Can I inform the public?

[legalnewbie989]

I am in Michigan and the hotel coin buyers are in town. If your not familiar with these folks I can sum it by telling you that today I went in to toy with them a little bit. I took them $3000 worth of gold coins that are authenticated. They offered me $90 and said they are fake. I am a numisasist and I am 100% sure of their authenticity. I am in the process of making things harder for them here in michigan but in the mean time I was wondering if it is okay for me to hand out price guides in the parking lot. I will not say anything negative about the company I just want the people going in to sell their property to have some type of honest information pertaining to its value. Is this okay to do or do I run the risk of getting in legal trouble? Is it okay to hold a sign across the street? What can I get away with? I tried contacting many public officials today but they simply do not care!

 

[justalayman]

in the parking lot? The parking lot of what? If it is of the business they are in, you will likely be told to leave or risk being charged with trespass.

Is it okay to hold a sign across the street?

depends on what it says, whose property you are on, and if you need a permit to demonstrate or not.

 

[dscurlock]

I am in Michigan and the hotel coin buyers are in town. If your not familiar with these folks I can sum it by telling you that today I went in to toy with them a little bit. I took them $3000 worth of gold coins that are authenticated. They offered me $90 and said they are fake. I am a numisasist and I am 100% sure of their authenticity. I am in the process of making things harder for them here in michigan but in the mean time I was wondering if it is okay for me to hand out price guides in the parking lot. I will not say anything negative about the company I just want the people going in to sell their property to have some type of honest information pertaining to its value. Is this okay to do or do I run the risk of getting in legal trouble? Is it okay to hold a sign across the street? What can I get away with? I tried contacting many public officials today but they simply do not care!

Honestly, not every business is fair or honest, but it is indeed their business to run as they see fit. They seem to be a bit shady, sure, but you want to be just as shady by holding a sign on a street corner...in the end it is up to the buyer/seller to make that deal or not. You felt you were getting ripped off by being offered $90, maybe they are not well educated in what you had to sell them, nothing illegal about being stupid...you declined their offer, and life goes on. our own govt gets ripped off by china everday, why are you not pissed off about that? We have billion dollar compaines not paying taxes, why are you are not writing to congress....you are more concerned over some shady business....just where are your real values?

 

[quincy]

There is nothing illegal about handing out flyers or distributing price guides. You may, however, be prohibited from doing so on the hotel's private property.

As for carrying a sign, again you may not be allowed to do this on the hotel's property. There may also be local ordinances to consider and, depending on the location, a permit may be required.

To avoid defamation, do not target any of the coin buyers specifically. Just present facts.

Many people who attend these coin buying (or gold buying) "events," by the way, may not care all that much about the actual value of their items and that they could potentially get more money by selling through different channels. Just as a person will not get full value for items sold to a pawn broker, a seller may receive only a small percentage of the value of the coins they present for sale to a coin buyer.

People who attend these events, in other words, may be less concerned about getting ripped off than they are interested in getting fast cash. But certainly trying to educate them a bit before they sell their coins seems to be a noble goal.

Good luck.