How Stamp Value Is Affected By Fault

Hi.

I am still trying to learn... Since I don't have any stamp club and fellow philatelists to talk to face to face, then I have to rely on the forums (which are a great help!).

I am now inquiring on how fault(s) will affect the value of a stamps. I would like to have your input. I know that this is not an exact science because this has much to do with the feeling of the (buyer) person, but I will put you in situation and ask you how would you react to this:

Let's say that there is a stamp you are tempted to buy. The stamp is well centered and has no fault. Let's say that a fair price would be 100$. Now, let's put aside the "I would not buy it because of fault(s)" and tell me what would you consider a fair "rebate" on the same stamp if it had faults. Let's say the following faults:

• Very minor fault (like perf bend, ...)


• Minor fault (like small pinhole, ...)


• Fault (like small tear, small thin, ...)


• Major fault (like larger tear, larger thin...)

I guess combination of fault would result on still bigger "rebate". I saw from the PSE "guide to grading and expertizing US stamps" (http://www.psestamp.com/intro.chtml) that they consider "two or three" of a fault become a fault of the next level. So 3 fault is treated as one major fault. Some will say that it is to "standardized" but I like the idea because it is strait forward.

I am anxious to read about your thought!

Thanks.

How much does the damage on a stamp affect value?
Well, it depends of the stamp

A stamp of high value (e.g.$300 and more) may have some damage and still has some value, even little.
But in a common stamp, of little value, damage takes its price to zero

You might use examples from here: https://goscf.com/t/26201

I would say there are too many variables and would be almost impossible to assign a strict % to. For example: A $100 that may have a hidden fault, might still be worth top $ if it has, say, a highly desirable cancel. Also might depend on the population of fault-free stamps in existence. If the normal condition you might find a certain stamp in is faulty, then a fault-free example might actually command a premium price. On the otherhand, if there are millions of fault-free examples around, and very few collectors want them, the a faulty copy is basically worthless.


I'm probably muddying the water a bit here. I just don't think it an absolute % of value can be given on things. It all comes down to supply/demand/eye appeal/location, etc...

I generally categorize most stamps into two categories (there are exceptions): Not Faulty, or Faulty. I do not buy faulty stamps. Of course in some cases it means I may never own a copy of that stamp.

I would happily purchase a faulty used stamp from Sirmoor, should an affordable one present itself.

Haha! I knew you had some. The bait worked.

Thanks all for your insight. I know that it is impossible to get a % that could be applied to all cases. I just wanted to have an idea of how to calculate fair prices... I guess that there is no substitute for experience then... but that is called "Learn the hard way".

Thanks again to all that contributed.

For a minor fault like a pulled perf or a rounded corner, I would gladly pay 10% for that $100 stamp if I didn't have one already. I bet you'd find takers at 20%.

Personally, I don't care about pulled perfs or rounded corners provided I am putting the stamp in an album to look at it now and then. I'd prefer not to have these faults, but I can't get too worked up something that doesn't obscure the image (which is what I consider the source of the aesthetics anyway). If I want to resell the stamp, I care and won't tolerate faults.

Oh, and I wouldn't intentionally purchase any stamp with a tear or thin no matter how small the fault.

regardless of what you might think of the prices being paid for highly-graded stamps, one of the goals of the PSE with their grading was to try to establish "comparables" between nice looking stamps with faults and not so nice looking stamps.

If you look at their grading standards, you'll see that it starts with a grade for condition, then subtracts from that based on the fault. The difference in the numbers and therefore the value can be determined from their Stamp Market Quarterly (SMQ).

For example, a used Scott 161 - the 10c banknote in grade 80, has a SMQ value of $35. A fault that knocks 10 points off of this (a minor fault) produces a stamp worth $15.

See page 18 of their grading guide (and the pages before) for how a fault impacts the grade, and the SMQ for how the grade impacts the value.

www.psestamp.com

I usually don't buy flawed stamps, no matter how small the flaw but as someone said above, value sometimes comes into play. For example, I purchased a New Zealand SG #6 which looked good on the front (nice margins, light cancel) but had some acceptable thins; SG catalogue value 3,750 pounds (2011); my price less than $400. Was it a good deal? Who knows! Probably won't get my money back but the page with all three values of this set looks nice.

I'm with NBSTAMPER on this. I can't remember what I paid for this block of Bhopal inverted surcharges:



There's only one stamp in the block free of surface scuffing, but who cares? It's still a spectacular block, with all its faults.

NBSTAMPER...If I had a chance to buy (at a reasonable price) lets say a Canada Scott #1,.... Even if it had a minor flaw in it...I would..