Scott 113ii (NFLD) - Should Ebay Create Values For Stamps..?

I purchased 7 Newfoundland stamps the other day at my local stamp club.
Paid $4.00 for the Scott 113ii stamp shown below...This is a major re-entry for this Scott 113.

Robert







Here is a gentleman on ebay who has put a monetary value of $331.10 Canadian ($250.00 American)..Mr.Harris from Unitrade explained how and why values are set, and it made sense to me...Think this guy is "out to lunch"...??

Not a very realistic price in my opinion, but I suppose anyone can ask what he/she feels like.
As for your question about ebay. I see no reason not to consider prices realized .

Peter

Just like the listing you illustrate, you could list your newly-purchased stamp on ebay for $1 or $500. Asking price means nothing. Prices realized are indeed a better measure of value, but still have flaws to that model.

That ebay seller lists consistently high for Canada/NF stuff. Which is fine with me, I just don't buy from him/her.

True John and gmot and Petert4522..Will have to wait till a few of them are sold to get a more realistic monetary value for this stamp (and others)..Or wait till Mr. Harris applies a value in Unitrade...Which ever comes first.

Robert

Prices realized from ebay maybe helpful but beware There are sellers that offer altered stamps so absolutely not the best way. I have bought so called unused no gum stamps for an example and find they are used with cancelation removed. Reperforation and other repair or enhancements are also listed as well as forgeries. So beware. Most dealers are honest but there are some that take advantage and prices paid can be skewed by these sales. I buy from ebay but carefully check all my purchases. I have been fooled by some of the forgeries and manipulated stamps but most are genuine. But using prices realized would be based on slightly skewed data if one takes all the prices without checking to see if all sales are legitimate. I think the best way is to use some of the well known stamp dealers who actually do this as a business and some of the sales from ebay as well as other auction houses. Even then as the catalogs say these are suggested values and the actual stamp value is what a seller and buyer agree on.

Your correct Mike..

I was at the local stamp club with my friend Jim (who you know Mike) and one guy came up to me and said, do you like my mint stamp I just purchased...I looked at it and said, sorry, it has been re gummed..He got mad and I called over Jim and he told him the same thing..He got even madder and said we did not know what we are talking about.

There is a guy about 30 mikes from where we live that re gums, re perfs..etc (but he is so good)..Maybe there should be a stamp of some sort on the back of restructured stamp (if the guy doing the work is ethically responsible)

Robert

My personal feeling is that ebay realized prices should have little impact on catalogue prices for stamps. Many of the transactions are conducted in an environment without a face-to-face meeting and where the parties do not know each other. There has to be a certain lack of trust on the part of the buyer which will result in a realized price that is lower than the normal perceived value. Major dealers are probably much better placed to comment on CVs because of the relationships they build up with buyers.

Another topic that has been raised in this posting is repaired stamps. The consensus seems to be quite negative. Why is this so when in other collecting areas such as art, books and prints, repairs of older items is the norm. Any old master costing multi-millions is almost certain to have been through one or more major restorations but you don't hear people say "oh, well, it's been repaired so I'm not interested". I really don't have an opinion on this one way or another but find the comparison interesting.

Itma...Years ago I was into collecting antiques...Rule of thumb..Leave the condition alone...Just saying...

Leave the stamps alone...smiling as I say that.

Robert

Hi, Robert:

Yes, I tend to agree with leaving antiques alone, but I would preface that by assuming they are in a reasonable condition to start with. You will consistently hear an expert on Antiques Roadshow tut-tutting about someone over-cleaning a brass something-or-other and thus reducing its value, but five minutes later his colleague will recommend someone to restore a book or painting to increase its value.

I guess it's a question of what the something-or-other is. I would place stamps in the same crate as books and prints, rather than what most people would call "antiques". What is patina for some people is discolouration for others.

Frank.