Woof!

The asking price is crazy, condition and ID on some of the items definitely suspect, but no matter how you slice it, there is some cool stuff in this collection that would be fun to wade through...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NobleSpirit...em58c90632a2

It supposedly sold on July 3rd, but obviously they relisted it... Wonder what happened.

Notice that they don't say exactly how many certs. And I wonder how many of the stamps without certs that are listed as MNH are actually regummed? The condition of many of these stamps make this a 15%-17% lot at auction. No where near a 50% lot.

I agree that the asking price is beyond stupid. Still, for the right price (assuming one could afford it, which I absolutely cannot), it would be a fun lot to sleuth.

I have a feeling you would wind up disappointed. If it's so good why hasn't it been broken down into single lots of the choicest material and remainder lots of all the rest at one of the top auction houses?

A/ Somebody would have to know what they are doing?

Because someone would have to sit down and do that, not a minimal task.

Because for all we know, the consigner wants to sell it all at once, and Noble Spirit is a lot consignment seller, not a break-it-down-and-sell-singles-for-retail seller.

For all we know, the consignor is not the original collector, but rather an heir with zero collecting knowledge.

There's any number of legit reasons that it's not appearing in the venues or in the manner that you deem appropriate.

I'm not saying it's a gold mine. In fact, several of the certs show problem items. I also question why all of the individual certs aren't shown... unless some are negative opinions, or that some of the "GRADED! LQQK!" items are VG (or worse).

All I'm saying is that for the right price it would be fun to go through, that's all.

Agree with the above statement that the lot is way over-priced . There are a lot of stamps that are poorly centered and many more showing perforation problems . As someone else mentioned some of those cert's are going to say that there are condition problems .Also showing a lot of hundreds of dollar stamps and a few thousand dollar stamps is a long way from 1.1 million ,so were is the value ?

one thing for sure. It got our attention.

If you add up the claimed (strong emphasis on CLAIMED) catalog value of the main album, it does appear to add to in the neighborhood of the $760K for that book. Whether the other one gets to $440K is anybody's guess.

Of course, all it takes is a few of the key items to be fake or badly damaged to throw the entire lot upside down. I could see a U.S. specialist dealer taking a flier in the upper five figures, but that's about it. Since it supposedly already sold once, perhaps an enterprising dealer did buy it, assessed it, and punted it back for too many problem items.

Also, it wouldn't be the first time that a seller makes up, err... "optimistically states" the catalog value. Just look any listing from Anthony's. They routinely overstate catalog values by 50-200%, offer their listings at half that amount, hoping for suckers. Some of their listings are egregious.

"Because someone would have to sit down and do that, not a minimal task".

I catalog accumulations and collections every day. I know exactly what is involved. Which is also why I say this collection might well be a disappointment. And someone must have cataloged it, since they include a catalog total.

If a consignor comes to a "stamp expert" (which Noble Spirit claims to be)and says they want to sell a collection intact for a clearly ludicrous price, why wouldn't the "stamp experts" tell them of the error of their ways? After all, they can't get a percentage until the lot sells, so why not get the customer to understand how to price it at least somewhat realistically? 100% of a realistic price is a lot better than 0% of a farcical one.
And many of their large lots fall into this category, overpriced with second tier and questionable stamps, often with certs that prove it.

SORRY FOLKS ,your all wrong {how did some of you knew I would say that }.........That is not a collection .....shocking statement ....yea but true . That lot above is what we call a MANUFACTORED LOT . It was put together strictly to be sold . If you accumulate a lot of second rate stamps and you need to unload it ,the best way to do that on a lot like this is to added $25,000 or even $$50,000 of gem quality material and then scan the better stuff and WALA........you got a fantastic $500,000 lot .
Before you guys start crying about my statement ,I do this all the time and have seen it done at hundreds if not thousands of different times at all auctions ,yes ALL the stamp auctions . Let me explain it this way ,I put all my duplicates in a large set of Scott Internationals and then add in 10 to 25 better sets or better stamps and then send it off to the auction firm with a note where to find the goodies and WALA . You get the catalog and read the describition and you wet your pants about all the nice 10 or 15 better stamps that are listed in the catalog . See how easy it is and you thought you didn't like me .
By the way that is not a collectors accumulation ,it is put together by one of the better known dealers who doesn't want his name attached to this low quality material sale and is using Noble Spirit to unload it .

I don't get why any dealer would take the time to manually "compile" and annotate a pseudo-collection like this, when the same amount of effort could result in listing each item separately, inevitably resulting in more money received (cumulatively)... not to mention not paying the consignment cut in the (unlikely) event this ever sells en masse.

The number of buyers able to buy the whole kit and kaboodle is going to be much smaller than the sum total of individual buyers for individual items at much more affordable levels.

The only advantage I can see in doing it this way is anonymity.

In terms of a ROI though, before doing what you are suggesting was done, if I were the dealer in question (if that in fact is what is going on here), I would wait until after the summer months were past, preferably leading into the Christmas buying season, picking several weekends and letting them all go as $0.99 starts with no reserves and more and higher quality pictures.

I'd bet we'd all be surprised at the total amount it would pull in. Problem items sell, and sell well. I have been absolutely shocked at what people will buy, just to be able to fill spots in an album...

Dealers buy dozens and even hundreds of lots a year. They remove the good stuff to sell and put the rest aside. After a while lots like this can be created from the leftovers and sold, and dealers do this all the time; however this does not seem like a smart way to do it, since it will almost certainly never sell. And a dealer could just as easily put it into an auction with a hidden reserve (there are certainly auction houses that do this), and actually sell it. Although then everyone would then be able to look at it and it would only bring it's true value, perhaps 10% of cat. Clearly the seller does not want people looking to closely before they buy, and is hoping for a sucker. A BIG sucker at that price.