Why Are Featured Member Sales Prices So High?

No doubt. Everything would be "rare".

Scott is imperfect, granted, but it is certainly better than nothing, and is more accurate in many respects than SG/Michel/Yvert, depending on area.

Amen. When it comes to an older stamp I haven't seen before, I have no clue if it's a penny stamp, or worth thousands. I know that I can get a stamp that Scott lists at $100 for as little as $10 or $20, but without some point of reference, I'd be completely in the dark. I shudder to think of the chaos that collecting would be without catalogs and their price listings, imperfections and all.

Absolutely.

YES....

I don't agree. Let the market decide what the price will be. Example is a sewing machine which I've sold on ebay through the thrift store. You get a feel for the prices after a time. I just don't get people selling something based on a price set by a company (Amos) who people think are clueless.

The price is not "set" by Amos. It is set by a combination of a long history of catalogs (most produced LONG before Amos owned it) and yearlong consultation with a large group of experts plus auction results. Amos is not "deciding" prices in a vacuum. CONDITION IS THE ALL IMPORTANT FACTOR FOR PRICING. Couple that with every owner's right to determine their own prices means that ANY collectible market will have a potentially wide range of prices for the same basic items. The market already determines what the price of an item is, it sells or it doesn't. But a solid well known catalog is essential to create a basic guideline, especially to keep less knowledgeable collectors from getting taken to the cleaners on a regular basis.

sdtom, luckily your opinion appears to be in the minority here, as what you are proposing would be an unmitigated disaster for the hobby. Comparing stamps and all their subtleties and varieties to an old used sewing machine sold at Goodwill? Seriously?

If I didn't know any better, I'd think we were being trolled.

The market DOES decide what the price will be. Just look at dealer price lists and prices realized on ebay and at auction houses. Prices are all over the place.

Just because Scott lists a price doesn't mean that any seller is obligated to sell at that price (or a given percentage thereof) or that a buyer is obligated to buy at that price (or a given percentage thereof). If a dealer just automatically sells everything at 50% of Scott, for example, he'll sell out of some items quickly, whereas other items will languish in their inventory, unsold. If a buyer tries to stick at a certain % of Scott, he'll likely overpay for some items while some other items will be out of reach because they always sell for a higher percentage. Real world prices will always be all over the map, given a multitude of factors. Catalog values are simply the publisher stating an opinion to the effect of "this is what we expect this stamp to cost in the grade of very fine from a full service dealer". Buyers and sellers are free to adhere to or ignore the catalog publisher's opinion all day long. It's just a point of reference, nothing else.

Just to be clear, my question was very specific. I am not questioning the critical value of Scott Catalogs or Gibbons Catalogs or Michel Catalogs.

But based on many responses that indicate approval and acceptance of the typical range of SCF sales prices, I guess that I AM a cheapskate

Believe me it is a valid comparison. I'll assume you know little about the sewing machines. A 221 Singer Featherweight can sell for as little as $10.00 and as much as a $1000.00. They are in high demand for the people who like to make quilts. There is no retail price because they are too old. I got 10 times the amount of what I could have gotten for it in the store because of the size of the market. The thrift store is the only place where spending 25 cents for a coffee cup is a major decision for a customer and if they do expect to get nickels and pennies to pay for it.

The last thing I want to do for the kids is getting them involved in catalogs and investing in anything. Maybe this is why our hobby is dying off. Your idea of fun is chasing down a stamp and then paying 5% of the catalog price. I'll leave the expensive stamps to the majority of you and concentrate on the inexpensive issues for the kids and myself for the most part.

Excuse you? You don't know a damned thing about how I collect or what I find fun.

I'm the last person that should be filed in the "only buys at XX%of Scott" group. I've paid far above Scott for rare and quality material than you will ever know.

Having a catalog has NOTHING to do with investing. As complicated as philatelic identification can be, it is a NECESSITY to be able to differentiate between the common and the scarce, something you clearly don't get.

I'm done with this idiocy.

Of course, that's a perfectly acceptable sub-category of stamp collectors and one of the reasons why this is such a great hobby.

I'm mostly a cheapskate as well - it's unusual that I spend over 50% of CV - but there are some items where one must pay full catalog or even higher or you'll never own a copy of that stamp. Again, all the published CV does is give me an idea if a given stamp will cost a dollar, ten dollars, or a hundred dollars. It's very unlikely that a stamp with a CV of $1 is going to cost me $100 or vice versa.

I find that searching through auction sites, ebay, stamps2go etc to be half the fun of collecting

I wasn't speaking to you but to some stamp collectors in general and perhaps because of this image children don't find the hobby interesting which is my main source of concern right now as I'm teaching the class. Some kids think a stamp is a rubber stamp that you can use to put impressions on material. Doesn't that concern you?

I want our hobby to survive.