Watch Out For Deals Like These...

Every now and then you will come across an ebay seller who knows absolutely
nothing about stamps but thinks they are worth a lot of money. It's even worse if
the seller does know but puts an item out there as sucker bait for the unsuspecting.
Hopefully anyone who does know something about stamps will stay away, and
anyone who doesn't will do some comparison shopping.

The latest of such questionable "deal" is this Statesman Deluxe collection of 6000 pre-1981
stamps, listed yesterday, carefully counted but none of which are shown.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...hlink:top:us

This has a starting price of $999.99 and a buy-it-now of $1150.00! Yes, BIN for nearly
20 cents per stamp or probably pretty close to catalog value but in what condition?

The seller currently has 141 items listed, and this is the only one involving stamps.

Good advise, Modern.

For those of us who have been around the hobby awhile, you can spot these type of "deals" right away.

For those whom are new to the hobby, it is good to highlight these sorts of things so others do not get burned.

David

Wow. I'm thinking it's just a lack of knowledge about the hobby by the seller, but the perception that "old stamp collections" in general are "worth money".

It could also be someone just trying to suck in someone unknowledgeable about stamp collection that may hold the same perception.

I've sent the seller a message asking him to justify the high opening bid with scans of the first pages of the U.S. and Canada sections. Let's see what develops.

He probably works for the Franklin Mint in his day job!

Good show! Be sure to post what develops here, inquiring minds want to know.

Larry, keep him honest...i think theres pretty much one thing we can bank on with a powerful old collection...its been cherry picked..i think most of these guys on ebay know exactly what they can get away with ! I like to look...but when they go 3 x past my bid...good luck to them...i have purchased too many accumulations from estate sales and flea markets for $60 to $80 dollars...

Phil, in this case I hardly think it would be cherry-picked. I'd guess
it's a typical and somewhat sloppy assembly of common material, more
likely than not put together by a beginner, maybe even a kid. Of course,
I'm always open to a pleasant surprise but the seller doesn't even show
pictures. I think if he had something to show worth the starting bid or
asking price he could have done it.

Common Material....indeed..just take a look at the countries listed
and you will see that the heavy areas are Germany[ probably CTO DDR], Czeck, and Dune States. Then take a look at Newfoundland...1 stamp

I see he's got pictures up now, just as I asked.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...250347132503

Nothing special there. Looks like a collection someone had in the 60s that they were buying commemoratives from Harris for.

Value: Likely less than $100, and probably less than $50.


*

Mod....

It's difficult to say with any certainty whether this seller is fishing for a newbie or just thinks all stamps are valuable, but either way I think you're right to post it for discussion to help our club members learn what to watch out for.

I've seen many similar auctions and often thought we ought to have a place to post the "deal of the day".

What do the moderators here think about this ?

Yeah but they are old and back from around WWI, anyone knows these are rare and hard to buy stamps. lol

I just wonder what we would do if we saw a person selling some high value classics for a few dollars. Do we take advantage and buy them or do we let the seller know they have something that is worth far more than they are asking.

I always felt the buyer and seller needed to be informed or they sell or buy at their won risk. Now those that are altering stamps to bring in more dollars is a different story, they should be hung by their fingers.

Chances are that with the number of people watching, they would get
bid up to a reasonable level, if not the best one, since ebay is not
really an outlet for top-of-the-line stuff.

I suspect this one won't sell since it has everything going against it
as an ebay listing beginning with scaring off the bargain hunters that
populate ebay with a $999.99 opener.

I haven't sold a collection on ebay in a while. But I always opened at
99-cents and depending on size showed 100 or more photographs. Where
it went from there was up to the bidders. Collections will always sell
on ebay if you start them at 99-cents, but $999.99 is a real problem.

I see he has dropped the price to a $499.99 opener and $999.99 BIN with a book
of FDC's thrown in if you opt for the latter.

So at least you are getting about 15 bucks worth..a cover album with 70 or 80 covers !

You guys know that people like that are only looking for one person, right???
That's the person with SUCKER written all over their forehead. When I see things like that it makes me wonder what they are taking or smoking to make them think stuff is worth that much. Oh well I guess we will never know unless we get some of what they are taking or smoking and then at that I don't think I would want to try any of it.....LOL