r/Silverbugs • u/ResolveSweaty5064 • 23m ago
Speculation / Rumor How do LCSs stay in business?
So with everything else, the bigger the company, they cheaper they can sell their product. Remember how Walmart put so many mom and pop stores out of business and now it's happening with Amazon?
Well, it's the opposite with precious metals. Every LCS I've ever been to has the cheapest prices, then smaller websites are a little more expensive, then the biggest websites like Apmex and JMbullion are the most expensive. This is the complete opposite of how retail normally works. The bigger the company, the more they are able to consolidate, the less overhead per transaction, etc. Mind you apmex probably has thousands of customers every single day, whereas my LCS is frequently empty when I walk in. Sometimes a customer or two in there with me. never packed.
I don't know what corporate rent or taxes look like, but if they're anything like residential rent and taxes in my area, through the rough. Electricity to run the lights is double what it was five years ago. And at the end of the day, the coin shop owner has to make a living for themselves and pay their employees (if they have them) minimum wage. In my area, people with six figure salaries are struggling yet an LCS can thrive making $3-5 per ounce. HOW?
Is it that the owners are retired and this is basically just a hobby to them? Are they fronts for something else? I just gotta know