Sometimes late at night  when I am really bored, I will watch some tv shopping channels such as QVC, HSN, or Shop at Home TV. My advice to collectors is NEVER to buy any coins from these networks. They typically charge much more for coins that you would pay here on ebay or even in a store. They have some dirty tricks that they like to use.

First, they will use 2nd and 3rd tier grading companies to grade their coins, then evaluate them like they were graded by PCGS or NGC. This is also a common dirty trick used on ebay.

Second, they will use retail catalogs and claim they are price guides and want you to get all excited about the prices they charge.

Third, while they sometimes use NGC or PCGS slabs on these shows, they overhype the coins to justify the absurd prices they charge.

Finally, the some of the worse abuse comes with the state quarters collections. No reputable dealer would encourage people to buy coins dipped in different metals such as "platinium" or other metals they claim these quarters have been dipped in.

Watch thse shows for amusement, but keep your hand on your wallet!