HipStamp Penny Auction Ending 2/9/17

Fellow SCF members, I have listed 50 US Plate Block/Multiple lots in Hipstamps upcoming No Reserve/Penny Start auction.

Includes better items such as plate blocks of 538, 564, 611,615,627,636,643, 688, 693, 696, 699, c7, c10, c16, c22, e14 plus others. Also 601 and 602 coil line pairs, a nice 833 registration marker block of 6 and a really nice set of 756-65 centerline blocks.

I like some of the things that Hipstamp is doing and am trying to support their effort to increase traffic. If the traffic doesn't materialize you might be able to steal some very nice stamps at low prices.

This URL will take you to my auction items.

https://www.hipstamp.com/store/bobp...ction&page=1

and

https://www.hipstamp.com/store/bobp...ction&page=2

Bob

Why no scans of the backs? Has been a complaint for a while

Items are described accurately and I offer a full no questions asked refund if unsatisfied. If you want a scan of the back I will send it you. What more could you ask for? Let me guess. Why I won't ship internationally?

OK. I'm placing an order now

Kirks

Thanks very much!

Seeing you raised it, why don't you ship internationally?

Are you a collector of US plate blocks? If so send me a list of the specific items you are you interested in. I have tons of inventory listed on not only Hipstamp but also at ebay and in my standalone Webstore, Bobplates.com. Plenty of other material that is not listed.

As my terms, CLEARLY STATE, if you are an international buyer I will work with you to fill your wants at a reasonable S&H charge. I am not in the business of making money on S&H.

In terms of why I raised my intial shipping, it is because HIpstamp insists on using Paypal for ALL SALES. So at my previous 75 cents shipping on a 50 cent item rule, I am basically giving it away. I am sure if you have ever used Paypal as a seller you can do the math. You also seem to have missed the fact that in concurrence with my initial shipping fee change, I also ELIMINATED my additional item charge attempting to encourage buyers not to buy just 1 item. So if you buy 20 50 cent items, the shipping charge in fact is LOWER($2 vs $2.65) with the new shipping scheme than with the old one. Lastly, I ship free domestically on any order over $75. Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Bob

Whoa there, just a question, I'm just curious. I sell on ebay, and post anywhere to maximise sales, at a flat rate. I acknowledge that your material is specialised, and posting to the US probably works best for you.

You asked me several questions and I courteously replied with a thorough explanation. Not sure what is "Whoa" about that. Have a good day.

Bob

I only asked one question, so you must have been replying to someone else.

Auction ends tomorrow. All 50 items have received bids but there remain some real bargains at current levels. So still worth a peek. URLs are posted above. Thanks much for all of your support!

Bob

How do you think this worked out for you? I noticed your latest posting is on ebay?

Ken

Good question. I decided to do a somewhat controlled experiment after my Hip auction experience. i.e. a penny auction with similar material on ebay.

Bottom line is that the average Hip auction realization was around 60% of the listing price with every item receiving multiple bids(not hard to do with 1 cent start). The ebay auction returned 33% of my fixed price listing price plus I had to cancel a few items that had received only 1 or 2 views with no watchers about 1 day before close. Given that lack of visibility, I have to believe that the average realization would have been lower if those items ran their course.

Bob

So Hipstamps actually did better than ebay, wow!

Were your Hipstamp listings part of a 1c event or did you just list them on your own?

I've been watching Hipstamps and I think Mark is on the right track but I wonder if ebay is so entrenched it is impossible to overtake.

Thanks,

Ken

I contacted Hipstamp and asked them to include me in an auction event. I never would have just listed them there as my own auction "block". ebay just has more page views and it is not a real auction if only 1 person looks at the lot. I had suggested putting together a specific time/auction block back in the Bidstart days. Seems like a good model to get views and activity. I think that HIp is on the right track with this approach.

Not sure if the experiment was exactly "controlled" or the results are truly indicative. I picked a Sunday night during President's Day weekend for my ebay test which may not have been the best choice on my part. Note that my last no reserve penny auction on ebay did very poorly as well(common sheets trading at around 25% of face). Would have been better to use the material as postage especially after site and Paypal fees!

Bob

It is my belief based on no data at all that the auctions are very important to ebay, people come looking for auction bargains and see fixed price material and buy it. Bidstart could never get the auction format going. I'd love to see Hipstamps make it work.