Calculating The Cost Of Certification?

(Not counting chicks before the eggs hatch,
figuring out if I can afford to have chickens.)

If something is represented in the catalogue as unique,R, - or nothing mentioned at all..
How do you figure out a rough idea on how much it would cost in the end to certify?
I know, it's a percentage paid to the person's giving the opinions
just can't figure out how the costs/amounts are calculated


Can someone help me understand,
Is there a formula?

If something is represented in the catalogue as "unique, R or nothing mentioned at all", we probably don't have it.

The formula is "discretionary"

https://rpsl.limited/Experts/Pricing-Payment

Unique or rare does not necessarily equate to monetarily valuable. I have quite a few things which are known to be unique, yet are worth a few hundred dollars at best. Thus I don't get any sense from your post what the value level might be, which is where the certification cost will come from.

Bottom line ... please show us what you are considering sending for certification. I will help turn a guessing game into something more concrete.

It's non specific,
I'm just curious how it all works.
As you explained there's various degrees of this
and I'm wondering how it's all calculated?

If things are unique or rare how do they make a value and charge?

See the guidance I linked to above. Or email some of the organisations.

I don't have anything worth bothering about
was just curious how the calculated value is generated to pay the percentage
Can't say I'd feel very comfortable trying to send something not knowing
what potential costs could be..minimum is outline and most likely the outcome but….what if?
I get why a note seems more appropriate unless you could potentially afford a kings ransom

Justfella - The information is clearly spelled out in each expertizing organization's submissions forms. No mystery to any of it. There is no master formula.

There has to be factors that are calculated in order to establish a amount to charge a percentage
When something is unlisted, unique or represented by a R value?

So, what I take away from your question although not quite stated clearly is how do you calculate the certification cost for an item where the catalog value is not stated -is that correct? If so, this usually would involve a negotiation between you and the expertizer/certification company since most expertizers have a set fee up to certain amounts and then a percentage of catalog value over that amount. These terms for catalogued stamps with values are clearly stated on the expertizers website or application form. For those items without a stated catalogue value I strongly encourage you to reach agreement with the expertizer as to how a value is to be determined: used vs unused; sound vs not sound; projected market value, etc and to reach this agreement before submitting the stamp. Otherwise you might run into a situation I came across years ago with one of the three major expertizing organizations. It involved an 1875 reprint, with the only value listed in unused condition. But this was being submitted as a used copy, possibly unique at the time. I listed the value for unused as the only value listed for the stamp. I then get a call from the expertizer telling me that they were ready to issue the certificate but wanted to charge me the maximal fee for any stamp that they were expertizing, which at the time was $600. My interpretation of that was that they were prepared to issue a certificate indicating "genuine, used" for possibly a unique item and on that basis charging the maximal fee. I thought that was a reasonable trade and responded that I would be perfectly willing to pay their maximal fee if the wording of the certificate, as noted above, comported with an opinion for which a maximal fee charge would be expected. Naturally, if the item was not genuine, genuine although defective, wherein the true value would be significantly downgraded, it would be anticipated that the fee would be lowered accordingly. This information, they refused to release and so I asked them to return the stamp, chalked the entire episode up to a complete waste of time and never used them again.

Expertizers certainly know, in general, the financial impact that a clean certificate of a rare stamp, a grade of 95 or higher, or contrarily mention of a minor defect on an otherwise rare and expensive will have on resale value.

If an item is unlisted, unique or so rare that there are no price records, or it is not listed in any catalogs it may be hard for an expertizing body to certify it in the first place.

How many times does this happen? You can ask them but I am guessing very rarely to never.

All of the bodies have maximum fees. In the case of the PF it is $1000.

What is the point of this exercise? It feels a bit like snipe hunting.

I was just curious,
wasn't clear to me how it worked

Funcitypapa,
Thanks for understanding!

Rodgcam,
Thanks for mentioning the $ cap

From a devil's advocate perspective I'm guessing unknown submissions are not that rare. EFO's like imperf-between or color shifts appear regularly enough, (at least on the more modern issues) many of which have never been seen before. If sent in for a cert and under these circumstances, how do they place a value on them? By comparing to previously submitted EFO's and ball-parking a value?

Doc - I agree with you but the original question was about something already in a catalog.

Anything not having a set price and how it's calculated is welcome
A lot of postmarks I see get represented by R values
How does that translate into a certificate cost?

Call the Philatelic Foundation and ask them.

Doesn't seem my curiosity extends that far….I think I get the idea
geoffha wrote its discretionary,
Rodgcam mentioned a cap on charges,
funcitypapa mentioned it's best to establish things first, to try and avoid any issues

I have yet to try getting anything certified. But I'm starting to be curious
some things have me shy away (cost and care) the what if's…
If I got a big bill I'd be upset, 35$ is ok but more then 100$ I'm out
Or if something happened to something sent in..even something cheap