Why Are Featured Member Sales Prices So High?

I have frequently noticed the "Featured SCF member ebay listings" displayed at the top of our Forum pages when a US stamp item is shown.
And my response is invariably "They want THAT much for THAT?"

So I must ask the question...

Do most SCF sellers actually get these prices that seem to me to often be inflated?

Today's example was a very nice US Duck stamp, RW2 listed as VF unused with no gum. My 2014 Scott catalog suggests CV of $200. The listed sell price is 72% of CV.

Being a marketing and advertising guy for some 40 years, I grant you that a good sale might be described as getting as much as traffic will bare. But realistically I would not be collecting stamps if material commonly sold for 70% of CV.

I don't believe I am a cheapskate, and I admit that I have been building my collection primarily through ebay auctions of old albums and page lots.

Am I in the minority who wonder at the seeming lack of better deals offered between members of this great community??

As a buyer, I don't consider a dealer/seller's asking price of 70% catalog for a very nice stamp to be unreasonable or inflated. For a very nice first issue revenue, many buyers are willing to pay above catalog. Also, on the example you mention (I think I'm looking at the same duck stamp), I notice that the price is "Buy It Now or Best Offer," meaning that the seller will probably accept less if the buyer is willing to dicker.

Great question! If I'm buying lots or collections I would expect to pay anywhere from 10-20% of catalog value. This takes into account the varied condition of the material and duplicates against my existing collection. However, once I've filled most of the "spaces" in the collection and I'm looking for single stamps the prices I pay go up significantly. I've paid over CV for hard to find items but as low as 20% of CV for more expensive items with flaws to use as "space fillers" until I can afford a better copy.

Consider this scenario: I don't collect duck stamps. If I was to start a collection, I would buy an existing collection or lot and expect to pay a small % of CV for the entire purchase. As I try to fill the holes in the collection, the % of CV that I'm willing to pay goes up until I'm paying over CV for the last few items in the collection.

So to answer your question - 70% of CV for a single item is not necessarily overpriced, but it would be overpriced for a full lot or collection.

Paul

Another thing to keep in mind: the listings you are referring to are pulled from ebay itself, not specifc listings priced solely for members here. It's quite possible that a given seller might discount heavier for forum members.

That said, there are certain areas or items that 10-50% of Scott just won't cut it.

In all of my years I've never quite understood the Scott pricing system. To me it is a waste of time. Can you picture yourself offering a new car dealer $2800 for his $28000 vehicle. He'd either say you have rocks in your head or I'll take the $2800 as a down payment.

If the Scott value of a stamp is $2.00 and you offer $.20 then just set the price at $.20 or would you then offer 2 cents. If someone then thinks it's worth more and wants to price it at a dollar then let them.

I sometimes think that the system is set up so people can brag about a good deal they got off of a worthless retail price which really only comes into play when you're selling it. Put a price on it that most people are willing to pay for it and be done with it.

The problem is that there is no single correct "price". Pricing varies by venue, condition, etc.

"...price on it that most people are willing to pay for it and be done with it" is a complete red herring.

Show and brick & mortar pricing will always be different from ebay pricing which will be different from circuits which will be different from major auction, etc.

You can't just say that "well, buyers on ebay are only willing to pay $x, so $x is THE value."

And for those that like to claim that "since it sells for only 20% of Scott on ebay, everyone else is overpriced", you're comparing apples to oranges. [Most] ebay sellers have virtually zero overhead expense compared to show or brick & mortar dealers. Does anyone realistically expect non-eBay traditional dealers to sell at the same price points as ebay?

Scott is a retail price guide for stamps in a specific condition. ebay is not a retail venue, and many items that sell at "bargain" prices are subpar and should not be priced at Scott anyway.

Then there's the level of service that fulltime dealers frequently provide: easy returns, wantlists, search services, research & education... does all of that come free?

Bottom line: ANY published price guide will, by definition, be WRONG 80% of the time. And they are just guides, not absolutes.

One reason you can't compare new car dealers to stamp dealers is that the new car dealers all get their cars from a single source (for a given brand model of car) at roughly the same price (some higher volume sellers might get a volume discount from the manufacturer). Dealers get their stamps at different prices and there is a wide range of stamp conditions (as well as different overheads that rev mentions).

I spent many years of my life dealing with used cameras and I can tell you I had no clue what the retail value of anything was. Our market area determined the prices of what the equipment was worth and to be honest how I might feel on a particular day. I wanted my inventory to turn 12 times a year and it did. If something was there for 30 days I would be a lot more inclined to reduce the price to get rid of it. I was basing everything on how much did it cost me. Not some worthless retail value which I would ignore anyway.
Tom

Most stamp dealers do that for a large part of their inventory. It's only for the genuinely scarce items that that method might be abandoned somewhat.

Thanks for all the shared insights! Always enlightening to me since I'm still a relative newbie.




Revenue -- I agree that a brick & mortar stamp dealership will likely have a significantly higher overhead expense than a dealer who operates out of home strictly selling on ebay. But are most collectors willing to pay those higher store prices and support traditional dealers and their knowledge and services?

What I am still trying to understand -- hence my observations starting this thread -- is what roles are played by each of the stamp sales channels available to collectors?




I agree. THAT IS A PROBLEM!

Perhaps I need to accept this fact? But it still troubles me to see a "similar" stamp priced 150% or 300% higher than other available choices. You typically don't see such a huge price differential for let's say a used car. Maybe 20% more or less. But not 200% difference.

When it's time for me to sell my US Classics collection, ebay dealers, auction or consignment houses will attempt to pay me as little as possible. Sure all the dealer ads in Linn's and APS indicate that EVERY dealer promises they pay the most.

However, I remain very wary about paying 70% of CV or more as I continue to better understand the underlying economic realities of stamping.

The catalog is only a guide.
Prices are created by the owner.
Owners can price any item at any amount they wish. Some are VERY greedy, others are not.
Condition is in the eye of the beholder.
The buyer is the only one who can decide what a stamp is worth, but only for himself, although many others may in fact agree. Some will also disagree.
Most stamps have a generally accepted WHOLESALE value between dealers; only the truly scarce to rare items do not as a general rule. The percentage of truly scarce to rare items is VERY small, perhaps 5%, but probably less.

BINGO!

rev -- that statement is my own conclusion from the many SCF chats I have had around stamp pricing. If a dealer asks 70% SCV for a duck stamp I received in a large lot of ducks for 20% of CV, then the higher price is unreasonable TO ME. And I certainly understand that the collector who can complete their ducks by paying 70% of CV is a happy clam

dcaraz1949, I would say that if you got a VF RW2 in a large lot for 20% of catalog, that was a very lucky find. Those finds are available on ebay, but rare in my opinion. To get a decent grasp on the realities of the stamp market, I think you need significant buying experience beyond large lots on ebay. But revcollector is right -- in the end, it comes down to what one is willing to pay for a particular stamp in a particular condition. In my case, I almost never buy something for a fraction of the Scott CV because in my collecting area the condition of those bargain-priced stamps is almost always inferior. Like anything else, there are exceptions, but those exceptions are rare.

Apples-to-oranges comparison when comparing a single stamp cherrypicked from a bulk lot compared to items sold as single stamps and then trying to extend that one occurrence to a general selling/pricing guideline.

I have found countless stamps for pennies on the dollar from large lots and collections. Yay for that, but it has ZERO bearing on how sellers can or should price their wares.

And I think that the Scott price muddies the water even more and should be done away with. The market will find the selling price soon enough.

How exactly? It's tough enough with having Scott as a guide, without it many collectors would not have a clue about even approximate values. If you think there are crooks around now, just do away with the Scott prices and watch them multiply by a factor of about 100.