Anthony's Llc Dismal PF Report Card = Follow Up To 10/23/17 Discussion

My stamp acquisition strategy is almost the same as Rhett's right down to the dealers he uses. I'm a little more liberal in my certification requirements in that I don't require a stamp to be graded, though I prefer it, and I don't renew the older certificates. I just bought 3 stamps from a dealer who also sells on ebay at a local show that came without certs. I told him that I had to have certs on all of them to finalize the deal and he readily agreed (I knew this dealer ovstamps on ebay to be scrupulously honest). I walked over to the PSE booth and submitted all three for certification and grading. Two came back as reperforated and the dealer apologized and offered a complete refund, but I chose to effect an exchange instead. Don't be discouraged. Now that you are properly armed just be careful.

I'm with Rhett on Stamp Auction Network. I made mention elsewhere about finding material for my collection and S.A.N. has been a godsend for me.

It's a shame that Anthony's and a few others cause so much consternation for the ebay sellers who do their best to give accurate descriptions. If Anthony's is an APS member, please report these problems to them as well as to ASDA.

I just perused some of Anthony's mint US early classics and all five that I looked at had lightened cancels. I can just imagine what goes on in his "rare" WW listings.

That is where I got the info about SAN using a buyers fee.

As far as cert cost goes, the catalog is never correct. One price for all grades.... I do not purchase stamps that way. I pay a percentage of catalog, usually 10% will buy most items. The classics and more sought after, I will go 20% - 25% (there are exceptions). No one pays full catalog value but the cert people want a percentage of full catalog value. There are stamps that I bought that the cert would cost more than I paid for the item. If you buy a stamp and the number is different and more valuable than you bought, there is a chance that the cert will cost you more than you paid for the stamp. I think that not setting a flat rate for certification is a scam deal. I have avoiding buying a couple items because they had the cert which adds to the cost of the stamp more than the stamp is worth. I have a stamp that I do want graded but have not sent it in because I do not know the cost and I am not sure I even trust them. All they have to say is that they never received the item.

Howell, thank you for mentioning Oceanview Stamps; I listed my top 3 dealer sources (that we share as clients) but neglected to mention the show dealers I respect because I don't get to many shows. But Oceanview (Bill Hontos) and Newport Harbor (Dave Cobb) deserve a mention for sure! There are undoubtedly some other good ones but I don't get to enough shows to know. And now that I have reached the point where all my stamps have cert dates of 2005 and later I will ease up a bit on my recerting schedule. I think the expertise, knowledge, and technology of the expertisers we use had evolved to a very good point by 2005 so I feel more comfortable now. I will still selectively recertify some stamps however.

ddaann

Anthony's LLC is only a member ASDA under his fathers name to boot. He has some coin/paper money dealer associates and for good messaure I altered the management of these organizations to consider reputational risk when working with him in the future. For what it was worth.

I was given a big list of enforcement groups by eBay/bbb but this seems too small and debatable (yes he is still debating
Me !) a case.

Tonight he is saying he disagrees with the expert committee at PF. He says he disagrees they are all fake or misrepresented and on what basis? Come on that is laudable. Slippery con man.

Jaxom - The buyers fee that SAN is referencing is the individual auction house commission. There is no SAN fee.

jaxom - that buyer's fee is levied by the respective auction house - not by SAN. You have to read the terms and conditions of any auction house that you place a bid with prior to bidding. it will be in there for each business.

The majority of auction houses have buyers fees (and also sellers fees). They vary by auction house, and you have to factor that amount, plus any tax and shipping into account before you place a bid.

YoP - How pathetic that he is stating that the Philatelic Foundation is wrong 18 times. Laughable. I hope that you recover your monies and more. He is unarguably a crook.

jaxom, sorry if my wording was confusing; I was referencing the auction firm's buyer's fee. As for cert cost, it is about 5% of catalog value for PSE and PSAG. For the PF, it is about 5% of retail value with a floor of 5% of catalog value. I don't use APS for certs so don't know their fee structure but from memory it is a little less than PSE and PSAG. All agencies set fee maximums to account for the extremely high catalog value items. For very low catalog value stamps, the cert can cost more than the stamp. But this percentage-based fee structure has been in place a long time and it allows the expertisers to stay in business so I don't expect it to change. I have never had a problem with receipt of my items or return of my items. I send via USPS Priority Express (I used Registered in the past) and the agencies I use return the items with certs by Priority Express as well. My collection insurance covers Priority Express shipments (I use Collectibles, Wood has the same coverage) both ways up to $25,000 (more than I would ever need for a single shipment!) so I decline the return shipment insurance offered by the expertising agency to save that fee.

So, PF is the most expensive. And they determine a retail value above the catalog value? So they make up a retail value and charge you more. To me, retail value is 25% of book. To them, it could be 100x the catalog value.

They stay in business by gouging people that have the money for the certs. If they set a reasonable fixed price, they would receive 20x the number of requests for certs if not more. Lowering or fixing the price will make them more money by more work. But they do not want the work, just the big money for fewer stamps to look at, less work.

Tell Anthony that he does not have the expertise or the brains to judge PF certs.

The PF is my go to for US certs. I have never been "gouged" and for me they are the gold standard of certification organizations.

This conversation put PF on the bottom of my list.

PF costs:

How much does it cost?
– Standard Service: Approximate turnaround 30-35 business days for US. Fee is 5.5% of submitted value with a minimum fee of $27.00 (maximum $1,000.00).
– Priority Service: Approximate turnaround 20 business days for US. Fee is 5.5% of submitted value + $10.00 per item with a minimum fee of $37.00 (maximum $1,000.00).
– Express Service: Approximate turnaround 15 business days for US. Fee is 5.5% of submitted value + $20.00 per item with a minimum fee of $47.00 (maximum $1,000.00).
– Covers (Envelopes): Approximate turnaround 30-35 days. Fee is 5.5% of submitted value with a minimum fee of $40.00 (maximum $1,000.00). Only US covers can be submitted for Priority or Express Service.