A New Method Of Selling Faulty Stamps?

To a casual collector, the stamps in this lot appear to be randomly placed, perhaps by a dealer in a hurry.

No mention of any specific faults or grills or gum issues, no identification of any of the stamps, and almost every stamp is (conveniently) covered by another stamp.

Is this just a jumble of various old stamps, or is it a new method of dumping faulty stamps? what do you think?

Jim

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-...AOSwQRla0AJx

Yeah, it's creative. Neat way to push your defective material, bunch the bad stuff in with the not so bad stuff and supply a picture that makes it difficult to sort them out..

Anthony's =

If the lot is as valuable as he claims he should show the stamps with space between each stamp.
I would avoid that seller.

Nothing new here. My experience is that single damaged stamps sell poorly on ebay, two will perform better and groups of five, ten or more almost inevitably sell. Oddly enough, as the number of stamps increases, the ratio of price to value increases. Go figure.

Another way to think about ebay auctions is to be aware that the best stamps achieve the lowest price to value ratio while the worst stamps sell at a much higher ratio. Stamps in groups seem to amplify the effect. I guess buyers of group lots are more optimistic than buyers of individual stamps.

Sometimes sellers can achieve high returns with marketing or name recognition. Otherwise, they offer better stamps in fixed price listings and dump unsaleable stamps in auctions. There is nothing new here. The effect has been around after the initial ebay buying frenzy when everyone began to realize that inferior, off center or damaged stamps, long hidden in store dealer stocks were now all for sale on the Internet, all at the same time. Many of the stamps now on ebay have never been in collections. They may never be in a collection, but they will pass from one dealer to another until they end up in some dealer stock sold at a low price at auction, starting the cycle all over again.

This cycle has existed in the stamp marketplace from day one long before the Internet was invented.

Seems like a bit of a bizarre way to showcase stamps for sale. They're in a stock sheet with no attempt to line them up the way a dealer would normally do so you can see them. So I'm not really sure why anyone is bidding on this "mystery lot"? After all, if the dealer wanted you to see the stamps, all he'd have to do is spend a couple of minutes straightening them out. So I'd have to assume he doesn't care for you seeing the stamps very well, so yes maybe some defects, pulled perfs, that sort of thing. Who knows really?

I posted a thread about them using this method (carefully arranging damaged, fake, and altered stamp in a way that purposes hides the faults) and listing them as 'key values' months ago; they sell well for them so they have continued to rip hobbyists off. These listings used to mention 'some of the stamp may have faults' but this was removed a few months back.

Clark is correct, the better material being removed and the left-over trash being dumped has existed since stamp collecting began. But I find the attempt to make it look like random stock page while actually being carefully arranged to hide faults not simply lame but also fraudulent. If I go buy a car from a used car dealer, I expect that they have some cars which were problematic to their previously owners and may have condition issues. But this fact does not mean that it is ok for the dealer to roll the odometer back.

Unfortunately when I now see the ASDA logo in a ebay listing I now just skip over the seller and find something else to buy.
Don

I'm with Don on this one. As a result of Anthony and a couple other problem dealers who use the ASDA logo on ebay, it's become for me a badge that says, "Click here to find stamp fraud."

I think the explanation is simple. More casual collectors are more likely to buy lots, and are less finicky about condition. Speaking as a lot buyer myself!

Would you rather buy from dealers who do not subscribe to any code of ethics? I am an APS Dealer Member and a member of the ASDA. If a dealer claiming to be an APS member or shows the ASDA logo is perceived to be a problem, please contact the APS or the ASDA first. I know that the APS takes such complaints quite seriously. If the ASDA fails to act and a pattern develops, membership will continue to dwindle, and the organization will cease to exist.

Also, pay more attention to the 800-pound gorilla in the room. If ebay continues to actively support high volume sellers who are careless or appear to lack ethics, the value of their marketplace to better quality sellers will continue to decline. Is ebay setting up special deals with some larger sellers to facilitate shill bidding? Since ebay is so concerned with returns, are they tracking "virtual returns"? Why do some stamps reappear on ebay repeatedly?

Clark,
What role do other ASDA members play with this issue? Do not they have a responsibility to keep the reputation of their organization sterling and in high regard? The ASDA discourages its members from 'bad mouthing' other members but does this not restrict ASDA members from reporting violations?

I do not think it takes a committee to figure out which members are beyond the ethical boundaries. While I understand that there is a process that needs to be followed, it appears that the ASDA never proactivity chases any of the ethical issues that arise with some members.
Has the ASDA ever looked into ethical violations on it's own? The ASDA Directors are clearly well-versed with what is going on in the philatelic marketplace.

The ASDA, and its members, have a vested interested in maintaining the highest ethical bar they can achieve. Waiting for an official complaint form to be filled out before acting seems counterproductive to this objective. Aggressive self policing would seem to be the best approach and have a high priority.
Don

I have repeatedly contacted the ASDA in regards to one dealer in particular with detailed documentation regarding deceptive listings and fraudulent/altered stamps and have never received a response of any type. I strongly believe that they would listen to other members that are dealers though. If those other members are silent they are doing themselves a great disservice.

As far as ebay goes, I would rather buy from a seller without the ASDA logo than one with. I know the ASDA has received numerous complaints about the problem dealers from members of this site, yet nothing changes.

I also contacted them a few months back and never got a reply but recognize that I did not fill out any official forms. Why do they at least not reply to these kinds of outreach from the general public? Even if it is just an automated reply, some kind of response would show that they care.
Don