Ebay Sale Listed As #65, Rare Color. What Is It Really?

This one has me curious, sold for $45. Please fill me in, what is it really?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/22172836784...RK:MEBIDX:IT

Probably he means the cancel color is rare , or let's say brown not the usual black or red, probably the ink change color with time.

This seller has other listings with "rare colors". What I really mean to ask is why so many different bidders and such a high price for this stamp? It must be something other than a typical 65.

Nothing special about this stamp at all. I would call it a space filler of an inexpensive stamp. Value? None, as far as I am concerned.

Don't know how but this is one of those sellers that gets ridiculous prices for their stamps. Looking at the bid history of the various bidders makes a person wonder...

Thanks Winston, I hadn't thought to check the bidders history on this one. Yet another seller to avoid. If only I could block sellers listings as easily as they can block bidders.

Ray

I've had some good buys from this seller (mostly Scott 24's). You just have to watch out for hype--pretty clear that he/she isn't a philatelic expert.

The color is due to sulphuretting. Notice how it is inconsistent across the stamp. It will clean up with hydrogen peroxide but will be at least somewhat noticeably faded. Once cleaned it could still be a deep and desirable shade.

I agree with dudley about the seller. They probably didn't recognize it as sulphuretting. If they truly knew it was a rare "color", then they would have named the particular "shade." Always be wary of hype.

I've picked up some decent items from her, as well as some seconds for non-philatelic use. I watched this one, having noticed the sulphureting. Its closing bid falls directly in the "What the...?" category of ebay sales. Not a "rare color" of course. No plate flaw of double transfer that I saw. Even if given a peroxide treatment, I think it would be a plain old ordinary rose. Definitely a situation where I miss the old days, because I would be interested in hearing from the high bidder whether they saw something I did not (laid paper?). Most likely, this is just a case of an inexperienced seller combining with an inexperienced buyer.

sinclair2010 & raymodj - I haven't see anything even close to shilling with her lots. Not all stamps that draw "stupid money" indicate something amiss. In this case, the winning bid and 2nd under-bid are almost certainly from snipe-bots, and the immediate under-bidder was within 90 minutes of close. Ten separate bidders on this one.

Example - I just sold a re-blued Spencer rifle. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to keep it or not since it has matching early-mfg serial numbers, so I stuck a price on it at about triple the high-retail on it. I figured it would draw attention to my table, but little else. Second lookie-lou pulled out a roll of hundreds... SOLD!

If someone has interest in this type of low-end material, I would give her a solid recommendation.

The seller has some good bids on poor condition stamps. I should send stuff to them to sell for me.

I was pretty careful not to accuse the seller of shill bidding. I just think there is enough questionable activity to be suspicious. Junk stamps selling for high prices with a ridiculous number of bids from bidders that have a high percentage of bids with that seller and also a high number of retractions are reason enough for me to think something is amiss. I don't pretend to know exactly what is going on. All I know is that 99.9999% of ebay sellers are not blessed with such a tremendous combination of bidder loyalty and stupidity.

FWIW, I have also bought from this seller and was happy with what I got for what I paid.

Once pointed out, Tthe bidder I questioned most is the one with 3044 feedback, 37% bids with this seller and 3 bid retraction with 33 in the last 6 months. Since members here have been satisfied with the seller, it might well be the bidders "style" and nothing to do with the seller. It does, however, remind me of the seller(s) who gets exorbitant prices for stacks of plate blocks with a combination of chutzpah, deceptive pictures, and imo, shill bidders.

I've also noticed the seller has limited knowledge, so maybe bidders with just enough knowledge to be dangerous feed off each other while knowledgeable collectors find good deals.

Ray