes a shop is just being a jerk. A lot of the time the spread is doing its job: paying for risk and cash.
Selling stampede
We can only eat so much metal before we are the bank. Bids ease off. Testing slows down because fakes ride the wave. Tungsten. Should you sell.
Buying stampede
Eagles go on allocation. Generic becomes what is left. Premiums look stupid. If you wait a month you may hate yourself or thank yourself. Nobody here knows which.
Panic buying. Government vs generic.
What to ask
“Is this a normal spread for you, or are we in a weird week?” A shop that answers like a human is a shop you can deal with. A shop that recites “highest prices” while widening the gap — those signs.
Part of the coin shop counter wiki · visitors & collectors · NumisQ Learn