Ebay To Launch Invester-Oriented Stamp Sales Site

Announcement article on pages 52-53 of the June 2020 issue of American Stamp Dealer & Collector magazine.

I won't reprint the entire article without permission, but here is the introductory paragraph:




EDIT: The forum is blocking this post because the name of one or more of the parties to this venture is apparently a banned word here.

Some thoughts, in no particular order, after reading the entire article several times:

1. Not one of the parties involved in this effort has any serious philatelic knowledge or experience. Data analysis? Sure. ebay selling? Sure. Actual contextual knowledge as to what makes certain stamps in certain areas/countries more relevant or marketable? Nowhere to be found.

2. NobleSpirit is a high-volume seller, but absolutely clueless about actual stamps.

3. This reminds me of the abysmally failed Gibbons investment portfolio scheme, but people can actually buy the stamps themselves.

4. Is this going to be some abortion whereby high-volume, low-knowledge, low-ethics stamp PowerSellers will get (even more) special treatment and the ability to determine what is "rare"?

5. I have zero confidence in ANY of the parties involved in this.

6. No resources for ebay to deal with The Cartel or police listings, but they can embark on this venture? (Yes, I realize it's an apples-to-oranges comparison, but the question still stands.)

7. Just what we need... unknowledgeable sellers selling big-ticket items to unknowledgeable buyers based on a third party's opinion as to what constitutes rare or "investment-grade" stamps... all based solely on metrics and not philatelic knowledge.

8. Ugh.

Sounds like some of those American Greed episodes where telemarketers cold call clients to sell them overpriced coins and you end up with a worthless investment.

Does this mean the ASDA supports this?

The owner there wanted to advertise here and lied through his teeth repeatedly about being an ebay affiliate. He will never be welcome here.

Sounds like a great place to sell my double inverted JENNY, this is a one of a kind stamp it has the inverted airplane but also the frame is inverted !!!! ----I will start the bidding at $1,000,000 .

I just threw up in my mouth.

Besides the fact that Noble Spirit being a purveyor of high value philatelic material for any reason is a farce, you have the ASDA in the mix? The same ASDA that ignored for over a year every type of communication regarding Anthony's (a card carrying member). Not to mention, as Dan did mention, that ebay could care less about Philip Ryle/The Cartel and other reprobates.

It is such a friggin farce.

I need a drink.

EDIT TO ADD:

I normally stop reading as soon as I see the byline of the person who apparently cannot be named on this site.
Although the column is in the ASD&C the ASDA does not appear to be involved with this scheme, other than giving the author a column. Each column runs with a disclaimer that "The thoughts and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the American Stamp Dealer's Association, Inc." I have not noticed a similar disclaimer for any of the other columns.

Maybe all those "rare" Washington Franklins with the red and green lines can all be moved over there.

Anyway, just what we need - a scheme by the clueless (NS and ebay and whoever the banned party is) that will make us all look bad to the people they are targeting.

I have been laughing for the past week on a misidentified Noble Spirit auction.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NobleSpiri...AOSwxbhe5Awt

Not 320s at all, these are actually the much scarcer #532 offset Schermacks. If they took this on consignment, the owner really got shorted.

Congrats to the winning bidder!

If taken at face value, it is just a way to have a section dedicated to higher priced material.

Of course there has always been sellers try to attract people with more money than knowledge to purchase products as investment material. Slabbing and grading was an attempt to make stamps more approachable. Those with money often expect special treatment.

Without judging the motives, what is the real concern to the hobby? Drives up prices, removal of collectibles from actual collectors, make the hobby look bad and discouraged collecting, financially impact auction houses, etc? The players are all the same.

I completely fail to see why somebody wishing to purchase so-called investment grade/level stamps (whatever that really means) would not deal with a Rupp or a Siegel and would instead go to NS and ebay. It just seems like entry into Crazytown.

ebay does lack high quality material in my opinion. Perhaps 99.9% of the stamp listings are low, mediocre, or highly overpriced material (All non investable in my opinion). So getting into a higher quality area makes sense.

The problem though are the greedy ebay PayPal fees which make that Avenue uncompetitive relative to a Rupp or Siegel on both the buying and selling side. I think most investors would prefer the personal aspects of real support, vs the cold greedy still do all the work yourself approach offered by ebay.

We'll see!

I disagree somewhat on this point. I think that you are correct from a seller's perspective, but from a buyer's perspective, ebay is actually far LESS expensive than a traditional auction house as the fees are borne by the seller as opposed to an 18-23% buyer's premium.

Now one could argue that this just translates into higher selling prices on ebay if the seller is bearing those costs. However, I question that this program will actually see higher-end material migrating onto ebay. I think we'll just see the same tired garbage being peddled as high-end.

True I was going to clarify for buyers it's great but sellers take a huge hit.

If the idea Is high end of a certain value and above and everything must be expertized by a legitimate TPG then it might work. Would the fees to seller be lower, helping the pricing and therefore sales velocity? Or just more stagnant Overpriced uncertified inventory at best and at worst a bad taste left in the investors mouths hurting the hobby.

I still love ebay as a buyer, I find many neat nicely priced items and it has been great for the collecting hobby.

You have $10,000 burning a hole in your pocket and you want a stamp for your "investment" portfolio. You immediately think of ebay and Noble Spirit as a great vehicle for accomplishing your goal. Not. Or do people do this?

To quote Thomas Tusser - "A fool and his money are soon parted."