Why Grade A Cheap Stamp?

perhaps I am not getting the point, but why would someone have a under 10 dollars worth stamp graded by PSE, at costs more that total sale value??

one example

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CKStamps-US...352098456005

Maybe the person that submitted paid a lot less to get it graded.

In those cases people probably hope to get a 98 or 100 grading and then sell it for more than the PSE costs. But I agree that for the example given I wouldn't have made it either.

angore, interested, there is a cheaper way to get graded?

stamperix, there is a whole bunch of them on e bay...dozens, all kinda the same. that is why I dont get the point. I understand the 98 and 100 go for $, but these cheap stamps as well?

Well, they never know exactly before which grading they will get, I guess. And if they get a 100 for example, the stamps is of course worth much more than at 95.

Dutch, there are a whole bunch of posts on this forum addressing the phenomenon of grading. You can read up on them by using the search function on top of this page.
Personally I do not give a hoot about grading or graded stamps!

Peter

Peter,
done that and understand how it works, was/am not getting why doing it with stamps that are not worth anything, but I now get that even they are woth something when 98 or 100, I guess someone just tried a bunch and is now trying to sell the not so high graded. at a loss. still strange

I see what you mean Dutch, and you are right. If a really nice, old stamp is graded that is one thing. But there are a bunch of folks out there trying to make a buck off of you and I with a pile of junk and I just do not fall for that.


Peter

I suspect that CK Stamps and other dealers who are pushing the idea of slabbed, or graded stamps may get a discount from PSE, especially if certain quantities are submitted. After all, it is a symbiotic relationship. The more these items are seen in the marketplace, the greater the chance that the idea will be legitimized and take hold. Both the seller and grader stand to benefit.

First day cover collecting and plate block collecting didn't just happen. It takes visibility and promotion to sell an idea.

I occasionally see auction houses selling large lots of these (100-300) and they sell at reasonable prices. I suspect ckstamps buys these lots and breaks them down. These were probably the stamps that didn't get 98 or 100 when sent in for the grading lottery.

Submitting 3c commems without careful knowledge is going to very costly. It only takes a few losers vs. every grading winner to give a net loss, discount or not. Promoting stamp slabs this way is more costly than say, full page full color magazine ads. KRelyea's thoughts are more likely. Selling them one by one on ebay still looks like a money-loser.

Coin submitters would send in a group of coins at the same time, found in the same source (e.g., together in a group in an intact bank bag, in a roll that's been stored away for years). These were what a very experienced submitter thought to be all the same grade. They would always get results mostly what they expected, but then with some graded higher, some graded lower. This has happened again and again.

Variability in grading (opinion, right?) has encouraged submitters to throw stuff at the experts, hoping for a high grade. I knew someone who cracked the best of the then-new Ike dollars out of sealed mint/year packages and submitted them. He got high grades, among the highest of all for issue. And that's for all time, since the grading service started refusing them. No shame for the stamp services, though.

What really makes not sense is why submit this stamp. If you go to the PSE webiste you can see the population reports:

http://www.gradingmatters.com/us.html

there are 165 of this stamp graded 100. If you really want to play the grading lottery, submit a perfect looking copy of Scott #1045. there are no 100's.

If you go to cert verification on grading matters.com you will see that the stamp (01065259) was encapsulated in 2006. PSE was doing large groups of cheaper stamps at a reduced rate in the hopes of making graded stamps more desirable and generating more business. The market for stamps of this nature was higher in 2006 than it is now.

There was a time when people were actually paying real money for this type of modern commemorative with a 98 or 100, but that market crashed and burned about 10 years ago and now there are a lot of graded and slabbed stamps whose actual worth is about 3 cents each. I've seen bulk lots with dozens tossed in in the hope that someone will make them disappear.

As a coin collector, I see very average coins, that the grading service cost more than the cost of the coin. Head scratching material indeed.

I should bid on this one, $ 1.25

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/TDStamps-US-...AOSwjk9ZWyJU