What The 272A Tells US About The Importance Of Ebay To The Philatelic Marketplace

Don't ask why but I became curious about what percentages of very scarce/rare stamps are captured on ebay and I focused on the 272a ( USIR watermark) because I recently acquired one. 65 of this error are known as used and there are presently 30 examples for sale on ebay. There are also 2 unused for sale out of a population of 10. Those are remarkable percentages given that the balance are either in collector, dealer or institutional hands. To me these statistics are nothing short of amazing and demonstrate the huge presence that ebay has in philatelics. I am not a fan of ebay mostly because of the plethora of misidentified, altered and faulty stamps offered as the real item or as sound. Not to mention the cartel and Philip Ryle whom ebay turns a blind eye to for finanancial reasons while his activities do harm to philatelics in general. Whether it is Zeppelins or Western Cattle in the Storm the population percentages represented are enormous. ebay in philatelics is here to stay. If you would like to see our beloved brick and mortar stamp stores and auction houses survive please patronize them. We need them. Thats is it. Random disconnected thoughts for sure but I am hoping to hear other peoples take on the issues at hand.

This may be an anomaly since 272a is not a needed stamp for many collectors of classic U. S. who don't collect the varieties. I suspect the percentage listed on ebay at any time of many other scarce/rare classic U. S. with major catalog numbers, say Scott 5 for example, would be much lower. Scott 272a being represented so highly on ebay may be just a result of a relative lack of collector demand for it which results in higher than normal dealer holdings of it. Also, although there are always a lot of Zeps and 292s listed on ebay, there are also a lot of them extant in general (i.e. they are not scarce/rare like a 5 or 272a) so the percentage of the total supply of them that is listed on ebay at any point in time would be low, not high.

Also, how many of the listed examples are incorrectly identified?

Probably nearly all. It's very common that people think that part of a you or part of a P is an I, or that a P might be ab R in some cases.

95 % of the listed stamps have certs.

Look a little closer. Billie is the one offering one of the mint and a whopping 14 of the used copies.

My opinion:

Despite all of it's faults, ebay has done more to advance stamp collecting than any stamp show or publication could ever hope to do. From my own experience I have acquired items I could have never dreamed of owning, on ebay. Actual discoveries of previously unknown items! Those types of things can't be found through trading between knowledgeable collectors.

A good percentage of ebay is a huge garage sale where those that don't want to take the time to learn or don't care, unload their junk for whatever the market will offer. That's where the treasures are found.

kcaramat: I agree.

Kcaramat - Well said. There is no better place to experience the thrill of the hunt. It also encourages research and subsequently one can become more educated in philately. I just won two beautiful stamps one of which was a 37 with a gorgeous red British Packet cancel (Boston).

Exactly right. Congratulations on your latest find!

With ebay, as with any auction of general or specialized merchandise, it's always caveat emptor.

ebay is replete with mis-identified atamps, fraudulent overprints, perfins, washed cancels, regums, reperfs, etc.

While it may have advanced your collection since you are already knowledgeable, but for the unfortunate person starting out it is a minefield and it is not a great place to learn from either.

I couldn't agree more. The two biggest catalysts for me and my collection were (in chronological order) Steiner pages and ebay. If neither of those things existed, my collection would be a pale shadow of what it is today and it's entirely possible I might not be collecting at all.

I hadn't looked at stamps in 40 years before I rediscovered them on ebay. I hear this story repeated time and time again.

There were some pitfalls along the way, but that encourages educating yourself. The internet is a wonderful tool to help do that.

Do you think we were less vulnerable relying on large stamp companies and stamp dealers ? When I first checked my old collection against the Scott Catalog and Mystic Stamp, I thought I was rich !

The old collection is gone. I've ventured through many different stamp collecting interests until I've found a niche. I've worked at educating myself to the point where I'm pretty confident in my area. I've tried to help educate others. I've written articles for stamp publications on the subject. I'm having FUN !

None of this would have happened if ebay hadn't sparked the interest.

Not only ebay but also the online internet brought me back to stamp collecting. I stopped collecting and looking into stamps for around 10 years. Before that I had been much into philately for around 25 years. Now I have been back for around 7 years and I feel that I have done more in this short time than in the 25 years before. However, I still find that the hobby is mostly dominated in all aspects of it by those that are much older than me. One of the reasons that I originally left was that I felt like the odd man out due to my younger age. Thus, the internet and computers made it more appealing again because it was something that I could relate to it with.