Paying Catalogue Value (Or More) For Common Stamps

If you bid on ebay then downloading and using sniping software is a must ! If you see a Stamp you want, figure out how much you are willing to pay, enter it into the software and walk away. If you win it great, if not then you didn't bid enough but you also didn't go over your budget. There is no blanket market rate for Stamps as some get 5% of catalog, and some get 80% - Full catalog as it all depends on the item.

There are some stamps that might seem common in Scotts, but in reality can be pretty hard to find. The guys who completed the Scott Internationals back in the mid '70's were chasing down a few remaining stamps that had pretty minor catalog values... And had to travel to Eruope and Syria to find them. We have it easy. So if it's $10 for a 25 cent stamp so be it!

Thanks everyone for all the fine posts. I certainly appreciate the ideas and info and background. Not that it matters, but for the record, I don't collect Japanese stamps (until now) .. and I am being fussy in that I have found one simple series I want to collect. (I have decided I am interested in collecting the world (along with US and Canada), but in no way have the time or money to do it with tons of stamps .. instead, I am focusing on one to three sets or series that I find particularly interesting from that country, regardless of dates of issue, etc.

The Japanese series I am now seeking is simply the new year series that started just after WWII (though there may be a few pre-war stamps that meet that theme).

And, in regard to watching auction, sites ... I did lose something off ebay that I felt was something very different and exactly wanted for a topical collection and it did indeed get away because I just didn't bid high enough. Next time, I will know for sure and make the proper bids.

Thanks for the Stamps2go link I'm gonna check it out to.

Another Japanese series which I collected many years ago is their National Parks series. The series begins in the 1930's and comes forward. Many beautiful and interesting issues. With only a few exceptions, they are all very affordable.

Just a thought on a Japanese series to collect.

Thanks Rohumpy on Japanese National Parks stamps. I just noticed those yesterday and may indeed give them a try as well.

Also, don't forget that one cannot simply assume that Scott values are accurate. There are plenty of Scott-minimum (or close to it) stamps that show up very rarely. Why are they priced so low? Demand. A stamp can be exceedingly rare, but if no one's looking for it, it doesn't matter how scarce it is, as it will never rise to the attention level of someone reporting to Scott for adjustments.

This happens also at higher price levels. There are any number of stamps I am looking for that catalog $50-250, that are far more rare than stamps that catalog thousands. Again, demand.

Another issue concerning the online pricing of low catalogue value stamps is the sellers' time and energy. Putting up for sale a stamp which worth a $1000 takes the same time and energy as selling a $0.05 stamp. Many sellers who put up for sale cheap individual stamps tend to charge a premium just to cover the time it took them to list.

Or so I think....

Yes, that makes sense, Seahorse. I am certainly not a dealer kabosher - they do a great service for collectors. There are always a couple bad apples in every bunch and I have certainly had a few issues with a couple of those, but for most part, I appreciate what they do and yes, of course, it is probably more costly to sell those cheap stamps. The payoff, I suspect, would be in satisfying the customer and hope for return business.

Actually, that is how I have reacted and dealt with online dealers. I am not going to invest tons on my first purchase because I don't know the dealer nor his stock. But if I am satisfied, I usually go back and the dealer has me as a repeat customer.

I have a Hungarian dealer I like for Hungarian stamps; and a Canadian dealer for my Canada stock. Have gone back to each several times after my initial "blind" purchases.

It always cracks me up when I see people paying a dollar and 4 dollars shipping for a stamp I would sell them for 7 cents...but then I have not spent the time listing thousands of 7 cent stamps on the internet...i want the people to beat a path to my door..has not happened yet !

But what really torques me is when I put out a similar good duplicate cover for 99 cents and 75 cents shipping against a guy asking 7.99 and two dollars shipping and I don't get a bid !

Phil,

You made a very good point and it reminds me of something which always puzzles me. It has been proved time and again that many bottled water companies use just plain municipality tap water to fill up the bottles they sell. Still this is a big $$$ industry and it always made me wonder why people buy water while having the opportunity to have the same quality water by simply reaching any tap anywhere. And still they do....

We - as consumers of water, bread, books and stamps - do not always apply the very principles we think we do. We say we look for the best deal yet in many cases we don't...

Note to: tomiseksj

THANKS for the tip on Stamps2Go ... I did try it, and am looking at picking up several stamps there. All of these stamp sites work differently from each other, but it was pretty easy to learn. The only trouble I had was registering .. .it said I was registered, but asked for some kind of first-time confirmation number, which I didn't have, so I just continued through and built a CART of items. The cart was wiped out because technically I was not signed on yet. But the special number was in my email box the next day and all is working out fine.