Confused about monster boxes

[SouthCoastInvestor]

I've just purchased a monster box of 200 silver 2oz Queen's Beasts Unicorns (condition “new”) from goldsilver.be for EUR 7040.  I foolishly did not think to compare the price to buying 200 “loose” coins (i.e. putting 200 in the quantity field on the order form) -  which it appears would have worked out even cheaper by about EUR 300. I just assumed that the cheapest option would be a single boxed order.

And when the package arrived the two plastic straps around the box had come apart – they appeared to have cleanly separated at the glue joint, so I cannot be sure the box content is as it was delivered from the mint.

So now I am not sure what the benefit of buying a monster box is.

Is there normally a premium on a monster box vs. the same quantity of coins ordered “loose”?

When ordering a standard quantity of coins (e.g. 500 x 1oz), is a monster box sometimes sent anyway – I would have thought this was the most convenient packing option for the dealer?

What do dealers actually do with these boxes?  Do they open them to confirm contents or to cherry-pick the best condition coins and substitute other new coins in their place?

Is it anticipated that a new monster box purchased from a dealer is always as sealed from the mint? I notice that this dealer is currently advertising a box of US Eagles as “sealed” but none of the others specifically say “sealed”.

Are the plastic straps around a Royal Mint box the plain white ones as mine were or should they have come with security marking?

Do the straps sometimes come apart during shipping as mine appear to have done?

Is there a benefit to having a monster box when selling the coins back to a dealer?  Without an unbroken security seal, I can't see why there would be.

I have no complaints with this dealer - I am happy with the standard of service, and the quality of the coins that I have spot-checked looks OK.  And I have saved a lot on the VAT by buying from Europe.  I am just unsure if I made the best purchasing decision . . . .

Many thanks.

M.

[SILVERFINGER]

I dont think any dealer would buy an unsealed box of coins without wanting to check the contents first, when you see second had bars on some sites in the UK, it quite often says its been taken out of the original wrapper for testing and has marks on it.

[BackyardBullion]

That seems a little odd that the price of the monster box was more then their price for loose coins.

This is probably a pricing error they they have not changed, but I suppose it is not in their interest to change it!

As to mint condition - the contents wereikely verified and checked by the dealer. There would not be any benefit to selling it on to a dealer as a sealed box above what the general value of the coins are (in my opinion and experience). 

[Stu]

Staggering that it is cheaper to buy individual coins as opposed to a monster box, however they may hope that some folks just don't check and score this way! I have heard of the plastic straps coming off but also find this poor quality from the mints, we are after all talking thousands of pounds for this stuff. If your coins are fine then I would be happy, it's a good series but a lot of coins have been spotted / poor quality. Think of it as a lesson learned and think yourself lucky that you didn't buy from a Brittish dealer who would added another 20% at least. Play the long game and I am sure you will do well. Happy stacking. 

[BackyardBullion]

In the future try https://www.europeanmint.com

They will price match (although I think they are actually cheaper for QB coins at the moment anyway!) And if you drop them an email and mention that Backyard Bullion pointed you their way they might very well be able to give you a discount on shipping. 

[wozniak]

I had a friend who worked for a major dealer, they absolutely do check that all the coins are in the box and everything is kosher. You also need to take into account how much the box itself costs as well as the tubes that these coins come in, so all told, it probably makes a little more sense when you take a look at the final price...but not by 300...that I'm not sure of

Monster Box Tubes

[UKStacker]

Dud you compare prices on the same day?

I've just checked and a Britannia monster box is cheaper than 500.

[Frenchie]

 

On 29/06/2018 at 20:52, SouthCoastInvestor said:

I've just purchased a monster box of 200 silver 2oz Queen's Beasts Unicorns (condition “new”) from goldsilver.be for EUR 7040.  I foolishly did not think to compare the price to buying 200 “loose” coins (i.e. putting 200 in the quantity field on the order form) -  which it appears would have worked out even cheaper by about EUR 300. I just assumed that the cheapest option would be a single boxed order.

Just checked on GSBE website, I see QB Bulls at 33,39€/each so 6678€ for 200, compared with the monster box sold at 6939,09€. This is definitely an error. On the other side, the Unicorn is now at 36,35€ so 7270€ for 200, compared with the price you bought your monster box at 7040€. What I think is they maybe did rise the price of Unicorn monster box before rising the price of the single unicorn and you bought it at that time. If I were you, I would send an email to them with your order reference with these facts (better than trying to call them as they often don't reply) 

[Abyss]

European Mint €6414

GS.be €6939,09

GS.be €525 more expensive.

Buy 200 2 oz QB coins the tubes and the monster box comes as standard with the order.

[Paul]

If you have time on your side

1. Drop an email to GS.be

2. Ask for a delightful helpful CS staff called; Eva

3. Highlight pricing issues,  mistakes, errors, general bad service, bad business practice etc 

4. Buy Popcorn (................+fireworks optional)

5. WAIT  🤣

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[FoolzGold]

At least you've saved me the trouble of asking, as I was looking at the price of the QB Monster Boxes on GSBe when I read a post the other day mentioning them and was wondering why they were priced higher per unit than individual coins. Seemed like a lot for a big plastic box and some small plastic tubes.

To be honest I would think this is something you would have checked before buying. Shelling out 7k€ without working out the unit cost and seeing how much you were saving (or in this case paying as a premium) over buying individually seems like it should be a first step rather than an afterthought.

In any case in the long run these are likely to appreciate significantly and make the difference largely irrelevant.

[SouthCoastInvestor]

When I made this purchase last year I DID compare unit price of the coins with other dealers, but it did not occur to me to compare unit price for the monster box vs. the same loose quantity of coins from the SAME dealer.  That was the problem.

Also I was a complete newbie at the time, hence some of my other questions about the monster box potentially having a premium due to the fact that the coins are all sealed and have not been picked-over by the dealers to extract the pristine examples, which I doubt is how it works, if you order 400 2oz (or 500 1oz) "loose" they will presumably just dispatch a monster box if there is one to hand.

 

 

[FoolzGold]

2 hours ago, SouthCoastInvestor said:

When I made this purchase last year I DID compare unit price of the coins with other dealers, but it did not occur to me to compare unit price for the monster box vs. the same loose quantity of coins from the SAME dealer.  That was the problem. 

In that case at least you still paid less per coin than you would have through any other source at the time. Your only regret is that you could have had an even better deal. As regrets go that's not so bad.

Like you I still don't understand why GSBe have their QB monster boxes listed at higher prices than the individual coins. This doesn't seem to be a one-off thing as I've noticed it before and it's still the case today.

[spanit]

I ever experienced buying a box of 100 perthmint coins. Like this case, singles or tube of 20 are priced lower than a full box of 100. I just ordered the cheapest and add comment asking the coins sent in the mint box. Then I got a full mint box of 100 coins at cheapest price.