Paying 70% Of Scott - Ripped Off?

Here's the video guys - realised after the first couple pages that I should do close ups of each stamp, so after thr first minute or so you should be able to see each stamp pretty clearly.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=SAHOHZDiMjA

Angore asked if I factor in NH vs. hinged pricing. Yes.

revenuecollector wrote: 70% of catalog could be an overpayment disaster........ Not if I'm buying Angola C19 and C20; nicely centered, no back disturbance (stamps were issued generally without gum). Those have been exceptionally hard to find, but I now have the complete set (C10 - C20) either unused or nicely cancelled.

Climber Steve, revenuecollector said "could be", not "is", and his statement is correct.

From my monitoring ebay sales (most stuff below $50), if you are willing to pay 50 to 70% of actual Scott (not what they always list as Scott), you can regularly win lots.

Rhett: please read again. I quoted revenuecollector correctly. Angore: I don't do ebay. When I've looked there for Portuguese colonial material, stuff I've found is generally overpriced; is damaged; or I already have it. I have enough Poland and Mexico material; two of my other specialties; still unorganized that I'm not adding anything at this time.

Climber Steve, I am not saying your quote was not correct. I am pointing out that your example does not disprove his statement.

Anyone got any thoughts on my collection as posted in the video? The silence is worrying me a bit!

Keeps, it will take some time for someone knowledgeable in China to view this video and gain an impression. I was only able to view it at .5 or .75 speed as it moved too quickly. This is good though, it took less time to film. At 50% speed the video will take almost a hour to watch non-stop and much longer to watch and pause along the way to think and consider. Be patient.

Chinese stamps sell at very high prices relative to catalogue values, and there is an enormous market of Chinese stamp buyers for these stamps. In fact, these two things are connected as the large number of interested buyers drives prices of Chinese stamps up. There are various reasons for this, but essentially Chinese people have been buying stamps as a form of lightweight, easily stored investment for years as a hedge against bad times and because in China other types of investing are not as easy for many people. Or so I've read.

In any case, are your stamps worth $2,000? It would not be so difficult for you to get a recent Scott (or other stamp) Catalogue and look up each one's value. Michel is the standard catalogue in Germany. Public libraries will often have this catalogue. Call around and find out. Take your stamps there and sit down and price them. It will take some hours to do, of course. Hopefully, the stamps in your stockbook are generally in chronological order which will help. If not, plan to flip through a lot of pages, although modern PRC stamps often have the year dates printed at the bottom which should help. You can list each catalogue number and its catalogue price. Or buy the relevant volume of the catalogue, new or used, and do this at home. PRC is in the "C" volume of the Scott catalogue, the only volume you'd need.

For most world stamps, collectors will normally pay only a small percentage of catalogue value, maybe 20-30%, even less when buying an entire collection. But for modern PRC China, collectors will often pay much more, and though 70% of catalogue seems a bit high, it may not be so bad. But first find out the catalogue value of each stamp, add them up, and you'll know how much that is. Then you can see what percentage you really paid. If you paid 70%, then your total catalogue value will be around $3000, I suppose. Hopefully, the catalogue value is more, but if it's even less, you still may have very good stamps that appreciate in value over time.

I browsed your video, and they look like stamps in very good condition from what I could tell.

To know whether what you paid ($2000) was a fair price, unfortunately, you'd have to sell the stamp collection to find out. The stamps are only worth what someone will pay for them. If it turns out you paid as high as 70% of today's catalogue value, as you say you did, that does not mean that the value won't keep rising. If you put them in an album (or leave them in your stockbook) and take care of them for years, you might sell them for a good deal more someday not too far from now.

Modern PRC stamps have often been reprinted, sometimes even forged (or copied as "reproductions" so collectors could own a copy for their album). This is something to be aware of. A stamp may look real but still be a copy -- which is why buying from a reputable dealer is important. A good dealer will take back within a reasonable time stamps that are not real, and some dealers will take back such stamps forever if you have evidence that they are fake. Finding a good stamp dealer who knows Chinese stamps is one way to tell, but that is not necessary unless you have strong suspicions. Some dealers at stamp shows may be willing to look at your stamps and give you a quick evaluation of their legitimacy, so you might look for dealers in Chinese stamps at local shows. Show listings may give you the names of dealers and their areas of specialization. I have no reason to think your stamps are not real, though. I'm just making you aware of this possibility.

From what I saw in the video, they look like beautiful stamps in very good condition, but I am only an amateur collector with a limited knowledge of Chinese stamps so unfortunately I don't know very much. One final suggestion is that you might consider joining the China Stamp Society. But first find out if they have an evaluation service. Perhaps they can give you names of dealers or experienced Chinese stamp experts who could look at your collection (sending it to them, I mean) if that appeals to you at all. There may be a similar Chinese stamp society in Britain or elsewhere. This is a U.S. society I was once a member of.

Wow, thank you DrewM and shaerme, super helpful and fascinating!

It is reassuring to know that Chinese stamps go for closer to catalogue value. A rough feel was all I needed really, as I don't plan on selling (unless my finances go down hill) and really enjoy the stamps for what they are.

My focus by the way was on political / propaganda stamps in 50s-70s. I have a few gaps, partocularly in '60s, which I will try fill in the next few months, then maybe get complete years (all MNH). I'm also looking to build a pretty complete collection of Swaziland and Mozambique stamps pre-2000, as I lived in those countries before and have a nice start having collected when I was there.

Thanks again guys!

for the first 3 stamps in your album there can be rare colors of them, but you would have to send to certification, not possible to tell over internet.

I know little about PRC stamps other than there has been quite a bit of market interest in the area. After looking at the video, my thoughts were that is definitely an interesting collection and that if it were to fall into my hands, it would be a great opportunity to learn about the area. Just a thought but maybe use this as an opening to dig into your collection and really come to understand what you have. In the process, you'll likely learn whether you paid a fair price but hopefully enjoy the ride and know a whole lot more than you did when you started. Of course, we all have our own motivations for collecting. Also share your interest in political/propaganda themes which has recently led me to the morass of Spanish civil war philately.

RK1468 -----I am working on Spanish Civil War issues and building a collection right now ,wonderful stuff for a learning experience .Got a nice story to tell about them and hope to post some of my pages and tell the story on this chat board .

RK - if you're interested in the historical background, it's well worth investigating some of the many books Paul Preston has written about this era. Probably the best writer on the Spanish Civil War in English.

Percentage of catalogue value (CV) as a way to value stamps is a very, very rough rule of thumb. I used to rely on it when I was in school, decades ago.

What you really want is the market prices.

of course, CV is based on market value ... but there are many reasons why it won't be accurate. For example, there is always a time delay in compiling catalogues, and prices can shift greatly in the meantime, especially for boom areas (eg. China). The catalogue maker may also be in the retail business, and they might artificially inflate the values of the stamps they trade heavily in. Recent issues are likely to reflect the face value of the stamp, rather than rarity. etc etc.

Unless you know better, your catalogue is your best guide to stamp value, but it must be used with caution.

China is a boom area, and your catalogue values may be out of date before they even go to press.

As an example, I recently got hold of an unmounted mint India Gandhi 10 rupee. In my 2008 Gibbons, it had a CV of about US$60. It is selling online on ebay for about $300, and the 2018 Gibbons lists it at a CV of about $600. India is another hot country, and Gandhi issues are amongst the hottest items.