Apfelbaum Cleaning Up Their Act?

Apfelbaum doesn't have a great reputation here, but there seems to have been some big changes there. Far fewer classic stamps listed and more details and faults described. Not sure what's changed, but maybe someone has stepped in and cleaned up their act a bit. (See latest store sale in SAN). Anyone know if there's been some kind of leadership change there?

*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

The damage is done for me. I will never go back.

That's where I've been too. I noticed there was a big gap between auctions and now the listings look very different. Totally not sure, but curious.

The arrogance of Missy Apfelbaum combined with the lack of attention to important details about the stamps they sell equals a permanent no go for me.

I've only dealt with Apfelbaum on the one occasion, when I bought a small lot of 13 imperf NSW stamps. The price was acceptable to me as it was less than I would've paid here in Australia and it contained what was probably a unique item, a crown circle postmark of Bathurst on a Laureate stamp.

I've seen one other crown circle postmark on a Laureate but the strike wasn't clear enough to determine the post office, but was clear enough to confirm it wasn't Bathurst.

Their service was excellent and the lot arrived quickly. Can't ask for more than that.

We have a local pawn shop in my town. They have previously been convicted of committing crimes. They have previously taken advantage of other customers by selling glass rings as diamond rings.

But I shopped there once and got a good deal on a car stereo. Can't ask more than that.

Don

Hi

A stamp dealer I know in Colombia had to report them to the APS (probably one of many complaints). They sold some lots for him and did not send him any money. I was going to bid on an item in one of their auctions but was advised not to.

Jerry B

I stopped even thinking about them years ago. I was high bidder on some auction lots and they gave them to an under bidder. I wound up confronting Missy on the phone about it and it was comical- "I just don't understand what happened here." followed by no attempt to resolve. It dawned on me that I'd been used by them in a shill game. Never again.

What you are running into is the fact that they don't actually run auctions. Any listings at SAN, regardless of how they are worded, are NOT auctions. They don't take consignments, and they are just selling their own inventory. Aldrich does the same thing, although some of what Aldrich sells is in fact consigned material.

If you want to buy from Apfelbaum (I'm not recommending that one should or should not, caveat emptor), you should do so through their online storefront. Anything that they list on SAN is also on their website. That way, you buy it and it's yours. No "bidding" games.

I previously posted at length about my recent experiences with Apfelbaum after a nasty history with them in the distant past:

https://goscf.com/t/55372

I want to restate and expand upon some things I stated in that post...

Buying from any of the "ethically challenged dealers" like Apfelbaum, Anthony's, Aldrich, Langs, etc. is NOT something to be ventured into lightly:

1. It is not for the novice or even intermediate collector. You need to know what you're looking at and able to gauge the legitimacy of what you are buying. If it's an item that would ever require expertization, avoid like the plague. If you don't have the expertise to evaluate authenticity on your own, do not buy.

2. Buying from these dealers is effectively gambling. If you cannot afford to lose, don't play. As in baseball, expect to strike out occasionally (hopefully you'll have a much better average than a baseball player would, so the analogy isn't 100% on point).

3. Expect that if you return things enough times, even for THEIR errors, you will be blacklisted. Their business model is predicated on throwing large quantities of crap at the wall and hoping XX% of it sticks. Repeated returns upset that business model. I have personally been threatened with being blacklisted by several of the dealers in question, and have been blocked on ebay by one of them.

For those who enjoy the "thrill of the hunt" and "finding the diamond in the rough" it can be an entertaining and exhilarating pursuit, but if you don't have the stomach for that, or if you get annoyed/angered when something isn't exactly what it is claimed to be, then I would recommend that you avoid these dealers at all costs.

In 1966 I join the Ogden Hills Stamp Club [Only living member of that famous club] I was told by more than one senior member of the club to stay away from APFELBAUM's offers in Linn's Stamp News . That advice served me well over the years, with all the stories I heard about them .

Over the past five years ,I looked at their offerings on line and the major problem is their grade of everything as VERY FINE even stamps with rounded corners and their use of very fine when describing defects and they love placing the catalog value in their description of stamps that are seconds .

They also keep a hit list on any customer that complaints or returns a mis-describted stamp after the second time .

50 YEAR ADVICE ----stay away

I've also had issues with them. All the above comments are valid, but something has changed there. I'm not about to buy something there, but I am wondering what the story is. I see stamps faults such as reperfs, regum, "small faults" listed throughout their store. I'd like to think that things can change. Enough said, I'm not advocating for them. Maybe there have some new staff, I don't know. In any case, I agree with the comments here about the past, and I have no knowledge to indicate anything is different other than their behavior seems to have changed a little. We can always hope.

That's interesting floortrader. I am well aware of Apfelbaum's activities since the Internet era, however, I had often wondered if they were still the way they are now, when prior generations of Apfelbaums were running the show. Given your 1966 frame of reference, it sounds like nothing has changed.

About 15-20 years ago I bought a few things from them. I knew what I was buying, understood the risks, and I actually got some neat finds out of it. Roughly 5 years ago, I decided to log in and monitor one of their so-called "live" auctions -- when they were using that format. I thought I'd just watch and see what was going on. I didn't bid. The next day I got an invoice for several lots. So, I called Missi, and she put on an act of like, 'oh I see what happened..' - was quite rude and unapologetic.

NOTHING HAS CHANGED ----TXSTAMP I thought I was tough on them with my above posting .

I just went on their website to see if things are different. So I went to see how their active offers on Cape of Good Hope stamps are described . The first triangle stamp is listed as VERY FINE , it has no bottom margin it is cut into . The second of three offers is another triangle also listed VERY FINE ,it has no margin on the lower left side . The third offer has two stamps and again VERY FINE but has major damage to the upper left corner with hardly any perforations . So nothing has changed .

A few years back I watched two of their "auctions" on SAN as background noise while I was working on one of my collections (I guess there was nothing good on the telly), and each time they invoiced me for a lot that I never bid on and had zero interest in. I never bid on anything of theirs given the warnings about their business practices circulating within the hobby. Each time I had to, at length, explain to them that they must have mixed up their bidder numbers and I was getting invoiced for someone else's lots. After the second time of their making the same error, they black-balled me on SAN (as though that would make a difference to my life LOL). I wouldn't buy from them now, changed or not, if my life depended on it.

If it happened to two people who are members of SCF, you have to wonder how many people Apfelbaum erroneously invoiced. It appears they have no shame.

there are too many better options