Catalog Value - A Conversation About Stamps And Money

At present I use the catalogs only as a point of reference for what stamp I have and its relative value. If the catalog has a higher value It is a more rare stamp. Some questions I have is what information are they providing? Is the price the highest value of sale/auction for that particular grade of stamp or do they just give you the median price? Where do they get their sale information and how much do they collect. Seems to me at least on the low end stamps the value is geared more to the brick and mortar seller price. Would this hold true for the higher priced stamps?

I suspect there are whole categories of stamps (and possibly whole countries) that Scott's editors haven't looked at in years. And maybe decades.

There is no way they are analyzing the market for Uruguayan late fee stamps (in my opinion...I claim no inside knowledge).

My 2d.

"If the catalog has a higher value It is a more rare stamp".

Not automatically true. It very much depends on the type of stamp. It might simply be a more popular stamp. There are plenty of low catalog stamps in some collecting areas that are much tougher to find sound than some of their high catalog brethren in others. RS35c catalogs $11; I guarantee it will take a LOT longer to find five sound four margin examples(one might take months) then it will to find 20 sets VFNH C13-C15. A lot less money when/if you do find them, but you will certainly look many months longer.

Cjd,

My guess would be that they would scan the local, online, major auction websites, make a list of whats selling and update accordingly.

Hence why China is a huge market and why the new "up and comers" that I've heard are India, Brazil and a few others. I would assume that the changes will be marked accordingly.

For less popular countries, such as Turkey (which I primarily collect), there is less of a chance for an update.

They also ask noted professional experts about their specific areas.

"Seems to me at least on the low end stamps the value is geared more to the brick and mortar seller price"

This would be the correct way to use the Scott's catalogue. It is created entirely for marking of prices for stamps for the sellers. I would say the 0.20 that scott lists for numerous stamps would be a common price, if not discounted, at normal stores.

revcollector,

Actually that would be an interesting insight. How would the experts assume that their field is up an coming? I would also assume that they would monitor the same info Scott would? How can say an expert for Uruguay (assuming) say his field is up and coming while an expert, for say, Uzbekistan would say no its stable or in decline?

Quote:

revcollector,

Actually that would be an interesting insight. How would the experts assume that their field is up an coming? I would also assume that they would monitor the same info Scott would? How can say an expert for Uruguay (assuming) say his field is up and coming while an expert, for say, Uzbekistan would say no its stable or in decline?



Simples.

Look at the countries who are emerging from the third world, (India, Brazil, China as examples). Buy their stamps now to sell in five years' time. Buy big, buy well, make a killing.

Uzbekistan will be some time behind these three.

Or there may be insufficient field data for the Scott editors to update the listings. I encounter this all the time with revenue bisects and double impressions (and plate varieties). Some of the prices have not been adjusted in decades... literally.

One of the problems is low populations, so the pieces come to market very rarely.

Another is pricing tiers. Stamps that catalog in the many hundreds or thousands of dollars usually are lotted as single stamps, which makes obtaining pricing data easy, whereas stamps that catalog in the $50-250 range usually are not; they are lotted in groups, which makes extrapolating values of specific stamps virtually impossible. So, since data is never passed on to Scott editors, the stamps never make it out of that $50-250 "tier" into a value range where lotting as singles is more likely.

The stamp effectively needs to "gain momentum", i.e., get past the point of group lotting, to the point where it can be identified on its own, at which point it may gain traction and acceleration as far as catalog value increases.

Also, as Bart says, there are popular stamps and there are rare stamps, and the latter does not necessarily translate into high value. You can't go to a single stamp show or auction without seeing MULTIPLE sets of zeps, Columbians, U.S. #1, #2. None of those are rare (or even scarce). They just are in high demand. Conversely, I have items in my collection with populations in the single digits but only catalog $100-300. The collector base is very narrow, so demand doesn't drive catalog value up.

Catalog pricing is a fickle thing, and does not necessarily reflect actual value. There are certain items on my want list that, when I do find them, are priced at multiples of Scott. Upon inquiry, the sellers just laugh at Scott as being completely out of touch. Normally I would just ascribe that reaction to normal dealer B.S., but for some items it's absolutely true...

In light of so may things that have happened with thought in mind, would it be fair to say that if everyone took this advice and done just this it would have the opposite result? Hoarding the "recalled" or "out of circulation" bits like people do with coins? I don't know but the 70's and early 80's seems to be a good example of what I'm referring to.

I'm not suggesting that you can buy anything and get a return, the key to my comment was 'buy well'. Get the better stamps in fine condition and you'll always find a market when you want to sell.