Scott Catalog Price For #122 Used

It seems that 10 years ago the catalog price is well over $2200, but now is is only $1800. Is it a special case or in general true for other classic stamps? Did the price of the classic stamps go down in last ten years?

It is not a general statement on stamps. Different stamps go up and down in popularity over time.

@rlsny

Well, for such an old stamp, would the popularity still change a lot in each year?

Hi, catalog price is outdated.

Your stamp is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

@stampmaster

yes, even the catalog price usually is high, but it should still reflect the true market price to some extent.

#121 used also went down from $550 in 2004 to $450 today. If consider the inflation, the value went down quite a lot. Is it because the number of collectors went down a lot due to fewer people are still using stamps nowadays?

The answer is available to regular readers of Linn's Stamp News. Below is a quote from the "Linn's U.S.Graded Stamp Report : a quarterly feature that tracks the market activity for selected stamps in eight grades" report in Linn's dated 08/17/2017:

"At no time since we have been tracking these stamps have so many stamps in the grade of Very Fine-80 (the Scott catalog benchmark value shown in the other sections of this catalog) seen so many decreases in value. We could have stuck our heads in the sand and ignored the obvious, but our duty is to report marketplace reality, and this we have done. We hope all interested parties can see the positive in the catalog reporting valid information and how refusing to do so would not be helpful to anyone."

The article goes on to explain that prices for very highly grades stamps (95 and better) continue to be strong while grade 85 and 90 stamps are not keeping up.

In my opinion, very fine (grade 80) stamps continue to be underpriced because too many dealers over grade fine or fine to very fine stamps as very fine, diluting the quality of the reporting Scott receives. I also believe that the price difference between very fine stamps and lesser grades is growing. Off center or damaged stamps sell at a small fraction of the price of sound well centered stamps. The percentage continues to get smaller.

Price information is available, but it is not free. I would not expect to find it on this board. But, it is possible to scan the web and see the prices of stamps that have not sold (yet) or check sold listings on ebay.

@cfrphoto

Thanks for the information. Did they mention anything about falling number of collectors?

That's off topic for this thread, but you can use the Search button to find many past discussions on that issue.

Tang,
This link has a small study of catalog values, adjusted for inflation, for the Zep stamps. It might provide some more insight into Scott catslog values.
http://www.stampsmarter.com/learnin...gTrends.html
Don

That is a good looking stamp that would nicely fit that hole in my collection. If I even do obtain a 122, it will be an 80 at best. Buying crazy prices for the 85/90 and up graded stamps is in a league above me. I'd run out of stamp funds too soon! Perhaps a sag in the "normal" VF price world is a good thing for those not in investor grade. I'm sure the trend will continue - there will be fewer and fewer collectors purchasibg higher end material without being conscious of resale. Again - nice looking stamp that I'd be proud to own (someday)!

@canyoneer

I think the centering of this stamp is quite bad in general. The well-centered stamps are very expensive.