Philatelic Arbitrage

Has anyone every bought a philatelic item for a low price in one place like North America and sold it for much more in another place like Europe? Some like to buy philatelic material outside of its country of origin for less where demand for it is lower and to bring it back to its country of origin to sell it for more where demand for it is higher. Of course the opposite can occur and it can sell for more outside of its country of origin since supply can be lower for it there. However, this usually happens if there is also a demand for it as well there.

I don't buy to re-sell, I just buy, but I do love North American sellers who base their listings and price expectations for the Indian States on Scott.

Are you trying to say that Scott lists them for less than Gibbons?

I am wondering how anyone would get anything sold if they based prices on the catalog values from either company. Those values are great for insurance, but lofty for actual transactions.
I do notice by way of the topic, that Great Britain stamps are cheaper for someone that lives in Great Britain. I would love some of the Kiloware I see but the shipping is Horendous!!

What he is really saying is that North American dealers sell the material at a percentage of catalog, when often times they are worth full catalog or more.

There are all kinds of market inefficiency in the stamp trade .The most important is that no one seller knows everything about philately. The large sellers are looking for fast sales and can't break down a lot of material that pass thru their hands ,so you will always find material that can be sold at a profit over the purchase price .

2c: I've found that the postal history market is subject to geographic arbitrage. The New York dealer with three postcards of Old San Diego will give you a better deal on those cards than a dealer in Southern California. Similarly, I don't think you'll ever get a break on a Civil War item in Richmond, Virginia, but you might get lucky in Richmond, California.

Buying out-of-market works better for a beginner (needs one of everything) than for an advanced collector (more specific targets).

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Smauggie correctly said that


But it goes further. Scott fails to list a number of varieties that Gibbons does list. A prime example from Barwani:



Now, I've no idea what this would be valued at in Scott, but if I was selling, and I most definitely am not, I'd confidently expect to get the full Gibbons value of £3000 for it.

So, there is definitely scope for arbitrage, if you have the up-to-date, relevant catalogues.

ikeyPikey: This is very true of postal history and why it can sell well on places like ebay which largely erases global boundaries. Sometimes it's best to buy local and sell global.