Comments on: US Mint Offers 10% Subscription Discounts on Coins and Sets

By: jim

jim — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:23:40 +0000

I think the mint is playing around, trying to figure out a combination of charges and discounts that gets them to some goal. To my knowledge no document has ever been published (for public consumption) stating what the goal is for the mint in offering collector (proof and unc) coins. It might be that somebody has been charged with producing such a document to provide direction to the mint which as Dep Dir Peterson has so amply proved is sorely needed.

By: RonnieBGood

RonnieBGood — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 22:22:24 +0000

A good thing…
but I suspect that it has less to do with rewarding loyal customers and everything to do with a drop in the Mints’ sales/profits due to the drop in the spot prices of Gold and Silver.

By: thePhelps

thePhelps — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 14:19:03 +0000

@jim – all the higher priced silver products will give you a discount that is more than the shipping cost. If like me you order more than 1 of any of the items you’ll save money.

Shipping charge – $4.95

Silver Proof Set $53.95 $5.40
Proof Silver Eagle $52.95 $5.30
Uncirculated Silver Eagle $43.95 $4.40
ATB Five Ounce Silver Unc Coin $154.95 $15.50

Other than the $4.40 Silver Eagle discount the rest are no brainers for me. Since I usually order a couple of the uncirculated Eagles – I subscribed as well. Other than those – I’ll combine my orders as you mentioned and save shipping.

By: jim

jim — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 06:06:02 +0000

tP – I’ve been paying S&H for all subscriptions I’ve had. And because subscription coins are all released on a different day that’s S&H for every subscription. The only way to save any money is to not subscribe and combine several coins in a single order. And now that we’re getting advance notice on release dates combining coin orders is easier to manage. The 10% discount makes things more complicated and changing prices of silver add to that. I’m going to have to set up a spreadsheet to figure this all out.

By: thePhelps

thePhelps — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 20:56:36 +0000

@Kahoola – you sign in to the mints website and scroll down to the subscription link. There you are shown which products are available for a subscription – and how many you want when you subscribe. When the product is available for shipping – the mint fills your subscription.

No you can’t delay the purchase until a later date – once subscribed when they become available they ship and charge your card.

Yes you can order more of the same product – but the subscription price is only available to advance subscriptions. Typically you have to be subscribed several weeks in advance of a products release. You can cancel the subscription at any time prior to the release as well.

By: Kahoola

Kahoola — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 20:51:59 +0000

How does the subscription thing work? My thought is that the product comes out, the mint sends an email asking how many you want, you decide then and there. Can you put it off till the budget allows the buy? What happens if you decide later that the budget will allow another, can you still get the same deal? Have looked at the web site and cannot find how it works.

By: thePhelps

thePhelps — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 19:59:13 +0000

@jim – yeah I’ve had subscriptions in the past and they blew up last year with charging every subscribed product a shipping fee. Then to top that off they shipped the Silver Proof set to all the subscribers and then lowered the price the following week. I cancelled all my subscriptions after that. With this discount they are actually going one better on many of the silver products – the discount is more than the shipping cost – and it makes that a no brainer… $15.50 off a 5 oz ATB…I subscribed!

By: jimmy

jimmy — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 16:37:20 +0000

all those mint prices were based on $24.00 silver per ounce. now the silver is down more than 20%. the mint wise enough to offer on those who order subscription at a 10% discount. that is still price over 10% profit by the mint aside from heavily mark up attached to those coins;. usually 100% or more.

By: jim

jim — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 16:17:36 +0000

My experience is that subscriptions only offer convenience – not price differences. I think they should always offer subscriptions S&H free as an incentive. Maybe they’re testing the waters to see just how much free S&H affects sales.

By: thePhelps

thePhelps — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 14:56:40 +0000

@Jim – I think that was a reference price only. The mint hasn’t gotten the pricing fixed ont he products and they referenced the previous years subscription prices.

I think the only ones that make sense to subscribe to are the silver products – the others are hit or miss and would be better to purchase with a coordinated purchase to maximize shipping fees.