Are Dealers Unfairly Maligned?

The "good old days" were far from perfect but there is one at least one big difference. It is far too easy now for bad actors and people of questionable ethics and morals to rip people off via the internet ( ebay for example) given the distance of the transaction. It is an entirely different matter to sell someone a dud face to face in your store knowing that they can walk back in again and deal with you up close and personal not to nention reputation means everything in a local market.

True, dealers have powerful tools to reach customers now like never before. A bad ebay dealer can cast a wide net, and there are sharks aplenty. But, the customer can call out the dealer too. Stupid ebay can censor the "feedback", but we all have other tools to get the word out.

I recall many collectors at shows trying to push their bad purchases too, it is not unique to dealers. It is often just "sour grapes", or hypocrisy, when our friends complain about dealers.

Who would be a dealer? to check and authenticate a stamp takes a few minutes for each stamp assuming you recognise the main characteristics of the stamp immediately. If your in business time is money, but how many stamps are worth thorough Identification? If I wanted a fair return on my time I would charge a minimum of about $5.00 per stamp. The Great Britain QE2 3dLilac has 14 different versions that look superficially similar in the Stanley Gibbons catalog. Most cost next to nothing.
Life is too short for any dealer to verify which they have. If they were bought as part of a collection I (if I were a dealer) would identify some to see if they matched their description and then if most did match the sellers description I'd sell everything except the best and most rare stamps as being what the previous vendor said. In the UK I have found many stamp shops including Dauwalders will show you selection of the stamp you ask for and they then leave it to you to decide which printing it is or if it is on Chalky paper. If I think a dealer is being too vague, or dishonest I don't buy. I try to buy from dealers who appear to know what they are talking about. If stamps are cheap enough I expect to burn my fingers sometimes. The dealers get too much criticism I think. Even if a dealer has the knowledge they can't have the time to check out every stamp in my opinion , so just be careful and take a good look at what you buy, before you buy.

Collectors expect the world from dealers.

Q/ When was the last time you laboriously checked every bill's security features before you offered them to a dealer in payment for their stamps?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

I only check bills that are coming TO me.

"I only check bills that are coming TO me"


therein lies the "problem" today......

Another truism: "it's not what you EXpect, rather it's what you INspect."

--Jim Wentzell
stampguyaps177-681