Lesson Learned The Hard Way...sparks Auction...buyer Beware

I have recently been purchasing stamp lots on Stamp Auction Network. I've had good luck...up until my last purchase. I guess you always take a risk when buying from an auction house for the first time. I'd hate for others to fall into the same trap. I bought a lot from Sparks Auction that was described as:

"11.2 lbs of Kiloware, mostly off-paper. Sorted by country in envelopes, but envelopes add more weight than usual - likely at least 8lbs of stamps off-paper used or canceled to order."

I assumed kiloware meant postally used at some point...on or off paper. I was wrong. Unfortunately, the 8 envelopes were full of dunes...Manama, Ajman, Umm al Quain, etc and a whole bunch of DDR (just the most common defins only) and Cuba. I did not find a single thing that I considered to be collectable...just wallpaper or craft supplies...and expensive at that. Other auction houses I've used have been very accurate with descriptions and I'm often pleasantly surprised by what I get. This time, though, I got nothing after paying $250, plus $50 in shipping and an expensive buyers fee. So, buyer beware from Sparks. "mostly off-paper" actually means "none of it was ever on paper" and "used or CTO" means "CTO ONLY" I can't imagine any collector that is serious enough to buy at auction would ever want any of that. I'm disappointed they would even try to sell it. No more purchases by me from Sparks. Anyone need some Dunes Wallpaper?

Amy

What was the estimated value?

If the words "dunes", "trucial" or CTO were NOT mentioned in the description I would definitely ask for a refund.

I always keep 1 of each dune stamp when I get them in mixtures, just to have it in my collection. The rest I let my kids practice with. At least they will not mess up any better stamps.

I have looked through the Spark's Auction three times and I can't find this lot? Where in the catalogue is it.

Whether or not the description was accurate or not is a matter of interpretation. Kiloware merely means that stamps are sold by weight and don't necessarily have to be on paper.

And of course that the stamps may be CTO was mentioned in the description: At least 8lbs of stamps off-paper used or canceled to order

At the same time however, the description was phrased in a very vague manner as if to disguise the true nature of the lot. If I were in your shoes, I would ask for a refund from the auction house, as well as complain to SAN.

Jenny you you said it much better than me. Good on you!

This begs the question of whether/not we should also be teaching them discernment & good taste.

In the long run, it might be better to teach them to put the duners in the shredder, and let them play with those big, beautiful French art reproductions, stamps with museum-quality cultural objets d'art, stamps with maps or historic events or ...

I recently put ~50 4x6" objects from an auction lot of postcards down the shredder, just to prove to myself that it could be done.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

I have a hard time destroying even a damaged stamp. Even a dune stamp has a place with me. I may not go out and buy them on purpose, but if they turn up in a collection or mixed lot then I will keep them. When I first started collecting stamps, I started with packets and they had a lot of these types of stamps. That is how I got interested in stamps. With such a limited budget it was a easy way in and start learning. Over the years my interests changed but I still have the stamps I started with 20 years ago in my collection.

I asked what the estimated value was and got no reply. Ergo, I assume the complaint was unwarranted.

I'm assuming that the estimated value was somewhere close to what you paid. Sounds to me like you may have gotten fleeced, but it would be nice if you would post the link to the catalog so we can see the listing...

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