Mexico - How Much Is Too Much To Pay?

Ryan's explanation shows why you should enter the maximum you would like to pay, and then see what happens. Whether you put that bid in with days or seconds to go is just a strategy.

If you put in your best bid, and still lose by $1, keep in mind that the winner may have bid only $1 more than you, but it is also possible that the winner may have bid $50 more than you, and the system only needed to bid up the extra $1 to create a winner.

If you put in a wild maximum bid 'just to make sure' and one other bidder does the same thing, then one of you is going to seriously overpay.

RYAN -----Many auction houses will put in a fake bid just to get your bid up to the maxmium if you enter a pre-auction bid with them .Thats why years ago I always was getting the lots at my maxmium bid.It happen too often to be unplanned .Now I bid thru a agent or attend the auction myself .I have even seen firms bid against phone bidders for a tick or two but thats harder to prove,but getting your high bid 8 out of 10 ten times cures any more placeing bids with the auction firm .

To: CJD - re: Ryan's explanation shows why you should enter the maximum you would like to pay, and then see what happens. Whether you put that bid in with days or seconds to go is just a strategy.


I can see this would be OK through a trustworthy, well-run auction such as ebay, which simply advances your bid the standard amount over the underbid.
BUT - if there are auctions that, as other people say, simply grab your max. bid as THE price, I don't think it's a smart strategy. You may max. bid $500 and if the underbid is just $100, you are still stuck paying $500 (as opposed to ebay, where it might be $110 or so).

And - as interesting as this all is - it still gets away from my initial query, which basically centers on whether many Mexican stamps - or at least the late 1800s, early 1900s that I am interested in - generally sell for about 50 to 80 percent of the catalogue value, which is what I am finding through ebay, Bidstart, Stamps to Go and private sellers.

Sorry for the thread drift...avocational hazard.

As it is outside my main interest, I only look for the Mexico that interests me. I often have to pay 40-50% of catalogue when looking for specific items, and if you are buying from established dealers, in my experience you are lucky to only pay 50% of catalogue.

If there is no rush, and you troll lots of places, 25% might be possible.

I am not opposed to paying 50% of CV, but I try to hold out for really nice examples.

Thanks, Cjd and all others .. .I appreciate it .. I don't mind the topic drift as long as it returns eventually.

Allow me to put it this way; a good scarce stamp or cover will always sell at competitive market price. Sometimes at public auctions we are lucky to get a stamp at a price lower than we are willing to pay. Lucky because the collectors who are looking for that same stamp were not there to compete with you. It only takes two "crazy" bidders to escalate the final price. I use auction agents to bid for me in order to eliminate my emotional involvement in attending the auction. But, I am telling you it really hurts when I failed to get certain stamp or cover I really wanted because the floor bidder bought it at one increment higher than my max to the agent. Mexico is one of my passion and there are great rarities of this coutry obtainable at reasonable prices. There was a Mexico #324a on cover a year ago in a specialized auction of Mexico. As usual, I used an agent to bid for me. And, at the time that I was buying my current house and the escrow was about to close. I really could not afford it and yet I wanted to try my luck. It was sold one increment higher than my bid at $10,000. It hurts because I will never see it again, probably not in my life time.

A man goes into his corner shop and asks for a box of his favourite cereal.
"Certainly Sir. That will be £3."
"£3? In the supermarket they only charge £2!"
"So why don't you buy it there?"
"I tried. But as it happens they don't have any left."
"Well Sir, when I don't have any left I only charge £1.50"

I can't speak about Mexico specifically. For my speciality areas I know which ones turn up regularly, and which ones don't. So if Mexico is your speciality you will have a good idea how often they are available. If not often, take them at a price which may be well above the received wisdom of what % of cat it should be.

But if you are just starting Mexico, or want some more examples of Mexico for a wider collection, I would wait a bit longer - the supermarket might restock.

WOW! How enlightening. I don't understand how anyone could possibly purchase postage stamps at 10% of catalog. It seems to me the cost of the Certificate of Authenticity would be more than that. Or am I missing something?

There are no rules in this hobby. Stamps can go from 1% - 140% of catalog value. Value of any certain Stamp is decided by numerous things like condition, demand, Age, Gum, Eye appeal, Country etc.

The 10% are not really going to be items that warrant the cost of certification unless of course you get luckyin a mixed lot or collection.
I don't think there are any really early issues in my Mexico duplicates but I will be scanning and listing what I have on here very soon. May be a hidden gem as I havn't gone through this collections for values just list duplicates and let you all decide .
As mentioned many times, don't get caught in percentages just pay what you feel is fair on any given day . I know I've overpaid a few times to fill in a set or gap or just because I wanted it.

I joined the Mexico Elmhurst Philatelic Society last year, since I'm slowly developing an interest in Mexico issues prior to the late 1960s. A MEPSI member named Nicholas Follansbee runs an annual auction and also publishes his own catalog of Mexican values, that includes a lot more info than Scott standard prices & information. There's also the APS Stamp Store.

In general, I agree with other posters in that I occasionally pay more than the usual 30-60% of catalog if it's an item that doesn't come on market often (no, I don't follow more than a handful of auction houses). Or if it's an item of which few were printed, but it's under-cataloged in price by Scott (meaning it's not from a "hot" country). I encounter the "lack of hotness" pretty regularly in some of the specific Portuguese colonies (e.g. Macao has been "hot," Mozambique not).

I don't understand the paying percentage theory. There are several decent ways to find the stamps you are looking for. If the prices on all the venues are higher than you are comfortable with then wait. The market changes and new stamps are added on a regular basis.