Lesson Learned About Buying On Ebay

Today I received another shipment of misidentified Germany stamps from the Weimar era because the seller didn't check the watermarks. There are 4 common stamps I still need out of the hundreds of definitives Germany issued during that era, all watermarked network. Twice now, from two different sellers, I have ordered lots that were supposed to all be watermarked network that were supposed to contain the actual stamps I need. Both lots show up with mixed watermarks and of course the ones I need are among the ones that are misidentifed.

It's either an ignorant or very lazy seller, because watermarks on German stamps of that era are among the very easiest to see on any stamps, and distinguishing between the two different types is also quite easy. They almost always can be seen plainly without fluid by looking at the back (on all colors, mint and used stamps alike) and are often even visible through the front. For that reason, I keep telling myself that it should be easy for anyone to properly identify them. In both cases, my hunch is that the seller didn't even own a Scott Catalogue (or didn't know how to use it) and just saw similar looking stamps on ebay and just figured his stamps were all from that set rather than realizing he had parts of two different sets. Thankfully the sellers in both instances quickly agreed to a return and a refund, but there's still the hassle and aggravation of going back to the drawing board in finding the stamps.

The lesson learned for me is, if the watermark (or tricky ID in general) is important, buy it from a reputable dealer's price list or ask the seller to post scans of the back of the stamps or a photo of the watermark. I continue to be a fan of buying and selling on ebay, but stuff like this is bound to happen, I guess. I've never been taken or had an uncooperative seller when there's a problem, but it's still frustrating when it happens twice in a row. I guess the saying "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" applies here.

Yes. The same goes for auctions. Someone owning the item mis-identifies it, Auctioneer takes it on face value, sells it to collector. Collector doesn't examine it, dies, and his stuff goes back to the auctioneer, lather rinse repeat.

I guess I should have known better when the seller included the following disclaimer (verbatim): "Scott numbers are to the best of our ability."

I'm wondering if this is a situation where BidStart might be an option for you. I certainly can't vouch for all, but I think most sellers are either reasonably knowledgeable and/or are collectors themselves. There are probably a few beginners on there, but I imagine most sellers at least know how to watermark. And if you find stamps offered where you're not sure, I think you could always ask the seller if they checked them. Also, because of the pricing structure on there, it is much easier for sellers to offer individual stamps, usually identified by Scott, or, if not, by Stanley Gibbons or Michel.

(Full disclosure: I'm one of those collector/sellers over there, downsizing my collection. (But only offering Japan and Korea right now.))

Another possibility, if you're a member of the APS, is to use their StampStore.

Hope that's helpful!

-- Dave

It's funny you mentioned BidStart because I just placed my first order ever there just this past weekend. I will be checking it out more often because finding the actual stamps I'm looking for seems to be much easier than on ebay and, like you said, they do have a lot of the cheaper singles and sets at more realistic prices. Finding a specific stamp in ebay's Germany listings can be a challenge, since ebay somehow doesn't see the need to subdivide a category with up to 150,000 listings in it at any given time. BidStart isn't perfect, either, but it appears to be a darn sight better than ebay in terms of search and navigation.

Here's my personal observations about Bidstart -

1) A great many Bidstart sellers are former or current ebay sellers. In the case of current ebay sellers, Bidstart has an app that allows ebay listings to be ported over to Bidstart, allowing the seller to have the same items on both websites.

2) Bidstart's listing policies allow for a ridiculous amount of "junk" to be listed. Frankly, this was why I stopped using Bidstart - I got tired of looking at hundreds of thousands of penny stamps. I do not know if that policy has changed (free listings galore!), but it made the site unmanageable.

3) Buyer protection. ebay's buyer protection policy is top-notch - bar none!

To sum up - There are good stamps to be had on Bidstart, but you're going to deal with many of the same sellers, and in some cases worse. My biggest caution is do not expect more knowledgable sellers on Bidstart.

Brian

Brian -- I've got to run out the door right now, but I'll just say that there's a "price slider" that appears with your search results. If penny stamps are a problem, you could even set the slider to 2 cents, and that should help clear that up. (You can also set it to any higher figure you want, too.) There are other buyers looking for those penny stamps, so I guess it's the old adage about one man's trash being another man's treasure.

You still have PayPal protection on Bidstart. And know that ebay's buyer protection policy is the reason some sellers don't sell much or at all on ebay, because it so unilaterally favors the buyer that sellers are presumed guilty. There is a lot of abuse by buyers (especially overseas) of that buyer-protection policy. Also, if you encountered a wonky seller on Bidstart, you should definitely let them know, as they have typically kept a closer rein on them.

I'll just also add that I've seen many more uninformed (and/or overly optimistic) sellers of stamp items on ebay. I'm sorry you've had bad experiences on Bidstart.

I used to sell on ebay, but the loss exposure there was so much higher that I was glad to switch to Bidstart when it became viable. I feel much more comfortable there. I have started listing a few items on ebay again, but with great reluctance and fingers crossed. (And with a 21-day hold on any sales proceeds, despite my being on ebay since 1998.)

You might consider Delcampe as well.

I buy on all three.

I sell on ebay and used to sell on Bidstart, but rarely made a sale (same item on ebay would sell at the same price).

With Bidstart, it seems to me (at least in the Canadian stamps category - the only one I can speak to) that it is a great place to pick up inexpensive individual stamps as they are not listed that way on ebay (not feasible due to fees).

The stamps I look for are more expensive and I find that Bidstart prices are consistently higher than ebay. It used to be different, but that was some time ago.

I find some good bargains on Delcampe and ebay both. I don't really even check Bidstart anymore.

Germany is a very strange place to do business in........