A US No 5 Rare Variety Going Crazy On Ebay

It looks like the winner placed his bid in the final minute. That can be a very risky strategy, though. Once I tried it, and at that point instead of allowing me to place my bid ebay asked me to log in again. By the time I had entered my login details and clicked, the auction was over.

i was watching it was with about 5 seconds left with the final bid

Yep Jimjam, been there, done that too. $32,300...complete insanity. Even though some experts have said it is the 7R1E #5, I think someone else had a better point in stating that it gets very suspicious when a rarity like this just pops up out of the blue on ebay with no certificate what so ever. Seller did the right thing by listing as what he thought it was and starting the bid @ .99¢ Where is Russ at ? Russ, how are you at plating these Franklins? I have 4 I'd like to plate after seeing that.

VERY risky, LONEDAN!

stalizer, I don't think stamps actually need expertisation if the relevant details are visible on the scan. They're either there or they're not. However, if the value of the stamp depends on attributes that cannot be captured in a scan, then I would understand the need for expertisation.

The way I understand it, all the relevant facts needed to establish the identity of the stamp were apparent from the scan. Otherwise, people wouldn't have risked bidding so much for it, surely.

i just contacted my local nbc station and then talk to someone.
they are going to forward it.
maybe this will create some interest in stamp collecting for the public if it gets on tv.

as someone stated, this stamp was certified on another forum by a recognized expert, THE US expert on these stamps.
BTW this is the same guy that plated the stamp that Harry sent me awhile back, and that stamp has made a small piece of history on its own.
I have been talking with the seller via email... He bought it as a #9, I traced it back to the seller before him. "DOM17" was the first seller who sold it as part of a nice lot for a 1600 BIN price. I also talked with DOM17, and he is aware of the stamp.

Not a bad story for a January 17 or Blue Monday which is
considered the bleakest day of the year.

If a person is curious, the larger lot in question is still pictured in the current seller's feedback-as-buyer section...just scroll down for dom17 as the seller.

Who knows what's hiding in those Buy It Now lots?

Well this certainly was the Ruby in a Mountain of rocks, but Stamps like this don't appear that often. I think I read somewhere that there are only 100-110 of these believed to be left in the world. I don't care what people told me regarding an auction, especially with something as confusing as this series. I wouldn't spend $100.00 on a Stamp without a certificate, let alone over 30 large. Although the verdict was supposedly in on this one, there are still some of the leading experts questioning it's condition as to the amount of thins. And just think, this was only 1 stamp of the lot the the seller bought for $1,700.00 with quite a few 200-300 dollar items left in the collection, this seller. The reason that the big New York auctions constantly sell things like this is because the buyers can see it in person, to spend 30K on a picture on ebay is insanity.

Stallzer, your right. What was expertized was a photo. Yes, the photo is of a Scott #5. And, if the photo is of the stamp that is actually being sold, then both the buyer and seller are happy.

But I don't know the seller. I've never seen the actual stamp, and if I'm the buyer, I would want the actual stamp authenticated, with certificate, BEFORE I send any money.

What the seller did was classy in keeping the auction open, but for that amount of money, I wouldn't trust ANYONE.

Is it possible that privately the seller and the buyer have an understanding that payment depends on the item being authenticated?

If I were thinking of bidding for this item, I would write to the seller first making such a suggestion.

I can see a PayPal claim coming up...

"It never arrived in the mail."

LOL.

If you were the seller, would you let the buyer pay with Paypal????

4% of $32,800 is quite a lot of money (and this on top of ebay fees!)

Yes, that would be close to $1,300.00. Bank transfer coming, then hand couriered and insured to 50K. If I had just raked in over 32K, I'd deliver it personally to ensure it's arrival. How much is an intercontinental flight ? $400 tops ?