What Is All This About Grading Stamps?

The grading craze is already dying a fast death. I've seen the slabbed 98 grade 1940's material drop from $30 -$40 asking prices down to $3.00 to $6.00 over the last 2 years.
I suppose after listing something on ebay for a year straight with no sale might just turn on the light bulb.

You could probably buy a full sheet of those stamps for less than $5, pick out the best one - which would easily be as good as this one - and have the same stamp for basically nothing, as long as you used the rest for postage.

Ah, capitalism at its ugly best; dress up a near worthless item then locate fools to fleece for an easy buck. Imagine the person buying a hundred or two of these at $25 a pop and then trying to sell them in ten or twenty years to finance part of their child's college education. Sickening is what it is, a fraud! Additionally, consider the toxic chemical bath these stamps are going to get in these unsafe plastic holders, not to mention the exposure to all forms of destructive light that will occur. I highly recommend that collectors interested in stamp preservation visit stampsrart.com for a valuable wake-up-call.

What is slabbing or slabbed?

And, chasa, how is never hinged a fad? Isn't that a very desirable condition of stamps?

slabbing:encapsulating a coin or stamp in a permanent plastic holder

In my opinion it depends on the stamp. Modern (as in post-WW2) commemoratives? Please. These aren't hard to find well centered and they're basically obsolete postage. Who on earth is going to have a hard time finding a really nice 1957 (or whenever it was) dental health commem for their album?

Now, some of the classic issues? Absolutely. But the thing is, those have always brought moon shot money for examples in fantastic condition. Find a 90c 1869 sold at, say, Siegel.... Oh.. I dunno, 30-35 years ago, with perfect centering, no faults, boardwalk margins, a nice light cancel and super fresh color and paper and it probably did many multiples of catalog. Why? That's an almost impossible stamp to find well centered and you can spend decades waiting for a truly stunning copy to come up for sale.

MNH desirability became a "must have' stamp condition round about the time that stamp mounts came on the scene. Before that an unhinged mint stamp and a hinged mint stamp had the same catalogue value. So likely a condition desirability driven by marketing pressures. Now some collectors pay more for the gum than they do for the stamp.

To be precise stamp conditions now ought to be

Mint: as the stamp left the printer with gum intact and unhinged.
Unused hinged: a previously mint stamp with gum which has been hinged.
Unused no gum: an uncancelled stamp without gum, hinged or not.
Used: a stamp which has done its job, hinged or unhinged.

Then condition grades could be allocated within each stamp condition.

Terry

Okay I have a feel for the frustration: I collect stamps (US mostly) and the US Mint Proofs. I mentioned at a family gathering that I collected stamps and US coins. My brother, (not in to such hobbies) gifted me with several coin sets and combination coin stamp folders this past Christmas. The online prices were 'outrageous'. The value ratio of the coin & stamps together was such that I have told him, although appreciated, not to waste his $$. This is what the thread is talking about, the unknowing, purchasing inexpensive items at an excessive (great scale) price, to 'gift'. Most collectors know what a philatelic item is worth. We know those firms which take advantage of the unknowing purchaser, yet we beat ourselves up about it. Buyer beware with collectibles, unless you have done your homework & compare you are constantly at risk.

I just saw a sheet of them on ebay for $9.00. Frankly I don't get it.
Tom

Getting high grades (98 and up) is harder than you think...
For any type of stamp (imperf large block examples the exception)...

sdtom.....just because a sheet is $9 does not mean that you will get a grade of 98
from 1 stamp....

I agree with what Kevin says that it is not THAT easy to find a nearly perfect stamp (98) from say 1957, but I also wouldn't pay to get a graded one or pay to get one graded (besides, I don't really require mine to be that nice and it really is that easy to find a decent one).

What I find really amusing are modern stamps that were graded that didn't get very high grades. Why they were ever submitted for grading is beyond me.

I like nicely centred stamps (who doesn't?). Don't need a graded piece to know if it is nice enough for my collection though. I can tell that on my own.

Most collectors have their own standards for what looks good to them.

This slabbing thing is a money grab, nothing else.

Slabbing is just the stamp placed into a protective case....nothing else. You DO NOT have to have a stamp slabbed to be graded!!

I agree...but when you start to spend hundreds of dollars on a single stamp a certificate is a must.
Sure....most advanced collectors can dip a stamp and see a thin, spot a reperf, tell a stamp has been regummed, etc....
Just my opinion.....
And I am not employed by a expertization service....

I think most understand the grading of pre-1900 material but it's the grading of post 1930's material that gets most collectors attention to inflated values / prices. The majority of collectors will not waste the time and money to have a 1940's commemorative graded due to the risk of recovering cost.

Do large dealers get a bulk rate from institutions like PSE ? If everyone submitted all their well centered common material for grading the market for graded common stamps would fall off dramatically.