Insane Prices For Common Stamps

The US 938 had seven or so bidders, and the seller started the auction at 1 cent. The perfs are not much better than the 947, either.

This one is all on the higher bidders. The seller gave it a fair shake. (My 2d.)

I don't 'get' it, though.

I have nothing against the seller. He did start them all at one cent.
It just blows my mind.

But as others have said, it's the uneducated buyers dilemma.

i have made a couple of hundred dollar mistakes,,and was old enough to know better...just got emotional and did not think it through !!

Well centered US material is on the rise at the moment. Not necessarily graded, but all material I've been watching lately. I just lost a bid on a US Scott #556, I'm trying to complete the "Portrait" series and the 4¢ Martha Washington is one of the few left that I need. MNH examples catalog at $42.00 in my 2009 Specialized, so I threw a bid of $25 at this one figuring I'd bag it easily for less.......wrong.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-stamp-55...047675.l2557

You can see I fell a bit short. This is not a graded or slabbed piece either, just an exceptional example and this is the market trend for well balanced pieces.

I just bought a Romanian Essay
when paying the bill, I notice it's a forgery
The vendor had FORGERY in capitals, and I just missed it alltogether.
It boggles the mind how these things happen.

I hark back to my school days when the teachers at examination
would repeat ad nauseum, "read the questions through twice!"
in case you misunderstand and answer incorrectly.

There is a sucker born every minute. If people's egos demand throwing away money on this junk, more power to them.

I would bet the house that this is a comic collector who decided to dabble in stamps that bought this.

There is a positively insane movement with comics regarding CGC Graded 100 (or even just 'top graded') issues going for extreme multiples of top retail value. There are services that will guarantee a 98-100 graded copy of BRAND NEW ISSUES... of course, charging like $60 for the $3.99 comic. Sadly, there is a huge market for this. Why, I'll never know.

Somebody from that world probably saw a stamp rated 100, figured it was like CGC and surmised 'wow, there can't be many of those - great deal' and jumped in with both feet.

It doesn't make any sense in comic books, and it sure as heck doesn't in stamps. I suspect the only reason there aren't a gazillion 3 centers with 100 ratings is the fact nobody is going to bother submitting one for grading due to it's lack of any value over face for all intensive purposes.

What does it cost to have PSE grade a stamp?

David

It's usually calculated on a scale based the SCV of the stamp. It can cost as little as $10 for a "modern" stamp, but you must have at least 10 stamps to be graded to get that price. Otherwise, the cost goes up. The detail is provided on their website at the following link:

http://www.psestamp.com/

I note a lot of supply items like albums etc are way overpriced, even for new stuff. I see Scott and White Ace albums listed several dollars above full retail- which no one pays anyway if they know the market- and amazingly someone often pays the price. Is it convenience or what? I just think it's insane for someone to pay over $50 for a set of album pages plus shipping when you can buy them at Subway for half that.

Subway cuts out the middle man on a lot of their products since they manufacture them.

I like Subway's G&K Line.. I was starting my 'Steiner' WW collection in G&K green binders and slipcases (same as the Scott National style), but in the spirit of the International, I think, once my posters sell, I will get blue versions to differentiate the WW from the US (that, and after getting updates for my National for 2010-2012, reg supplement and small panes for the ones with interesting headers, I think I'll be needing those green ones for my US album, pt 7 and 8 pretty soon!).

The nice thing about Subway is that it is a 45 min drive for me.

Rich people think at a higher dollar level. $20.00 to us may be like $400.00 to them. Add ignorance to this equation, and these buyers create these kinds of sellers all over. But I just can't stand seeing sellers that are in business to scam. I see too many of these.


-IBFS