Buying Zepps At The Boston Expo

"Z" man --It is a modern reproduction ,from China . The details are not as clear as the originals . But better and enough to fool buyers .Those blocks cost me about $30.00 as you see them , no gum on the backs .

These are the Zepps I purchased on Day 1 of the Boston 2026 Show. I tried to get the back as well but it is a little light. The noted price was $975, I made an initial offer of $725, settled on a final of $780. The gum is in good condition, I believe centering is good+ as the margins are 'almost even, & there appears to be a very light hinge remnant (picture exaggerates actual condition). I am satisfied with this set & price, (& that's all that counts).

That is expensive but at least you are happy (the dealer certainly is).

This lightly hinged set recently sold at Keller for $450 plus commission and that is right in the correct range.

The annual value of the Zepps shown in the list previously is very revealing ot the ups of the set during the unfortunate "stamp investment" boom of the early 1980s that has been followed by declining prices ever since, but . . . .

I assume these prices have no adjustment for inflation? Or do they? If there is no adjustment, prices can be very misleading. A set of Zepps which sold for $5,000 in 1977 money would be closer to $27,000 in today's inflation-adjusted dollars! Needless to say, they don't cost that much today.

This happens all the time with people unwary of what inflation actually does over time. Lately gas prices, home prices, and so on are often described as so much less expensive "back then" which is true, but not as true as people sometimes claim. For one thing, salaries were similarly much lower back then, too. People somehow manage to always ignore this. Fresh out of college in 1970 I bought a 1971 sports car for "only" $3500. Pretty amazing, right? But that would be $28,000 in today's money. Still pretty cheap but not as dirt cheap as people sometimes claim.

If those Zepp prices aren'tadjusted for inflation, which older prices usually aren't, they can be very misleading.

Here's one: In 1892, the annual income of the average U.S. working family was between $500-1000, so weekly salaries were between $10-20. That year, the entire Columbian stamp set would have cost you over $16, an entire week's wages and an enormous amount of money for most people. That's a fair comparison because it compares actual salaries in 1892 to the prices of stamps in 1892.

Now try this different approach: If I say the price for the Columbians was not only enormous, it was 100x times the value of all U.S. stamps for sale back in 1847, that comparison a very unfair. As outrageous as prices of the Columbians were, incomes were much lower in 1847, and there were only two U.S. stamps for sale in 1847 -- the very first two U.S. stamps, one 5c, the other 10c.

Statistics, even accurate statistics, can and are regularly used to exaggerate and mislead.

I got my set of unused Zepps with hinge marks in 2016 for about $700.

That's a 20% commission, sales tax of some not insignificant amount and shipping which is a noticeable 2 digit number now. Not to mention at least one auction increment higher to beat $450.

Also that set does not come with the story of how I bought it a the Boston Stamp Expo 2026.

Overall, the showing and pricing of your set was no actually helpful to eligies the buyer. But that is okay, we all know you are the best financial wiz collector on the board.

None what so ever in that table. Oops

For me, I have an excellent used set that gets better by the day. I purchased it with mint, face value postage even paying the sales tax with face postage. The postage value dropped far, far more than the value of the three stamps in the same time period.

One must remember, if you were lucky enough to pick up the Columbians, Trans-Mississippians, or Zeppelins from the PO at face, you would be dead now.

The answer is yes, they are adjusted for inflation.

Oops, I am used to seeing such things not adjusted for inflation. Here when I went back and looked, seeing the "sets selling at face value in 1932" listed north of $300 I saw my error.

Error or not, if you bought them at face from the USPOD then, you are likely still dead now inflation or not.

elegies, congratulations on adding the Zepps to your collection. That will be a nice remembrance of your trip.