Dealer Pricing On Modern US

I have been buying US stamps via want list from a Linn's advertiser. My problem seems to be his pricing seems ok on the less expensive stuff. On the items that catalog $10 or more, he just seems unrealistic.

Examples: Scott #2544A is priced at $ 29.00. #2543 $9.00. Both are available on ebay for much less- the 2544A for well under $20.

I understand I am paying a bit extra for convenience but I am starting to think perhaps I would be better off buying as I was- a combination of Bardo Stamps and higher priced moderns individually on ebay. Any thoughts?

Wow. Those are real high.

Different possibilities maybe.

The dealer could be using older US grading to judge his pricing by, see the front pages of a Scott catalog.

He is financing Christmas. Probably not.

He is using mint prices instead of used (if you collect used that is).

Others maybe also . . .


You could also try US based sellers on www.delcampe.com or .net for worldwide sellers. They have a selling singles idea also, as well as Prestige stores and other stores.

The site is based in Europe so seems a tad ddifferent but just watch for sellers using PayPal perhaps.

I buy from www.ebay.com/b/260/" rel="nofollow">ebay or Delcampe usually, not minding buying worldwide at all. Neat envelopes and cancels and stamps. Some sellers don't know what they have so know your stuff.

Price is not the only factor, of course; there's timeliness of service, ease of dealing, and quality of material, among others. ebay is a wild frontier on many of these. Personally, I'm happy to pay a premium to a dealer to have confidence in the other factors. I use all channels depending on the item and my price sensitivity - retail stores, auctions, dealers by mail, dealers at shows, ebay, online clubs, local clubs.

They all have their pros and cons, but for me, having a personal, trusted relationship with a dealer is much more important than price. As an example, recently at a show I paid north of $200 for a MNH US issue with certificate. When I got home, I realized the certificate was for the correct issue, but the wrong stamp; the margins and perfs were different in the image on the cert compared to the actual stamp. I mailed it back to the dealer and he promptly sent me a $25 check as a credit. Try that on ebay.

When I first joined the APS, I went to the stamp store and found lots of esoteric stuff from my collecting area that nobody was interested in but to me were one of the kind items and I was willing to pay a premium. Now I go back and no new fun esoteric stuff is appearing and the prices really are not that reasonable.

I've been selling off my mint USA to my friends in my club for 60% of Scotts which I think is really reasonable. Some say I'm too low, some say I'm too high, but I feel like Goldilocks - seems just right to me!

60% can be good or bad....
Quality is everything....
It works both ways...

Scott #2544A is priced at $ 29.00. #2543 $9.00 - that is unrealistic.

philatelia7

The auction house (real, not ebay) that I use typically estimates its large lots of decimal GB at around 50% of face - of couse, collector interest in particular material might push the price higher. US can be obtained here at a lower rate, but then, we can't use it on letters! I'd probably hang on to the stuff for postal use, rather than take a 40% hit.

Regards.

Geoff

The Stamp and Coin Shop closest to me buys Mint at 20% face value and sells at 60% Face Value.

I think you might have misread my comment - I sell for 60% of Scott's Catalog value, not 60% of face. Most of my collection was plate number singles, booklets and full panes - not junk. I decided to sell most of my mint collections and downsize. I moved from Michigan to Florida and I don't want to keep all this mint in the tropics! I prefer used anyways - every used stamp is unique!

1962:

You should check out Murphy -- I've mentioned him before. I had a very positive experience with him when completing my Modern USA collection. Since I shared his contact info, I think others have also had positive experiences.

See this thread for contact details:
https://goscf.com/t/38956

Kirk

Thanks for all replies. I don't mind paying a bit extra for timeliness and service. These prices are above the threshold I have on this. It may be time to make up an excuse and find another source. He also does approvals and his whole stock may be a bit higher priced to compensate for losses there. He has a good stock but then so do a lot of others, many more reasonable than this guy. Will mull this over and then decide..

Kirk- I checked out Murphy's web site. It refers to browsing other pages on the site but I can just pull up the home page. Do you have a link for his price list?

No -- as I mentioned in the other post -- his website is VERY archaic. If you look closely at the BOTTOM of the page, there are TABS at the very bottom with Scott # Ranges. It's like an Excel Spreadsheet that has been converted to a webpage ?

http://www.murphs-stamps.com/

Kirk

OK, found the tabs, boy they are hard to see. Am very impressed with this guy's prices, low overhead apparently, or something. Anyway I think I may get in touch with him, but by now maybe after the Holidays, thanks!

I don't know if it's the case with this dealer, but I've noticed that some dealers have high list prices but then offer some fairly decent discounts once you go over a certain dollar amount. Knowing that they'll be discounting most orders, they keep their standard prices artificially high. Personally I would prefer that a fair price be put forward and have that be the end of it, but I understand why dealers might do it that way.