That Hard To Get Low Catalog Value Stamp

Does anyone have a story or want list regarding any low catalog value stamp or stamps that they are having or have had a hard time finding?

Are you looking to fill these want list?

Art

No. I am just curious as to what collectors collect and are finding challenging.

There was a thread here the other day (translation: 3 or 4 years ago) suggesting this strategy...

When you start to acquire a new set, always get the HIGH VALUE first.

It sounds like a joke at first, but there is merit in the logic. Sometimes when you buy the high-value, the low values come along for no extra cost.

But I confess, it seems to work the other way too -- you get the high-value and the minimum-catalog low value of the set becomes elusive game. And you end up paying $1.50 for a 25¢ stamp.

As a worldwide collector ,there are tens of thousands of cheap stamps that are difficult to acquire ,many need to be purchased separately because they almost never show up in a mixture lot and rarely show up in collections that are offered up in regular auctions. Forget about those red dealer boxes ,those hard to get stamps are usually the first to be removed out of the dealer boxes quickly .

We had this discussion before and it went something like this .........there are about 200,000 different stamps that are common as dirt ,you find these in all the mixture , packet lots and kilo type offerings . Then there are a second level of collectible stamp of about 150,000 different these are found in albums and dealer cards type lots mostly catalog about $10.00 or less ,this second level can and does sell on e-bay from 8cents per stamp to a few dollars for a complete set . The third level would be another 75 ,000 different stamps that takes time and money to find they go for around $5.00 to $100.00 to get .Then the last group is the speciality items and can be found in auctions at major firms . Naturally there are various stamps that go from one level to another because they are difficult to find .

It depends on the area one collects. In US revenues, there are plenty of under $15 stamps that are difficult to get in sound condition. Or there are very inexpensive stamps that normally come with perf initialed or cut cancels, and finding a nice used one without either of those is not so easy.

Indeed - I have been collecting forever it seems, but only now am I getting it together. So I posted a note on this forum the other day on Items Wanted about 10 Ireland stamps I want. The cat. values are low. One respondent pointed that out and said they were common. However, in a month of looking online at four different sales sites, none of them have appeared, so I don't think they are "that" common. I am not angsting over this or mightily concerned. When I have time I will contact a couple of specific dealers who deal with British-Irish type material.

I have similar stories with some stamps from other countries.

Bottom line - yes, I think some low-value "common" stamps are not common at all.

Or, it just be that a stamp that catalogs for 25 cents, worth just a couple of pennies, is not deemed worthy to be listed on e-bay, the cost of postage, the cost of listing and the time involved may determine that its not worth it. The minimumn catalog value is not based on what a stamp is actually worth its based on what it would cost a dealer to provide it.

Art

I often find myself missing one cheap stamp from a set and can't find just that stamp listed for sale, so I end up buying the whole set to get that one stamp, sometimes paying several times the cat value of the one I need.

Revcollector (I think this one is Bart?), funny you should mention this. I'm a classics guy, but I like revenues, mostly for fun-- and several of the cheap 1st issue silks are really difficult, as are a lot of the dated reds.

Makes me think that some of the stamps are definitely undervalued, compared to supply.

Now, I know I could order any of them from Eric Jackson, etc., but it's mostly when I'm down to my last couple of hours at a show, and I go hunting through dealers stock. Seems like the dealers I've seen have all of the Scott numbers I have, and don't have what I'm looking for-- or they have mint, and I'm looking for used and in some cases perfin or cut cancels-- again this is for the fun of the chase.

But that's the fun of the chase.... :)
Great topic, by the way!
Ray

Yes I am Bart. Actually it was the reds and greens along with match & medicines I was thinking of, but the silks and some of the double transfers of the first issue also fall into this category. And it gets much tougher if one collects non Scott listed revenues.

I've sometimes found that the "common" stuff is only available in complete sets, so I wind up buying a set of 4 or 5 to get the one I want.

@centerstage: I have a small envelope of common Irish duplicates. If you email me the list of 10 stamps, I'll see if I have duplicates of any of them.

I run into this with my Haiti collection from time to time. Most sets are very very low-priced, but the challenge is there aren't dealers who are "Haiti specialists." There are sets in my collection that catalog for maybe a buck for the whole set, but dealers just don't have it. And why should they? There aren't many of us who collect Haiti.

centrestage - I wrote to you about them and you did not respond.

CanadaStamp and KD - ooops sorry about that - I need to check my mail better. Thanks for asking. Let me dig up that list and will let you know. Thanks.