Another Rushmore Bargain

Could someone help me with the math here. I must be missing something. ebay listing has this collection valued at $25,600 catalog value and we have three individuals bidding with bids of $444. $2812, and $2862. Am I missing something here, or is this more shill bidding that ebay tolerates?

Link to auction ?

Link to auction:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1879-82-US-...301414129388

well if the Grant is a 205c it would be worth it. But without a certificate...shrug...not me.

Using a 'catalog value' in a listing can often be confusing. Rarely do the listings mention 'which ' catalog or which version of catalog the value may have been pulled from. For all anyone knows, this listing might be using a 20 year old Harris or Brookman catalog value. Ideally anytime a listing calls out a catalog value it ought to define exactly which catalog and version it is using. Obviously it behooves any buyer to double check any catalog value that are being used before making a bid.
At Stamp Smarter we note that there are a lot of listings which call out incorrect catalog values. A common mistake is to use a 'mint' catalog value for a stamp which is unused but has no gum.
Don

The top bids are definitely fake/shills...

No sane bidder would bid more than $100
to $200 for this lot... and that's even
stretching it... the lot won't be won by
any *real* collector, and you'll likely
see this identical lot appear 2 or 3 more
times (if it hasn't already appeared this
many times), and likely under different
seller names within the fake cartel...

From $449.00 to $2512.00 ? Top 2 bidders 10% & 11 % of activity with the shady seller.

What's the point of them doing this? Surely no-one's going to think "that must be valuable" and bid thousands as a result. What do they get out of it?

It is basically a 'reserve' if a seller can slip his own bids in an auction. He can start the listings off at very lower number to generate the greatest interest, watchers, and bids and have no fear that they will lose money since they will bump it up to whatever they want before it closes.

But they'll never earn a penny. No-one will better their own false bids.

wow, that must make my page worth about 10 grand lol

"But they'll never earn a penny. No-one will better their own false bids."

Perhaps. I hope they don't earn a penny. But all it takes is one sucker with money to burn and they make thousands of dollars. They can afford to go through this routine a half dozen times, coming up empty, until someone finally takes the bait.

Mike33, maybe it's not 10 grand, but it's a nice page.

Scott 209b is a very controversial shade. Before trying to obtain a certificate, it is necessary to start with a stamp that has the color of burnt toast. The stamp in the listing is not even close to being a 209b. Showing an album page with a bogus identifications seems to have been learned from another large ebay dealer. If the seller applied the markings, then the fraud was intentional. Has anyone compared the handwriting on this page with other current or past listings from this seller under this or a prior alias?




Scott does not generally list stamps after 1893 with unused no gum prices. in that case loss of gum must be considered to be a defect just like any other when factoring in the retail price compared to catalog. The Scott Valuing guide gives values based on centering for sound stamps which is also helpful. A stamp with small defects may be fairly valued at half or less of the Scott value if the stamp is very fine. The value of a defective off center stamp may range from five to fifteen percent of catalog depending on the market for the stamp. Another gotcha is lower prices for varieties like pen cancels found in the Scott US Specialized catalog. Some disconnects also exist if minor varieties are less expensive than the main listing. While not common, a real problem can occur when listing stamps like the Scott US 208.

Clark

With a company that illustrates Uncle Sam driving with a bottle of Jack Daniels and the Statue of Liberty in the back seat smoking a doobie, what do you expect? Heck, maybe the stamps are laced with blotter acid (That's LSD to you younger folks). That would give a whole new meaning to lick 'em and stick 'em!
Dan

It may not be a sucker. It may not be someone taking bait. Not everyone is as price sensitive as the majority of members here seem to be. There are plenty of wealthy buyers for whom there is no material difference in spending $200 versus $2000. It is simply not significant money to them and they may be fully satisfied with a purchase at that price. As an example, I once had a friend who did domestic work for a wealthy couple. One day in late afternoon the husband came in and said to his wife, "Honey, we made $16 million in the market today." That was a good day for them, but not an extraordinary day. They had many similar days. Price and wealth are relative.

It's all about frames of reference.