Stamp Show Blues (Small Whinge)

So I went to a local stamp show today, want list in hand. I was mostly looking to fill in some of the less expensive holes in my collection. There were about ten dealers present and I shopped with five or six of them. All in all I spent about $300 buying sixty singles or sets priced at $35 or less. Was there about four hours and had a good time looking at stamps and shooting the breeze. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

Then I get home and start mounting my new stamps and so far about 50% have been misidentified as higher priced stamps. It's my own fault, I should have vetted the stamps I was buying but I didn't. You have to wonder though, these guys make their living selling stamps - you'd think they wouldn't be so careless. I'm thinking these all came from one dealer and hopefully by the time I've finished mounting the rest the percentage will come way down.

So anyway, I haven't attended any stamp shows in many years and I'm just wondering if this a common experience.

They were not the careless one. They know exactly what they are doing. Making a buck anyway they can. Let us know how many higher priced values you purchased for the lower priced stamps.

"They were not the careless one. They know exactly what they are doing. Making a buck anyway they can".

Often true, but far from always. There are a lot of dealers who do not know nearly as much as collectors sometimes give them credit for. Especially the smaller more low to middle end dealers.

I wouldn't know about these particular dealers or the mistaken stamps, but I have found numerous stamp show dealer errors that were to my advantage over the years. They are busy people and make lots of mistakes, and there are a few predators amongst them also.

You'll find out their true colors if you kept track of who you bought what from and ask for return requirements and a refund. As you say, you should have looked a little harder. I suggest you check your dealers carefully from now on and patronize the ones you get along with the best and have confidence in rather than going for lowest price or immediate availability. There is no licensing test to become a stamp dealer. Dealers pay for ASDA or APS membership; they get a neat little sign but it does not make them experts automatically.

Some of the show dealers highly touted on SCF have shown a mixed ability to properly ID stamps, much less to vet alterations and forgeries. And that may also be due to hired hands that aren't very good generally. The ones I know of will refund in case of mistakes, but you should keep dealer display cards or sleeves, plus your receipt.

We spend large amounts of time learning about 'stamp varieties'; we should spend just as much time learning about 'seller varieties'. But of course few of us enjoy doing discovery on who we buy from, it is far more enjoyable doing discovery on the stamps themselves.

Additionally this hobby has a history of collectors withholding information from each other. I assume that some folks feel knowing who the best sellers are is an 'competitive edge'.

These two things provide the environment for deceptive sellers to thrive.
Don

Happy ending, mostly. I have finished mounting all of the stamps purchased at the show yesterday and only two additional stamps were misidentified. One, a perf variety only cost 80 cents so no big deal. The other, a $12 'mistake' was from a dealer who apparently cannot identify granite paper. He must have thought it meant stone colored (grey) paper. Again, my fault for not pulling out the stamp and examining the back.

Overall I am pleased with yesterday's acquisitions but if I attend another stamp show I will definitely avoid those two dealers.

Not the buyers fault. It is the sellers fault. Period.

This thread will help a lot of SCF people! Lurkers & members!

I wouldn't be buying from a seller who didn't know what granite paper was.

Or did know and chose to ignore it.

It's hard to figure out who is right and who is wrong in this particular post because the original poster did not cite the countries that made up his want list.

In general, I think a "buyer beware" approach can help in most instances. The auction houses and dealers that I buy from have good reputations, in my mind. One dealer that I won't name is one that I've purchased at least 200 stamps from over the years, both by mail and in person at shows. I've returned only one or two items.

Nothing like a plate of bum nuts after a good whinge.

i just got back from a trip to upstate ny. while there attended a local show. there was a sparce older crowd of both buyers and dealers. I spent a fair amount of time jawing with the dealers and one topic that came up was both the lack of both general and specific knowledge of both dealers and collectors. also brought up was the show site was not well advertised and could not be seen from the road, but it was well lit and spacious. some expected faces were not there and the overall attitude was so-so. since this is a relatively new location and management I can only hope things improve and the shortcomings addressed before it dies on the vine.

Where was this show (I'm in the Catskills)?

Albany third Sunday show which moved to its new digs some months ago. even the move was poorly handled, I went to old location and found nothing, not even a notice of where to go. several long time dealers were not there for whatever reason. imo it will die on the vine and become just another memory unless promoted.