How To Read The Scott Specialized

The catalog says:

U348 1c deep blue 2.25 1.25
Entire 3.00 1.50
Entire, Expo. station machine cancel 100.00
Entire, Expo. station handstamp cancel 250.00


U349 2c violet 1.75 .50
Entire 3.50 .60
Entire, Expo. station machine cancel 40.00
Entire, Expo. station handstamp cancel 85.00

What is the correct valuation of these two covers?

I think it is probably 1.50 and .60 respectively, but I don't understand the "Expo. station"?

Aren't they just special cancellations at the exhibition?

Correct. The used entire prices are the applicable ones, though of course the scott prices assume a typical use and a common postmark.

GGreve. Special machine cancel and handstamps were applied to covers at the Worlds Fair. They are referred to as Exposition Station cancels and were applied at a special station set up up at the World Fair.

And of course there is the Scott catalog value, the commercial value if buying, and the commercial value if selling. Normally these three values are in descending order.

Kimo,

I'm not sure what you are saying here. First, we all (or most of us) know that Scott CV's are optimistic, at best. So let's set that aside, and get at what you mean by "commercial value." As an economist (retired), I am more used to thinking "market value." And in any given "market" the "value" is the same for both buyer and seller. (To those who know what I'm talking about, I'm taking about a market clearing price, and ignoring producer or consumer surplus "value"). Take ebay for example. For a "sold" listing the "value" is what it sold for, both for the buyer and the seller. There are not two values, one for selling and one for buying.

So, I'm wondering if you are distinguishing different markets, like the difference between "retail" and "wholesale." This is what gives the difference between what a dealer might offer, and what a buyer would pay at retail. I suspect you mean something like this, so that "the commercial value if selling to a dealer" would be lower than "the commercial value if buying from a dealer." Is that what you are saying?

This is still not two values, one for selling and one for buying. If a seller acquires product to retail, say from estates or collections acquired from other dealers, the "value" for the seller is not what they paid for it, but what they can sell it for. And what they can sell it for is the price a retail buyer is willing to pay, and no one pays more than they value for an item (if rational). So that sale price is the value to both the seller and the buyer. That the seller was able to buy it for less because they can get product "wholesale" isn't establishing a lower value for the item. The seller's retail price has to cover operating expenses (which includes what is paid to acquire product to resell, as well as other operating expenses) and return on investment. If the retail price is not producing the value necessary to cover all of these costs, the seller closes up shop and finds another line of business.

Basil

Hi Basil.

I was using imprecise wording and I agree with what you are describing. I was talking about what catalog lists a price at, what a seller could get for it if they were able to take the time to find just the right collector who is willing to pay a full retail price vs. what it would go for if it were sold to a dealer who is willing to buy it only for a basic wholesale price. I see times when collectors decide to sell their collection to a dealer, or when a person who has inherited a collection goes to sell it to a dealer, discover with dismay that what they thought was worth a large amount of money will only return a very small percentage of a catalog value or even what the material might go for if they were to take a year and try to sell it one item at a time to just the right collectors. I have also seen collections go into large catalog auctions broken into large lots because it is not worth the auctioneer's time to describe each item and so the large lots do not get what the seller was expecting. Yes, the price a dealer pays is related to the amount of work they have to put into organizing and selling the material and covering all of their expenses and making a good profit to feed their family and send their kids to college, and buy a house and a car, etc. My point is simply that there is not "a value" for a stamp or cover but rather there are multiple "values" for a stamp or cover. There is the value that is in a catalog, the value that a seller can get by taking the time to find the right collector who is willing to pay a full price, and the value that is the wholesale price. And there is even a fourth "value" and that is the appraised value. Appraised values are generated for items that are insured and are used by insurance companies to determine how much they will charge to insure a stamp or cover. Appraisals for insurance purposes, whether for philatelic material or diamond rings or any other collectable or antique are typically anywhere from 2 to 5 times what an item would likely sell for in an ordinary auction. Most of the so called values on the television shows like Antiques Roadshow are appraisal values which is why they seem so high.

Kimo,

Now I understand, and agree completely. Writing with my "economist's" helmet on, selling to a dealer is selling into a different "market" than splitting a collection up and selling to individuals on ebay. With different markets you are going to get different "values."

Basil

Thank you everyone. Very helpful.