Unitrade Pricing Oddities..?

One last thing guys..Without Scott or Unitrade price guide..How would you even know how much to pay for a stamp or even sell a stamp..and don't say ebay, cause most people on ebay have unbelievable ideas of what things cost.

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Like those words lorddenning...hope you dont think I am calling you any names because you look at the hobby and not the monetary value..ok

Wert

Obviously not $35 for Scott #582-#585 because the dealers who do the pricing for the Unitrade catalogue say so.

The old approach to stamp collecting is dying. Have you been to a stamp show lately? Collectors are waking up to the fact that they don't have to be slaves of dealer/catalogues.

The transformation is taking place before us now. Collector-to-Collector (i.e Delcampe and ebay) sales are establishing real values. I emphasize sales and not just listing prices. Some vendors have unrealistic expectations.

It's like going to the market on a Saturday morning in the summer. Cherries are for sale. There are ten stalls selling cherries. Prices range from $4 to $10. How do you decide? What factors are at play to set the bottom price at $4.00. Well, Delcampe and ebay are philatelic markets which have replaced the philatelic department stores.

The hobby is alive and well and headed in the right direction.

Hi wert

First of all thank you for starting this most interesting discussion.
I haven't posted for awhile but I have been lurking and
when I spotted this thread I jumped in.




Well I'll tell you even if I had tons of money I probably
wouldn't buy Canada #1 or any number ones from any country.
I'm basically not into the early classics.

I also went through a stage in the seventies/eighties when I pored over all the new catalogues getting excited about price increases.
I got the Canada Specialized Postage Stamp Catalogue, The Lymman
Standard Catalogue, Canada/BNA Postage Stamp Catalogue,
Canada First Day Cover Catalogue by Will Gandley, etc etc.

And I would sit there for hours cataloguing and listing the prices
for all my plate blocks, sheets, booklets, FDC and then adding up
the total.
Wow,I figured, at this rate of increase (mainly from the Centennials) in catalogue values I'm sitting on nice tidy sum.
Well we all know what happened and now I'm using up some of the
higher values for postage.
So much for catalogue values.

We obviously need catalogues but as far as pricing is concerned
check out ebay or auction results such as Maresch&son in Toronto.
I've gone to a couple this past year and was amazed at how much
and for how little some lots went for.
Even though I wasnt bidding but only watched it was really
enjoyable. Plus you get a free glossy,coloured,beautifully
illustrated catalogue and a few days later you can check
on their site the prices realized.
Those are a much better indicator what any particular
philatelic item is worth compared to lets say Unitrade or Scott's catalog.

PS: And as for those mini sheets above with which wert started
the thread, I had 5 of them originally.
When postal rate went to 61c I started using them up except for
one.

lithograving and others..dont get me wrong..i enjoy stamps not just for money..even though I have never sold a stamp..it is the hunt, the excitement of finding what you want or some thing you did not expect...Thats why I enjoy this hobby..

Lithograving

Nice having you back. Your comments regarding the Maresch auctions are important. That's where you get a feel for the actual "value" of stamps and covers. But I can't afford to purchase anything at the sales so I must rely on ebay and Delcampe.

Agreed, that's why I said standard... it's an easy way to get a basic list. Further down I do mention it won't have many types of specializations that some collectors look for, and in that case you need to get specialized documentation. Not to mention the catalogue only provides very basic information. If you want to specialize in Small Queens for example, the Unitrade catalogue isn't going to cut it.




That's fantastic and you should be proud to show that kind of sensible restraint. I've seen many collectors that would prefer to spend their last dollar on a collectible rather than buy food and that live paycheck to paycheck due to their hobby. I've seen firesales of collectibles by people looking to avoid divorce, or people selling their collectibles to pay for one, directly related to an addiction to spending or not keeping a healthy balance between a hobby and their life outside of the hobby. Believe me, collectors that have good money sense are not very common.




I wasn't directing that comment at anyone in particular, but I've certainly seen several folks on here being quite blase about what stamps cost or how they are valued. I'm sure some do it to drive a point home, but there are some people that I know from experience that genuinely don't care what anything costs and I've never known it to be a good thing. In fact people that do it for collecting tend to carry that habit over to finances in general, and consumer debt has never been higher and consumer savings so low.

I certainly understand the difference between someone keeping track of values for the sake of making intelligent purchasing decisions vs someone who wants to make a profit on a purchase, but I also don't see a problem with either mentality either as long as it's done with integrity.

Dan

Hi Wert!




I'm wondering if you mean too expensive or too cheap? I find it's the complete opposite to be quite honest and it's the guys at local shows that try to charge close to catalogue value that are off their rockers. I always aim for a very specific price based on a percentage of CV and I always get that price on ebay if I'm patient. When I go to local shows or auctions, the prices are MUCH higher. In fact the only thing I like to buy at local meets are supplies, which I find there are always good bargains for boxes of glassines, albums, pages etc.

A good example would be my latest purchase, Canada #50 1/2 cent Jubilee VF MNH. A local dealer at the last EXUP in November was asking $300 and was willing to "let me have it" for $250. I found a gorgeous specimen on ebay for $100. In fact, I can sift through the dealer cards, load up ebay on my phone and pretty much find the exact same stamps for about half price. One of the biggest philately stores in Montreal told me point blank not to waste his time with the kind or prices I was looking for... mind you I was also asked to leave a car dealership when he felt my offer for a truck was insane and I was wasting his time. He called me 3 days later saying he spoke to his manager and would accept the offer lol!

Dan

Is there an AA equivalent for stamp collecting addicts?

No joke, I do know one person that actually went to therapy due to prompting from his wife and kids for his collection addiction. He later told me about it and it was a specialist in destructive hoarding but also worked with people on materialistic type addictions. I honestly have to make an effort to not be a "completist" as we used to call it... so for example the fact that I can never own a #3 literally drives me insane lol! In fact, I will likely end up printing one on my printer to fill the spot in my album just to shut the voices in my head up. *cues up the exorcist theme song*

I mostly use my catalogs to ID stamp varieties. I do look at the values, but I never go get my catalog specifically to look at values. Even when I see the value, I have to decide what percentage range that particular stamp is in. 10%? 30? 100?

If I want to buy a stamp I go to ebay and see what people have paid the last 3 months. Sometimes I'll check theswedishtiger to see price fluctuations over the years.

I definitely don't run my stamp collection like a business. I make emotional decisions, I overpay for something I really want, and I sell stamps only so that I can buy more stamps. When I die I can picture my wife selling my albums and boxes on ebay with 3 or 4 pictures. Probably one picture of a US bicentennial sheet, a page or 2 from the 80s, and a maybe a close up of the FDR commems or moon landing stamp. The title will be: "Stamps, maybe still good for postage?" :D

LOL! This is actually why along with my will, I have clear, easy-to-find documentation in my office of how to sell my collection, how to value it and who to contact for help and how to look up the inventory on my PC so there's no guesswork. The collection would go to my daughter, so if she decides to sell it, at least she'll know how to go about it. Same deal with all my websites and all that jazz... I shudder to think what would happen to all my online clients (I run a hosting company on the side) should something happen to me *knock on wood*

Dan

Thanks florian and lorddenning for your welcome back greetings.

I've been in an self imposed exile from this site partly because of the very things discussed in this thread.

What is stamp collecting all about.

Why do you/we/I even collect stamps.

A few months ago I noticed a change on SCF, maybe more of a
trend, towards what a stamp was worth than about the stamp
itself.
It seemed to me that more and more members joined in order to sell their stuff, or wanted to know what this particular stamp or that cover was worth or wanted to know how much they could get for their father's/granfather's/grandmother's/uncles' childhood treasured collection.
When they were told that their valuable inheritance was basically worthless you never saw them again. Never mind they've already been told the same thing on half a dozen other stamp forums.

How much can I get for it? What's it worth? Look what bargain/steal
I just got on ebay.

Money Money Money. Is this what stamp collecting is all about?

Like it's been mentioned before on this thread, we all get
something out of these little bits of coloured paper.

To each his own or whatever turns you on as we said in the sixties.

I look at purchasing the stamps I desire as 'bumps' in the road to where I want to get. The smaller and more manageable bumps (stamps I can afford) I drive right over and enjoy the satisfaction thoroughly. The large bumps (stamps I cannot afford) I drive around but continue to admire in my rear view mirror. Wanting is also very satisfying!