Still Some Bargains To Be Had On Ebay...

On various forums I read people complaining about all the "junk" on ebay, and how nothing good can be found there anymore, etc.

Au contraire.

There are still bargains and gems to be had. Frequently it comes down to thinking outside the box and either using unusual search terms, or looking in categories that you wouldn't normally think of looking in.

Case in point, the check below. It's an illegal usage of Scott #113 as a revenue stamp. It's a bit dusty and the check itself is a little beat up, but even in its current state it's a $75-150 item at retail.

My cost including shipping: $7.48. It was not located anywhere in the "Stamps" category hierarchy.

Spend some time searching ebay in ways you wouldn't normally, and you might be surprised at what you find...

That's a great find revenuecollector. You've given me something new to think about and we'll see if I can find something rewarding for my efforts.

I agree, some lateral thinking and some digging around can bring interesting things to light. I checked a listing for "1000 used stamps" which were starting at £10 with £5. postage. Steep for what seemed like kiloware, so it had little interest. When I looked more closely, the description read "over 1000 stamps, most still on the envelopes". Well that explained the postage. My opening bid was the only one, and I was the happy owner of several hundred worldwide covers, plus a fair pile of stamps on paper.

Picked these up for $22.50. Properly described, good image. Just the luck of the draw for me that they went so cheap.

Those Fiji postage dues are a fantastic pickup at such a low price. Wow. Are the postmarks genuine? Might be worth getting a certificate for the set - afterall they are catalogued at £650.

Even if the used are fishy, it is still cheap buying for the mint.

Nice pickup.

I don't waste money on certificates. I know that a stamp like this



is better than those posted above, but I'm not wasting money on certificates to prove it, I know enough to be satisfied myself.

I agree with the premise that this statement is false. If I had more time, I could link dozens of bargain buys every day. There is still no better source for variety, price, and security than ebay IMO.

Nice find Revenuecollector

I agree with you about going trough the back door so to speak when keying in items on ebay. It has worked for me in the past too on occasion.

Chimo

Bujutsu

ebay just requires patience. If you are looking for certain items they will show up for a good price if you wait it out.
I'm currently looking for different items to complete sets. 1 in particular that I'm trying to do is get all of the Scotts# 490+ series in Joint line pairs unmounted. Off ebay I just got my #496 Line pair with great centering and unmounted and I had waited this one out for months and nabbed it for 8 bucks. I also landed a #497 line pair unmounted for $25.00 (Cat $280.00) So the bargains on ebay can be found.

Im not sure of the name of name of the website, but it searches ebay
using numerous mis-spellings etc....Im not sure about stamps,
but when it came to sports memorabilia, and carved bone and ivory...
I found items that I never would have discovered by traditional methods.

I just snagged a bargain for Cjd !
I wonder if he can guess what it is !

great stuff everyone!

I love it !
We can have our searches done for us, and when they are over we can get the sniper to bid for us.
I love it!

All we need now is for someone to put the stamps away when they arrive !

Then we can all sit in the armchair and watch the world go by.

I love it.

Stamp Collecting by Proxy.

Londonbus1

And if you are not into stamp collecting by proxy, you can do the searching yourself and have a laugh !




And this is not one of them !

http://cgi.ebay.com/GB-1971-MACHIN-...586761803974

Now go to my GB Cinderella thread and see THE BARGAIN !

And then come back here and tell me how many differences you can spot !

Londonbus1....off you go then !

That is a sweet catch! Being an ephemera collector, I have often found paper items with stamps, though not nearly as nice as the one you found!