Starting Prices And Catalog Values.

I posted this on another thread but believe it deserves it's own topic.
I recently purchased two stamp albums and a bunch of revenue stamps

Looking at the catalog values I was very pleased. Maybe five times the amount I paid for them. So I have been listing for the past couple of weeks on ebay and I see that even when I start at half the catalog value there is no intrest.

Is this normal? Are catalog values a fantasy? What prices do you start at? How do you ensure you get At least something when starting low??

Hi Koo. I believe that you answered your own question when you stated that c.v. of the stamps you bought was about five times of the price you paid. 20 to 30% catalog would be a reasonable start for most stamps.
Of course this depends on the stamp itself, a better stamp may go for far more!

Peter

Thank you. On another note is this a slow period for stamps. Cause I seem to be having no luck selling at all

In my experience so many different factors enter into this subject that it is somewhat difficult to answer. If you have something truly rare, it should be sold via one of the recognized auction houses. For everything else, that you want to sell on ebay, you might want to search for items similar to what you want to sell in the completed listings to see what they have actually sold for in the past. In general catalogue value is only a general guide and I myself would not pay too much attention to it, if I were selling on ebay, which I gave up on years ago. Good luck, Koo!

Thanks. Can I ask why you have it up??

What is your ebay name so I can have a look please?

Koo, I gave it up because the reward (profit) was not worth the effort, in my opinion. I would rather spend my time accumulating stamps and covers. I have become rather lazy in my retirement!

For comparison:

You can buy classic Denmark with certificates from the leading experts stating the quality is 'Superb' for about 1/3 of catalog value.

I understand. Yak boomer. Puzzler user name is kookorp

ebay username "kookorp" not found.

It depends what you're selling, as to what percentage of Scott you can reasonably expect on ebay. For nondescript classic-era worldwide, I'd say 10-30% of Scott. 19th-century Great Britain that is just average, 5-10%. On my U.S. revenue material, I can usually get 20-50%, unless there is something special about the stamp (cancel, usage, margin copy, etc.) in which case I can get 50-150%.

I have some revenue stamps up. They are not going at all. Try stores.ebay.com/kookorp

Hmmmm maybe it's Koo-korp

It is ' koo_korp ' and 'koo_korp ' store name also.

To find out what something sells for and it is popular just start it at 99c and call it a mixture or selection and sometimes, if it is nice, say the word nice.

Saying the word World in amongst the assortment or collection or lot or mix or mixture or selection helps people who search (more than half) to find your listing.

World collectors like almost everything at times.

Put the year in full (1930 instead of 30) instead of all the Scott, or any other catalogue, numbers in the title. Putting catalogue numbers in the description is OK.

Say which are used and which are mint, and the quantity of each.

On pricing I agrre with above mentioned idea to start at 20 - 30% of catalogue to get a bite or bid. Then, when other see a bid, that attracts other lookers and potential bidders.

The word Old is sometimes over-used. I myself have used it and it felt good but didn't, after reflection, really help much. Keep it simple.

No RARE or SUPER GREAT type of stuff, which I didn't see there anyway. Good. Keep it that way.

If the stamps are mint but affixed to the page as you say, please state in the title MNH or MH for North American buyers. I know it seems overkill but it is searched for. Affixed sounds like, hmmm, maybe too much is affixed, like glued down solidly instead of lightly hinged. Use the word hinged.

Do not hide what the stamps are at all. Hinging is OK as then people know how to deal with that. You could even tell them in your description.

Some people do not like to see a page of stamps that they have to soak off or peel the hinges from or cut the hinges from. Thay like it all on Varion pages. Not necessary but an idea for expensive stamps.

The Vendio business in the description I prefer to se at the bottom. I know it is supposed to sell more but do all the people move past it and see your own description, nicely worded? Go back in to the listing and edit it down to a lower position below your pictures and/or description.

Keep the description simple as you can. I personally think that a lot of your terms and conditions and following are a bit much to say, as they are all covered anyway by the PayPal buyers agreement and the ebay buyers agreement that your buyers have already agreed to.

The character that you are using to lead in to each paragraph is not showing up on my screen here in Canada. I changed the Character Encoding in the View menu to Western and then Unicode and still no joy. Change to something like ' &$(8226) ', (CHR$) the bullet character, more universal.

I personally again do not have Flash installed as I am using a phone line. Keep it simple. Sell the stamps, not your own skills.

Your Store title header 'Keep Calm ' is not business-like and will make buyers wonder what you are selling here. Keep it simple, business name, simple, same all-around text type of font, no reall big colour changes, no fancy flash or flashing lights, or things to distract buyers from the fact hat they have already clicked on your listing title and picture (ver important selling aspects) and they are here to see the gory details or the fact that they were correct in clicking in the first place.


You could probably pick apart any of my listings also, so don't feel rattled tooo much. Just lose the all that jazz and get down to business.

Look at ebay to see comparable other auctions listed by other sellers and see what they are asking And if they are selling and what they actually sold for. Over time you will notice things yourself.

I haven't listed anything myself for a few years but haad a fun little thing going on in 2006-7. I modified my titles constantly if something didn't work. I changed to prices. I learned to keep it bisiness-like and just stae the facts.

Keep yer chin up. You are going at it and giving it all a go where I am not now. I have some listings saved if you want my HTML Word doc to look at and be scared, ha. Just email me through the forum.

Amazing response thank you so much. I will be implementing everything you said not rattled at all just very very greatful for the information and the advice. Again thank you. Will edit and reedit and tell you all when it is done to hear more advice.
Again thanks a million
Koo

Pricing of Used stamps from a catalogue is generally at Very Fine pricing. That means no wavy lines on the stamp from the cancel, no heavy, obscuring postmarks, except for a full, readable postmarks which will attract cancel collectors such as myself and they will pay extra for that.

The wavey lines are a detracter from the price expecially for foreign or non-USA stamps. A clear CDS or partial, nicely placed CDS (Circular Date Stamp) is what a lot of people want. Plus nicely centered.

I was jst thinking the other day (first time!, ha) that earthy people like a larger margin at the bottom of a stamp and airy people like a larger margin at the top. Not sure on that though.

Thanks. Email me to get some rather too detailed listing info and my opinion on stuff. I used to collect used world-wide and now just do cancels (just!) and certain areas of Canada and the world.

I am watching the Bahamas just to keep you bookmarked, so to speak.