I Love Worldwide Postal History

i love worldwide postal history...but I don't understand why dealers on the internet ask 12 dollars for common covers that a dealer at a show would sell me for 75 cents to 2 dollars ? I usually ask a dollar or two for my covers which I consider pretty good...no sense trying to sell junk..are they greedy or ignorant or neither ???

Greedy!

Well you know what..let them sit listing dollar covers for 12 bucks plus shipping and see how many fish there are out there !!

I would like add to my previous post. I think some are greedy. I think some people just don't know what they have and what it is worth so they err on the high side.

its possible..its a sad fact..many people overestimate the value of their items...a guy came to our club auction last night to try and sell his "collection" I think he was shocked at the quality of material our members put out for twenty percent of catalog !!

It is not only postal history, it is postal stationery, stamps, and likely anything else they think they can sell. It seems that a minimal amount was established someplace, by someone, that always shows up. In the postal stationery realm, how many 50 cent listings do you see? How many $9.99 listings do you see for the item that should be $0.50? Some people appearantly live in a different world. I don't know. I just say, if it looks like it is to much, pass it up. It will be back on the listings again someday, maybe cheaper.

Just my 2 pesos.

Bob

i agree Bob, back in the early days it was not like that..what caused a huge spike in prices for material that people can live without I do not understand....

I know what your saying phil. Have you ever seen 15 listings for the exact same stamp with the exact same price with the exact same seller? That makes me very suspicious too especially when it's listed at 12.00 and worth .30.

Another slant to this thread are stamps of Canada that have straight edges issued in booklet form. I am referring to definitive types of course. There were for the longest time frowned upon. I am specifically referring to definitive booklet singles. Now that there is growing popularity here in trying to re-construct complete booklet panes out of used singles, dealers are now quite eager to point out a 'straight-edged' stamp on cover from a booklet pane and usually at a premium too :(

Chimo

Bujutsu

Bujutsu, yes I have heard from friends that the "straight edges" are sought after in Canada !

To give you a side that you might not have thought of, many years ago I took a 25c cover box to stamp shows and sold odds and ends. A recent internet customer asked for a specific type of cancel on fairly modern covers, and I thought that there might be something in that box that would interest him, so I dug through it, and sent him a scan of a cover I found. He offered me $250 which I graciously accepted...I ran down to the basement to go through the box more carefully, and found one more similar cover, but in very rough condition. I sent a scan, and the collector apologized, but given the quality, even though it was a much scarcer cancel, he could only offer $250 again...and gave me carte blanche to find anything of better qualilty and he would offer more...

i saw this title on the active list and thought I would take a look...i didn't realize I had started it !

Old postal history is widely overpriced. Let's take for example WW II censored covers. During the war more or less all post was censored and it seems to be more difficult to find Euroepean covers from war years without censor markings.

I have turned towards modern postal history and postal markings simply because the prices are there in 1 Euro or £1 category. Fine clear delivery markings, and labels are genuinely rare in modern covers and the greedy dealers leave them alone.