with Alex that DelCampe is worth a look.
Please note the following soapbox speech is assuming we are talking about lower priced stamps usually ($0.05 to $25.00).
I have bought and sold on
ebay for 5 years off and on in spurts. I like their site design, probably because I spend so much time on it now that I have learned to navigate around it and don't have to think about how do I do this? or where the heck is that part?
I have lurked at StampWants, bought a few things on DelCampe (and lurked) and look once in a while at other sites, Wensy, eCrater, Bonanzle, Stamps2Go, etc.
ebay's fees have been a complaint for sellers since I signed on. But I think that it's just business. If you want to advertise in a bigger market you have to pay more to do so.
StampWants is now trying to be more eBay-like, selling more than collectables. DelCampe (so far anyway) is a collectors site.
StampWants' and DelCampe's fees are less (pretty well free) to list and their final value fees (the percentage of the final price charged when you sell something) are less also. The lesser fees are a result of less non-stamps sales in part, but also less exposure to buyers, thus less advertsing dollars. This lessening of fees tends to draw more sellers (and collectors) who seem to sell stamps at a really cheap (reasonable) price. It's like going to the stamp club meeting and looking in the 10 cent book for the ordinary stamps. But that is with some sellers only.
Receiving payment as a seller is a big part of the fees for lesser priced items ($1-$25), from PayPal or Moneybookers or Google or VISA or similar commerce sites. That cost is there no matter what site you sell or buy from. Even if you accept or use checks (cheques) or money orders or cash, there is a cost involved (money or risk) to use them.
As a buyer:I like
eBay because I know it and (for me) it's easy to use. It's used mostly in North America and the UK (that I know of)(or was). Click, click, click and I have got that stamp. (slightly dangerous as we all know.) Each country site operates in it's own language so it is easy to use that way.
I like
StampWants (BidStart is the main site now) beacuse it is designed to act like and look like
ebay (if it works don't fix it), so it is easy to transfer to as a buyer (haven't sold there yet, but am looking). It used to be more for US concerns but now it seems more and more worldwide (English speaking I think). They make it easy to change over from
ebay and a lot of sellers I recognize from
ebay have appeared on StampWants, large and small. However, some do stay a while and then transfer some of their sales back to
ebay because the exposure or a different exposure(?) to buyers is there. Perhaps it is an idea to sell on
ebay and tell my
ebay buyers about my StampWants (or whichever) site when I sold them something.
I like
DelCampe because it's a whole other market that is missing on
ebay and StampWants. Originally based in France, there are lots of French sellers on there, and many other European countries are represented. many folks from French-speaking Quebec, more and more Canadian and USA sellers. Unlike
ebay, who seem to compartmentalize their sites (while saying the market is worldwide, but you have to click and ask for it to be that way) DelCampe can be worldwide in an easier way. They do have separate sites for each country but there is a delcampe(dot)net which has them all on it. You can go to dot com (USA) or dot ca (Canada) or dot fr (France) but choose the big International at top. It's seemingly easier to go worldwide than not to, which I like.
As a seller:I like
eBay because it's exposure to a Big, well known marketplace. It may be a bit difficult to have the worldwide market see you but it is there (Buyers, click the Worldwide in preferences! Scroll down, farther, keep going.)
. I suppose it depends on your own perception of risk when you deal with other people anywhere. I started out thinking that people in my own country would treat me better but I have found that it is the seller or buyer themselves, not their country or where in the world they may be, that makes the effort. Partly it could be me also, making an effort to get along. The people with better selling skills and friendship skills etc etc.
In order to sell or buy on
ebay you have to charge or pay more, whether shipping or stamp price, to cover the increased costs. If you don't mind this then it's all good. In order to get stamps at a reasonable price you have to buy a page of stamps and pick out the ones you like or want and then (somehow) get rid of the rest. (Throw them out, donate them to the Scouts (yay!) or to a charity, sell them at the stamp club, or online somewhere (right here!). Gee, that's a lot of work to get two stamps. Remember to post pictures for all us picture hungry collectors.
I like
StampWants and DelCampe because the fees are less so you can sell a single stamp for 7 cents or 50 cents or whatever and it seems (to a collector/buyer not wanting to be bothered with all of this behind the scenes costs stuff) that the stamps are priced more like the catalogs say they should be. You can get more bang for your buck while being picky and choosy.
Collecting is personal and so there are many types of buyers and sellers.
If I am looking for that special stamp it doesn't really matter where it is. What matters is that I find it and get it. (
eBay)
If I am looking for a reasonable price on reasonable stamps (and people are generally pretty reasonable) then I think that I would go to a place that is reasonable to deal with (not too hard to navigate) and where the costs (shipping) were reasonable (buy locally) and the stamps were reasonably priced usually. (for Canada and the US,
StampWants).
If I am looking for that special stamp and can't find it locally I would broaden my search (worldwide). I would still like to buy locally so I would look for a seller from my own region of the world (to keep shipping down hopefully) and that has a reasonable feedback (doesn't have to be perfect, I am not perfect). (
DelCampe)
It is strange that I go to a site based in France (Delcampe) to buy stamps from a seller in Canada (my own country). However, it is also strange that I go to a site in California (
ebay) to buy a stamp from a fellow down the street from me too! And pay more because it costs more for the seller to advertise his stamp for sale on
ebay.
For me in Nova Scotia, it's the same distance to California as to Europe. It takes about the same amount of time to arrive from there too. Shipping costs are usually more from worldwide, but that depends on the seller also.
One note on numbers of items for sale, on
ebay the Stores are rather hidden away from general sight. On StampWants and DelCampe (as far as I can figure out so far) the stores (leave your items listed there for a longer period than a week or month) are cheaper or free and the results returned from a search or browse of categories Do include stores results, unlike
ebay usually. So the numbers of items shown for sale can be a bit misleading at times. The numbers don't mean that all the items are good either. There are a lot of so so stamps on Delcampe and StampWants.
ebay has some but they don't stay long, filtered out by the higher costs of keeping them there.
Costs involved:The Lucky Buyers:You have all the fun! You get to pay for it all. Any fee or extra bit (coffee, ice cream, donuts, extra seat cushions, time, effort, knowledge) cost involved in selling stamps and making a profit (do people really do that?) or just breaking even or really trying not to loose too much while having fun, the lucky buyer gets to pay for it all. Aren't you lucky? (Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer painting the fence character's psychology at work here.)
Well, sometimes you do get a seller with the all too rare altruistic view that, for a fellow collector, he will gladly donate his time and donuts, er, knowledge. Gee, that's here on Stamp Community.
The Seller:Costs? What costs? There are costs? The lucky buyer gets to pay the costs, I don't! Where do you get this costs idea? They have all the fun. Darn lucky buyers. Excuse me, I must go buy more myself now. Darn lucky buyers. Mutter, mutter.
Marketing. Perception of value. Perception of risk involved. Perception of the donuts down in the coffee shop calling to you. Or the stamps half a continent away!
Posted 03/04/2008 4:49 pm
