Thank you Dan,
for reading, understanding and commenting at what was driving my post. While attempting to respond to your post, my comments became directed to ALL readers. My collecting interests were not only nurtured at home, they were driven by a deeper interest to learn: about people -- places -- geography -- language -- cultures not our own. Through collecting stamps, I have travelled to every county in the world. I learned about the cultures, religions and history that were briefly or never taught or discussed in school. I explored every continent never leaving my home.
Through emersion in stamps and covers I developed an interest in languages, which enabled me to conduct business in Iceland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, China and elsewhere. I've developed friendships around the world through stamps. However, I have never allowed my collecting passion to over rule my common sense… that unfortunately the majority of collectors seem to leave at the door when it comes to stamps, as demonstrated many posts. (Now that you understand my passion, I will address your great response.)
Markets change, and the stamp market is going through a dynamic change, affected by the disposition of both "Silent Generation" (b.1925-45) collections and current "Baby Boomers" (b.1946-64) now reaching retirement, being forced into disposing of collections due to the last economic. Unfortunately, collectors are quickly coming to the realization that the "self-inflated value" of their stamp holdings has not only failed to keep-up with inflation, it has tanked…or a $1 in stamps is now only worth 20 to 45 cents, if that. And collectors do not like it!
Collectors also want "catalogs" to be reflective of what they collect and prices they perceive. Well, they haven't been since the dawn of the catalog. They haven't since "stamps as a governments' way of making money" has become a way of business. They haven't for every government, local post, municipality or island with four inhabitants and printer that will produce a stamp or postal stationary. (Back to all)
To understand history and rivalry behind SCOTT, FACIT, GIBBONS, YVERT, MICHEL, etc., what drives them: the numbering systems, the rivalry and competition between them, and the personalities would take a small book. They were hard competitors at the beginning and they are hard competitors now. Not one would shed a tear if the other went away. And what
ebay "is" and "does" is not even on a par with this group, either in capacity or business model; business wise,
ebay can not be discussed in the same breath: all combined do not equal the one, or what it does or could do for collecting, if stamps were a growing cluster.
From a marketing perspective,
ebay's Geo-Demographic Socio-Psychographic information is one thing and their of database of pricing results could be cross-referenced, with tables established and populated, cross-referencing "all" associated catalog numbers for given issue, however, said copyright holders would step-in immediately and cry "foul" for "COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT."
As to the idea of using
ebay as a main "catalog" source of pricing... I would throw in the towel and stop collecting immediately! Have you ever read material descriptions
ebay then looked at the material? I truly think 80% of the EBAY-Sellers are blind, color-blind or inept of the understanding of stamps, and I don't think the other 20% would be able to accurately define a "Poor - Fine - Very Fine" rating between two stamps, if it killed them --some dealers included!! Mis-perfs, thins, holes, face scrapes… forget it. I'd be more accurate trying to hurl a cat at a speeding car! You want to use EBAY-prices to establish true Market Prices? Excuse me; even SCOTT is better, thank you.
Dan, I love PBS Roadshow. It's a great place for market prices Guns, Swords, or aunt Lillie's' old vase, jug and watercolor. BUT, you'll never see a stamp collection or group of stamps shown. I love when they show a piece of postal history; yet, they NEVER mention the stamp. They stay away from stamps' like they have EBOLA.
The historical "Cheerleader" for the hobby was the American Philatelic Society it was to be a great organization -- until it lost its focus. Dan, you're a consultant, so you should be aware of the saying, "EGO'S KILL!" So be it with the APS. Between the egos of board members in the 1980's and 90's and the ridiculous expenditure on their new building (which may still bankrupt them due to short-slightness and falling membership) the APS has been the driving force. More importantly, the ASDA shares a greater blame. Why? THEIR INCOME, even if part-time, depends on the hobby.
I said at the opening, "... My collecting interests were not only nurtured at home, they were driven by a deeper interest to learn -- about people -- places -- geography -- language -- cultures not our own." We, as a generation, own the greatest blame. We have failed our children and our neighbor's children by allowing our schools to de-emphasize the importance of HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY and LANGUAGE.
Ask the average "College-Prep" student to locate a country in Africa or even Africa on a map -- they can't. That is OUR fault. Ask the same student to name the first president of the United States or whose picture appears on a $5-bill -- they can't. That is OUR fault! I can go on but I won't. WHY are kids more interested in video games than history? Because we, as parents and grandparents, haven't done what our parents to us -- insist we learn and NOT spend our entire free time in front of a video or computer screen. We are the one who must correct it – we have the time.
To The ARTFULHINGER … you like German stamps and Michel#s – stop using
ebay and go to DELCAMPE. (By the way, if I were a collector of Germany I would never be using SCOTT as my main reference) DELCAMPE is an excellent source for material… to buy and sell Germany. #2) As for grading, I dare you to put five stamp dealers and/or collectors in a row and have them grade a stamp. I doubt you would get the same grading between the two groups, let alone two people. Remember: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." And if you own the stamp, you are probably biased about it out-of-the-gate. 3.) Pricing is never, "...Child's Play." There are too many factors that have to be considered when evaluating or pricing material, that is unless you are speaking about junk stamps, or you want stamps evaluated the way "PSE" appears to evaluate stamps, based on their posted video. (Also see SCF).
51Studebaker… you want
ebay's information? You have to PAY to PLAY. You can get what you want, but it's not free. I was with a Billion-dollar company that did biz on
ebay. I got all the info I wanted or needed; of course, some was private and not available, or they didn't have. However, they would do anything, as long as you paid for the programming. Don, no one gives anything away for "free" in business -- especially in a public company! If you were a stockholder in
ebay, would you let them give INFO away that management could sell at a profit?
ebay, INC.'s e.p.s. was 0.82/share in Dec and -0,04c for the year. Give it away for FREE --- I bet you'd say, "Never!" Like I said before everyone, take off those rose-colored glasses.
GeoffHa: Don't believe for a second that S.G. prices have to reflect S.G. costs. The collectibles business (and many others) doesn't work that way. Stamps do not work on the same mark-up basis that other merchandise categories you know. In established markets like stamps, especially where you have a vertical operation of a catalog and sales operation, they are NOT going to lower prices in the catalog simply supply. The stamp market has always been driven on arbitrary price setting. SG has been a leader in this area amongst dealers. Exactly why do you think they established the S.G. catalog? It wasn't for philanthropic reasons… other than their own.
And to all, if you think the guys who call themselves "experts" (ex'pert = a drip without a spout) just take a look at the "PSE EXPERT" video clip post on their website (or on SCF the other day) showing on expert's evaluation and handling of stamps. I wouldn't let "Steve from PSE" handle my cat's litter box, let alone my stamps." If that's a stamp expert, I'm a brain surgeon!
REVCOLLECTOR… you correct in your statement but why not tell them what a SMALL % of issues that actually reflects. SCF readers and others would be surprised. Also, collectors do not have the final say on prices… it was has always been dealers --- the NYC-based segment of the ASDA + a few others that had the key say on prices. However, some of those dealers are no longer alive or in business. Oh, by the way, aren't you part of the "PSE Experts" listed on their website? What are your thoughts about "STEVE", his performance and evaluations? Do you think collectors should trust PSE after that? Ahh…that's why I use the APS and Philatelic Foundation.
Dan, thank you again for your response and for understanding my passion.
Best to everyone! (Most important: enjoy collecting as long as you can)
Hal
Posted 03/13/2015 4:36 pm
