Why Do Sellers Write On Album Pages?

I have seen this on quite a lot of auctions and sometimes I just don't get it. I am guessing that these are cat values being written in hopes of enticing higher bids. Not every seller does this but enough have done it to draw attention to it.

What makes it worse is that I have seen this done to some rather nice vintage albums which, to me anyway, detracts from the value of the album as a whole. What would have been a nice piece of philatelic history, even if not very rare, is defaced by these values, usually written in ink (I've even seen colored inks used), which are now a permanent part of the album.

Maybe it is just me but I have put off biding on some items after seeing all of the added writing directly on the pages. Why not just use little post-it notes thus preserving the "natural" state of the album?

Dealers and auction houses often do this when cataloging a collection. It's been done this way for decades, it acts as proof of the accuracy of the stated catalog value, rather than an "enticement". Only an amateur would use ink, professionals always use a light pencil and small numerals.
Post-it notes fall off far too easily, especially after 20 or 30 people have viewed an auction lot.

I write in my albums all the time and wish others do the same .I use a soft #2 pencil to explain what is there . I hate when I go to a stamp auction and view collection pages and the previous collector mounted the stamps in the correct spaces and then mounts the same stamp over it .I want to know is this a perf. or watermark variety or a color variety or a plate flaw. But most of the time it is a place to store duplicates. Drives me nuts.I have all kinds of notes in my albums but then again any specialist would value it differently than a" fill the holes" collection .What most people don't like is the damaging of expensive album pages with ink to write the catalog values which are changing each year or so .

Hi all, I use small cut 1/4 x 1/4 post-its. I only use the part of the post-it with the adhesive. It comes off without any residual left on the page. I appreciate the soft pencil users because it can be erased fairly easy without leaving signs of a pencil mark. Most of the albums I have acquired have pencil markings, very few have pen.The albums with the pen I use for my used stamps. I have quite a few Dansco and Minkus hardcover albums that I use if they have pen markings....Gary

Well I hate to admit it but in my Minkus Plate Block Albums I wrote the Scott numbers under the printed boxes in INK.

TinMan, lol for shame. Respectfully, Gary

I have cataloged albums in this manner so I can easily add up total values per page. However, I always intended to toss the albums. I have also purchased albums marked in this way, but I always knew beforehand. The only time I was disappointed was a nice Lighthouse US album with markings in ink, but I can't complain because I saw the auction pics.

I was not referring to owners writing in their albums. I can appreciate that effort. In fact, I wish my penmanship wasn't so awful otherwise I too would write notes regarding varieties, etc.

I am referring to sellers who write values next to certain stamps using ink. I understand that they may need to figure out what price to start with but I also think it could be done without writing directly on the page. I have seen various other, less invasive, methods used and always appreciate seeing it.




I have seen this done to even less expensive albums, such as Mystic Heirloom albums, which would make the album unusable for someone just starting out.

I just cringe sometimes when I see what appears to be an album that could be more than 50 or 60 years old in otherwise nice condition which is now marred ( IMHO ) by catalog values written on them.

I will say, however, that it does not bother me if it is done to individual pages that are not in any shape to be reused.

Maybe I am just getting too picky in my old age.

well I really regret writing the scott numbers in ink outside the box. I should have written them in the box so the stamps would cover the number up. My thought is I want to sell the plate blocks and it makes it easier for me to catalog and find them when I can see the numbers.

The worse thing is where the seller writes the catalogue number on the back of each mint stamp. It happened to me before, but it was in light pencil so that I was able to rub it off with an eraser without causing any damage to the stamp and gum.

I am guilty of this habit with my mint collections. But, I only write LH, NH, etc under the mount. I use black showguard mounts so instead of taking the stamp out to examine it down the road to add up value of a album I just flip the mount to see what the stamps back condition would be.

I should think this is a good practice so long as the info is correct- I have a couple of albums that dealers / collectors have marked up and it has helped in the sorting process.

A lot of what has been said in my opinion has a direct tie in with selling the collection at some point, something that will be out of my hands when I pass away. A friend who will get my material has no desire to sell them but to enjoy them because they came from me. I write notes next to my FDC Covers where I use tie in stamps. As an example my Ray Charles cover also had the Hoagy Carmichael stamp who was the composer of "Georgia On My Mind" which was a hit from Charles something that some people don't know. As far as my regular stamps are concerned they are on a database on my computer with information I deem important.
Tom

Do any members use index card drawers? metal file drawers? I changed years ago to avoid the problems of over stuffing the scott blue books. Using glassine envelopes gives a place to write notes and prices. although I still have the scott blue books for some countries do enjoy the look of the stamps mounted as I look thru the books. sometimes I write in books but only under the stamp. writing on the pages does in my opinion takes away from the clean visual. But to each his own.