Better Prices On US Classics At European Auctions?

I collect US classics and have recently been buying a lot from European auction houses - mainly things I find of Philasearch.com

I have dealt mainly with German auctioneers.

Though I have only been collecting US for the past 2 years it seems to me that some of the prices realized at these European auctioneers are better than their competitors in the USA.

Here is an example of some lots that sold recently from Veuskens last week:

http://veuskens.eisert.cc/en/dosear...ureview=list

With the US / EUR exchange rate at $1.13 it could be advantageous to look overseas for US stamps.

Couldn't connect on the link just now (site maintenance) but did you mean "better prices" for the buyer or the seller?

If the "Price (no guarantee)" figures reported for lots under the Auction Results tab are accurate, then the prices appear considerably lower for equal quality material sold in US auctions. Thus much better for buyers, much worse for sellers.

I collect U.S MNH and the price I pay here in Canada is much lower than in the States. The reason is that there is way fewer U.S collectors here and much less competition for the high quality stamps that I want. For someone paying in U.S $ with the dollar worth $1.25 CDN you are getting a discount on a discount! The downside is the are no dealers here that specialize in U.S stamps, so you really have to be patient.

I meant better prices for the buyer. There is a good amount of US material and collections that pass though the European auctions, probably much more than in Canada.

I pay in Euros using a service called Transferwise that lets you send wire transfers in any currency from a US bank account. The fee they charge is only a few bucks and saves a huge amount over sending a conventional wire transfer from your bank branch.

You also save on sales tax or VAT if you are outside of the EU.

Ashuber, you are correct, much more U.S material goes to European auction houses. My point is that 95% of serious Canadian collectors are BNA collectors. Therefore the 6 or 7 lots of U.S material at all auctions aren't being bid on. Foe example at Maresch Auctions here in Toronto I paid $365.00 for 7 complete Lindner binders with the pages and all the stamps that go on said pages along with 375.00 of face. That's $292. U.S incl. buyers premium and tax. You just can't beat it.

Thanks Stuart for your tip about Canadian auctions. I will definitely check more of those out in the future.

The Pound Sterling is plummeting today with the Brexit vote, so anything from British sellers will be much cheaper as a result (for those living outside Britain, of course).

just don't forget to take shipping into account

So far all auctions from the EU that I have participated in have charged very reasonable shipping rates between 7.50 - 10 EUR for registered airmail.

ashuber - sounds reasonable - I take it you were buying individual stamps and not collections

In my experience, UK auction houses tend to post on a next day, signed-for basis. Tracked and signed for 2 kilos to the US would be around £22. Heavier than that would probably be by courier, not Royal Mail. So not a killer if the lot were of reasonable value.