What Happen To Ebay ?

Funny how he gives a PSE grade but the stamp isn't slabbed. I can see how that centering would yield a 98 grade:-) Just for fun I asked for a copy of the PSE info .... hahahaha. I don't expect an answer.

the stamp is not even a coil

That individual lives in my cable system, maybe I can go shut off their internet. Ha ha ha!
Yes I work for the cable co. Grade 98 LMBO!

I have about 90 odd followed searches on ebay but new items related to these have been reducing of late and I haven't bought much recently.

I'm getting far to many BIN items at 10-20% off dealer prices. For some stamps that I've been paying £7 to £20 UK pounds along comes a dealer with similar stamps at £40. Then private sellers see this as a typical sell price and use BIN rather than an auction. The result is lots of similar priced stamps and no buyers.

More auctions and less BIN is my preference.

Mike

Besides what everyone said about the pse 98 grade, what makes this listing worse is that #1 - No returns, #2 - a randomly typed username, #3 - 0 feedback rating.

Just a update on my first posting under this heading . This weekend sold a few huge accumulation lots {10 lots} at public auction in Chicago ,there was stamp auctions at Rasdale and Regency this weekend . Sold a good percentage of the storage closet ,which is now empty .
I did spend half the money to buy the remainer of the Jim Czyl forgeries and Cinderella collection . It was a massive accumulation of material of all types . It took 4 different auctions for me to get a decent amount of his collection . The big ticket items were sold a year ago in England ,so what I purchased was the binders,stockbooks and folders of material .
I will be posting under the Cinderella section a summary of what I purchase and some thoughts about his unbelievable collection.

mikyh -- Since 95% of my collection has been via ebay purchases, I much prefer auctions. Sure some bidding wars drive up a specific album, collection or single that I'd like, but more often than not, folks (mostly dealers) who opt for the BIN pricing are all asking more than my nose for bargains will allow. Once in a while I have paid 30% or 40% of Scott CV but only for a high denomination higher value single.

However, in the online auction area I think we collectors find the best and truest democratic free market. Just today I won a terrific older album of British Commonwealth -- my new focus. My winning bid of US$245.08 + shipping was $115 under my top bid. As a collector new to Commonwealth materials,I can use nearly all the 1600+ stamps in this album as my foundation. So I was ready to pay more than other folks who I'm sure would face selling perhaps 50% or more of the total.

For me, bidding in any auction beats a fixed price purchase thanks to the "thrill of victory" when we "win" the action. Then, I am elated when the parcel arrives! The hunt is exciting. Adding the stamps to my albums is more of a relaxed pat on the back for a job well done.

I am having SO much fun with my collections right now! ebay is one of my best friends! :-)

floortrader,
obviously you've been at this longer than I have, so I'll be interested in seeing what material you refer to that has you so excited!

mikyh, since you posted GBP amounts and you appear to be located in Great Britain, I assume that you collect British Commonwealth??? If that's the case, please exchange your email contact info if you have duplicates for sale. I just began purchasing Commonwealth materials in the last weeks and might be interested in taking some material off your hands.

I just received my first Stanley Gibbons Commonwealth catalogue and have purchased a few lots. Waiting for Gibbons product catalogue in order to learn about available BC albums, pages and sets. You may be an excellent resource for my Commonwealth education -- since I know nothing about the available albums for collectors.

Cheers!
Dan

floortrader,
I just read the beginning of this thread where you ask the primary question we have been discussing in other threads as well...

Where is the market TODAY? And in which direction is the market heading?

While a relative newcomer compared to many of the more active on this forum, I do have a nose for market direction. 45+ years in advertising and marketing has made me prone to examine and consider what the market terrain looks like -- even with my hobby.

I think the simplistic answer is that the stamp market is different within each tier that has developed. Here's my best guess at the current market makeup -- emphasis is on "guess":

Tier One:
includes the vast majority of folks who are motivated and interested collectors who can budget a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars per year for stamp purchases. At the low end you have folks who make their own albums or rely on blank pages in order to boost stamp purchasing power. This tier likely includes 80% (or more) of all active collectors. Tier One buyers drive a high percentage of activity found on ebay and other online auction sites. The material Tier One seeks appears to be what is dropping in price as online grabs more sales to a majority of collectors and creates more activity than dealer-direct sales. There appears to be a glut of more common lower value stamps with fewer buyers. So online prices are tending lower.

Tier Two:
includes mostly more advanced, more seasoned collectors and dealer/collectors who seek better collections and the middle price range of scarcer items, or MNH items, or more complete collections. They are more willing to purchase premium album sets-- and more specialized higher priced stamps. My guess is this tier may be 10%-20% of all active collectors; made up of folks who may invest $500 to $3000 or more monthly.

Tier Three:
this is the cream of the hobby investors; perhaps the top 5% of global collectors may spend >$5000 or $10,000 on a single stamp, and likely own collections valued in the >$500,000 range -- these high fliers develop close relationships with high-end dealers that handle rare materials and provide investment grade services. You likely will not find too many of these collectors on ebay.

IMHO, stampnut has the ebay market pegged correctly.

It's a buyer's market. And right now I'm enjoying good deals as I jump into British Commonwealth. But what of the SELLER of the BC album I bought today for <$250???

Someone collected over 1600 BC stamps -- many Victoria era -- over how long? And I paid maybe 20% CV. Makes me wonder what I might realize if I decide to sell my US Classics collection next year?
Will the market continue to soften?

Reading my recently arrived 2011 Stanley Gibbons catalogue, the editors describe BC stamp market as in demand and increased in value. But as we all know, Gibbons has more to lose with a downward spiral for BC stamps than any other large dealer.

One can see why Prof Aumann won his Nobel Prize for applying game theory to economics.

Imagine a collectibles industry in which the catalog publishers show higher valuations each year.

Now imagine a collectibles industry in which the catalog publishers show lower valuations each year.

Q/ Is it hard to imagine how we got where we are?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

ikeyP...thoughtful as usual.

We are seeing the stamp marketplace make adjustments without much help from the publishers.

In an earlier thread I asked about the value provided by the various published stamp pricing guides.
At the time I had 3 different sources for US stamps. None of these could agree on pricing for a majority of issues. My conclusion was that all such catalogs and pricing guides are simply a publisher's suggested guidance. But published auction prices -- whether live or online -- are far more valid than Gibbons or Scott prices.

DCARAZ-----I think you outlined the different levels of collecting very well ,the people I know from the local club and myself would fit into the second tier of collectors . There is a interesting thing happening on ebay right now and all the club members noticed it and we discussed it recently .
The discussion was that a lot of unusual and difficult material is starting to show up on ebay with low prices and the lack of aggressive bidding ,now I am not talking about high catalog price items selling at a low percentage of catalog kind of stuff but stuff most general collectors past over because they don't know it. We now have sessions at club meetings about the finds each one of us got off of ebay .
I believe a lot of nice material goes unfound due to the vast amount of listings and the concentration of buyers around a few big name sellers .Got to tell you my ebay purchases have doubled over the past 6 months because of this .

The vast amount of listings gets inflated every time they run their free listings promos.

As for the big name sellers, I know I can list the exact same thing they do and I will get less for it than the big guys because they have a lalrge loyal following.