The Vagaries Of Ebay...can't Be Explained

Trying to predict ebay outcomes, what will go cheap and what will go for comparative big bucks, will drive you nuts. Even when items are relatively similar.

I won the two items below last week on ebay. Both are of interest to cancel collectors, both red cancels on blue stamps... but hugely different costs. Granted, the catalog values of the two stamps are very different, however I would argue that the item with the much lower catalog value should have been more expensive.

Both were 7-day auctions. I set snipe bids for both to go off in the last 5 seconds.

The first one is an R32a with fancy "E&M" circular handstamp cancel. I have another example, but much more weakly struck, whereas this one is hammered. No idea on attribution.

This one I had to pay above Scott for and came within a dollar of my max bid.




This next one I actually thought would have as much activity and actually sell for more... yet I ended up being the only bidder and won it for a whopping $2.75... including shipping.

Either no one else saw it, despite it being in the same category as the above stamp, or no one else was as enamored with it as I was, which I find hard to believe. The aesthetics are just gorgeous.

It's a small draft receipt with a bold ornate "D.D.S.B." (Something Something Savings Bank?) boxed handstamp cancel, with two clear strikes, one just on the document in lieu of writing the date, and another inverted strike over the stamp.

I actually had my snipe for this one set higher than the first... but not needed.

*shrug*

Who can figure out the whos, whats, and whys of ebay...

Much like the opposite sex, that's what makes the experience so interesting...



Jim

too cool for $2.75

When I was growing up in NYC there was a Dry Dock Savings Bank. The NY Times states they opened in 1848.

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/22/b...nk-shut.html

I remember Dry Dock well. Not sure that imperf is genuine though.

I've had the same experiences with ebay, mostly as a seller, though. I've put up lots of U.S. material, simply wanting to move it and would have been satisfied with the minimum bid posted and had it take off. I've also put up better material that I started with a minimum bid I hoped would just entice bidders and had it go for that...

I've also had material which did not sell for the minimum bid and then relisted it, only to have it take off.

It seems that as long as two collectors want it, the material does well. If not, you get the minimum or no sale.

Hi Rev, neat stamps thank you for posting. I am thrilled when I find things in my area at bargains too!

I see the same thing in my specific collecting areas which are narrow. If I had seen your two stamps, as nice as they are, I would not have bid at all. I see lots of neat stuff, undervalued bargains, but choose not to bid because it is not my collecting area and I know someone else may appreciate the bargain for a stamp they "need". I consider it professional courtesy, but honestly, if I also sold stamps or had more expendable cash, it might be different!

This ebay phenomenon might be a reflection of the ebay stamp collector base composition. Perhaps there are relatively few general collectors with substantial time and money, a bit more of the focused specialists scouring for their needles in a haystack, and the majority novice and less aware collectors.

The auction timing format matters too. If they could be auctioned for 6 months you likely would always pay more, but that timing isn't practical. Time of year, day of week seem to matter too.

Happy hunting!

There is no rhyme or reason I can develop for why some things only sell after relisting them or why great items don't sell quickly. I chuck it all up to timing and just who happens to be online at a certain time. Why something I choose to bid on goes for an astronomical prices while things I forget to bid on go for peanuts. I just keep listing things as often as possible with an eye to when they will close and hope for the best.

great stuff though Revcollector.

Battle of Gettysburg started on July 1, 1863.

I suspect that everyone who acquires material on ebay has stories that match those that Dan has described. Yes, when there are two or three specialists chasing after the same item, the results sometimes go through the roof. One of my areas of specialization is the fermented fruit juice stamps of May - December 5, 1933. The product, 3.2 % wine, was unnatural and generally speaking was not accepted by the thirsty public. Several times recently, a 12 ounce stamp with the cancel of the New York State Fruit Products Company, Inc. appeared on ebay. This was a company not documented in the monumental book on wine cancels by Nussmann and Woodworth published by the American Revenue Association. The first example brought circa $30, the next one around $50, and the last one about $90. Fortunately I acquired mine before the third offering. The 2018 Scott price for a used example is $11.00. That price is reasonable for even the printed cancels of Mission Dry Corporation, which are far more common than handstamps from the 25 or so other companies that we have seen. Just the opposite situation that we see in most other revenue specialties, where the printed cancels usually command higher prices than handstamps.